Aromas
Aromas is a wonderful rural town ideally situated between Monterey to the south, San Jose to the north, and Santa Cruz to the east.
Aromas straddles the border of the three counties, with Monterey County to the west and San Benito County to the east and Santa Cruz County to the northwest. Its population is about 2708 based on the 2020 census. Likely higher today.
Aromas boasts the annual Aromas Day event and other smaller events throughout the year. There is a strong artisan collective in the area as well as a elementary school, home town markets and one great café – Aromas Café.
The town was originally known as Sand Cut, named from the Southern Pacific Railroad tunnel constructed nearby in the 1870s. Around 1895 the settlement was renamed Aromas, after Rancho Las Aromitas y Agua Caliente, a 8,660-acre (35.0 km2) Mexican land grant in present-day San Benito County, California given in 1835 by Governor José Castro to Juan Miguel Anzar.[1] The name means "little perfumes and hot spring" and refers to nearby sulfur springs. The grant is close to the Santa Cruz County, California line and encompassed present-day Aromas.
Aromas is home to Graniterock quarry and Fireclay Tile has been manufacturing architectural tile in Aromas since 1986.