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Happy St. Patrick’s Day, Mountain Charlie!
St. Patrick’s Day offers the perfect opportunity to pay homage to one of Los Gatos’ most fascinating and colorful characters, Charles Henry McKiernan, better known as “Mountain Charlie.”
McKiernan was born in Ireland in 1825. He joined the British navy to escape the potato famine...
Discover LOST Gatos: The Los Gatos Hotel and Soda Works story
It seems that hardly a month goes by without the launch of a new restaurant in our historic downtown. The latest addition to the dining scene is Dar Restaurant and Bar, located in the little house that formerly housed 11 College Avenue and Nick’s...
The Los Gatos ‘Ming Quong’ campus (Discover LOST Gatos)
It was a chilly morning in January, 1953 when 11-year-old Elena Lim arrived in Los Gatos. Her widowed father decided that he was unable to care for her so he surrendered her to the missionaries at Ming Quong.
Elena was unkempt, malnourished and had been...
Discover LOST Gatos: The railroad era pt. 1
Of all the events in Los Gatos’ history, none had a more lasting impact than the arrival of the railroad. In this two part series, we’ll explore how the “iron horse” became the driving force behind the transformation of our town from an obscure...
DISCOVER LOST GATOS: The historic Rankin Block
The long-awaited arrival of the Parkside restaurant on the downtown dining scene is the perfect time for a story about the landmark building they’ll be calling home.
The Rankin Block was built in 1902 as income property by Clara and William Rankin who arrived in...
Discover LOST Gatos: Remembering the Pageants of summer
Summer has arrived, and there’s no shortage of live music for us to enjoy here in Los Gatos, from regularly scheduled Jazz on the Plazz and Music in the Park concerts to special events like the multi-cultural Drums in the Park celebration.
Our tradition of...
What a shoebox full of old papers taught me about my grandparents
When I was a child in the 70s, Los Gatos was filled with Italians. I remember seeing the older women walking in town, dragging behind them their wire utility carts filled with groceries down Santa Cruz Avenue. My grandparents, Adam and Albina Contardo, were...
Town’s efforts to acknowledge earliest residents fraught with challenges
Earlier this year while tweaking the history section of the Draft General Plan, Los Gatos planning commissioners suggested zooming-out from the previous version, which only told the story of settler expansion, to also share the history of the original inhabitants.
What may have seemed, to...
The libraries of Los Gatos (Discover LOST Gatos)
Los Gatos has had a public library since 1898, with the Carnegie Library opening in 1903 and the current library built in 2012, each providing valuable resources and amenities to the community.
Standing Tall: The town has seen many phases
*The following article first appeared in print as part of this feature on housing development in Los Gatos.
From sporting the name of “Forbes Mill,” to earning the distinction of top destination for retirees in California a few years ago, to serving as a hotbed...


















