Aptos Independence Day Celebrations started in 1875!
By Kevin Newhouse
Every year on the 4th of July, thousands of people line-up on Soquel Drive between State Park Drive and Trout Gulch Road to witness what is known today as “The World’s Shortest Parade.“ This parade has become so popular that you will see people reserving their spots before sunrise and you may even see a few blankets and chairs set up the night before!
But did you know that Aptos has been celebrating our nation’s independence for 139 years! The first documented 4th of July celebration in Aptos occurred in 1875. As printed in the Santa Cruz Sentinel on July 10, 1875, “For the first time in its history, Aptos was the scene of a Fourth of July celebration, last Monday. The guests at the Aptos Hotel, in conjunction with the ready assistance of Mr. Claus Spreckels, on that day arranged a celebration in honor of our Independence Day, which was a very pleasant affair.” The day and night were filled with events such as speeches, music, dancing, a performance by the Aptos militia showcasing their skills with maneuvering wooding guns, and a fictional reading of what Aptos would be like in 1975, which was apparently very entertaining! The night ended with fireworks, which was a “fit termination for the grand time undergone during the day.”
How a Group of Rebellious Women Changed Aptos Forever!
As you would expect, there is no shortage of red, white, and blue as the town celebrates our country’s independence. However, the parade we celebrate on the 4th of July originally had nothing to do with Independence Day although both events were spawned by acts of rebellion.
In 1961, Lucille Aldrich, along with Anne Isaacs, Babe Toney, and others, formed the Aptos Ladies Tuesday Evening Society. They organized to defeat a proposed zoning change that would have allowed a cement batching plant to be built in the center of Aptos Village. Their efforts were successful. A celebratory barbecue was held on Memorial Day. The event was so popular that a parade and potluck were planned to follow on the fourth of July. Everyone turned out in old-fashioned clothing and the Monterey Bay Antique Car Club brought 18 vintage cars. A number of visitors stopped to view the parade when the “Sun Tan Special”, the train that once transported visitors from the San Francisco peninsula to Santa Cruz, passed through Aptos Village. “It was a happy coincidence that the parade coincided with the train passing through”, recalled Lucile Aldrich.
The defeat of the proposed zoning change wasn’t the only victory for the Aptos Ladies Tuesday Evening Society. In 1968, the ladies once again took action when the Southern Pacific Railroad tried to close the crossing in front of the Bayview Hotel. The ladies invited the press and laid themselves down upon the rail, dressed in their finest Victorian clothing. And once again they were victorious. The second victory was all the momentum needed to continue the annual 4th of July parade.
The Parade Becomes Aptos Tradition
Originally, the parade route was from the Driftwood Gas Station at Trout Gulch Road, which became Terrible Herbst gas station and is now the site of Bay Federal Credit Union, to the Pop Inn restaurant, now the site of Kaoboi restaurant, and back to the Bayview Hotel.
It lasted less than ten minutes. Soon, food booths were set up to help raise money for Mar Vista School and ears of corn were sold. Children’s games and contests were added including a cow-milking contest. The pancake breakfast was added in 1987, and is a cooperative venture between the Aptos Chamber of Commerce and other volunteers including the Cabrillo Host Lions Club and Santa Cruz County Sheriff Search and Rescue Team. The route today starts at the opposite end of the original route at the intersection of Soquel Drive and State Park Drive and ends at the Bayview Hotel. Although the parade lasts much longer than the original 10-minute event, it is in no danger of losing its title as the “World’s Shortest Parade” as it is named after its short distance (approximately 0.6 miles) and not how long it takes to run.
In 1992, after thirty years of successful organization, the Aptos Ladies’ Tuesday Evening Society retired from the job and turned the parade over to the Aptos Chamber of Commerce.
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For more information about the Aptos History Museum, upcoming events, or becoming a member of the museum, please visit www.aptoshistory.org.
Photos Courtesy of the Aptos History Museum.