About the Archive

A German immigrant to California's Gold Rush, F. A. Hihn is considered by many as the County's most influential entrepreneur, from arrival in Santa Cruz (1851) to his death (1913).

Charles Bruce Younger Sr. was Hihn's principal attorney and dean of the legal community, and the two families were united by the marriage of Agnes Hihn, Therese and F. A. Hihn's youngest daughter, and C. B. Younger Jr.

Several collections have been donated, including maps and records of F. A. Hihn, the F. A. Hihn Company, and related corporate enterprises: the Capitola-Hihn Company, the Santa Cruz Rail Road Company, the Santa Cruz Water Co., the Valencia-Hihn Co., artifacts, correspondence, documents, memorabilia and photographs of the Hihn and Younger families. Many of these donations await processing beyond the initial inventory.

Past Coordination and Support

Librarian Emeritus Stanley D. Stevens provided reference assistance, directed the work of Archive Assistants, coordinated the receipt of gifts of material and other contributions, and was the compiler-editor of publications related to the subjects of the Archive.

Research and processing were supported financially by two sources: The Hihn-Younger Archive Fund, for immediate and short-term projects of the Coordinator, and the income from the Louis Edwin Hihn Endowment which supported the acquisition of materials, as well as the compilation, publication, and distribution of publications about F. A. Hihn, the Correspondence of Charles Bruce Younger (Senior and Junior), and related subjects. Contributions to the Hihn-Younger Archive Fund enable the University Library to hire Archive Assistants to transcribe and index the collections.

Donors

• 1976-79 Donald and Marion Younger -- Hihn & Younger documents-letters
• 1985- Gloria Hihn Welsh -- documents, records & maps
• 1990-93 Louis Edwin Hihn -- family material and Endowment
• 1992- Robert & Helen Hihn Younger Goode -- family pictures and documents
• 1993-99 Jane Younger McKenzie -- family pictures and letters
• 1993- Donald & Mary McKenzie -- family pictures and geneaology
• 1993-02 Wilhelmina Hihn Englander -- books, pictures and documents
• 1993 Various Donors In Memory of Louis E. Hihn
• 1997 Estate of Teresa Agnes Hihn Moore, Gordon Benner, Executor -- books, pictures and documents
• 2003 Ron Powell -- 25 Years of research material on the Soquel and Soquel Augmentation Ranchos, 1850 - 1990