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Los Gatos |
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Address
110 E. Main Street
Los Gatos, CA 95030
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Phone
(408) 354-6834 |
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Located 60 miles south of San Francisco and sitting at the base of the Santa Cruz mountains, the Town of Los Gatos acts as a natural gateway between the greater Santa Clara basin and the beautiful Pacific Coast of California. The Ohlone Indians are believed to be the first to settle in the lush Santa Clara valley after crossing the Bering Strait some 10,000 years ago, living along the Los Gatos Creek near what today is Vasona Park, while also crossing the Santa Cruz Mountains to the Pacific coast.
In August of 1791, Father Fermin Francisco de Lasuen, while searching for a site for Mission Santa Cruz, took the advice of the Ohlone accompanying him and shortened an otherwise 100 mile journey via San Francisco for a more direct route over the Santa Cruz Mountains. After the trip, Father Lasuen enlisted the Ohlone to improve the trail and it soon became a highly traveled route for supply pack trains, mail, and cattle-drives, creating the foundation for Los Gatos to become a prominent trade and transportation center and the bridge between the valley and the coast.
Prior to Father Lasuen’s efforts, Captain Juan Bautista de Anza was the first outsider to camp along Los Gatos Creek in 1776 during his expedition to establish a presidio at San Francisco Bay.
There are several stories as to how Los Gatos received its name and all are plausible. One thing is for certain, due to the Los Gatos Creek, the area attracted the many mountain lions from which each story finds the connection to the town’s name.
After Mexico won their independence from Spain in 1821, Mexican law allowed private citizens to petition for land formerly belonging to the Missions built throughout California. Related through marriage, Jose Maria Hernandez and Sebastian Fabian Peralta petitioned Mexico in 1840 and were granted 6631 acres in the area and named their new ranch, "El Rancho Rinconada de Los Gatos," in which part of the town now lies.
In 1854, Scotsman James Alexander Forbes purchased part of El Rancho Rinconada and built a flourmill on Los Gatos Creek with plans of capitalizing on California’s Gold Rush. Forbes intended to make his fortune on the 49ers’ endless need of flour for sustenance. A man of dubious and questionable repute (it was never quite clear, for instance, whether Forbes actually paid Hernandez and Peralta for their land), Forbes was never able to make his planned riches. Through several miscalculations and delays, the mill eventually began to produce "Santa Rosa Brand" flour, but by this time there were several rival mills diluting the market and the seemingly lucrative $50 per barrel flour price had, like the Gold Rush, fizzled to a very pedestrian $5 per barrel. Forbes Mill changed hands several times throughout the years after Forbes’ bankruptcy and, at one point, as The Los Gatos Manufacturing Company, produced a reported 100 barrels of flour a day, bolstered by the arrival of the South Pacific Coast Railroad in 1878.
Damaged in the 1906 earthquake and not having been used to produce flour since 1887, the mill was demolished in 1916. The annex to the mill now serves as the Forbes Mill Museum, one of Los Gatos’ two town museums. The flourmill did serve a greater purpose, however, in that it became the nucleus to which the town of Los Gatos was built around. The town started as a small village and later incorporated as a town on August 10, 1887.
The history of Los Gatos hosts a share of lively characters, some of which, like Forbes (but, perhaps, not as shady), remain very much a part of the local color, and whose namesakes act as subtle reminders of their legacy to the town’s history. Irishman Charles Henry McKiernan, or Mountain Charley as he is known in local folklore, was an early settler in the summit area of Los Gatos, coming to California in search of gold during the Rush of ’49. Although he never struck gold and experienced other challenges and setbacks (being attacked by Grizzly bears on two separate occasions), Mountain Charley lived richly, having with his wife, Barbara Berricke, seven children and offering his home as a stage station for stagecoaches as they ran from the valley to the sea and back.
With the continued development of the railroad system and the laying of tracks between San Francisco, Alameda, San Jose, and Santa Cruz, Los Gatos became a desired destination and resting spot for those traveling North, South, East, and West. The town grew to address the need for the number of visitors and sightseers, offering several hotels, one of which, the Lyndon Hotel, had the privilege of hosting royalty, government officials, and socialites as guests. Over the next several decades, logging and fruit orchards became the area’s main producing industries but eventually softened during the Depression and World War II. During the period after the war, however, Los Gatos experienced strong commercial and residential growth, which continued to develop into its present-day community.
Because of its position in the valley, Los Gatos is a uniquely complete community, still possessing its small town feel and charm of its rich history but also acting as a primary player in the Silicon Valley’s dynamic high-tech fabric. Even with its dynamic connection with Silicon Valley, keeping Los Gatos a well-balanced, bedroom community remains a primary goal of its citizens.
Presently, Los Gatos has a population approaching 30,000 and covers approximately 14 square miles. Although different in many ways, the town will remain forever connected to the Ohlone, El Rancho Rinconada de Los Gatos, Forbes Mill, Mountain Charley, and all the other facets that have helped to make Los Gatos the great community it is today.
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