History

—This is the second in a two part series. Last month, I explored what traveling “over the hill” was like in the second half of the 19th century, when stagecoach passengers faced long, bone-rattling, and often dangerous trips along dusty or muddy dirt roads. Change came...

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...

One of my earliest memories is from the early 1970s when I visited my elderly Italian aunt, whom we called Zia Elisa.

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...

As we bid farewell to The Palms restaurant, let’s take a look at the history of this landmark Los Gatos property. The stately nine-room Queen Anne Victorian home on what was then a residential section of North Santa Cruz Avenue was built for Mary Barry...

After five years of meetings, proposals, compromises, and design revisions, the Town Council has unanimously approved the new Los Gatos Meadows development. It’ll be situated on an 11 acre property that was the home of one of our earliest and most prominent citizens, John Weldon...

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 historic Forbes Mill Annex is the oldest remaining commercial structure in Los Gatos. Before the town got its current name, it was actually called Forbes Mill, then Forbestown. The initial mill was erected in 1854 and lasted until 1916. Its storage unit has...

The imminent reopening of the Los Gatos Theater is the perfect time to take a look back at the history of this major downtown site. The Los Gatos Canning Company occupied most of the block for 30 years before the construction of a movie theater....

Amid the minutiae of General Plan deliberations on Monday, the Los Gatos Town Council voted to move forward with a plan to consider a tax break for owners of historic properties. Mayor Rob Rennie—who said the Mills Act provision “seems like a subsidy for rich...