page_title: Holy City, California
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: Holy City, California / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Sign on Holy City Art Glass, Holy City, California
context_page_description: Holy City is an unincorporated community in Santa Clara County, California. Once considered a Utopian community in the 1920s and 1930s, it is now considered a ghost town. The town is located in the Santa Cruz Mountains, off State Route 17 on Old Santa Cruz Highway. It is part of the Lexington Hills census designated place. Its ZIP code is 95026, and its area codes are 408 and 669.
context_section_description: Holy City was founded in 1919 by cult-leader William E. Riker and about thirty of his followers. Calling his ideology "The Perfect Christian Divine Way", Riker preached celibacy, temperance, white supremacy, and segregation of the races and sexes.
  Riker bought the 142 acres (57 ha) that became Holy City. During the early years, the city was the only development between Santa Cruz and San Jose, known for its strange roadside attraction signs. They attracted tourists to a restaurant, service station, zoo, observatory, peep show, soda stand, barbershop, shoe repair. The town was incorporated in 1926.
  The religious community had no church; services were held in Riker's home. By the 1930s the PCDW confirmed disciples probably never numbered more than about 30 people, however the population of Holy City and the surrounding neighborhood peaked at around 300. By 1938, only 75 men and 4 women lived at the site.
caption: Holy City Art Glass sign, 2008
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