History

*Updated Sept. 6, 2022 Daniel Reyes, the founder of Project Gasmask Entertainment (PGM), says he’s excited to be part of a Los Gatos rebirth. Though he lives in Oakland, and grew up in the Fairfield-Suisun area, the promoter says he’s pretty familiar with the community from...

Tourists from around the world flock to the well publicized wine regions of Napa and Sonoma, but those of us who are fortunate enough to live in Los Gatos know that some of the best wines in the world can be found right here...

Grant awarded to Hakone Estate and Gardens  On June 7, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors unanimously approved a County Historical Heritage Grant to Hakone Estate and Gardens in Saratoga. The grant will support the restoration of the 1932 Mon (Main Gate) roof originally...

The arrival of Breaking Dawn, the newest restaurant on the Los Gatos dining scene, is the perfect occasion for a story about its historic home. The Renaissance Revival building that Breaking Dawn now occupies on W. Main St. was designed and built for The First...

Have you ever wondered how the infamous U-shaped stretch of Highway 17 known as Big Moody Curve got its name? There isn’t much to say about early settler D. B. Moody, who owned the property. But what happened there is one of the most...

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...

*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...

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...

Summertime, and the livin’ is easy…unless you’re fighting bumper-to-bumper beach traffic on Highway 17. Even navigating from one side of town to another is an ordeal on summer weekends. Multiple attempts to eliminate cut-through traffic haven’t resulted in a permanent fix. But Caltrans is...

While many of us recognize the name Holy City, the fascinating story of the former mountain community and the eccentric character who founded it has largely been forgotten.  Holy City was built over a period of several years beginning in 1919 by a  charismatic cult...