Tag Archives: millbrook

Have you hugged an Oak today?

Deer Valley - Joseph D. Grant County ParkP1310568When you think of “evergreen” and trees in general, chances are you would think of Christmas trees or redwoods.  Evergreen’s trees are not this connotation of evergreen.  In our dear Evergreen, this couldn’t be further from the truth.  In fact, our indigenous trees would inspire the name of the township, the communities surrounding it and many of its public schools today and not of them are coniferous.  The natural beauties of Evergreen would inspire poets and artists throughout its history.  These trees too are evergreen but the kind we generally think of.

P1310885image001Misnomer: Evergreen School District’s old logo may be Evergreen trees, but that might have come from the commemorative redwoods planted for the Evergreen School’s first teachers, like Markham and KR Smith.  Evergreen was named for its lush, green hills covered in oak trees.  I think if the name Oakland wasn’t taken in California, Evergreen might have been called Oakland.  It’s all rich oaky grasslands with natural creeks which made hills green year round before farming irrigation.

P13105995986045244_160c2c7376_oEvergreen definitely has some gigantic, wicked oak trees today in the oddest places amongst modern homes and along every creek, of which we have many.  There are different species of oak trees around Evergreen.  The oak grove along the Quimby Creek would give the name to Quimby Oak Middle School, built in 1968.  It was built before Millbrook Elementary, built in 1985, which was named after a mill along this brook some 150 years old.  Millbrook was built on the property owned by Henry Lambert Stephens, Evergreen pioneer since 1866.  In fact, There’s a haunting oak tree in front of the former mill owner’s house today.  Don’t worry.  I’ll get you a better photo.  This oak grove made way for houses and orchards.  Quimby Oak Middle School is more likely the Victoria Chaboya property, not Mayor J. A. Quimby’s.  He would’ve lived above Ruby Avenue.

CAM11117The Honorable Judge Jerry Kettmann would show me oak trees in Evergreen that were over 200 years old.  These would’ve been well grown in before the Judge would tend the Kettmann Family Ranch.  These oak trees served the purpose of landmarks, deciphering the locations along the Kettmann ranch in a developed neighborhood of Evergreen.  The neighborhood grew up around Kettmann Ranch in surrounding Cadwallader and Smith Subdivisions.  This was once a large farm, actually two adjoined farms, in Downtown Evergreen.  The town of Evergreen must have looked very different back then.  These space oaks would be unchanged relics of a time before ours.

Silver%20OakEvergreen MoonSilver Oak Elementary School, built in 1994, was named for a particular tree that was silver in color up on the hill above the school in the 1990’s.  The discoloration ended up being an illness this picturesque oak would come down with.  Silver Creek Country Club removed the tree because it wouldn’t continue to be safe with the moving of earth around it that home building required.  Never underestimate the beauty of a single, stand alone oak, though.  This is such a common theme in photography from our community.  The motif continues to inspire people today.

P1310608P1310620Holly Oak Elementary School would be named for the trees found along Dry Creek, renamed Thomspon Creek in 1974.  Hollies wouldn’t grow all over Evergreen.  There’s also a Coastal Live Oak species, which looks more similar to holly, that grows along that creek specifically.  I’ve enjoyed many a bike ride through this area and have gotten scratched.  There’s also a shrub species, Heteromeles, which is also knicknamed  California Holly that I certain recognize around Evergreen.  Maybe these two tag teamed the Thompson Creek creating a Holly Oak grove.  Or it’s something completely different.  Holly would also have another meaning like Hollywood.  Holly would mean magical.  Either these were magical oaks or these were holly-like oaks.  John Aborn would’ve pioneered this neighborhood and raised his daughter here, advocating for the rights of homesteaders and a defendant of Chaboyas.

P1300673The varieties of oaks themselves are evergreen, so it’s only natural so the name is only natural.  Evergreen hosts a number of species.  “Blue Oak” Natural Reserve is tucked away beyond Joseph Grant Park to observe one of our species.  Valley Oak with distinctive leaves would prefer lower elevations of Evergreen.  Creeks and natural springs kept grass alive on the hillsides year round.  Chaboya’s cattle ranching business wouldn’t have changed a lot of Evergreen’s landscape.  With so many green trees, and rolling grasslands, the place begged the name.  The word “evergreen” simply meant green all year round.  In fact, Antonio Chaboya would mark Rancho Yerba Buena boundaries using cattle brand and the oak trees.

1421300_242476552761125_6880580855870102685_oMap 006, San Jose, Evergreen, Silver Creek, Mount Pleasant, PalThe Norwood neighborhood would get its name from Northern woods in the township of Evergreen.  The map to the left predates the avenue, however the avenue exists along this Green border.  It’s no coincidence.  The Norwood and Quimby Creeks would keep this area heavily wooded, and that element can still be felt there today.  This hillside would’ve been cleared for orchards or vineyards in the mid 1800’s.  I’ve gone on many drives to connect with Evergreen, one of them through this neighborhood, and our oak groves are a continued point of inspiration.

