Tag Archives: nature

Drive down Quimby Road – Review

IMG_0168quimby road san jose - Google SearchThis is one of San Jose’s best drives, Quimby Road.  It’s got a lot of history.  I wouldn’t venture on a recreational drive with the phone on.  Checking it and texting will be dangerous.  Your reception will be shotty, so who cares.  You’re not going to want to be checking your phone anyways.  I like to think of this drive as a 30 minute vacation.  If you grew up camping and hiking, if you appreciate your relationship with nature, you’re going to like to bite-size journey.  You can return to your day to day totally renewed.

IMG_0147This drive is gorgeous!  Go grab your camera!  If you want to take photos, do be polite.  Pull to the side of road in a turn out or find a driveway and your flashers.  This is a narrow windy road.  Quimby Road also isn’t entirely lifeless, meaning you’ll find other cars passing and people live out here.  Be careful if you’re getting out of the car, check your mirrors before getting out  and use your flashers every time.

CAM12894IMG_0187Your trip out of town doesn’t really begin until you reach Murillo Avenue.  From Eastridge Mall to Murillo Avenue, this area of Quimby Road is completely developed. That’s changed since my childhood.  There’s  high school where there were once cow pastures.  Just west of Murillo Avenue are newer homes and the Sikh Gurdwara.  Murillo Avenue would mark the boundary of the Pellier Ranch and upon your first curves, you’ll find vineyards and a monastery.  You’re on the right path.  Keep going.

IMG_0145The hills are steep and windy.  Because they are, your views will be spectacular right away.  There’s no where to really pull over and park on the way up, so you’re going to have to wait for these shots on your way back when you can find room on a turn.  Or bring a friend and keep your eye on the road.  Really, that’s safest.  You’ll have to muscle up a few switchbacks back to back.  Don’t go too slow, and don’t get nervous.  I do think in 4 cylinders with ease.  Don’t be overwhelmed by the steep curves.  And when you get comfy with them, you’ll enjoy them.

IMG_0169After the switchbacks are shaded valleys and wavy roadways up here.  This is the Northeastern corner of Rancho Yerba Buena.  Picturesque barns and livestock populate Quimby Road.  This is nearly untouched wilderness and the drive is pretty relaxing from here out.  You can’t entirely take your eyes off the road, but turn offs are plentiful.

IMG_0184Watch out for deer.  Actually, there’s plenty of indigenous wildlife on Quimby – vultures, turkeys, squirrels and lovely deer.  In the past and in the evening, you can see owl, bobcat and deer galore.  I’ve found deer here, Chaboya Road and at the Wehner Mansion.  This was taken at 2pm, so they’re pretty brazen up here.  Photograph deer with caution.  This guy was calm, but I felt uncomfortable at the Wehner Mansion.  It just depends, but always remember – that’s not Bambi.  Photograph at a distance.  If you’re a serious photographer, you should take all your lenses anyway.

CAM12900CAM12899Further down Quimby Road, you will pass some stunning, old school ranches to the left and right where you reach the Summit.  These ranch entrances alone are beautiful.  They’re not open to the public, so don’t go wandering up a driveway.  This far removed from civilization, hunting is a reality and serves a huge purpose in wildlife control and conservation.  It’s simply not safe to have unplanned visits.  Stick to the road and take all the pictures of hundreds of year old Evergreen oaks and historic barns you want.  This portion of Quimby is fun to drive, but not without well marked turns and elevation changes.  You gotta stay alert.

IMG_0166IMG_0163Beyond the Summit and just outside of the Rancho Yerba Buena, you drop down into a Valley.  You’re officially out of Evergreen.  A beautiful lake in Halls Valleys reveals itself and Quimby Road soon ends at Mt. Hamilton Road, Highway 130.  By turning right, you’ll reach Joseph Grant Park nearly immediately.  This park entrance is a great spot to pull over for pictures of the lake.

IMG_0159James Lick Observatory is another 30-45 minutes away, depending on how you drive on windy roads.  Like we discussed in our Best Drive List, this is where this drive becomes tremendously difficult.  This is not for new drivers.  This is not for texting.  This is not for the timid.  This is not for the car sick or just eaten.  This is not for old tires or weak brakes.  If you have any questions or doubts, stop off at Joseph Grant Park and collect your thoughts.  This isn’t a fun drive beyond this point, but it’s worth it if you’re curious about the Observatory.  During this drive, it’s fun watching it come into focus as you get closer.

