Guest Columnist

By John Hibble, of the Aptos History Museum One of the many gems that make Aptos different than anywhere else is Redwood Village, hidden in a redwood grove across Highway One from Deer Park Shopping Center. Today it is a small commercial center but...

The first owners of Aptos were the King and Queen of Spain. The Catholic Church and the Army administered their holdings.

The 4th of July is America’s birthday and many communities have parades to celebrate that fact. The freedom to determine our own future was at the center of the founding of our country.

Every winter, the people who live and work in the flats of Rio Dell Mar experience flooding in the streets and in their yards. Every winter, news reporters descend on the area to cover the events. This year, one reporter asked me about the...

By Zach Friend, Santa Cruz County Supervisor If you’ve been driving on Soquel near the Aptos Village recently you’ve noticed the work on the intersection of Aptos Creek Road and the surrounding area. This work includes important pedestrian improvements as well as intersection and drainage...

The late 1960s and 1970s were a tumultuous time in America. The Vietnam War, serial killers, Civil Rights marches and the Black Power Movement were plastered across the nightly television news. Aptos was to get our own, very up-close-and-personal incident with the Black Power movement.

A tiny six-page pamphlet about Aptos Village reads: Not so long ago there were hundreds of Aptos Indians still living and working in this area. Ralph Mattison, banker, tells of seeing them camped on the beach and remembers his father giving them cheese and milk...

The industrialization of Aptos as a lumber town and competition from new hotels in Santa Cruz, Capitola and Monterey, caused Spreckels to close his Aptos Hotel. In 1896, Spreckels tore down the Aptos Hotel and used the materials to build the factory and town of Spreckels near Salinas. He moved several whole buildings from Aptos to Spreckels.

By Zach Friend, Santa Cruz County Supervisor Here are some updates on local road repairs and proposed projects for bike and pedestrian safety this year. Funding for these projects comes from Measure D (which brings in about $900,000/year to our district for local roads), SB...

Raising children is like riding a wild roller coaster with exhilarating highs, terrifying lows, and unexpected twists and turns. Some parents love the action-packed roller coaster and find joy and laughter even in the midst of tantrums and attitudes. Other parents close their eyes...