Tag Archives: haunted

Evergreen’s Best Drives – Road Reviews

P1300723Evergreen’s rolling, green hills and stunning vistas do not only provide its suburban gold a splendorous backdrop.  These beautiful hillsides and over a hundred year old paths are endless entertainment for motorists, experienced and not, since their creation.  As a teen, I never had a mischievous side but rather an intense curiosity.  I would drive until I had to turn around in every direction.  I could get to San Francisco without hitting a single freeway, and only later did I find out I had taken a 200 year old path by California’s settlers.  I practiced on Quimby Road before driving over Highway 17 to Santa Cruz.  I’d rather be close to home and stuck than far away and stuck.  Today and throughout this research, I use these Evergreen roadways as pallet cleansers for the creativity and for a sense of what Evergreen is and was.  I review from a place of experience.

1876 MapUntil the 1880’s, these roadways were unpaved horse carriage and cattle driving passages.  King Road, Quimby Road, White Road, San Felipe Road, Chew Lane, Evergreen Road, Fowler Road, Cadwallader Avenue, Norwood Avenue and Silver Creek Road were the major roadways.  King Road would’ve taken you into Downtown San Jose.  Tully Road would’ve gotten you to Monterey Highway and either Downtown, Gilroy, San Francisco, or Oakland.  Norwood Avenue, Fowler Road and Quimby Road would’ve snaked into the hillside and provided passage for farmers.  When these weren’t direct enough, farmers were friendly enough to let others walk through their properties or boundary roads.

early_summitJames Lick Observatory’s necessary roadway through one of the most complicated stretches of mountain terrain made paving Evergreen’s rolling hills were no longer insurmountable tasks.  James Lick, philanthropist and business mogul, dedicated a Trust with the funds for the Observatory and Telescope in 1874.  The trip was made by horseback in 1875 to the summit of Mt. Hamilton, though no previous trail had been blazed, and won out against several Bay Area mountain peak options.  Alum Rock’s original roadway to the Observatory’s construction site was completed in 1876 for $70,000.00.  That was fairly astronomical in 1870’s dollars.  By 1879, the engineers and scientists worked the numbers and construction was underway.  The James Lick Observatory with its Alum Rock Avenue access was completed in 1881.  The early 1900’s saw plenty of paving of Evergreen roads, but it’s these roads which have not been altered in route or direction that make the best driving today.

03OVER-master675Since we’re talking about it and it’s so close to Evergreen, Alum Rock Avenue is not for the car sick.  Do not blindfold your best friend and try to bring her closer to the stars.  Do not be surprised if one or both of the following happen if you do this – she vomits in your car or she gets really upset with you and convinces herself that you’re not her friend and this isn’t fun.  Alum Rock Avenue connects San Jose to Mount Hamilton most directly through the curvaceous mountainside.  The Mt. Diablo Mountain Range, for which Evergreen is a foothill, is aptly named and deviously windy.  Now also known as Highway 130, this roadway leads over the summit and into Livermore eventually, this little time to have a good time.  It’s conditions for driving aren’t always great.  There’s sometimes snow on the summit and black ice making it  dangerous.  On a good day, the constant turning roadway isn’t one of the ones I remember super fondly.  You worked to get to the Observatory, where views are spectacular.  Heavily wooded areas make photos along the way difficult, but if you can look back towards San Jose, it can be stunning.  Sunsets are beautiful.

CAM10919P1300635San Felipe Road has the keys to my heart and its been well documented.  Sunsets over oak trees and grazing land are spectacular.  Reports of haunting and phantom hand prints are reported at night on the windy drive.  Do not, I report, do not do anything silly on this roadway.  Just watch it on youtube and laugh.  This stretch of road is a photographer’s dream complete with indigenous wildlife and awesome sunsets.  The curves, speed limits and turn offs are clearly marked making it a driver’s heartthrob eventually turning into Metcalf Road.  The turns and inconsistencies of elevation and scenery make it a delight for the casual driver, but think about your ambitious bikers along the way.  Deer also frequently cross.  Be careful, but enjoy.

P1320017IMG_4183Tully Road is not a great drive.  Steep inclines make it awesome fireworks views and Santa Clara Valley vistas, but it doesn’t go on long enough for any decent ride.  Recent development also delays scenic gratification for photographers searching antique views.  These are great vantages of Downtown San Jose.  Similar reviews can be had of Fowler Road, as its route has been so heavily revised and cut short.  Oh, what those hills could say if we could them from up there.

night tourDeer Valley - Joseph D. Grant County ParkQuimby Road is windy but enjoyable.  This is the perfect casual drive with four wheel drive.  Turns are sharp, but the vistas are spectacular.  Farmers and Open Space still exist in Evergreen and this short vacation drive will prove it to you.  A few miles from civilization, you’ll have to decide if you’re blood is pumping enough for one joy ride or if you’re ready to endure more.  This road meets Mt. Hamilton Road and continues into Joseph Grant Park just outside of Evergreen.  This is a place where you can appreciate the natural beauty of what was here before all of us were.  There are also ghost stories of Joseph Grant Park and easily persuaded Park Rangers with a fascination for the macabre.