 

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

Cottle’s Cobble Stone

P1310192The Cottles were long time residents of Evergreen who lived in Silver Creek, creek adjacent along Dove Hill.  You can see them here, O. B. Cottle, directly on Silver Creek Road on the left side of this map.   Trusted historian, long time resident and valued Community member, Colleen Cortese, told me that I’d like pieces of Orval Cottle’s Cobble Stone fences along Silver Creek Road.  Try to say that 5 times past.  Cottles Cobble Stone, Cottles Cobble Stone…. I followed that lead and looked where she told me.

CAM11541In fact, I followed that path specifically along Silver Creek, the creek, that continues once the road ends.  This is a lovely little hike to commune with nature in a hurry.  I had my computer packed with historic maps with me, trying to feel my way across the land and features.  The Cottles lived around here somewhere.  This beginning to the path would’ve been the first place the road and creek crossed. Where this meets Yerba Buena Road in another crossing of the creek as Silver Creek Road once led up the hillside.   But… following the road didn’t do much for my hypothesis.

CAM11535Along my hike to the West of the trail, I found two giant stones out in the open that I could align visually to be fence, but no visible guts of a stone wall like I’d suspect.  I personally had zero desire to find out if there were rattle snakes certainly sunning on this gorgeous summer day.  This path was old Silver Creek Road that connected to San Felipe Road some time ago, so it could’ve been the most Southern point of the Cottle Ranch.

CAM11549CAM11556I veered for a hike up to the base of the electrical towers here, which appears to be a dog friendly path into Silver Creek.  Well, I found more giant stones like before, but there at the edge of the plateau was a great cobble stone barrier left in tact.  At the high elevation, I could see it all over the place.  I knew I had found it.

CAM11562I found my way back to my car and saw a pile of the same stones at the base of the pond there, across from Silver Creek Linear Park, as I was leaving.  I’ve been driving past here looking for Cottle’s Cobble stone a couple times and haven’t found it.  That’s what this was the whole time.  Not a decorative element by the home development company, but a genuine element.  Rusted barbed wire along the path would’ve been the genuine article too.  So I had to turn left off of Silver Creek Road and see if I could find anymore more of the cobble stone.


CAM11566CAM11564Jackpot.  In fact, totally cobble stone wall formations left behind in construction.  It’s apparent all over the place.  It was probably expensive to remove but considered quite charming.  This area, I suspect, was repurposed for the roadway here to the right.  This cobble stone barrier is relic of a forgotten time.  It’s beauty, however, never overlooked.

5985404833_eb2e904b36_bThe Cottles were married in Wisconsin in 1842 and came West to Nevada County in 1850, where he entered the mining boom.  Mr. Cottle did a little bouncing around as a kid.  In 1854, the couple relocated the family to Evergreen.  Orval had a hard time buying his property in Evergreen, Silver Creek adjacent specifically, and rumored to have paid for the same land 3 different times.

Thought the map above states 254 acres on Silver Creek Road, a contemporary 1860’s source describes the Cottle Estate as “Located seven miles south-east of San Jose, where the valley floor gives wasy to the low foothills of the Mt. Hamilton Range, was the Cottle Farm of some 320 acres.The little stream known as Silver Creek meandered through the Cottle acres at the foot of the hills and then some distance southward left the foothil area and ran through the valley lands.The home buildings of the Cottle Farm were located on the edge of the valley floor, as it broke into the wider expanse downward some ten or fifteen feet to the shallow bank of the creek.”

CAM11534Children playing with their neighbors and cousins, rolling rocks down the hill would knock out a portion of the stone wall.  That could be the reason these rocks have no noticeable debris between the giant rocks.  It’s actually something I thought about looking at the landscape.  The Cottles’ only daughter would end up marrying the neighbor boy, Frank McCray, who was present in the rocking and rolling that broke the cobble stone wall.

