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Port Watsonville

Ghost town · Santa Cruz County, California

Capitola quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1912, 1:62,500)
Capitola quadrangle, USGS topographic map (1912, 1:62,500) · U.S. Geological Survey, Historical Topographic Map Collection · Public domain

Port Watsonville is a ghost town in Santa Cruz County, California. It is one of 17 former communities in Santa Cruz County on the federal names register. That ranks the county 16th among the 58 California counties with a vanished settlement on record.

The U.S. Geological Survey lists Port Watsonville as a historical populated place on the Moss Landing topographic quadrangle: the name is no longer in official use for a community, whether the settlement was abandoned, absorbed into a neighbouring town or renamed. The recorded location is 36.8747° N, 121.8250° W.

Key facts

USGS quadrangleMoss Landing
Elevation10 ft
Nearest living townPajaro Dunes, CA
Distance to it1.2 miles
GNIS feature ID1670531
Coordinates36.87468, -121.82495

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What's there now

Port Watsonville is no longer a community in its own right. The nearest living town is Pajaro Dunes, CA (population 103), about 1.2 miles away in a straight line, and the site sits at roughly 10 feet above sea level. Much of the land around former townsites is private; check access before you visit.

Nearby places

Questions

Where is Port Watsonville?

Port Watsonville is in Santa Cruz County, California, at 36.8747, -121.8250.

How many ghost towns are in Santa Cruz County?

Santa Cruz County, California has 17 ghost towns on record at Wayfarrow.

Sources and licences

Facts marked "approximately" carry an uncertain date in the source. Text on this page is generated from the sources above; no encyclopedia prose is copied. Last updated 2026-11-05.