Los Gatos Weekly-Times Los Gatos Weekly Times file photograph Electric utility poles, such as this one near the intersection of N. Santa Cruz Avenue and W. Main Street, started becoming town fixtures by the mid-1890s. Historian Bill Wulf offers a trip down memory lane John S. Baggerly Local historian William A. "Bill" Wulf has been infatuated with all things Los Gatos since he first spied a railroad engine at Crider's Department Store. Here is a little walk down memory lane, based on Wulf's book, The History of Los Gatos: For more than 10,000 years, the Ohlone Indians lived in the Vasona Lake County Park area alongside Los Gatos Creek. A trail ran through this area from San Francisco Bay over the Santa Cruz Mountains to Monterey Bay. On March 25, 1776, Captain Juan Bautista de Anza and his expedition, looking to find a site for what became the Presidio of San Francisco, camped along Los Gatos Creek near what is now Lark Avenue. On January 12, 1777, the first Mission Santa Clara was built with redwood timbers from the Los Gatos area. On Aug. 28, 1791, the President of the Franciscan Missions of California, Father Fermin Francisco de Lasuen, established Mission Santa Cruz and opened a portion of El Camino Real over the Santa Cruz Mountains and through Los Gatos to Mission Santa Clara. Jose Maria Hernandez and Sebastian Fabian Peralta were granted the 6,631-acre El Rancho Rinconada de Los Gatos ("Corner of the Cats") on July 23, 1839. The brothers-in-law built an adobe home along Los Gatos Creek in what is now Vasona Park. On Nov. 29, 1847, Julian Hanks and Isaac Branham built the first sawmill on Los Gatos Creek, in the Lexington area, and established a lumber yard at E. Main Street and College Avenue. By Dec. 1, 1855, James Alexander Forbes' Santa Rosa Brand Flour Mill--where present-day Forbes Mill History Museum stands--began milling for local wheat farmers, and the village started to grow. On Oct. 16, 1858, the Santa Cruz Gap Turnpike Joint Stock Company's toll road was completed, allowing Los Gatos to connect with the Santa Cruz Turnpike. Stagecoach travel from San Jose to Santa Cruz was now possible. The first Los Gatos post office was established on Dec. 8, 1864, inside the Ten Mile House Hotel, where the Toll House Hotel stands today. March 20, 1878, saw the first narrow-gauge train of South Pacific Coast Railroad arriving in Los Gatos, connecting San Jose to Santa Cruz. The Los Gatos Canning Company started a business on N. Santa Cruz Avenue on April 22, 1882, as a response to the increasing number of local fruit orchards in the town and vicinity. It wasn't until Aug. 10, 1887, that the Town of Los Gatos was officially established, incorporating one square mile on both sides of Los Gatos Creek. On Jan. 31, 1891, came the first operation of electric lights by the L. G. Manufacturing Co. The first horseless carriages appeared on local streets on March 16, 1899. Five years and a day later, on March 17, 1904, came the first San Jose-Los Gatos Interurban Railroad, which arrived after a half-hour trip from San Jose via Saratoga. In the next 40 years, the downtown grew, and many beautiful homes were built, for permanent residents and for those using Los Gatos as a weekend resort. An influx of new residents came after World War II. Around this time, Los Gatos incorporated surrounding areas to keep San Jose from claiming them. In 1957, State Route 17 was completed, changing the character of downtown by removing traffic passing through Los Gatos on its way to and from Santa Cruz. [ Back to Contents Page | Los Gatos Weekly-Times Home Page | Archives ] This article appeared in the Los Gatos Weekly-Times, December 9, 1998. ©1998 Metro Publishing, Inc. All rights reserved.