Pray, Amasa

Amasa Pray (d.1881) was shown on the 1866 Santa Cruz map as an owner of downtown Santa Cruz property, in "Block No. 4" (west side of Pacific Ave.). He was half of the partnership "Moore & Pray, PO House" (with William Moore), which built the Pacific Ocean House hotel that same year. That hotel replaced the San Lorenzo Hotel, which had burned down in 1865. According to Sidewalk Companion, the San Lorenzo Hotel was built in 1852 by Henry Rice. The 1866 map shows Rice as co-owner of a large adjacent parcel to the west of the Moore & Pray property, so Rice probably sold the hotel site to them after the fire.

• History Pages: 21 - The Town
• John L. Chase, The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture (4th ed. 2023), Chapter Five, item (5), page 134; item (6), page 136.