The Los Gatos Library - Local History Volunteers are excited to share historical facts and information about the Town of Los Gatos. Many of these stories have originated through the work that they have been doing during their work in our Local History room at the library. Each issue will highlight interesting facts and stories about the people and events that have helped make Los Gatos such a wonderful place to live, work, and play. We hope you enjoy reading.
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Contact the Los Gatos Library 408-354-6896 Hours: Monday 11AM - 8PM Tuesday 11AM - 8PM Wednesday 10AM - 6PM Thursday 10AM - 6PM Friday 10AM - 6PM Saturday 10AM - 5PM Sunday 12PM - 5pm eMail the History Collection Volunteers history@losgatosca.gov
Local History Room 408-399-5795
Volunteer Hours: Mondays 1PM - 5PM Tuesdays 2PM-4PM Wednesdays 10 AM - 12PM Thursdays 1PM - 5PM
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Historylosgatos.org has been redesigned! Take a look at our new Collections page, which is now divided into separate collection categories. You can still use the search bar at the top of the page for any individual searches, but now collections are easier to browse than ever before. We have also reintroduced the Historical Homes Map, where you can pinpoint the exact locations of the houses on the Los Gatos Historical Homes Tours, as well as our famous Bellringer houses. We hope you continue to visit our page for all of your Los Gatan historical needs!
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Los Gatos’ fourth Sister City, Listowel, Ireland was adopted on February 1, 1993. Part of the reason for the adoption of this resolution was due to the Irish heritage of two of our prominent citizens, Mayor Pat O’Laughlin, and Johnny Hannegan, co-owner of C.B. Hannegan’s pub. San Jose had adopted Dublin, Ireland in 1986 as their Sister City and San Jose’s mayor at the time, Tom McEnery, became friends with one of the Irish contingent, Jimmy Deenihan a famous footballer and a politician. Jimmy was from Listowel, and was interested in promoting U.S. businesses to relocate in Ireland because of the tax incentive and to invigorate the economy of his County Kerry. San Jose did not have a great Irish pub at that time, so the whole group came to Los Gatos to Hannegan’s pub. Thereafter, the visitors from Ireland every year, whether from Dublin or Listowel, come toHannegan’s in Los Gatos for a brew. In addition to the economic factor, there was a political element involved in joining the Irish cities with U.S. counterparts. Because of “the Troubles” that had resurrected in Ireland in the ‘80s and ‘90s, pitting Catholic against Protestant, it was not easy to come to any kind of political accommodation. It was easier for the Irish politicians to work things out while in a pub in the U.S. A bond and camaraderie developed between the folks from Listowel and those of Los Gatos. There was an exchange program for teenagers to come to Los Gatos for the summer to play basketball and soccer. They stayed with local families. Many trips were organized for Los Gatans to travel to Ireland to meet the people there. Bertie Ahern, prime minister of Ireland has been to C.B. Hannegan’s pub in Los Gatos. Listowel has continued to be the most active of the Los Gatos Sister City relationships and a Writers’ Week is planned for October 6-9 2016. More information on this event can be found at: http://writersweeklosgatos.com/
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A view from the air circa 1935 Los Gatos High School 2016 via Google Earth
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Source 4: Mardi Gualtieri Bennett This was an in-depth, very well written piece by the indefatigable former local historian, activist, Town Council member, and Mayor Mardi Gualtieri Bennett. Mardi Durham Gualtieri Bennett Brick courtesy Peggy Conaway Bergtold's Legendary Locals Mardi is a piece of Los Gatos history in her own right. Let me quote extensively from her vivid article, titled “Distinguished educator left her mark in town”: “Louise Van Meter’s life (1868-1948) spanned the tumultuous years from post-Civil War through World Wars I and II....In 1880, Los Gatos was a very small town. When 12-year old Louise, her older sister Josephine, and her parents arrived from Healdsburg they swelled the population to 904. The two girls went to the grammar school on University Avenue." (now the Old Town shopping center) Los Gatos Elementary School original building, built in 1886 on University Avenue. This was before the Mission Revival building that became Old Town shopping center. Photo courtesy of Los Gatos Library Collection of Original Postcards, Album !V “After going through the Los Gatos school system, Louise earned her teaching credential from San Jose Normal School (Now called San Jose State University). . . .Van Meter’s cousin, Barbara Bentley-Jones said, ‘Louise had a teaching certificate when she was 18. . . .[and] Her first school was up a “draw” a couple of miles from Bell Station in Pacheco Pass. She boarded (lived) with the families of various students. . . . She was interested in Madame Montessori’s methods of teaching young children and she spent one (or two) years under Madame (who came over from Switzerland) in Santa Barbara.’ Madame Montessori Photo from: www.eastsidemontessorischool.com It was an era when education was so regimented that each day children marched briskly into their classrooms to the sharp beat of a drum. In the children-should-be-seen-and-not -heard atmosphere of 1893, stimulating creativity, as (Mary) Corbus (in a February 1948 article in the Los Gatos Times, just ten months before Miss Van Meter’s death) pointed out, "required great courage and vision on the part of the teacher introducing such “new-fangled ideas.”" “Montessori schools and fostering creativity are now significant forces in education, but they were definitely not at the end of the 19th century." ************************************************************* Published Sources: Legendary Locals of Los Gatos, by Peggy Conaway Bergtold and Stephanie Ross Matthews, Arcadia Publishing, 2014 The History of Los Gatos, Gem of the Foothills, by George G. Bruntz, Valley Publishers, 1971 Distinguished educator left her mark in town, by Mardi Bennett, Los Gatos Weekly Times March 27, 1991, available in History section of Los Gatos Public Library in Local Legends Research notebooks To be continued....
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The announcement of the plan to convert all of Los Gatos's street lighting to LED lamps has sparked (pardon the pun) curiosity of what kind of lamps were first used for electric street lighting in Los Gatos. Almost certainly they were arc lamps in which an electric arc generated across two carbon rods was used to produce a bright, sputtering light. Pictured below is very likely an arc lamp used as a street light near the train depot tracks around 1900. Incandescent lamps at the time were too weak to provide adequate street lighting but were used in homes and businesses. Incidentally, dynamos that produced direct current (DC) were first used to provide the electricity for both arc and incandescent lamps. Photo courtesy John & Barbara Baggerly Collection
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Current and Upcoming Exhibits: McMoons: How a Band of Scientists Saved Lunar Image History: September 22, 2016 - May 14, 2017 A Visible Journey in Time: Los Gatos History Project: September 22, 2016 - Ongoing Making Contact: SETI Artists in Residence: October 27, 2016 - March 5, 2017 Cement Prairie: The History and Legacy of the 1952 American Indian Relocation Program: November 3, 2016 - June 25, 2017 M U S E U M H O U R S Wed 1pm-5pm Thur 11am-8pm Fri- Sun 11am-5pm A D M I S S I O N S General Admission is $10 FREE for members and visitors under 18 years of age Seniors, military and students $6 with valid ID Members also receive free admission to select Programs and Events. See what is coming up and consider joining us. Free Member Events.
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Lyn Dougherty Local History Volunteer
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Betty Chase Local History Volunteer
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Trish Smalling Goldfarb Local History Volunteer
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Kathy Morgan Local History Volunteer
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Jeanette Rapp Local History Volunteer
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Joe Sordi Local History Volunteer
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Dori Myer SJSU Library School Intern Fall 2016
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Local History Volunteer Coordinator
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