Join Exploring Monterey Bay host Mathilde Rand in conversation with Linda Wilshusen. Linda moved to Santa Cruz County in 1967 to attend UCSC. She moved to Live Oak in 1988 and soon there after, she became involved with Live Oak Neighbors and started exploring the history of Live Oak. She brings well-researched, interesting and unique information to this conversation.
Feature photo courtesy of John Law Smith: Santa Cruz Eastside and west Live Oak/Twin Lakes, 1957, before Woods Lagoon became the Santa Cruz Harbor, and before Highway 1 was built. Schwan Lake, on the right, is part of Twin Lakes State Beach. The planned Broadway-Brommer Road would have crossed Woods Lagoon in roughly the middle of the picture; now, one of the Arana Gulch Park trails traverses the road right-of-way.
Lunchtime soup prepared by Miss Tefertiller on its way to Live Oak School, 1920’s.
The Live Oak School District was founded in 1872, with Martin Kinsley’s donation of land and a name referencing the Mexican Rancho land grant “Encinalitos”. The school offered a meeting place for local community gatherings, and this is how the area came to be called Live Oak.
Linda’s article information: Between the Gulches: The Twin Fates of Live Oak Cityhood and the Broadway-Brommer Road, Linda Wilshusen. Santa Cruz Museum of Art & History, History Journal 9, Landscapes: Activism That Shaped Santa Cruz County 1955-2005, 2018, p. 83-101.
Contact information: LiveOakAnnouncements@googlegroups.com
LiveOakLinda@gmail.com
