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Accident in late '20s leaves historical museum 'haunted'

By Willys Peck

If there is any validity to the notion that persons suffering violent death are likely to return to Earth as spirits, then the Saratoga Historical Museum could very well be haunted; the building was the scene of an extremely violent death. No, I'm not talking about a disappointed museum visitor taking out his frustration on a defenseless docent. I'm talking about one of the building's previous incarnations, when it was at its original location on Big Basin Way, then known as Lumber Street.

Built around 1905, the building started out as a drugstore. In succeeding years it was a candy store and grocery, a variety store and, just before being moved to its present location, a dress shop. In the late 1920s, it was Renn's Candy Store, which also carried groceries. It was located on the present site of Downey Savings and Loan.

I'll have to admit that I haven't done the necessary research on the critical event here; my only direct information is based on an early childhood memory of a newspaper photo showing a car that had crashed all the way into the store. I believe the driver was killed. As to the year, I'd say around 1928 or 1929. If anyone has the info on this, I'd appreciate some input on the matter.

This, of course, was long before the highway was straightened into its present configuration. Cars coming from Los Gatos had to make a right-angle turn at Blaney Plaza to continue on up Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road. Any northbound driver who didn't slow considerably for that 90-degree turn was in a decidedly awkward situation. That was how it was with this driver. Since the car went all the way into the store, it seemed he hadn't even started to make the turn.

The reaction to this disaster took a decidedly practical turn. I don't know what agency, whether county or state, undertook the preventive measure, and this was decades before Saratoga became a city. Maybe the project was privately financed. What resulted was several--maybe five--pillars, approximately 2 feet apart. They stood about 4 feet high, were about a foot square at the base and tapered upward slightly to a rounded top. The core was a section of railroad rail, and it would have taken something on the order of an army tank to push one of these pillars over. However, they were never put to the test.

While they hardly could have been called ornamental, these little posts were accepted by the merchants and residents as part of the landscape. As kids, we used to climb on them like pieces of playground equipment. I believe they were there until the store building was moved to the Historical Park in the early 1970s.

That initial mention of "haunting" reminded me of an incident that occurred during my years as a reporter on the San Jose Mercury News. It seems that someone wanted to check out the status of the Winchester Mystery House as a hangout for spirits, especially that of Sarah Winchester, so he scheduled a séance in the room where she was supposed to have made her otherworldly contacts.

I had covered a lot of oddball events in my newspaper career, but this was my first séance. The setting seemed entirely appropriate: a darkened, candlelit room, people seated around a table holding hands, a solemn invocation by the leader--the whole bit. But if Mrs. Winchester's spirit was there, it wasn't putting in an appearance.

By the time this column appears in print, Saratoga Grammar School's 13th annual reunion picnic will have taken place in Wildwood Park. This year marks my 70th graduation anniversary, and I can't help but wonder how many members of the Class of 1937 are still around.

I'll get some idea of this number on Sept. 18, when the Los Gatos High School Class of 1941 will hold its reunion. In those pre-Saratoga High School days, the kids here traveled by Peerless bus to Los Gatos. I like to remember the time one of our local boys was bringing a rattlesnake in a glass jar to show his biology class. Somehow, the kid broke the jar as he was getting on board with the other kids, and there was a quick evacuation.

I like to think that an episode like this was fitting for a bus from Peerless Stages Inc. That's right, the company name was "Stages," as in "stagecoach." Rattlesnake on board--we're talking Wild West here.