CAM09485CAM09492Those were long drives to sink your tires into.  Little known and fun-sized rides through rustic glory can be taken in following Aborn Road to the end and Chaboya Road by the Sikh Gurdwara.   These are awkward U-turns but worth the trouble.  These nearby and awesome drives host fantastic, antique barns, spotted horses, and thunderous oak trees.  Wildlife also make this a photographer’s haven.  It’s seen deer, quail, owls, turkeys and bobcats on these drives.  It’s superb.

The corner of Yerba Buena Road and Edenwood Drive where 24-year-old Kiran Pabla was killed in an accident is blocked off from traffic in San Jose, Calif., on Tuesday, Jan. 27, 2015. Pabla, a bystander, was killed in an accident involving two speeding cars thought to be racing. (LiPo Ching/Bay Area News Group)I only have one truly negative driving review from Evergreen.  Yerba Buena Road has luscious turns that drivers enjoy but it dissects the Silver Creek Community.  Pedestrians,  students, bikers and motorists alike share these windy inclines and declines.  Sadly, fatal accidents occur on Yerba Buena Road due to reckless or careless driving.  It’s happened to someone near to me.  Don’t take this everyday Evergreen roadway lightly.  There is nowhere to pull over and photograph until you pass the college.  It’s reasonable scenery but nothing to write home about.  These walls across from Silver Creek Linear Park and Fire Station may be a second project once the Evergreen Mural Walk become profitable.

 

 

 

 

Haunted Evergreen

When asking friends what they want to know about Evergreen, they wanted to know about old haunted places around town.  When I started looking, I found lots of haunting in Evergreen.  Whether it had been a tragic event on a campus or a scary old house, Evergreen has plenty of scary stories to accompany its beautiful tales.  Here’s what I found out and investigated myself.

Mandatory Credit: Photo by Jon Santa Cruz / Rex Features (582062k) Ouija board with pointer VARIOUS - 2006

First of all, I should say I have a fair amount of physical, experiential research on this topic.  When we were kids, and my older brother’s friend got the first license in the bunch, we did this.  I found kids still doing this and chronicling it on youtube.  Ghost hunting in Evergreen is a teenage rite of passage that is alive and well.  Let’s talk about some of the ghostbusting.

P1310652San Felipe Road appears to have the concentration of spirits in Evergreen.  I’ll explain what the sensation is and then why.  I would do my own paranormal investigation, with buddies, in high school 1999-2003 when we didn’t care who’s house it was and we didn’t know why we felt strange things in certain places.  The first time, we ended up at the Smith’s residences thinking it was the school house.  Back then, too, many of the new homes weren’t there yet and this stretch of road was fairly heavily wooded along Thompson Creek.  The Smith family homes are still privated by orange groves today.  It once looked like this with San Felipe Road running through these front yards today.

Charles C. Smith, F.J. Smith Store and Residence, Adam Herman,

P1310650That connection is Katherine Smith and the school house is across the street from her house.  These Victorian houses are occupied today, so don’t sneak up at night, okay?  What everyone thought was the haunted schoolhouse back in the day was not.  It’s the right spot, but across the street, renovated some time ago and totally not haunted.  The two story schoolhouse still stands, and is also inhibited.  The old one story school was torn down in the 1890’s.  Reports from San Felipe Road long time residents would also confirm the absences of a haunted schoolhouse, and the lack of any known massacres, murders or suicides that result in spirits.  We, Evergreenians, do, however, have an unusual number of haunted school rumors, just none on San Felipe Road.  Unfortunately, I won’t be disclosing them here either, because students still attend school there today.

5986045244_160c2c7376_oThe looking haunted house on White Road and Stevens Lane isn’t haunted.  I would be too chicken to Treat or Treat here as a child, though I can see its jagged oak tree from my own backyard.  I’ve come to find that it is owned by the nicest, long time Evergreen family.  Again, don’t sneak up on these guys – there are no paranormal activities here.  The family purchased it generations ago directly from H. L. Stephens, its original owner, orchardist and flour mill operator.  The mill would be near Millbrook School today on Quimby Creek.  Again, not haunted.  Very original in its construction and preservation, very discrete owners, spooky oak tree and daunting gate.  What you don’t get to see if the stunning wisteria and wrap around porch.  The only spirits here are warm and friendly.

P1300592Headed south on San Felipe,  beyond Farnsworth, the road gets scary and dark.   It’s a beautiful daytime bike ride, not for novice riders, but a nighttime fright.  You will see old, rundown barns appear out of black oak trees and abyss.  This can seems scary.  Your cell reception will drop at the top of the hill.  Don’t worry.  Evergreen’s reception in general is spotty, but especially toward Metcalf Road.  You can either turn around or  go straight until you hit Highway 101 or Monterey Road.  The only need to worry is if your car breaks down.  There are too many reports of phantom cars and haunting along the roadway itself, so maybe we should spend a moment on that.

