Rountree, Almus L.

Almus Linneus Rountree (1828-1891), a native of Tennessee, came to Santa Cruz County in the 1850s. In 1862 he took over the Washington Market] on upper Willow Street (now Pacific Avenue), "two doors north of the San Lorenzo Exchange" (later site of the Pacific Ocean House). In 1863 he acquired a large parcel of land that included Point Santa Cruz. He sold a small plot to the U.S. government, where a lighthouse was built in 1869. He was elected County Sheriff 1869-1871, ran a hotel in Davenport, and returned to Santa Cruz to serve as Justice of the Peace.

Several descendents also went into law enforcement, including Undersheriff Richard Rountree, who died in the line of duty in 1925. The Rountree Detention Center in Watsonville is named for the family.

• History_Pages:_26_-_The_Quiet_Years
• "Tragedy on the Cliff: The Shooting of Sheriff Howard Trafton, Undersheriff Richard Rountree, and Paul Woodside", by Greg Gardner, Santa Cruz County History Journal Number 8