6254418671_24064aa570The Cottle Family cultivated orchards, vineyards, cattle, chicken and various other harvests.  They would have taken full advantage of Silver Creek running through their yard, using the natural irrigation and spring nearby.  It’s why the area is so grassy.  It was cleared for farming over a hundred years ago.  This is Mr. and Mrs. Cottle on their 50th wedding anniversary.  They were very well liked and their grandkids were born in Evergreen as well.

 

Holly Oaks

 

graffiti evergreenEvergreen is densely packed with big, hundreds of years old trees that stay green year round.  That’s the whole reason for the name.  That and Oakland was already taken.  Oak trees are the majority of this wooded grassland we call home.  I’ve tried to think like an oak tree, be an oak tree and even worn my hair kinky like an oak tree.  Upon my research, it would seem so ordinary to have just one or two kinds of oak species in an area this large, not 5-10 like we actually have.  It’s why there’s a place just outside of Evergreen that UC Berkeley studies the oak trees.  Today, I’ve picked the most festive of the oaks to focus on.

holly

CAM11524CAM11520Holly Oak, the species, is named for its Holly-like leaves and branches, despite its other connotations.  Holly means magical, like Hollywood (with “wood” attached like Norwood).  It doesn’t have the regular oak leaves like to the right, but pointy ones.  The branches weren’t knotty and kinked like other oaks.  This is the leaf formation to the left, a typical Coastal Oak to the right, and a wide shot of the same young Holly Oak tree down below.  We see these in Evergreen all the time, especially along our creeks.

CAM11525P1310608This tree lines and shades the creek bed along Thompson Creek, also known as Dry Creek on historic maps, and around the school which is named for it.  I went to afterschool camp here as a youngster and thought this was what an oak tree was, with its pointy leaves and elongated acorns.  I also found it amongst other indigenous oaks and laurels by Silver Creek Linear Park and what is Silver Creek, the Creek.

CAM11530Neat trick and historian note: I can take a tape measure to trees and guesstimate an age, but I know any tree I can’t hug completely and touch my fingers is over 100 years old.  I have a wing span of 5.25 ft., I’m approximately a perfect Vitruvian Square like everyone else.  You too ought to be able to guesstimate the age of the trees.  Just give them a hug.

 

Silver Creek – the Creek

P1100107 (2)How else do we learn about our creek beds and their healthy or climate than taking a look at them up close and personally?  I ventured into our creek beds which gave me an awesome understanding of our fair Evergreen.  Today, we’re going to discuss a creek bed which is the namesake for the Western region of Evergreen between its namesake and Coyote Creek.

a 1876 map

watershedThat’s right.  I’m talking about Silver Creek.  I went to Silver Creek High School, built in 1969, and never once wondered why the name.  When I first started this project, it appeared that Silver Creek was an important part of Evergreen’s story.  Farmers with land attached to creeks had the upper hand.  Before Silver Creek, the area, was an idea, the creek was there and Cunningham Lake was named Silver Lake.  This creek must’ve been so large, it contributed to the naming of the region.  In fact, the whole network of creeks through Evergreen contribute to the Lower Silver Creek Watershed.

mapSilver Creek, as in the neighborhood and Evergreen’s first high school, has beenlocated on maps at least into the 1860’s.  Silver Creek, the area and the Creek, are historic.  This 1867 Altas shows it off predominantly.  It’s 2 miles outside of Downtown Evergreen, located off San Felipe Road and Evergreen Road.  It might’ve grown up as a town had stores not opened in nearby Township of Evergreen.  Because of its closeness to Edenvale and Downtown San Jose, it was incorporated into the City Limits earlier than Downtown Evergreen.  Evergreen is the entire Rancho Yerba Buena.  This area too being so far West would’ve been settled pretty early on by squatters.  Some of the defendants in the Chaboya case from these area specifically were the Cottle Family.

13415435_10206847123792679_6986196633091196421_oEvergreen was a haven for farmers because of its creeks and natural water delivery system in gravity, hillsides and natural springs throughout Evergreen.  Springs will appear whenever seismic activity is taking place, like Silver Creek and the Silver Creek Mines behind Silver Creek Valley Country Club.  Oak Trees and wild berries line the creek bed, with poppies, wild lupin and grasses around the surrounding hills.  These Oaks are Coastal Live Oak for the most part, even though Evergreen hosts a wide variety of oak trees.  An illness makes oak trees white like this.  It’s called root canker.  Amongst the spectrum of oak diseases, Silver Creek’s oaks are really looking pretty good.

