Wagner, John
John Wagner, born in Germany, came to Santa Cruz in ~1857. Trained in his father's business as a tanner, he found work first with Boston and Jones tannery, then with the Kirby tannery. Later, Wagner bought the old Paul Sweet tannery in Scotts Valley, with two partners. Selling out in 1874, Wagner used his share of the proceeds to buy a north-eastern part of the former Rancho de Los Tres Ojos de Agua from Louis Dodero. The parcel fronted on High Street and extended up and over the ridge, down into what is now Harvey West Park. Part of the forner Wagner estate is now a secluded area of the park, with a trail and steps leading up the slope to the Highland Drive neighborhood. There's a Wagner memorial marker along the trail. According the the city park website, Harvey West: "in 1958 purchased Wagner Grove from Fred Wagner as an addition to the park."
Son Fred Wagner (1878-1977), who inherited the property, was a Santa Cruz blacksmith who lived to age 98. In 1966, Margaret Koch interviewed him for a Sentinel article about the property's history.
- Margaret Koch, "From Wagner's Gulch - To Park - To Grove", Santa Cruz Sentinel, May 27, 1966, 9:1.
- Chase, John L., The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture (4th ed. 2023), Chapter Four, item (75), page 119
