When California was ceded to the United States, the area’s earliest transportation routes were little more than trails. The first official action by the Santa Clara County Court of Sessions regarding roads was on July 6, 1850, when four roads were declared public highways. Linking Santa Clara County with greater Northern California, these routes closely followed what became known as the Oakland Highway, Monterey Road, the El Camino Real to San Francisco, and the Santa Clara-Santa Cruz Road. Each of these routes had been established by the Spanish as primary routes from the pueblo of San José to the presidios at Monterey and Yerba Buena, and to the neighboring missions in Santa Clara, Santa Cruz, San Juan Bautista, and Mission San José. On October 21, 1852, the county was divided into road districts, with the new Board of Supervisors responsible for overseeing road construction and maintenance within their own districts. As population increased and farms and ranches spread throughout the undeveloped parts of the county, new arrivals felt the need of a connection from their homestead to the main arteries of traffic. The Board was inundated with petitions for new or improved roads, consuming most of its attention through these early years of the American Period. In 1856, a road improvement fund was created from property taxes and fines imposed for breaking road laws. Santa Cruz Mountain Road Most of the traffic between San José and Santa Cruz in the 1840s traveled by one of two routes; stagecoach via Gilroy and Watsonville or a steamboat via San Francisco continuing down the coast to Santa Cruz. Population growth in the Santa Cruz Mountains coupled with increased commerce between San José and Santa Cruz created a demand to improve the road through the mountains in the early 1850s. This was probably one of the most difficult roads in the county to construct. The original route followed the Spanish trail between Mission Santa Clara and Mission Santa Cruz, roughly the same path as the subsequent San José-Santa Cruz Highway. This route was originally an Indian trail that was improved by mission neophytes in 1791 under direction of the Franciscan padres. Described as impossibly steep and dangerous, it was a trail barely suitable for use by pack animals. In the late 1840s, Zachariah Jones established a lumber mill above Los Gatos in the vicinity of Lexington Dam. To provide lumber for the rapidly developing valley, Jones opened a lumberyard in what is now the town of Los Gatos. Jones employees transported lumber from the mill down the trail to the lumberyard. Using the bottleneck formed by Los Gatos Canyon, Jones was able to virtually control traffic between Los Gatos, his mill, and Santa Cruz for several years. As early as August 17, 1850, the board received petitions requesting that the road to Jones Mill be improved. It was 1852 before the Board of Supervisors responded to these requests by appointing a commission to view possible routes through the mountains. Taking no action for several years, the board in 1854 again designated an exploratory expedition to recommend routes to Santa Cruz. Led by Sheriff John Murphy, this committee reported that it would cost $10,000 to build a road from Jones Mill to the county line. Although Murphys estimate for constructing this road was less than the 1852 estimate, the supervisors thought the cost of building and maintaining such a road was more than Santa Clara County coffers could afford. The high cost of road construction was a problem throughout California. A solution for funding construction and maintenance of county roads was provided by the state legislature in 1853 with passage of the Plank and Turnpike Roads Act. This act allowed nine or more persons to organize a joint stock company to construct a turnpike road, operate it as a toll road for a period not exceeding twenty years, and then turn it over to the county as a public road. The Board of Supervisors and the State Legislature awarded several franchises to turnpike companies who constructed toll roads in Santa Clara County. The county approved the placement of tollgates and regulated tolls charged by the turnpike companies. . It was not until 1857, however, that a franchise was awarded to the Santa Cruz Gap Turnpike Joint Stock Company to grade a road from Los Gatos to the summit. At the summit, the road was joined by the toll road from Scotts Valley constructed by the Santa Cruz Turnpike Company in 1858. Teamsters and mountain residents soon resented paying tolls. In 1864, loaded wagon pulled by eight mules cost a teamster a $1.50 to travel from Los Gatos to the Santa Clara County line, and then additional fees would have to be paid to use the Santa Cruz turnpike into Santa Cruz or Soquel. Fees varied according to the number of animals pulling a wagon and its weight, and an individual