P1300931Silver Creek’s ecosystem is fairly healthy, as indigenous birds and wildlife still call it home.  Silver Creek’s existing water formations are very clean and free from pollutants.  When I examine this Creek, the only littering I see is on road ways nearby – not in the water itself.  Here, by Silver Creek Linear Park where Silver Creek appears to end, the Cottle’s cobble stone walls along the Dove Hill border are still evident.

P1310192Silver Creek Road, King Road, White Road, Quimby Road and Evergreen Road back in those days were the huge arteries into Evergreen.  You can see in this enlargement to the left that Silver Creek Road and the Creek intertwined through modern day “the Ranch” development over Hassler Parkway.  Below you can view the entire length of the creek and roads.  Where Silver Creek Road straightens out has always transitioned to King Road.  King Road would’ve been the way to get to Downtown.  Kinda still is.

P1310197

CAM09459Silver Creek had its own grammar school at one point too.  I couldn’t find it on an atlas map, but Evergreen historian and trusted source, Colleen Cortese, has it closer to Coyote Creek than Silver Creek, but hey.  It served this whole area.

Silver Creek Road picks up again today near a Spring that contributes to Silver Creek’s Watershed.  Springs are created by the geology in the surrounding areas, not the gathering of water heading down the slope like lots of Evergreen’s creeks.

CAM10914

Drawing by Colleen Cortese
Drawing by Colleen Cortese

Silver Creek Mines are also located off of this portion of Silver Creek Road.  You can see North Almaden Mines here in this 1890 map above.  This same road used to connect over the hillside before its development.  Bradford Investment was involved with the Mining Industry in those days, establishing Silver Creek Mines, and would’ve built this road through to his jobsite.    You can see the entrance off San Felipe Road.  The Hellyers and Piercys too would’ve mined in Silver Creek region.  Brothers George and Daniel would choose opposite sides of Coyote Creek along the border with Edenvale, another small township.  Coyote Creek creates the western most point of Silver Creek and therefore Evergreen.  There’s a wicked rumor that someone accidently contaminated the Creek with quicksilver and their orchard turned to silver.  This may or may not have happen to oak trees in the area.

silver creek mapUntil Silver Creek High School opened, students had to travel outside of Evergreen to go to school.  The Creek would’ve existed where 101 lies now near the school.  Many sections of Silver Creek, the Creek and the Road, have been paved over for the 101 Freeway in the 1930-40’s and built on top of for Silver Creek Valley Country Club’s construction in the 1990’s.  Silver Creek Road which once followed the creek’s path also met up with San Felipe Road in the early 1900’s.

Silver Creek is a giant chunk of Evergreen, like a third.  It’s presence influenced people to settle in and raise their farms and families here.  Silver Creek is older than any Country Club, Park, or School.   All this time, I thought it just described nearby Dry Creek / Thomspon Creek when this was the larger watershed hooked up to Silver Lake or now Cunningham.  Here’s the Artwork featuring Silver Creek.

18951969

 

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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Evergreen – A Vacation Destination?

1876 MapPart of the joy in this project has been trying to imagine Evergreen of yesteryear.  How I’ve initially ingested the information is through the visuals which develop throughout time.  The Pueblo de San Jose was established in 1777 as the first secular settlement in California’s infancy.  Small towns and communities would grow up around the city in order to feed and sustain it.  Evergreen was certainly one of these communities, with its first recorded landowners being the Chaboyas in 1821.

Screen Shot 2015-11-02 at 6.06.18 PMScreen Shot 2015-11-02 at 5.59.57 PMThe Chaboyas were cattle ranchers and orchardists.  This means much of the area was untouched in years that the cattle didn’t graze across certain acres.  Grazing in general is a natural grass mowing.  The land itself was scenic, beautiful hillsides drenched in trees and creeks in the 1800’s.  It was described at 8 miles outside of the Pueblo.

