Camp Capitola Superintendent's Office

The bronze credits F. A. Hihn, who owned the land. The camp was his tenant's. Samuel A. Hall, a shipwright, leased the flats at Soquel Landing from Hihn in 1869 and let summer campers pitch tents there. The City of Capitola says Hall's daughter Lulu, a schoolteacher, named the camp for Capitola Black, the cross-dressing heroine of E.D.E.N. Southworth's best-selling novel The Hidden Hand; other accounts credit Hihn with the name. The plaque has the office serving the camp until 1930; the state register dates Hihn's own use of it to about 1883 through 1919.

What the plaque says

Camp Capitola Superintendent's Office California's first seaside resort community was established here in 1869 by Mr. F. A. Hihn. The grand opening was held on July 4, 1874, for the 15 acre resort, located in the present Village and Depot Hill areas. The superintendent's office, built from local redwood in the 1880's, served as the headquarters for Camp Capitola until 1930. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 860 Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the Capitola Historical Society, July 28, 1973. This property Superintendent's Office has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places by the United States Department of the Interior

Where it stands

More markers nearby

• Branciforte — 3.5 mi
• Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk — 3.7 mi
• The Mystery Spot — 4.2 mi
• Site of Santa Cruz Mission — 4.4 mi