Jarvis family
The Jarvis family referred to here was led by John Waite Jarvis (1832-1892) and George M. (no burial info - Gibson says he was a brother), and came to California from Kentucky (an unrelated John Jarvis lived in Watsonville around the same time). The family was among the earliest to establish vineyards in the Santa Cruz Mountains, in an area just to the east of today's Highway 17, accessed by Vine Hill Road. Sentinel items indicate that the vineyard was well established and known locally by 1864, so we can guess that it was planted in the 1850s. While John remained in viniculture, George later went into wholesale/retail sales, with operations and residence in downtown Santa Cruz. The "Jarvis Building" was one of several combined in the final form of the St. George Hotel on Pacific Avenue, after being damaged by fire in 1894.
- History Pages: 40 - Approaching the Gilded Age: Santa Cruz Enters the 1880s
- Ross Eric Gibson, "A History of Wine Making in the Santa Cruz Mountains", SCPL (from San Jose Mercury, 1993).
- John L. Chase, The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture (4th ed. 2023), Chapter Five, entry (48), page 162.
