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Peter Simon, an engineer for the Southern Pacific Railroad, built his home on Tait Avenue in the 1890s. This previously unpublished photograph of the business district on E. Main Street was probably taken by his son Paul, circa 1900, when box cameras were new and all the rage. The cameras cost $1 and could be operated 'by any school boy or girl,' according to the ads. The hay cart is headed west toward the 'witch's hat' turret of the Hofstra Block (now the La Cañada Building). The ornate tower of the Wilcox Building can be seen at Main and Oak Street (now Montebello Way). Businesses on Main Street at the time included a harness maker, a blacksmith, several carpenters, a cigar manufacturer and a shoemaker. Mrs. Sarah A. Surface rented furnished rooms near the post office, at right, where Miss A.F.C. Gaffney served as postmaster. A catastrophic fire on Oct. 13, 1901, destroyed all of the businesses between the bridge and the railroad tracks, leveling up to 60 buildings. The wooden structures 'went up like paper,' overwhelming the local volunteer 'fire laddies.' Telegrams sent to San Jose and San Francisco asking for help received no reply on that hot and windy Sunday morning.
Do you have a pre-1975 photograph that you would like to share with the community? Contact Library Director Peggy Conaway at pconaway@losgatosca.gov.
100 years ago
Advertisement: $1,300 will buy a good chicken ranch, 5 acres, near Los Gatos, on car line; splendid soil. $2,500 will buy 2 acres in cherries, peaches and cots, pasture for cow or horse; suitable for raising chickens; good house and barn; southeastern frontage. Johns & McMurtry, Los Gatos. (The Los Gatos News, Feb. 16, 1906)
75 years ago
Mr. and Mrs. James Brown of Johnson Avenue will be married 50 years next April. In chatting over his team days, Mr. Brown mentioned that he drove eight horse teams with one line, which all drivers did in those days. "We didn't haul lumber down in the winter 'cause it rained feet where it rains inches these years, and the roads were slippery and unsafe," he said. "They were so crooked they would break a rattlesnake's back if he went too fast up one." (Los Gatos Mail-News and Saratoga Star, Feb. 26, 1931)
50 years ago
An unoccupied house high in the hills behind Los Gatos burned to the ground this morning in a spectacular blaze. The house, owned by James L. Countryman, was reached by a curving, narrow private road starting at 40 Fairview Plaza. Countryman, Los Gatos auto dealer, estimated the loss at $7,500. (Los Gatos Times and Saratoga Observer, Feb. 20, 1956)
Los Gatos Public Library Director Peggy Conaway compiled this report.
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