Subtitle

The Not Quite Adventures of a Professional Archaeologist and Aspiring Curmudgeon

Wednesday, April 2, 2008

The Quest for Domestic Bliss

I have a project in the Mission Hill area of Santa Cruz, which is a historic district listed on the National Register of Historic Places. While doing background reading for the area, I found the following quote in the district's National Register nomination form:

"Bounded by Sylvar, Emmet, Mission, and High Sts. is the Plaza Municipal Park, also known as the upper plaza. It was originally the Mission quadrangle…In the early days quarrelling couples were placed in stocks on the upper plaza to be jeered at by crowds"

Yep, marriage counseling was rough in the 19th century.

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

You know? That doesn't sound like a half bad way to go about couples counseling. The bad half, of course, would be me being put in the stocks. But my husband? That half sounds kinda cool.