Calocedrus_decurrens_PAN_2hb896nb4gd-FID3Cedar Grove Elementary was named for a natural grove of cedar trees.  California Cedar, or Incense Cedar, could have been indigenous to Evergreen and this Northern wooded area.  That’s this one on the right.  This coniferous cedar grove would’ve been a part of this larger forest known as Norwood.  If it’s indigenous, it was a natural boundary for cattle herding and for the Ranch of Yerba Buena, you can see it on the Chaboya map.

Screen Shot 2015-10-27 at 4.01.24 PMCedars could’ve been planted along San Felipe Road to provide shade through this area when Spanish settlers founded Mission San Jose in 1797 and possible when Mission Santa Clara was founded in 1777.   You can see them on the San Felipe route in the old map here and ought to be this area with doubled up trees.  Cedar Grove may have been planted as early as 1821 by the Chaboya family to reinforce the border between Yerba Buena and neighboring ranchos or pueblo lands that eventually turned into East San Jose.  In the 1800’s, this would have been a popular source of lumber for building.  Norwood Avenue would be established between 1876 and 1899.

1876 MapJ.E. Brown, Theodore Lenzen Residence, Geo. H. Briggs, J.E. RucCedar Grove Elementary appears to be located in this John Tully property, once jointly owned in partnership with Wallace engaged in the lumber business in 1876 found at the top corner of this map.  It’s quite possible the Tully & Wallace company cut the grove down, build their homes and made way for orchards fed by the natural creek nearby.  These are cedars seen is Alfred Chew’s front yard.

118206-004-C50E9F7BHowever, looking at all the varieties of cedar trees to find the origin of Cedar Grove’s name, there’s cedar all around us in Evergreen.  I never realized how often it pops up now that I know the difference.  I think this is a cedar in my own front yard.  Seen here to the left, this cedar tree is a staple of Evergreen today.   Cedrela or Cigar Box Cedar species is all over the Evergreen Community today as a decorative tree, especially this neighborhood surrounding the school.  This species was native to Mexico, so it is not beyond the realm of imagination that these trees came with the Mexican or Spanish Empires.  They’re drought resistant so they’re widely used in landscaping today.

P131069617265953-Laurel-wreath-Decorative-element-at-engraving-style--Stock-VectorLaurelwood Elementary School would be named after a natural bed of Laurel trees. Coastal Bay Laurel, Umbellularia californica, would be prevalent in the Santa Cruz Mountains, but huge laurel groves would cover this area too thousands of years ago.  A climate change would shift that evolution and laurels would recede and make way for our oak groves.  This event took place all over the world in laurel forests in Mediterranean and subtropical climates.  Laurels are most notably the leafy thing behind the ears of many Greek and Roman statues.  I hadn’t realized laurel trees and the avocado were relative plants.  If a wood or forest of laurels existed in Evergreen in the 1800’s, it would certainly be notable.  Today, laurel shrubs and trees can be found on the school’s campus.  Some of these shrubs around Thompson Creek behind the school would appear to be flowering, blossoming laurel bushes.

197812780Beyond that, trees and varieties continue to inspire the naming of streets and neighborhoods.  “Glen” and “dale” all refer to clusters of trees.  That’s right.  Willow Glen was named for a cluster of Willow trees, also a township founded approximately the same time as Evergreen.  Evergreen was named for its out of world beauty and would draw tourists to its trees.  The Creeks created these groves, but would later empty into the orchards’ and farms’ irrigation systems.  Before that, Lake Cunningham, then Silver Lake, would flood into creek beds.  This would continue to be a problem for the Evergreen Township, but a win fall for the trees.  If you’re ever curious about the name “Evergreen”, just take a drive through the hills.  You’ll get lost in the natural wonder in your backyard.  To say our roots are Evergreen is an understatement.

Evergreen postcard graffiti evergreen

5985404833_eb2e904b36_bRecommended Routes for unspoiled beauty:

Silver Creek Valley Road, park at the shopping center and take a little walk.

San Felipe Road, make a right on Silver Creek Road, notice the awesome Silver Creek and its wicked silvery oaks

Follow Quimby Road until its windy, it quickly becomes stunning and natural

From Murrillo Avenue, make a right onto Chaboya Road, the Sikh Temple is beautiful but just beyond are rustic barns shaded by hundreds year old oaks

Follow Tully Road until its windy, it quickly becomes stunning and natural with excellent farms and oak land to see

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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.