History
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The land around Capitola evolved from seaside lagoons, wildflower meadows, eucalyptus trees, Monarch butterflies, and Ohlone Indians fishing in Soquel Creek to barley fields and a potato warehouse by 1850. Lawn Way is believed to have been the first site of the holiday tents that began Camp Capitola on July 4, 1874, under founder Samuel Hall. Frederick Augustus Hiln began the development of Capitola in 1882 and was the original builder of the Historic Lawn Way Cottages and the large attached Victorian beach houses on the Esplanade called the Six Sisters. Built of first-generation pure-heart redwood from the Santa Cruz Mountains, possibly from the Laurel Lumber Mills owned by Hiln, the cottages were established and dedicated on September 7th, 1911. Lawn Way, a palm and olive tree lane with cobblestone walkways and tall brass gas lanterns at either end, later served as the centerpiece entrance to Hiln's 160 room Grand Hotel Capitola in the 1920s. The cottages endured floods and ocean storms and witnessed holidays and picnics, elegantly dressed couples strolling through the village, horse-drawn carriages and buggies, the coming of electric trolleys in 1904, and the arrival of motor cars into modern times.
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Capitola, California · United States
