Lime Works News

One hundred and fifty years ago, the IXL Lime Company produced its first batch of lime near Felton. Frank Perry will discuss the company’s history in an online lecture on November 8, 2025.

Join historian Frank Perry, co-author of the book Lime Kiln Legacies, for a November 8 lecture on the IXL Lime Company. The speaker will discuss the history of the company, including some new information discovered since the publication of his book in 2007.

Frank Perry describes how errors can sometimes creep into otherwise carefully researched books and articles, including those about Santa Cruz’s lime works history.

Our Friends group is participating again in the Santa Cruz County History Fair; this year’s fair will take place on Saturday, May 17.

This profile of Sarah Cowell was prepared as the cover story for the Fall 2024-Winter 2025 issue of the Lime Kiln Chronicles.

The Friends of the Cowell Lime Works will be participating in a local History Fair on Saturday, May 18, 2024.

A generous gift is helping UC Santa Cruz honor its history, reimagine the entrance to campus, and create a unique meeting and event space for the campus and the greater community.

The historic Cooperage building beside Coolidge Drive near the main entrance to the UCSC campus will be rehabilitated.

Some of the stories from the early years at the Cowell Ranch read like the script from a 1950s western.

The Friends of the Cowell Lime Works will be participating in a local History Fair on Saturday, May 14. Come on by!

The Friends of the Cowell Lime Works will be conducting a walking tour of the district for members and other interested persons on Saturday, May 21.

In the cover story for the Spring/Summer 2022 edition of the Lime Kiln Chronicles, Board President Frank Perry describes the history of the Cowell Reservoir, which at one time was Santa Cruz’s primary water storage facility.

In the cover story for the Fall 2021/Winter 2022 Lime Kiln Chronicles, Board President Frank Perry describes the history that led to the establishment of the UC Santa Cruz campus and the Cowell Lime Works Historic District.

In the cover story for the Spring/Summer 2021 Lime Kiln Chronicles, John Law Smith recalls his experiences on the Cowell Ranch and early days of the UC Santa Cruz campus.

The Friends board has announced that the historic Cardiff Shed reconstruction project has been completed.

On at least two occasions, the Cowell Ranch came close to being immortalized in a Hollywood picture.

The Friends board has announced that its project to rebuild the historic Cardiff Shed has nearly been completed.

The Friends board has announced that the historic Cardiff Shed will be reconstructed.

The Santa Cruz County History Fair will return on Saturday, May 18, 2019.

In this story, which was featured in our Friends Group’s Fall 2018 newsletter, Frank Perry provides interesting leads on when the district’s historic structures were built.

UC Santa Cruz alumnus and Professor Emeritus of architecture Richard Fernau came to campus to speak about his office’s renovation/reinvention of the Cowell Ranch Hay Barn.

Each of the lime-making operations around California had a cooperage, but the one at UC Santa Cruz is the only one still standing.

The Quarry Amphitheater has been restored and is now open.

The 2016 History Fair led to this article about two Santa Cruz immigrants with similar interests in the local lime industry who had different family stories.

The Friends of the Cowell Limeworks organized a second Santa Cruz County History Fair in October that was even more successful than the inaugural event.

The Friends of the Cowell Lime Works will host the 2nd Santa Cruz County Fair.

Last fall’s History Fair at UCSC, sponsored by the Friends of the Cowell Lime Works, was a huge success, with nearly 300 people in attendance.

This article is from the Fall 2015 edition of the Friends of the Cowell Lime Works newsletter, the Lime Kiln Chronicles.

The Friends of the Cowell Lime Works Historic District is presenting a local history fair, coinciding with the 150th anniversary of Henry Cowell’s purchase of the land that would become UC Santa Cruz. The event will take place on Saturday, October 24, on the UCSC campus.

UCSC Physical Planning and Construction (PP&C), together with Friends of the Cowell Lime Works Historic District, is seeking up to three student interns to conduct research and prepare poster displays for the Henry Cowell Sesquicentennial Conference in October 2015.

Crews doing earthquake retrofitting at two historic UCSC buildings this summer are uncovering remnants of UCSC’s past.

Capturing and preserving the colorful history of the land that is now UCSC is the goal of a $100,000 campus heritage grant for 2004 awarded by the Getty to the campus.