Laura Davick Crystal Cove Historic Archive Collection

A Message from Laura Davick, Founder of the Crystal Cove Conservancy

Hello friends!

I wanted to share some EXCITING news with you! Hold on this is a long one. Many of you know that I am a bit of a history buff when it comes to Crystal Cove. My family started tent, camping at Crystal Cove in 1937. In 2037, it will be 100 years that my family has been at Crystal Cove in one form or another.

It has been my privilege and passion to protect and preserve the history of Crystal Cove over the past few decades. Hundreds of individuals and families have trusted me to protect and preserve their family photos and stories. It has been truly such an honor to be the guardian of this important information.

For the past 20 some years, I’ve been working with UCI Library, Special Collections, with the idea of having them preserve and house all of the original information in my historic archive collection.

It has always been my goal to make this information available to the public and future generations for all to enjoy! It is so important that this history is not lost and that 100 years from now people will be able to truly step back in time and better understand Crystal Cove’s history on a much deeper level.

In 2020, during COVID, I put together a plan of the five most important things that I had to finish in my lifetime. This was number two on the list. I rented a small office on Dover and I moved all my files, binders, boxes, and crates, representing literally 100 years of history. It was finally all in one place and I felt like it was safe. I had no idea that it would sit there for 2 1/2 years as Covid continued, waiting to be viewed by the wonderful people from UCI Library.

I then hired Jennifer and Cindy Keil at 70 Degrees to digitize my entire collection. Last week, on March 15, 2024 that contract ended. This past Monday, we transferred the documents to their new home

at UCI Library, Special Collections.

More to come on this great project! We’re just getting started! Phase I, which represents the majority of this collection, is now done. Thank you to all that have been part of this incredible journey!