The bizarre history of this goofy land subdivision is a cautionary story on several levels. The subdivision was recorded in 1911 to sell parcels as vacation homes. Around this time people were getting access to transportation that allowed them to get out of cities like San Francisco and Oakland during the summer. People started constructing summer cabins in various places that could be easily accessed from the Bay Area. San Jose was still a small agricultural town and did not figure into this picture in any significant way. The Russian River area and the Santa Cruz Mountains were two of the most popular summer destinations. Land in this mountain range was still cheap. This was during and right after the old growth forest, clear cutting boom days when this mountain range was being demolished for cheap lumber.

During this time Santa Cruz County had no regulations for land subdivision and parcels could be created even if the lots were unusable for any practical purpose. This has created serious problems that are still problems today. Happyland was laid out without the necessary survey markers upon terrain that was often very steep and impractical to use. The lots became so cheap that they were actually given away with subscriptions to the San Francisco Chronicle newspaper. At least that's the story that has come down to us through the "mists of time". The Conservancy has an old wooden marker for "Happyland" that was probably used during the time people were trying to sell these lots.

Very few "Happyland" lots were ever built upon. In about 1968 some speculators decided to try to cut a road network into sections of the area. Mill Creek is the largest drainage in Happyland. Mill Creek joins Lompico Creek just upstream of the Lompico County Water District office. Bulldozers were bought in and grading began on this hair-brained plan. The people cutting roads has no idea what they were doing and started an erosion nightmare of historic proportions. At this time the County had no regulations for grading and people could essentially do what ever their neighbors would stand for. Lompico was still a "wild west" place. By about 1972 this road grading was becoming such a problem that the County finally shut down the work and enacted an ordinance to regulate grading. It was however too late for the Mill Creek sub-watershed. Lots of "roads" had been bulldozed and the collapse of these roads had already started. Below are pictures we obtained from the County Planning Department taken during the time when the County was shutting down this mess.

This image shows the piles of loose sand and silt that were cut out of the hill side and dumped in any location with no concern for the impact. This "road" can be seen retreating into the distance.

The photo above shows a cut though a rise dumped into a ravine below to create a "road". All this grading washed into Lompico Creek in catastrophic erosion events during rain storms. Virtually nothing is left of this dislodged sand except for stranded culverts like the one in the picture below. This erosion sent huge volumes of soil into our creeks and ruined them for years. This erosion is still occurring (though at a reduced level) because the terrain was damaged so severely. Scars can sell be seen from the air.

Culvert stranded from Happyland grading. No sign of the original "road" is left in this image.

This image shows a tractor on a huge mass of sand that has nearly all flowed into Lompico Creek over the years. This may be hard to believe but this sand has no cohesiveness. Most is like beach sand and the terrain is so steep that heavy rain has transported this mass down hill over time into the San Lorenzo River and Monterey Bay.

This is a picture of the Water District office and impoundment after a storm that filled the stream impoundment in this image with sand!

This air photo from 1978 shows the road scars on both sides of Lompico Road from Happyland grading. Here you can really get a feel for the scale of the damage that ocurred. Loch Lomond Reservoir is the shape of the left side of the frame.

Today Happyland is still eroding but the scale of that erosion is much slower. Most of the scars in this air photo are covered with small trees and brush but the damage can still be found on the ground.

The Lompico Watershed Conservancy has begun its Mill Creek Conservation Area Project to finally resolve this problem. If you own Happyland lots that you would consider donating to the Conservancy, please contact us. We know how to prepare the paperwork and record a land transfer. We are a charitable organization and donations of land to us can provide you with tax deductions. We will never develop this property under any situation, and we are establishing a long term way to resolve this situation.