Eccles, California facts for kids

Eccles, California is a ghost town in Santa Cruz County, near Felton, east of Ben Lomond. It was near where Lompico Creek flows into Zayante Creek.

Located between Zayante and Felton, Eccles was a stop on the narrow gauge South Pacific Coast Railroad that ran from Santa Cruz to Oakland from 1880 to 1940. The railroad carried lumber and local produce. It was acquired by the Southern Pacific in the early 1900s, which added weekend excursion trains until the April 18, 1906, earthquake damaged or destroyed tracks, tunnels, and bridges. The Southern Pacific repaired the line, converted it to standard gauge and operated it until March 1940, when it suspended operations. State Route 17, which was completed in 1940, bypassed Eccles, contributing to its decline.

The area today is mostly rural and heavily wooded. Some of the old railroad has been preserved, from Olympia (just south of the site of Eccles) to Santa Cruz, and operates as an excursion train, the Santa Cruz, Big Trees and Pacific Railway.