​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: Frank Hill
​Artist Frank Hill grew up in Capitola California in 1930's and 1940"s. He eventually moved to Soquel where he resides to this day. He had a long career as an illustrator. He assisted Hank Ketcham with the production of "Dennis the Menace" and designed "Peanuts" spin off products for Charles Schultz. He produced the nationally - syndicated "Bugs Bunny" comic strip for Warner Brothers and "Short Ribs" for the News Paper Enterprises Association. 
Annual Picnic 
Saturday, ​July 28th 2019
Each year, the Pioneers sponsor a potluck picnic for the community on the last Saturday in July.
The picnic begins at 12:00 noon. Come at 11;00 to listen to the music of The Open Heartstrings, an old time string band with fun instrumentals by banjo, fiddle, guitar and bass 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.
SOQUEL FAMILY CONNECTIONS
Deborah Maddock

In the winter 1867, 18 year old Edmund Maddock the 1st, left the comfort of a stable, thriving family trading business in Liverpool England, 
jumping aboard a sailing ship and making a 4 month journey across the oceans to San Francisco.  

From there his adventure through many dangers, trials and successes, finally settled him in the Salinas and Soquel areas. At about the same time... several other pioneer families were in the midst of their own westward movements. E R.  Fanuef, and Addi Wyman from Canada, Joshua Parrish has brought his family from Ohio and the Pringle family of 
future Soquel postmaster Lloyd Pringle were all staking their futures on living and thriving in early California. 

A talk describing some of the ways these interesting pioneer families  intersected, is planned for the July 2019 annual meeting and picnic of the Soquel Pioneer and Historical Association. ​