Swanton, California facts for kids
Swanton is a small place in Santa Cruz County, California. It's on the Pacific coast, about 5 miles (8 km) north of Davenport. Swanton is not a city with its own government. It is part of a larger area managed by the county.
This community is found near Highway 1 on Swanton Road. The area is about 135 feet (41 m) above sea level. Swanton uses the ZIP Code 95017. Its phone numbers are in area code 831.
Swanton has many homes. It also has two larger businesses. These are the Big Creek Lumber Company and the Swanton Pacific Ranch. This ranch is part of California Polytechnic State University.
One exciting feature in Swanton is the Swanton Pacific Railroad. This is a special train that is one-third the size of a real train. It runs on 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of track. The track goes through the beautiful Scott Creek valley. The trains and cars used here are very old. They came from the San Francisco Panama Pacific Exposition in 1915.
History of Swanton
People have raised dairy cattle in the Swanton area for a long time. This started around the California Gold Rush. The area got its name from Fred Swanton. He was the person who built the famous Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
Swanton was once the end point for a train line. This was the southern part of the Ocean Shore Railroad. This train line stopped running in 1922. Swanton also had its own post office from 1897 to 1930. It even had its own school, called Seaside School, until 1960.
Recent Events
In 2009, a big wildfire called the Lockheed Fire affected Swanton. The fire burned for two weeks. It covered almost 8,000 acres (32 km²). Many people had to leave their homes for safety. This was the first major fire in the area since 1948.
Fighting the fire cost a lot of money, about $26 million. The fire destroyed 13 buildings. It also damaged many acres of valuable timber land. Luckily, no houses were destroyed.
In August 2020, Swanton faced more challenges. It was badly hit by the CZU Lightning Complex fires. These fires caused a lot of damage to the community.
