Barry Brown’s cerulean eyes sparkle behind his glasses when he talks about gunpowder.
Or, more specifically, the black gunpowder that was produced at the California Powder Works, which operated on more than 200 acres along Highway 9 midway between Felton and Santa Cruz in the late 1800s and early 1900s.
The 70-year-old retiree knows more than a thing or two on the topic — he’s in the process of writing a book (already 400 pages deep) and regularly gives tours of the site for Henry Cowell Redwoods State Park and the Santa Cruz Museum of Art and History.
The former television director and cameraman recently received his second Dolkas Award ($1,000 to a project that advances community awareness about regional history) from the Museum of Art and History and a grant from the Hagley Museum and Library in Delaware for the work he’s dedicated his energy to for seven years.
“I hope to finish the book in the next year and then move on to write a screenplay,” said Brown, whose fascination for the subject is infectious.
The California Powder Works was created in 1861 by San Francisco capitalists wanting to profit off the need for black gunpowder production on the West Coast. The Works operated until 1914.
Over the site’s 50-year history, there were 50 explosions and fires that left many people dead. Shrapnel propelled by the blasts still scars the surrounding redwoods.
“The lumber yards still won’t take any trees from the area because of that,” Brown said.
Now a community known as Paradise Park, the site is home to 369 residences, many of them built on top of the old concrete wheel mills. Everyone who lives there today is a Freemason or Eastern Star member, including Brown.
“When I retired here, being a fairly active guy, I needed something to do,” Brown said. “In the process of prowling the park, I saw remnants of gunpowder and discovered some old photos of the powder mills.”
Soon after his discovery, Brown signed up for classes to learn how to restore the old photographs.
“I picked up names and stories of the powder mill along the way,” he said. “My grandfather also told me some stories, because he lived here in 1905. It became personal at that point.”
Brown’s dedication can be seen all over the park. He produced all of the 30 self-guided tour signs, which are filled with historical references, stories and restored photographs spread throughout the 136 acres.
Brown explained that the site was originally chosen to produce gunpowder because it combined the three most important elements for manufacturing the product: The San Lorenzo River was a water source, the surrounding forests supplied the wood, and the proximity to the ocean was ideal for shipping.
Just three short years after the site started operation, the California Powder Works became the first black powder producer on the West Coast and the largest and most prolific maker of explosives, including brown prismatic powder and smokeless powder.
“The plant supplied guns for the Great White Fleet in Manila during the Spanish American War,” Brown said.
The operation began shutting down as the need for black powder declined and the Santa Cruz population expanded, Brown said. Most of the buildings were sold for scrap, and the plant was completely closed by 1914.
The area was abandoned for the next 10 years until a group of Freemasons bought it for summer campsites, which developed into the more permanent community there today, Brown said.
Walking though the park, with its historical covered bridge, old mansions and cannon remnants, it’s easy to see how Brown’s fascination took shape.
“It’s really amazing what these people did here back then,” Brown said. “I think it’s a very relevant history to spread.”
