CITY OF LOS GATOS by Amazon Stones

The Town of Los Gatos is an incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population was 28,592 at the 2000 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area at the southwest corner of San Jose in the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Homes are mostly upscale, varying from century-old one million-dollar cottages in the downtown area to 7- or 8-million-dollar large custom homes in the surrounding hills. The town is noted for its small, pedestrian-friendly downtown, with many boutique shops and restaurants. It is also a preferred destination for antique shopping.

The town's founding dates to the mid-1850s with the building of a flour operation,Forbes Mill, by James Alexander Forbes along Los Gatos Creek. The mill's two-story stone storage annex has been preserved as a museum just off of Main Street.

The settlement that was established in the 1860s was originally named for the mill, but the name was changed to Los Gatos after the Spanish land grant. The town was incorporated in 1887 and remained an important town for the logging industry in the Santa Cruz Mountains through the end of the 19th century. In the early 20th century the town became a thriving agricultural town with apricots, grapes and prunes being grown in the area. Along with much of the Santa Clara Valley, Los Gatos became a suburban community for San Jose beginning in the 1950s, and the town was mostly built-out by the 1980s.

Downtown Los Gatos has retained and restored many of its Victorian-era homes and commercial buildings. Other notable buildings are the Forbes Mill annex, dating to 1880 and now housing a history museum, Los Gatos High School which dates from the 1920s, and the Old Town Shopping Center, formerly the University Avenue School (the school was established in 1882; the current buildings date to 1923).

A number of brick buildings in Downtown Los Gatos were destroyed or heavily damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, though the district was quickly rebuilt and has made a full recovery.

Recreation

Art Museum of Los Gatos

Art Museum of Los Gatos displays exhibits of Bay Area artists that change each month or two. The art museum also has exhibits displaying creative works by budding elementary and high school artists. In addition to displaying art, the Art Museum of Los Gatos offers fine art classes for children, teens and adults of all levels. This popular Los Gatos attraction is open Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 4pm.

Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad and Bill Mason Carousel at Oak Meadow Park

Oak Meadow and adjoining Vasona parks in Los Gatos are among the Santa Clara Valley's most serene and picturesque spots, and the Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad is the best way to view them both. A one-third-scale--and real--1905 steam engine locomotive powers the five passenger cars that wind around lakes and wooden bridges over duck-filled, free-running streams, past groves of willow and sweet-smelling eucalyptus. If a train is just too modern a convenience, there is the 24-horse Bill Mason Carousel nearby, built originally for the 1915 San Francisco Panama-Pacific Exposition. Listen to calliope music or the creaking mechanism as you read signs that show what Grandma had to put up with.

History Museum of Los Gatos, Forbes Mill

Los Gatos' local history museum displays rotating exhibits and maintains a permanent collection depicting the history of the Los Gatos area's pioneer days. The building itself, originally part of the Forbes Mill Annex, is actually a state historical landmark. Entrance is free, but a suggested donation of $2 is always welcome and the museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, noon to 4pm.

Kotani-En Japanese Garden

Though closed to the public, this privately owned Japanese garden is a state historical landmark. A prominent example of Japanese landscape architecture in the U.S., Kotani-En is a classical Japanese residence in the formal style of a 13th-century estate with tile roofed walls surrounding a tea house, shrine, gardens and ponds. Constructed for Max M. Cohen in 1918-1924 of mahogany, cedar, bamboo and ceramic tile by master artisan Takashima and eleven craftsmen from Japan, Kotani-En represents a harmonious union of art and nature in a two-acre rustic environment. Kotani-En.

Lexington Reservoir

Lexington Reservoir County Park is a scenic 960-acre park and reservoir in the Santa Cruz Mountains above Santa Clara County. The park includes a 475-acre reservoir which can be traversed in rowboats, sailboards or electric powered boats. Fishing is permitted, however, swimming is banned. The Jones Trail and trails in the Saint Joseph's Hill Open Space Preserve can be accessed from the park.

Los Gatos Creek Trail

Nine-mile trail offers aerobic enjoyment to pedestrians, hikers, bicyclists, dog walkers and nature enthusiasts. Access trail from Vasona County Park and Oak Meadow Park off Blossom Hill Road; from downtown Los Gatos at Miles Avenue, Main Street and Forbes Mill; or from the Lexington Reservoir Dam. Parking and public transit are available.

Los Gatos Historic Commercial District

19 buildings spread over 50 acres were declared a historical district in 1991, after several buildings were destroyed in the devastating1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake, whose epicenter was in the hills above Los Gatos. Well preserved examples of Queen Anne, Mission/Spanish Revival, Romanesque architecture built between 1975 and 1949 can be found at 1-24 N. Santa Cruz Ave., 9-15 University Ave. and 14-198 W. Main St.

Los Gatos Mountain Trails

This complex of trails starts downtown and branches into the hills south of Los Gatos. Every morning and evening, the Los Gatos Creek Trail teems with bikers and joggers diligently raising their heart rates. For those inclined to more leisurely pursuits, the Scout Trail for hikers starts at the same spot, just east of the freeway overpass on East Main Street, and takes a few charming twists into shady creek-side groves before lurching up a sun-baked mountain on the way to Lexington Reservoir. Wild fennel and raspberry and the occasional alarming scuttle in the bushes lend a bucolic flavor to the experience.

Vasona County Park

Santa Clara Valley residents enjoy this 151-acre park's wealth of venerable trees, grassy knolls and meandering waterways. A popular spot for picnics, hiking, sports and recreation, its grassy turf areas invite Frisbee tossing, kite flying, softball, soccer or volleyball. Vasona Lake is open for non-power boating year-round; paddle boats and row boats can be rented. Black bass, crappie, catfish and blue gill populate the lake and licensed anglers can try their luck. For picnickers, the park offers individual tables and barbecues along with eight reservable group areas. Children enjoy the ducks, though check the rules before feeding them.