IMG_4183The relationship early landowners had with Evergreen into the 1850’s was very different than what we think of it today.  If you were a wealthy farmer, you had a house Downtown – or rather in the City of San Jose – and a vacation or second home in the town of Evergreen.  The Pueblo’s plots were close together and very similar to how it looks and feels today.  Victorian homes can be traced back to their original owners or builders.  The City spread from an epicenter at First Street and Santa Clara Street, being named after the Mission of Santa Clara founded in 1776.

1997300231This was certainly true of the Tullys, Quimbys, and Cadwalladers.  Shown here are the super trendy Tullys, Rose and John.  The Pelliers would own downtown then purchase one of Evergreen’s largest ranches off Quimby Road and Norwood Avenue.  Wealthy landowners would have large homes in Evergreen and a pueblo plot, or small lot, in the City.  John J. Montgomery would come to fly from Evergreen’s pastoral hillsides while teaching at Santa Clara University.  This was a several hour ride on horseback to the town Evergreen in the day, with limited roadways and no highways, at the time.

a 1945 - ApricotsPeople from elsewhere would travel to Evergreen for a slower paced lifestyle, as well as to tend their lucrative farms.  Farmhands would stay on site and the owners would travel back and forth to their downtown stores and homes.  Evergreen’s farming community and nature would also bring tourism to a young Evergreen Village.  If you were visiting San Jose, you had to make the drive.

CAM10475Quick history lesson, Gutenberg’s printing press would be invented in 1444 AD.  Throughout the 1800’s the printing press would rapidly improve.  The rotary press would be developed in 1843, while the Chaboyas owned Rancho Yerba Buena.  Off-set printing would come around in 1875, when the town of Evergreen was a farming haven.  Hot metal typsetting would be invented in 1884, around the time James Lick Observatory was built and William Wehner’s Mansion was constructed.  Books and publications could be created and distributed much quicker and for less.

197812780Evergreen being popularized by books and newspapers, hiking groups would come to experience eucalyptus trees imported from Australia, giant oaks, scenic hillsides and natural creek life.  Evergreen would come to light through its fruit exports and famed residents.

images7Truth is beyond the suburban developments in Evergreen, there are still vacation spots with stunning vistas and hiking destinations.  Evergreen is still at the City’s edge and full of rural beauties, if you know where to look.

P1300662Also, there are still wealthy families who consider Evergreen their vacation destination.  These large ranches end up being a link to the past traditions of their families and our Evergreen.

 

Evergreen of the Mexican Period

1750Evergreen was home to Ohlone Natives before Franciscan Missions would disassociate them from their lands.  This vacuum created room for new residents without hesitation.

The first explorers of Northern California, or Alta California, were the Spanish.  In 1542, less than a year after Columbus’s voyage, exploration of California would begin.  Spanish would explore and conquer Mexico and an explorer and conquistador would pass the “Baja Point” into uncharted waters.  Cortes sent Francisco de Ulloa to explored the coastline in 1539.  In 1542, Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo would do some more extensive investigation and like Monterey for a naval base and well-suited to sustain itself.

300px-Franciscan_missionaries_in_CaliforniaSpanish and English vessels would reach the Coast of California but only the Spanish would begin colonization from a Mexican base.  It was believed that Baja California was an island.  California was named after a mythical Amazonian island.

cabrillo_mapIn 1602, Spain would begin developing naval forts at Monterey and San Diego.  Serious colonization would begin as missionaries and soldiers explored California over land.  This route would become the El Camino Real, Monterey Road and the Alameda through modern San Jose, marked with Mission Bells.  Missions would begin to appear in Modern Day Mexico in 1519, however the threat of Russian settlements would hasten the efforts to colonize New Spain.  The Spanish Empire would control the coastline for over 300 years.

