History

The office of Harry Ryan was the place Jack London penned his seminal novel “the Call of the Wild,” about a dog that’s taken from the Santa Clara Valley to the Klondike, where he befriends wolves and leads a sled team. Ryan, who met London...

The iconic La Cañada building on the corner of West Main Street and North Santa Cruz Avenue, with its circular bay window and signature “witches hat” turret, has been a prominent feature of our historic downtown business district almost since the day it was...

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...

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...

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...

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...

Like many small towns in the west, Los Gatos prospered in the late 19th century after the arrival of the railroad. Eager to shed their town’s rustic image, civic-minded citizens and businesspeople sought every opportunity to establish a more cosmopolitan reputation. A performing arts center...

During its regularly scheduled meeting, Dec. 6, Mayor Rob Rennie asked Town Manager Laurel Prevetti for an update on the process to officially acknowledge Los Gatos’ earliest residents. But her response—while delighting some First Nations advocates—left one group in particular feeling a little left out. “We...

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.

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...