​Organized in 1938, Soquel Pioneer and Historical Association is a community organization that sponsors an annual picnic each July to commemorate the town’s history and its role in the development of Santa Cruz County. There are no membership restrictions.

Everyone interested in sharing and preserving Soquel history is invited to participate in the annual picnic celebration that keeps the past alive.

We also maintain a History Room at the  Porter Memorial Library on Porter Street. The room is open to anyone who wants to explore Soquel history through displays. books and scrapbooks.
​Click here to order the book
Images of America
​ Soquel
Historical Photos. Most of the pictures on this site are cropped versions of historical photos from our collection. Original copies can be found in scrapbooks at the Porter Memorial Library or at our picnic, or in our book.
The Soquel Pioneer and Historical Association committee worked four years to create a history of Soquel. The long-awaited book is part of the Arcadia Publishing Company Images of America Series. It may be obtained for a donation of $22 at the Soquel Porter Memorial Library.

The book includes many of the pictures archived in the Pioneers library. As a gift to Soquel, Stan Stevens, Librarian Emeritus at the University of California, Santa Cruz, compiled an index that is now available for the cost of printing, $3. with the book purchase.


Library hours are 12 to 4 P.M. Monday through Friday and 10 to 2 on Saturday
Featured Video: Barbara Harlamoff McCrary daughter of Russian immigrant Ivan (John) Harlamoff tells us about growing up on a chicken ranch in the Soquel area during world was 2. 
Annual Picnic 
Saturday, ​July 28th 2018
Each year, the Pioneers sponsor a potluck picnic for the community on the last Saturday in July.
The picnic begins at 12:00 noon. Participants come early to listen to the Santa Cruz Ukulele Club and to meet and greet old and new friends and to enjoy the photos and scrapbooks provided by the pioneers. We hold a raffle featuring items donated by local merchants. The highlight of the afternoon has always been a talk by a local historian.
Please bring a potluck dish.
Admission of $5.00 per adult $10 for a family helps defray the costs associated with the picnic.
Picture


This year our speaker will be Lisa Robinson.

​Her topic will be: Bear With Us -
Bear Stories Of The Santa Cruz Mountains
​
In the mid-1700s, the San Francisco peninsula was home to large numbers of grizzlies. The abundance of food was shared between the hierarchy of wildlife and the native peoples; there was plenty for all. In just a few decades, this would change. Confrontations between man and bear often resulted in death or serious injury. By the late-1800s there were few grizzlies left here and by 1900, grizzlies, once prolific, had been hunted to extinction. This talk will recount stories of bear encounters, both grizzlies and black bears, in the Santa Cruz area from the late 1700s to the present day.

Lisa Robinson has lived in the San Lorenzo Valley since 1990. She is President of the Board of Directors of the San Lorenzo Valley Historical Society, which owns and operates the San Lorenzo Valley Museum, where she manages the exhibitions and collections. She is a member of the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History Landmark Committee and is a member of the MAH Publications Committee. She is the author of The San Lorenzo Valley (Arcadia Press) and The San Lorenzo Valley Flume (Lulu), and editor of Redwood Logging and Conservation in the Santa Cruz Mountains – A Split History (MAH). She is the local history writer for the Santa Cruz Mountain Bulletin newspaper.

You can find more bio info here:
slvmuseum.com/board.html

SEE YOU AT THE PICNIC