New Spain would be separated into two parts, Alta California, modern day California, and Baja, modern day Mexico.  Gaspar de Portola, in 1768, would lead settlers of New Spain with a land and naval campaign, looking for Monterey but establishing Southern California Missions.

anza_mapJuan Bautista DeAnza would lead two expeditions into California.  New Spain and the Spanish Empire expanded into New Mexico and Arizona, naturally.  DeAnza left Tucson on this first journey and encountered agitated native populations.  This made for a short trip to LA and home.  Another expedition into Alta California in 1768 established the port at San Francisco and would introduce the Spanish intimately with the Santa Clara Valley as the route to San Francisco from Monterey over land.  The chain of Missions would lengthen through the 19th century but not in order.  It would not extend in the a numerical, chronological order.  Santa Clara de Asis would be the 8th Mission opened and the Pueblo of San Jose would be founded in 1777.  Mission de San Jose wouldn’t open until 1797 and the latest Mission would open in the Mexican Period.

tf0w1007sn-FID3Mexican Independence would be won in 1819, and include all territories of New Spain.  A couple of things brought on the revolt.  Napoleon would conquer France and invade Spain.  The Spanish Empire didn’t want to be ruled by another monarchy.  New Spain had Old Rome’s, the Roman Catholic Church, approval to break away from the Spain crown.  The War for Mexican Independence would end with the signing of the Treaty of Hidalgo in 1821.  Mexico would set up its own monarchy, but opt for a republic constitution less than 2 years later.  With 3,200 settlers at the time California, Alta and Baja, would need settlement to create growth.

bay%20drawingIt’s this California that Antonio Chaboya would move to in 1821.  Native Americans coming to Missions would make up a lot of the economy in the Spanish Period of California’s History.  Mexico would inherit these struggles.  Mexico had a lot of problems in the upcoming years stabilizing the government and economy.  Alta California wasn’t well settled and had no tax revenue coming in.  Mexico was able to step up trade out of California by 25%, doing business with Russian on the West Coast for the most part.  Monterey was the only port at the time and the capital of the Alta California Territoy.  The Mexican Government applied at 100% tariff to pay for the Territory’s expenses.  What does that look like?  One for trade and one for the government.  Tariffs like these made up approximately 90% of government income at the time, no matter where you lived.  In 1827, the Mexican Government would dismiss their Spanish born residents.  The Government would change formats too many time to really stabilize the area.

7314695aa182d79feff3ee9377d8dca3So California, as we know it today, was expensive to operate without the strength in numbers to hold it steady. 87,000 indigenous people would be baptized by the Missions in 1800.  Outbreak of disease in 1805-6 would decimate Native populations across California’s Missions.   The Native American coverts would be treated like free labor, though they were promised land after a certain amount of service.  Soldiers would retrieve people who fled the Missions.  Those who hadn’t died due to new diseases were difficult to contain.  In 1826, the Governor of Alta California would release the indigenous people of their commitment to the Missions, working the land for food and shelter.  The Mexican Government would find lessening Native populations also making the Missions a burden also now that they had to provide them land like other citizens and no one stayed to operate the Mission farmlands.  The indigenous people would leave and assimilate to their new surroundings.  The emancipation would make California a sympathizer and welcome member of the Union Army during the Civil War, 1861-1865.  In 1833, the Missions would be secularized by the Government.  In 1832, less than 18,000 survived.  Mexico couldn’t afford to fund the churches.  Acres of Mission lands would be sold off and granted to others.

ranchosMapThere were thirty preexisting ranchos granted by the Crown of Spain to friends and families of Government leaders, but none in Santa Clara County by Mexico’s Independence.  Land Regulations would open up in 1824, allowing Mexican citizens to petition for land pretty easily and inviting Catholic immigrants to create new homesteads.  In 1827, Spanish born citizens, including priests, would have to leave the Mexican Territory.  This is when Mexican born Antonio Chaboya would’ve begun making his way to the Santa Clara Valley and eyeing the land.

hb896nb4gd-FID3In order to obtain your land grant in California of the 1820’s-30’s, you would need to work your land for 5 years so you had a claim to it.  The grants were often untracked with conflicting boundaries.  The disorganized manner in which grants were issued is the reason why this land grant to the right has a rectangular shape like the paper and no outlines.  The land was cheap and there was practically no tax or dues on the property.  Ranch owners would enjoy a barony type status, providing work and limited land to rand workers.  Without the Missions farming the land, Ranch owners would step in, fill in that gap and reap the profits.  Through the Mexican Period, forty-one grants would be made in Santa Clara County alone.

