Description: This image shows some of the early Cowell Ranch workers in the days when the land the University now occupies was owned by the Cowell family. The Cowell family owned and operated a successful ranch here with a lime kiln and cooperage. You may recognize the building on the right edge of image which is the elevated barn just up the hill from the Barn Theater and Cook House at the base of campus.

Photographher: Unknown.

Description: This image was taken from a collection of late 19th - early 20th century glass plate negatives, which are part of the Lick Observatory Archives. The University of California Observatories (UCO) is headquartered on the UC Santa Cruz campus and operates telescope and support facilities at the Lick Observatory on Mt Hamilton, just southeast of San Jose, CA.

This glass plate negative collection showcases both the observatory and the often rustic quality of life on Mount Hamilton in the early days of the observatory. During this time a sizable community thrived on the mountain as commuting to the valley below was inefficient and at times impossible.

The Lick Observatory Archives is just one of the many special archives housed in UCSC's Special Collections.

Photographer: unknown.

Description: This was a fire danger poster distributed on campus in the first year UCSC was open for instruction - 1965. I thought it was relevant after the controlled burns in Wilder Ranch temporarily filled some parts of campus with smoke yesterday.

Photographer: Tom F. Walters.