Stories and guides
Around Town
Local guides, history, and practical notes about living in and visiting Boulder Creek.
Poverty Flat: Boulder Creek's Forgotten Silent-Film Town
In 1915 a film company built a 25-building fake gold-rush town outside Boulder Creek. At least eight silent films were shot there. Then it vanished.
Beatriz Michelena: The Silent-Film Pioneer Who Brought Movie Production to Boulder Creek
Beatriz Michelena was one of the first Latina stars of American film. In 1915 she co-built a 25-building movie set outside Boulder Creek and made films there.
Mary Pickford in Boulder Creek: A Romance of the Redwoods
In 1917 Cecil B. DeMille brought Mary Pickford to Boulder Creek to shoot A Romance of the Redwoods on the Poverty Flat set. The film still survives.
Why Isn't Boulder Creek a City?
Boulder Creek was an incorporated California city until residents voted to disincorporate in 1915. Here's what happened and what unincorporated means today.