Baldwin, Levi K.
Levi K. Baldwin was one of the pioneers among North Coast dairymen, in partnership with Delos Wilder. The two established a pair of dairy farms that became one of the most successful and longest-lasting in the County. The detail (right) from the 1889 county map shows the extents of the Baldwin ranch, and the location of the dairy operations. It can also be seen from this map that Baldwin and Wilder's ranches were part of the Rancho Refugio originally granted to three Castro sisters.
In addition to dairy farming, Baldwin's land also included a bituminous rock mine/quarry (exact location not known). From "Asphalt Beds" in Clark:
The Wilder family consolidated and continued to operate the ranch until 1969, keeping it in one piece until it became Wilder Ranch State Park in 1974. Today's Baldwin Creek defines what was once the northwestern border of Baldwin's land. The city's Dimeo Lane landfill is surrounded by former Baldwin Ranch land, and today's Dimeo Lane may once have been the "good road" noted in the Mining Bureau report copied above.
- History Pages: 43 - Petroleum in Santa Cruz, Then and Now
- Santa Cruz County, Calif. Illustrations (1997 edition), p50 (Baldwin contributed a report on the north coast dairies)
