Sacred Town, California, Santa Clara County is a ghost town that captures the imagination with its intriguing and unusual history. Once a bustling settlement with an eclectic past, it now stands as a proof of the passage of time and the quirks of human endeavor. Below is detailed information about the town.
County: Santa Clara County
Zip Code: Not available
Latitude / Longitude: 37.1642° N, 121.9789° W
Elevation: Approximately 1,240 feet (378 meters)
Time Zone: Pacific Time Zone (PT)
Established: 1919
Disestablished: 1959
Comments: Sacred Town was founded by William E. Riker, a self-proclaimed prophet. It was established as a religious commune based on the philosophy of Riker’s cult, “The Perfect Christian Divine Way.”
At its peak, Sacred Town featured a variety of attractions including a restaurant, service station, zoo, observatory, and a radio station. It was a popular roadside stop for travelers between Santa Cruz and San Jose. Holy City is an unincorporated community in Santa Clara County, California Ghost Townlifornia.
Once considered a Utopian community in the 1920s and 1930s, it’s arguably now a ghost town. The town is located in the Santa Cruz Mountains, off State Route 17 on Old Santa Cruz Highway. It is part of the Lexington Hills census-designated place. Its ZIP code is 95026, and its area codes are 408 and 669. Holy City was founded in 1919 by cult-leader William E. Riker and about thirty of his followers.
Calling his ideology “The Perfect Christian Divine Way”, Riker preached celibacy, temperance, white supremacy, and segregation of the races and sexes.
Remains: The site of Sacred Town now contains very few remnants of its past. Some dilapidated buildings and foundations are still overgrown and largely reclaimed by nature. The once vibrant attractions are no longer visible, with most structures being demolished over the years.
Riker bought the 142 acres (57 ha) that became Holy City. The city was the only development between Santa Cruz and San Jose during the early years, known for its strange roadside attraction signs. They attracted tourists to a restaurant, service station, zoo, observatory, peep show, soda stand, barbershop, shoe repair.
The town was incorporated in 1926. The religious community had no church; services were held in Riker’s home. By the 1930s the PCDW confirmed disciples probably never numbered more than about 30 people, however, the population of Holy City and the surrounding neighborhood peaked at around 300. By 1938, only 75 men and 4 women lived at the site.
Current Status: The area where Sacred Town once stood is now privately owned. It is not open to the public, and access is restricted. The site is mostly forgotten, with little to no signage indicating its historical significance.
The developers who purchased the property eventually put it up for sale in 2006, but it lingered on the market until 2016, when Robert and Trish Duggan bought it for $6 million. The Holy City Zoo, a former comedy club in San Francisco, had the sign, table, and chairs that all came from the zoo’s original site.
Remarks: Sacred Town is a fascinating chapter in California’s history, emblematic of the diverse and sometimes eccentric settlements that dotted the American landscape. Its story reminds us of the fleeting nature of human endeavors and the unique communities that once thrived along America’s highways.
The town began to further decline in population in the 1940s, with the construction of State Route 17. Holy City was no longer on the main route through the mountains. With the end of the Depression, many of Riker’s followers were able to find work elsewhere. The town was disincorporated in 1959, and Riker lost control of the property. Several of the buildings mysteriously burned down shortly afterward.
