Santa Cruz County Bank building

For a table of contents, see History pages.

[[File:20 The Santa Cruz County Bank building on the northeast corner of Pacific Avenue and Cooper Street, whose facade was saved from demolition after the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, has had an interesting history. Built in 1894 after the 1894 fire destroyed Mike Leonard's saloon, the original configuration can be seen in a photo on History Pages 56: The Big Rebuild of 1894. The photo at right shows that the corner entrance went away in a 1910 remodel that also extended the Pacific Avenue facade to cover the front of the formerly-separate building called "The Gem". Just visible at far left is the Staffler bldg. In 1979, the County Bank facade was extended to cover that building as well. Notes:

• The photo (presumably on a postcard) is labeled "1936", but all of the cars are pre-1920. Was this photo staged by a classic car club?
• Later photos show a corner marquee sign. That sign was already gone by the time of the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake.
• The Sidewalk Companion to Santa Cruz Architecture (4th ed. 2023) includes, in Chapter Five: Downtown, a photo of the facade walls that were saved (and remain today) after the earthquake.