Peggy Conaway Bergtold - Los Gatos

IMAGES
of Modern America

LOS GATOS

EAST MAIN STREET. Barbara Jones Cassin (19192010) was a 1937 graduate of Los Gatos High School. Daughter of Elizabeth Ann McSwain and California state senator Herbert C. Jones, she painted watercolor scenes of Los Gatos, including the one shown here. Her endowment to Los Gatos Public Library provided funding for an enhanced opening day collection for the new library. (Los Gatos Public Library.)

ON THE FRONT COVER: Clockwise from top left: The 1894 La Caada Building has survived two earthquakes (courtesy of Brian Bergtold); buildings at 3745 East Main Street were shattered during the 1989 Loma Pieta earthquake (see ).

ON THE BACK COVER: From left to right: Los Gatans have been going to the movies at 43 North Santa Cruz Avenue for nearly 100 years (see ).

IMAGES
of Modern America

LOS GATOS

Peggy Conaway Bergtold

Copyright 2015 by Peggy Conaway Bergtold
ISBN 978-1-4671-3421-7
Ebook ISBN 9781439654125

Published by Arcadia Publishing
Charleston, South Carolina

Library of Congress Control Number: 2015942248

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COLOSSAL CATS. Charles Erskine Scott Wood built the Cats Estate south of town and commissioned artist Robert Treat Paine to create two eight-foot-tall cats to guard the entrance to his property. The iconic cats were completed in 1922. Wood had recently returned from Europe and found Los Gatos bereft of public art. He considered the cats a sort of missionary work in culture in California. (Courtesy of the author.)

CONTENTS

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

While visiting the California History Room at the California State Library in Sacramento a few years ago, I came upon the first issue of the Placer Times, a little newspaper published in Upper California in 18491850. A quote in one of the articles has stayed with me ever since: History is only a repetition of the workings of human nature in a somewhat modified form and shape. With the writing of this, my fifth photographic history of Los Gatos for Arcadia Publishing, I have learned that things change but they also tend to stay the same. Los Gatos has always worked hard and played hard. People with ideas find their way into town. The community is generous in helping people who fall ill or experience a tragedy. The weather is great, the parking not so much, and multistory buildings are often knocking at the door. Los Gatans are fiercely protective of their town and value where they live.

That said, I hope you enjoy this brief look at the past 60 years of Los Gatos history. There have been many high points and a few low points. My goal is to provide a representative collection of images, as a comprehensive view is not possible in these pages.

I owe great thanks to many, including Dick Sparrer, who made the archives of the Los Gatos Weekly-Times (LGWT) available to me. Many of the photographs in this book come from that source, and they were often taken by skilled photographer George Sakkestad.

Codes at the ends of captions indicate other sources: Charles Bergtold (CB), Los Gatos Public Library (LGPL), Brian Bergtold (BB), and the US Geological Survey (USGS). Some photographs are from private collections, as noted, and some are from the authors collection (AC). I owe special thanks to a cadre of talented photographers, including Ken Benjamin, Ed Lucey, Greg Stepovich, Ron Horii, and especially George Sakkestad and Brian Bergtold.

INTRODUCTION

Los Gatos was a great place to grow up. Anyone who had the opportunity to do so will tell you that without hesitation. What made it such a special small town, and how has it changed from the 1950s to now?

The simple physical beauty of the place has always been a factor. The town, never called a city, snuggles into a sweet spot at the base of the majestic Santa Cruz Mountains, which sometimes appear nearly close enough to touch. Los Gatos is where the urbanism of Silicon Valley meets rugged mountain terrain, under an open sky. The town does not have the closed-in feeling of some communities to the north, on the crowded San Francisco Peninsula.

Back in the 19th century, Los Gatos weather was often described as salubrious, an old-fashioned term that means making good health possible. The towns magnificent Mediterranean climate still provides a pleasant, sunny, and invigorating milieu most days of the year.

Whether it was fishing and wading in Los Gatos Creek, riding on the Billy Jones steam railroad, cutting cots, traveling on the newly-opened Highway 17, enjoying Thanksgiving dinner at the Hotel Lyndon, watching one of more than fifty annual Christmas parades, or standing in awe as a Southern Pacific train barreled into the downtown station, each generation and each person has a unique set of precious memories.

Some people remember the Sunshine Market, the numerous car dealerships with shiny new automobiles, a Shakespearean play at Old Town Theater, dancing to a live rock n roll band in the amphitheater at Old Town, or eating too many strawberries at the annual summer festival. Some rode the Peerless Stage to San Jose or Santa Cruz, had drinks at Mt. Charleys or a hot dog at the Happy Hound. Some lunched at Mimis Rooftop Caf or the Red Lantern Restaurant. Many succumbed to the temptation of a butter-baked pastry at Polly Prims. Nearly everyone marveled at the success of a Los Gatos invention, the Pet Rock, all the while eagerly purchasing one for the sock drawer, where it still resides. People shopped for antiques, worried about the Mediterranean fruit fly, and turned out to football games to cheer for the Los Gatos High School Wildcats.

Perhaps you rode your bicycle around the Almond Grove to deliver the Los Gatos Times-Observer newspaper, celebrated St. Patricks Day at C.B. Hannegans, or ventured across the street from the high school for a cheeseburger and malt at Fosters Freeze. Maybe you watched or played in the Turkey Day football game against rival Campbell High School and wondered how someone was able to kidnapapparently on more than one occasionthe huge and weighty steel statue of El Gato from Los Gatos High Schools inner quad. You may have wished you could scramble up the steep road to the Cats Estate and have a look around or explore the old railroad tunnels south of town. Conceivably, you took a walk on the flumedespite being told not toand met a bobcat on your way. You might have stopped by the Town Plaza to watch talented artists paint en plein air. Or perhaps you are one of a dedicated band of people who worked for decades to bring about the dream of a new public library for Los Gatos, one which illustrates and illuminates the pride that Los Gatans have in their community.

The dramatic transformation of Los Gatos from a small agricultural village to an upscale Silicon Valley community took place during the years documented in this book. The orchards disappeared and landmark buildings were demolished in the 1960s. The raucous 1970s arrived with cultural unrest and growing pains. Homeowners groups wanted to preserve the town as it had always been, while the owners of new bars, restaurants, and boutiques encouraged growth. Both the citizenry and the council were divided. Also during this era, older homes in town began to be restored, and real estate prices soared.