The Santa Cruz house was constructed in 1851 of split redwood. It stood near the main post office. The house was one main hotels in Santa Cruz in the 1860s, the other being the Pacific Ocean House. The owners of the two hotels had an active rivalry. A New Santa Cruz House was erected near the site of the original hotel, and was opened on February 2, 1864. On May 30, 1887 a fire started in a nearby Chinese laundry. This fire spread, and though the hose cart teams rushed to the scene but the town’s water supply was at low pressure and not much could be done. The Santa Cruz House burned down that afternoon.