Historian’s note: Keep in mind that the invention of the printing press and its rapid improvement through the 1800’s means tragedies and crime would be recorded in newspapers at the very least.  These have not been streaming in from Evergreen or San Felipe Road or San Jose.  I’ve looked everywhere I can thing of.  I’m obsessed, too.  I can track every local news article, person, property development, purchase, division, dispute, etc.  Evergreen was downright peaceful after land disputes.

Screen Shot 2015-10-27 at 4.01.24 PMThough no haunted schoolhouse exists there, San Felipe Road may in fact be haunted.  Plenty of car accidents occur here every year, whether ordinary or foolhardy.  The haunting I like to speculate about is much older.  San Felipe Road itself can be dated back 200 years.

Microsoft EdgeDon Pedro Chaboya, Antonio Chaboya’s brother, would drive a band of cattle ranchers from Santa Clara and Monterey Ranchos after Native American horse bandits and most likely took the trip over San Felipe Road, furthest East and most central to the gang of ranchers.  The thieves would steal 600 head of horses, slaughter some of the animals senselessly and take flight towards Merced County.  The Bay Area ranchers would finally catch up with the bandits in Tehachapi, so probably not Ohlone Natives.  Laguna Tachi, where the capture occurred, here shown to the left, is on the border of Tulare County, Southern California.  The ranchers would return home with their horses and captured thieves.  I speculate this southeastern route is haunted because of the horses and natives who lost their lives in this event.  As a result, phantom cars can be felt.  Not phantom cars – phantom horses.  People also report hands appearing on the windshield while driving down San Felipe Road.  That’s probably our Native Americans being brought back for their punishment.

P1300635Or there’s a totally logical explanation.  Something like the coastal winds combining with low pressure systems to the South driving a wind Northward.  If you catch a gust of wind, could feel like phantom cars or horses.  If you can’t see the trees also fluctuating with the headwind, you’d be psychologically misguided and therefore spooked.  Your hands I can’t explain away.  This may be strong contrasts in heat in very specific places on your windshield from such a strong, cold headwind so sporadic in occurrence.

CAM10931Also on San Felipe Road but further towards Metcalf Road, you can get another scare.  If you didn’t know these awesome rusted pieces of antique farming equipment was out here, you might be frightened by their sight and traveling shadows.  With the lights on, or rather in the daytime, this old pieces of equipment are brilliant relics and roadway decorations.  At night, this looks like a creepy crawly nightmare.  Now, it your car won’t start for some reason on San Felipe Road, then you’re in trouble.

5985404833_eb2e904b36_b 6287362602_ddc1498c1c_o When I was a kid, there were so many more barns and abandoned structures.  I say kid.  About 15-20 years ago.  I’ve been on this ride several times throughout the research of this project. Things I intimately remember creeping into at night and being spooked by are gone.  They’re not there.  These structures have been documented, torn down and made room for more homes.  I find them again in archives and records.

spring2012.pdfSomewhere we would enjoy screams before it was enveloped by home development is a place others also report as having been haunted.  I can’t find much of this online, but the experiential data yielded positive results.  I know I was spooked enough  once or twice to bolt out of there.  Today, it’s a historical landmark that needs some love.  Reminds me of the Wehner Mansion, also with historic designation but no preservation.  (There were no reports of spirits from Wehner Mansion except wine.)  This is how I remembered the relic.

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spring2012.pdfToday, the Metzger Barn still gets haunting reports but serves a dual purpose as a quasi-park.  Though secreted away, it’s open to the public.  The complex even has picnic tables and a volleyball court.  At night, there are reports of phantom rattling chains and ghostly crying observed.  I’ve also read about an experience with hanging animals from the rafters.  I’ve personally observed the heeby geebies.  I’ll not spoil this haunted tale for you.  Since I’ve ruined other perfectly good ghost stories, I won’t ruin anymore for you.

Joseph Grant Residenceuntitled2121Joseph D. Grant Park, very nearby Evergreen in neighboring Ranch Canada de la Pala, has a historical complex of structures and gives tours of the haunted main house.  If you want a frightful experience, you’ll have to sweet talk rangers or historians into coming back to work on their time off but it’s been done before.  Built in 1882, ghosts can be witnessed in mirrors, along with loud noises and footsteps were observed.   Other strange paranormal feelings would be reported by guests and park rangers alike.  Ghost hunters have enough evidence to confirm their own superstitions.

Evergreen has haunts you can see and some you can pass up on.  Metzger Farm and Joseph Grant Park seem to be your best bet for spirits.  A night drive over San Felipe Road and a misadventure up Las Animas Road are certainly spooky if that’s your thing.