Screen Shot 2015-11-02 at 5.59.57 PMIn 1831, the Missions would record over 24,000 inhabitants of California- native, immigrant and Mexican.  Rancho Yerba Buena would be granted to Chaboya in 1833.  Santa Clara County’s first Ranchos would be granted in present day Gilroy, closer to Monterey.  Chaboya’s would be the first recorded in present day San Jose.

hb267nb0kh-FID7Neighboring Rancho Santa Teresa would be granted to the Bernal Family in 1834.  The Higuera Family would be granted Rancho Pala in 1835, selling it shortly afterwards to Englishman, Mr. Charles White.  Rancho Milpitas would be sold to the Alviso Family.  The Berryessa Family would be granted land in East San Jose in 1842.  Are we recognizing any of these names?

Screen Shot 2015-11-02 at 6.06.18 PMAntonio Chaboya would’ve heard about cinnabar in the hills, but probably didn’t mine even after hearing about nearby Almaden quicksilver mines.  The Chaboyas enjoyed vast grazing lands on Rancho Yerba Buena.  The largest of Santa Clara Ranchos, Rancho Yerba Buena was over 24,000 acres.  The Mexican Period was an awesome time to be Mexican landowner in Santa Clara Valley.

The beginning of the end of the Mexican Period was a land grant made to a Catholic American immigrant, John Sutter, in 1839.  Colonization is what Alta California needed and asked for.  However, American immigrants to California would begin making their dissatisfaction with the Mexican Government known by 1840, staging various incidents.  By 1844, Californios, native born Mexican citizens, would also revolt against disorganized Mexican Rule.  By 1846, California as we know it has approximately 12,000 inhabitants.

Gold Rush - Public DomainCalifornia’s Statehood would get underway a little before that discovery of gold, but the Gold Rush allowed California to become a State from a Territory very quickly.  Before Gold, Texas broke away from Mexico in 1836 and didn’t want to be a part of the United States until 1846.  War between Mexico and the United States would ensue over these territories with Americans, Catholics invited by the Roman Church, living in them.  That same year, California would rise under the Bear Republic, neutralizing Mexican garrisons without violence or bloodshed.  Less than a month later with the capture of Mexican Presidios, Alta California would succumb to US governance.  John Sutter’s grant near present day Sacramento would discover gold in 1848.

san_jose_2The end of the Mexican American War in 1848 would see the United States paying $15,000,000.00 for the territories of Alta California – present day California, Arizona, Nevada, Colorado, New Mexico and Texas.  This would essentially wipe out the Mexican Government’s debts with the colonization costs.  The Compromise of 1850 would see California to Statehood.  The Pueblo of San Jose, New Spain’s first non-secular settlement, would become the first State Capital with the help of some Evergreen players.  Other Evergreen notables like the Pellier Family and Coe Family would move into Evergreen shortly thereafter.  By 1850, there would be over 100,000 people living in California.  That’s quite a boom.  Here’s our artwork discussing this period of time.

1777179718211810 18331855

Trumpet Call! – Evergreen Poetry

Winnifred Coe Verbica, who died on March 31, 2013, in the early 1950s
Winnifred Coe Verbica, who died on March 31, 2013, in the early 1950s

Winnifred Coe Verbica was an inspiring Evergreen woman, but she’s also apart of Evergreen’s literary tradition.  Here’s a poem her son Peter shared with me.

Trumpet Call!

When He calls me home,
My God and King,
May my heart be shown
What joy shall ring!

All the angels there
In Heaven’s world
See the answered prayer
Of sinners hurled.

Nothing here on earth
On land or sea
Measure Heaven’s worth,
Or what it will be.

None of us can know
When time shall cease.
God alone can show
It’s great increase.

Yet I’ll trust and wait
With eager heart
Standing at the gate
His trumpet shall start

Treasuring the time
Until he calls:
Wonderment sublime
In Heaven’s halls.

There with saints of old
I’ll kneel and pray…
There my Lord behold:
Triumphant day!

C 1995 Winnifred Coe Verbica

“My mother passed away in 2013 on Easter – what a great poem to remind us all of the brevity of life and the legacy we leave behind.”

-Peter Coe Verbica