Hoffman, Christian

Christian Hoffman (1836-1918), born in Germany, first appears in the Sentinel in the late 1860s as the rental agent for "Whidden's Hall", then as the local sales rep for Singer sewing machines. In the 1870s he became a notary public, and a real estate dealer/investor in partnership with A. J. Hinds as "Hoffman & Hinds". The partners later expanded into insurance and piano sales.

By 1878, Hoffman had built a residence on a large lot at the corner of School Street and Pearl (now Adobe) Street. That house has not survived. Set well back from School Street, the bulk of that property became the Adobe Villa condominium development in 1977.

Hoffman owned (whether by the partnership is not known) a large tract of land on "the Cliff Drive". It was purchased in 1907 by William Dingee. The combined West Cliff Drive properties bought by Dingee were later subdivided as "Cliff Manor". Today's three branches of Manor Avenue were created to access the subdivision lots.

• "Panama Vessels may Stop Here", Santa Cruz Sentinel, 01 Sep 1907, 5:2