Editing Aptos, California (section)

== History ==
Aptos was traditionally inhabited by the [[Awaswas people|Awaswas tribe]] of [[Ohlone]] people. The name is one of only three native words that have survived (in Hispanicized form) as place names in Santa Cruz County (the others are [[Soquel]] and [[Zayante, California|Zayante]]).

The first European land exploration of [[Alta California]], the Spanish [[Portolá expedition]], passed through the area on its way north, camping at one of the creeks on October 16, 1769. The expedition diaries don't provide enough information to be sure which creek it was, but the direction of travel was northwest, parallel to the coast. [[Franciscan]] missionary [[Juan Crespi]], traveling with the expedition, noted in his diary that, "We stopped on the bank of a small stream, which has about four varas of deep running water. It has on its banks a good growth of cottonwoods and alders; on account of the depth at which it runs it may be that it cannot be utilized to water some plains through which it runs."<ref>{{cite book |last=Bolton |first=Herbert E. |page=214 |year=1927 |title=Fray Juan Crespi: Missionary Explorer on the Pacific Coast, 1769-1774 |url=https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/pt?id=uc1.$b233487;view=1up;seq=1 |publisher=[[HathiTrust Digital Library]] | access-date=July 19, 2017}}</ref> Crespi diary translator Herbert Bolton speculated that the location was Soquel Creek, but it could have been Aptos Creek.

In 1833 the government of Mexico granted Rafael Castro the {{convert|6656|acre|km2|adj=on}} [[Rancho Aptos]]. Initially Castro raised cattle for their hides, but after California became a state in 1850, Castro leased his land to Americans who built a wharf, general store, and lumber mill. The original town was located where Aptos Village Square is now. In 1853 a leather tannery was built, and the main building is a bed & breakfast inn {{citation needed|date=December 2023}}.

In 1875, [[Frederick A. Hihn]] and [[Claus Spreckels]] partnered to build the [[Santa Cruz Railroad]], and routed it through Aptos where they both had development interests - Hihn with the Loma Prieta Lumber Company, and Spreckels with his Aptos Hotel resort. The railroad tracks ran directly adjacent to the Santa Cruz Watsonville road, whose route was originally established by the 1769 Spanish exploratory expedition led by [[Gaspar de Portolá]].

[[File:Bayview Hotel, Aptos, California.jpg|thumb|Bayview Hotel in Aptos]]
In 1878 Augustia Castro, daughter of Rafael Castro, and her husband José Arano built the Victorian, Bayview Hotel in Aptos village. The hotel is a Santa Cruz County landmark. It is Santa Cruz county's oldest operating hotel. It has been a State Historic Monument since 1974 and listed on the National Register of Historic Places since 1993.<ref>Santa Cruz County History, Santa Cruz Public Library article by Ross Eric Gibson</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.santacruzpl.org/history/articles/355/|work=Santa Cruz County History - Tourism|publisher=Santa Cruz Public Libraries|title=The Spirit of Aptos: 116-Year-Old Hotel to Become Landmark|first=Ross Eric|last=Gibson|access-date=14 July 2015|archive-date=September 11, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150911235131/http://www.santacruzpl.org/history/articles/355/|url-status=dead}}</ref> Since being originally built, the hotel was moved to its current location.<ref>Hotel Bayview</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=25571#:~:text=It%20was%20moved%20150%20feet%20west%20in%201953%20and%20remains%20today%20the%20oldest%20hotel%20in%20Santa%20Cruz%20County.|work=Aptos in Santa Cruz County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)|publisher=THE HISTORICAL MARKER DATABASE| title=Hotel Bayview }}</ref>

