Fred Wilder Swanton (1862–1940) was an entrepreneur and real estate developer who served as mayor of Santa Cruz, California from 1927 until 1933. He promoted the expansion of Santa Cruz as a beach resort city. The seaside resort he established in 1904 remains today as the Santa Cruz Beach Boardwalk.
Life
Fred Swanton was born April 11, 1862, in Brooklyn, New York. His father was Albion Paris Swanton (1826–1911) who traveled to California in 1864, and was then followed by his wife Emily (Parshley) Swanton with Fred in 1866. After living briefly in Pescadero, California, they settled in Santa Cruz, California, in 1867. Swanton attended public schools and then graduated from Heald Business College in 1881.
He worked as a bookkeeper at various lumber companies in California until 1883, when he and his mother traveled east to visit relatives. He returned with the patent license for the telephone, which he sold through most of California. On December 25, 1884, he married Stanley Hall in Santa Cruz. He operated a hotel called the Swanton House with his father and ran Knight's Opera House theater. The hotel was the tallest building in the city when it was built. It burned down on May 30, 1887, and he started a livery business called Bonner Stables, and then a store called the Palace of Pharmacy, and briefly owned a billboard business. In October 1889 he sold those businesses, and with Dr. H. H. Clark started the first electric company in the area. He developed the Santa Cruz Electric Railway which ran cars from the beach to Santa Cruz and the Santa Cruz-Capitola Railroad to the new resort of Capitola, California, to the south. In 1900 he invested in the Klondike Gold Rush, but by then the profits had been made. He also dabbled in oil fields and a chromite mine.
"Coney Island of the west" Since 1865 the first of several bath houses operated on the Santa Cruz beach, and in 1868 a small boardwalk was built. Swanton envisioned developing the area into a resort similar to Atlantic City, New Jersey, or Coney Island near his native Brooklyn. In October 1903 he held a meeting at the courthouse and predicted shares in his enterprise would return up to 25%. On October 29, 1903, the Santa Cruz Beach, Cottage, and Tent City Corporation was formed, and over US$100,000 was raised. Swanson was Director-General (although personally invested only $250). He traveled throughout the state selling shares, eventually raising $1.5million. Existing bath houses were purchased with stock shares, and a tent city was constructed on land leased from the Southern Pacific Railway. In April 1904 the city granted an exclusive franchise for the beach to the company. Although some residents protested because the city had paid for many improvements such as extending roads, mayor David C. Clark (supported by Swanton in his election campaign) broke a tie in the city council to award the contract.
In the summer of 1904 the Neptune Casino (named after one of the original bath houses) was built, designed by architect Edward L. Van Cleeck. The Casino had a style similar to the Royal Pavilion in Brighton, England (the New Brighton State Beach lies a few miles to the south). The two story building with of beach front, was painted bright colors, and included dining rooms, a ballroom, and theater. A third floor rotunda was used as an observatory with views of the ocean. A "pleasure pier" long built over intake pipes for the baths (called the Plunge) was lit by electric lights. An opening ceremony was held June 11, 1904.
After a profitable first year, the pier was extended in 1905, and Swanton planned further expansion. The Neptune Casino survived the April 1906 San Francisco earthquake, but burned down on June 22, 1906 from a kitchen fire. A large tent was erected and the Republican Party of California held their convention there in the summer. Swanton sold his electric company and trolley business to free up capital, and again raised more money to rebuild. Architect William Henry Weeks was hired to design an even larger complex which opened by June 15, 1907.
In 1908, the first "thrill ride" opened, a miniature railway designed by LaMarcus Adna Thompson. In 1911, a carousel commissioned from Charles I. D. Looff was installed with an 1894 band organ from Andreas Ruth & Sohn. Swanton developed the Casa Del Rey Hotel across the street from the Casino in 1911. By 1912, a business downturn caused by the Panic of 1910–1911 wiped out the original stockholders. For the third time Swanton convinced investors to raise funds for the enterprise. By 1915 the Santa Cruz Seaside Company took over with Swanton again becoming an investor.