The Aptos History Museum

By Kevin Newhouse

On August 14, the Aptos History Museum will be hosting its annual fundraiser around the pool at the Seascape Sports Club. This year’s theme is “Party Like Gatsby.” Although it is not a requirement, you are invited to wear your best 1920’s apparel or tennis wear. The fundraiser will include food and beverage pairings from local restaurants, an amazing selection of silent auction items, a fun trivia game to test your knowledge of Aptos History for a chance to win a prize, and live music. Tickets also include entry to the Comerica Bank Challenger Quarter Finals Center Court Tennis Match.

This fundraiser is a great opportunity for me to tell you about the Aptos History Museum.

John and Karen Hibble were managing the Aptos Chamber of Commerce in Redwood Village in 1985 when Bob Bailey, who had a real estate office in Redwood Village, was given a great old photograph of the Aptos railroad station. He gave that photograph to the Chamber where it was proudly displayed on the wall.

Everyone wanted to know about the train station. That photograph sparked many conversations and soon other people began to donate their historical pictures of the town. In addition, John was able to collect lots of new information and photographs from the Museum of Art and History where he served on the board from 1991 to 1994. To this day, the Museum of Art and History is a great resource for our museum.

The growing collection was displayed at the Chamber of Commerce office in Redwood Village until 1994 when the Aptos Chamber moved to its current location on Old Dominion Court, across from the Best Western Plus Seacliff Inn.

John and Karen displayed as much as they could in their new office, but most of the collection remained in storage. They soon realized a separate space dedicated to Aptos history was necessary.

In 2005, additional office space in the Chamber building became available. With the help of the community, the dream of an Aptos History Museum became a reality. Linda Yamane, a Native American Ohlone descendent, taught us how to make a tule boat for the museum. Nels Westman suspended it from the museum ceiling and installed the museum lighting system. Dick Garwood created new display cases and his wife Heidi created all of our graphic materials.

The now sizable collection was retrieved from storage, dusted off, and a crew of volunteers worked for many months to set up and organize the new museum. The Aptos History Museum opened its expanded facility on May 24, 2006, and has since garnered enthusiastic reviews and numerous citations of merit. Every year, the museum hosts Aptos public schools’ third grade classes for their “local history” field trips.

The Museum Steering Committee plans history dinners, history walks and tours, and other events to help us get the stories out to the membership and the public. Bob Wall takes seniors from Aegis and Dominican Oaks on bus tours of historic locations. We will happily set up special tours for individuals and groups.

Last year, the committee wanted to produce a pictorial history book so I volunteered for the project, which was published on June 24, 2014. It is part of Arcadia Publishing’s Images of America series, simply titled “Aptos.” Signed copies are available at the Museum for $22.

There have been many other great resources for our museum. Sandy Lydon, aka “The History Dude,” is one of the leading experts on the history of Santa Cruz County, and for many years was a history professor at Cabrillo College. Sandy is great at making history fun and interesting.

Carolyn Swift is another amazing historian who just retired after 20 years as the curator of the Capitola Museum. She has shared, and continues to share an amazing collection of photographs and stories about Aptos. She has also helped correct some of the tall tales that showed up in some older newspaper articles. Some stories were embellished to make them more interesting. That is why original research is the best way to pass on history.

Allen Collins had meticulously researched and written the history of Rio Del Mar, initially in installments for the Rio Del Mar Improvement Association newsletter and later, in book form. This is our most accurate record of our history and is available at the Aptos History Museum. When Allen passed away, he left the museum all of his research material.

Karl Mertz, descendent of one of our town’s early pioneers Claus Mangels, has donated so many wonderful items from his family collection including the old guest register from Claus Spreckels’ Aptos Hotel (on Spreckels Drive). Spreckels and Mangels were business partners and played a significant role in our town’s development.

Every year, people continue to donate amazing artifacts and photos and provide new stories for our ever-growing collection. Please consider joining as a member. For a small donation the museum is also available for group meetings. Please stop by and visit our admission-free museum. We are open Monday–Friday from 9am – 4pm.

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To purchase tickets for our upcoming fundraiser or for more information about the Aptos History Museum, upcoming events, or becoming a member of the museum, please visit www.aptoshistory.org and follow us on Instagram @aptos_history_museum.