In the mid to late 1800s, a series of major epidemics hit the area. A particularly bad one occurred in the early winter of 1868. Cases of [[smallpox]] were reported among the poor of [[San Juan Bautista, California|San Juan Bautista]]. Efforts were made to localize the rapidly spreading disease, such as, barricading the roads leading in and out of San Juan Bautista. These efforts failed however, and when cases appeared in [[Watsonville]], [[Santa Cruz, California|Santa Cruz]] citizens attempted to again quarantine the disease by destroying the Aptos Bridge. These efforts again failed and only created a rift between the two cities. The death toll of the smallpox epidemic lead to the local press publishing of the latest remedies available for home use as well as methods to prevent the spread of smallpox and [[Vaccine|inoculations]].<ref>{{cite web|url=http://aptoshistory.org/aptos_history.html|title=The History of Aptos| publisher=Aptos History Museum |access-date=14 July 2015}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.santacruzpl.org/history/articles/315/|work=Santa Cruz County History - Disasters & Calamities|publisher=Santa Cruz Public Libraries|title=Voices of the Heart: Introduction|first=Phil|last=Reader|access-date=14 July 2015|archive-date=May 18, 2015|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150518183653/http://www.santacruzpl.org/history/articles/315/|url-status=dead}}</ref>

By 1872, [[Claus Spreckels]], a sugar millionaire, began buying the land from Castro. He built a hotel near the beach and a summer mansion and ranch with a racetrack for his horses. A large area was fenced and stocked with deer for hunting, and became known as "the Deer Park," home of today's Deer Park Center.

From 1880 to 1920 [[Sequoia sempervirens|redwood]] timber harvesting became the major industry, and Aptos became a boom town. The Loma Prieta Lumber Company logged all of what is now [[The Forest of Nisene Marks State Park]]. The Valencia Mill logged everything to the east. Within 40 years the hills were bare, and apples became the next industry. The Hihn Apple Barn is a historic building from that era; in 2016–2017, the building had been relocated nearby to be used as a grocery store and make way for a shopping complex.

On March 16–20, 1905, the Leonard Ranch near La Selva was the site of experiments with a new tandem-wing glider designed and built by [[John J. Montgomery]]. Hoisted aloft by hot-air balloon to considerable heights, over a series of test flights pilot [[Daniel J. Maloney]] was able to demonstrate the control and flight of the Montgomery glider design. These flights, with starting altitudes over 3,000 feet above the ground, were the first high-altitude flights in the world.<ref>Harwood C.S., Fogel G.B. ''Quest for Flight: John J. Montgomery and the Dawn of Aviation in the West'' University of Oklahoma Press, 2012.</ref> A marker was placed at this location in 2005 honoring the centennial of these accomplishments.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.waymarking.com/waymarks/WM9QF9_First_High_Altitude_Aeroplane_Flights_March_1905_Aptos_CA |title=First High Altitude Aeroplane Flights March 1905 - Aptos, CA - E Clampus Vitus Historical Markers on |publisher=Waymarking.com |date=2010-09-19 |access-date=2015-08-16}}</ref>

After Spreckels' death, Seacliff Park and Rio Del Mar Country Club (today's [[Seacliff State Beach]]) were developed in the late 1920s. Rio Del Mar Country Club included a clubhouse, a grand hotel on the bluffs, a beach club, a polo field, and a golf course. The estuary was filled in (now Rio Beach Flats) and the [[SS Palo Alto|SS ''Palo Alto'']] cement ship was moored and converted into an amusement pier with restaurants, swimming pool, and a dance pavilion. Both Rio Del Mar and Seacliff were popular during [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]] as drinking and gambling were discreetly available. These amusements were interrupted by the [[Great Depression in the United States|Great Depression]] and World War II.

In the early 1960s Aptos began a period of rapid development, including [[Cabrillo College]], Rancho Del Mar Shopping Center, the Seascape Resort development, and many residential developments.

In 2023, Microsoft named a new Windows font after this community.<ref>{{Cite news |last=Valentino |first=Silas |date=May 23, 2024 |title=Aptos is world famous, but nobody in the Calif. town knows why |url=https://www.sfgate.com/centralcoast/article/aptos-coastal-calif-profile-microsoft-typeface-19468314.php |access-date=2024-05-23 |work=SFGATE |language=en}}</ref><ref>[https://www.cnn.com/2024/02/22/us/microsoft-default-font-aptos-calibri-cec/index.html Why a small change by Microsoft was a big jolt for some users]</ref>