horse and rider could use the road for fifteen cents. For an undisclosed reason, the board delayed taking over the Los Gatos toll road when the franchise expired in November 1877. Upset with this delay, teamsters took matters into their own hands; in January 1878, they tore down the gate in front of the tollhouse in Los Gatos. This action led to heated words and tense moments as the teamsters faced the irate toll road owners. Finally, the supervisors declared the road a public highway, much to the dismay of the toll road companys owners. Reluctant to give up this lucrative enterprise, the owners fought the matter in the courts, and lost. The Alameda A beautiful tree-lined street, The Alameda, between San José and Santa Clara and linking to El Camino Real on the San Francisco Peninsula was another road that the county found difficult to maintain. The triple row of willow trees that shaded The Alameda during the hot summers prevented evaporation of moisture from the adobe soil during the winter months. . The resulting quagmire made vehicular traffic almost impossible for four or five months out of the year. Hoping to escape the high maintenance costs for this road, the Board of Supervisors awarded a franchise to the Alameda Turnpike in 1862. Other Turnpike Developments Other toll roads throughout Santa Clara County proved much less troublesome. The Pajaro Turnpike between Gilroy and Watsonville opened in 1854 and reverted to county ownership in 1874. The toll road through Pacheco Pass to the San Joaquin Valley was constructed in 1856. Purchased for $6,000 in 1879, it was the last of the toll roads to be operated in the county. In 1861 the San José and Alviso Turnpike Company erected tollgates on the northern edge of San José. The county purchased this franchise in 1863. The Saratoga and Pescadero Turnpike Company received a franchise in 1867 to grade a road from Saratoga over the mountains. The county purchased this franchise in 1880, changing the name to Congress Springs Road, now the route of State Highway 9. The discovery of gold in 1848 meant great changes to the area now known as Pacheco Pass. It became the main travel route from coastal California to the mines. This increased traffic led to the utilization of the areas rich soil to cultivate fruit trees and vineyards. The land also hosted cattle, sheep, horses and chickens. How some current local landmarks got their names: Pacheco Pass Named for Don Francisco Perez Pacheco, whos land grant from Mexico covered an area from San Juan Bautista to Gilroy and to the present-day Casa de Fruta and beyond. Los Banos Originally a spot along the San Joaquin River where Father Arroyo enjoyed bathing (Los Banos del Padre Arroyo). San Luis Reservoir Originally a lovely pool of water found by Lt. Gabriel Moraga of the San Francisco Presidio. He dedicated the area to Saint Aloysisus which in Spanish translates into San Luis Gonzaga. Soap Lake Salt that was gathered from the shores of this lake (between Gilroy and Casa de Fruta) was sold to the military. The salt was used as an ingredient to make soap. Bell Station Tavern established along Pacheco Pass when it was a toll road in the 1860s. When Lafayette F. Bell purchased it, it became known as Bell Station. Casa de Fruta In English it means House of Fruit. In 1908 the first orchards were planted by the Great Uncles of the Clara Zanger family. back to top Mount Hamilton Road In the 1870s, wealthy entrepreneur James Lick set aside $700,000 to construct an observatory in California. Planned to incorporate the most advanced astronomical technology, this observatory would be the first to be located on the West Coast as well as the first mountaintop observatory in the world. Several mountains were considered as potential sites, including Mount Helena, Mount Diablo, Loma Prieta, and Mount Hamilton. Recognizing the tremendous tourist potential of the observatory, the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors and San José Common Council encouraged Lick to seriously consider Mount Hamilton. In September 1875, Licks representatives appeared before the Board of Supervisors with a proposal that the observatory would be located on Mount Hamilton if the county would construct a first-class road to the summit. The board, chaired by W.N. Furlong, accepted Licks proposal, and construction of this road occupied the majority of the boards attention for the next several years. County Surveyor A.T. Herrmanns survey was accepted by the board in the latter part of January 1876 and construction was underway by the end of February. Public concerns were expressed that Lick might change his mind about the location of the observatory and the county would be left with an expensive road with no practical use. Responding to these concerns, Lick agreed to deposit in a local bank $50,000 that would be available