Porter family
Porter is a prominent mid-county name dating from the earliest years. Benjamin F. Porter, his brother Edward and several cousins arrived from Vermont in 1853-54. Ben Porter was a tanner by trade and built a tannery operation on the creek in what is now called Porter Gulch (near Cabrillo College). Brother “Ned” Porter opened the first mercantile store in Soquel village, just as the timber/lumber industry was taking off. The main street of Soquel today is Porter Street, and the local library is named Porter Memorial.
John T. Porter, son of ___, became a major property owner and developer in Santa Cruz and Watsonville. He built the Chinese immigrants community known as "Brooklyn", just across the Pajaro River in 1888, when the Chinese community outgrew its segregated neighborhood in the city.
Brooklyn Chinatown, Monterey County. Brooklyn Chinatown, founded in 1888, was the common name for Pajaro Chinatown. The name Brooklyn was taken from a street within the relocated Chinatown. The name Pajaro is attributable to nearby Pajaro River. The relocation refers to Watsonville Chinatown. See Pajaro Chinatown, Monterey County; Watsonville Chinatown, Santa Cruz County. Reference: Clark 1991: 101.
Mary Porter Sesnon became a prominent philanthropist, especially supportive of education. Because of that, there’s now a Porter College at UCSC and a Porter-Sesnon House at Cabrillo College.