for construction expenses. County bonds would be issued payable upon completion of the observatory. This action was followed by a protest that the county was not authorized to construct such a road to be paid for by the County at large. Answering this objection, the supervisors asked the legislature to pass an act authorizing the Santa Clara County to issue bonds up to $120,000 to pay for the Mount Hamilton Road, with the excess to be applied to the indebtedness of the road districts. The act was passed in 1878. The County encountered other problems before the road was completed. These were the years of active anti-Chinese agitation, which by the mid-1870s had reached a fevered pitch on the West Coast. Use of inexpensive Chinese labor on public projects was quickly noted and castigated by anti-Chinese forces. In February 1876 local newspapers condemned the roads contractor, E.L. Derby, for using Chinese labor, and by the following April, Chinese labor on the road had been reduced. Due to issues of labor following this controversy, construction was suspended for several months beginning in July, and then resumed in October under in October under another firm. Under new leadership, the last portion of the twenty-eight miles of road was completed by December 1876. Despite the problems encountered during the roads construction, it was an engineering feat accomplished in less than a year. Other than the use of blasting powder and two horse-drawn McCall graders, the road was entirely constructed by hand, with picks and shovels. Little changed today, the road has 365 curves as it twists its way to the summit rising over 4,000 feet above the valley floor. On January 9, 1877, the finished road was inspected and approved by the trustees for James Lick and the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors. The day was a general holiday throughout the County, with 5,000 people visiting the summit via the newly completed road to celebrate. Horace Foote, a reporter for the Argus, rode up the mountain in Supervisor Samuel Ayers carriage. Ayer reportedly entertained his passengers with comments on the spectacular view of the surrounding foothills and the valley below. H.S. Foote noted later in his 1888 history of the county that there was considerable public opposition to the project and that the supervisors were often divided on the subject. Foote credits Supervisor J.M. Battee, Chair of the Road Committee, with diplomatically securing passage of the proper orders at proper times so that work could proceed smoothly. Road Maintenance From the beginning, the Board of Supervisors continually battled to keep the countys roads in good repair. At times it must have seemed like a losing battle. Geologist William H. Brewer recorded observations in his journal while traveling through Santa Clara County in the early 1860s. In the very dry summer of 1861, Brewer noted that: San José and Santa Clara are large and thriving towns, but the whole country looks dry now....Hundreds of windmills pump water from the wells for the cattle and for irrigating the lands, but the streams are dry, and sand and clouds of dust fill the dry air. While seated on the stage we often could not see the leaders at all for the dust....The driver said the dust often became very fine, and eight inches deep, before the close of the dry season, filling the air with dust clouds....The roads at this season are dusty beyond description and the town looks accordingly. Brewer returned to San José the following March [1862], and found quite different conditions: We took the steamer to Alviso, at the head of the Bay of San Francisco, then stage for seven miles to San José. The roads were awful. We loaded up, six stages full, in the rain, and had gone scarcely a hundred rods when the wheels sank to their axles and the horses nearly to their bellies in the mud when we unloaded. Then the usual strife on such an occasion. Horses get down, driver swears, passengers get in the mud, put shoulders to the wheels and extricate the vehicle. We walk a ways, then get in, ride two miles, then get out and walk two more in the deepest, stickiest, worse mud you ever saw, the rain pouring. I hardly knew which grew the heaviest, my muddy boots or my wet over-coat. Then we ride again, then walk again, and finally ride into town, having made the seven miles in four hours hard work. The pretty village was muddy, cheerless, and dull beyond telling. During the latter part of the nineteenth century, the Board based their campaign rhetoric on promises to improve roads in their districts. By the 1880s, the Board of Supervisors developed the policy of each year selecting a prominent highway in each district for major construction.s policy continued for many years.
Posted on: Thu, 08 Jan 2015 23:17:07 +0000
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