Street Alto

ReviewTitle: Home Home Community Historian leads readers down memory lane with new book on old Los Altos

Author: Mary Beth Hislop

Pubisher: Los Altos Town Crier

Date: 3/30/2010

For each person lamenting the disappearance of apricot, French plum and cherry orchards that used to line the Los Altos landscape, there’s another mourning the loss of golden grasses that employed to cover the valley’s hills as far as the eye could see.

And altho orchards were already here and he never saw firsthand those golden pastures dappled with inheritance oak trees, Los Altos resident Don McDonald leads readers on a stroll down memory lane in his new book, “Early Los Altos and Los Altos Hills” (Arcadia Publishing, 2010).

The 128-page book is a photo-portrayal of Los Altos spanning 100 years, from 1850 to 1950. From Los Altos’ and Los Altos Hills’ origins to the Great Depression, World War II and unexampled postwar growth, McDonald’s pictorial history took a year to complete. Although Los Altos Town Crier publisher Paul Nyberg compiled “Portrait of Los Altos: A Century of Photos” (Select Books, 1992), a lot of historical photos have been located and archived since then. It was time for an update, McDonald said.

McDonald became fascinated in the area’s history when he moved into his Yerba Santa Avenue home in 1970, marveling what existed before the home was built.

“I talked with an old-timer down the street and learned there were galore inter-marriages amid families (living) on Pine and Cherry streets, in a 6-acre area,” he said. “I got interested.”

In the early part of the 20th century, Los Altos Grammar School was the only school in the area for children and teens. The students grew up together, a good deal of married and conventional their own families in the area. McDonald begun listening – a lot – to residents’ oral histories, collecting, compiling and publishing various stories regarding the past in the Town Crier and submitting info to the Los Altos History Museum, where he volunteers.

So when museum Executive Director Laura Bajuk neared McDonald with the idea of chronicling Los Altos’ history on paper, it was a project he couldn’t resist.

Although McDonald’s account begins in 1850, it actually takes flight in the early 1900s, when Southern Pacific’s legendary Paul Shoup – the “father of Los Altos” – decisive the area would be an idealisti place to situate a train depot for rails connecting Los Gatos and San Francisco.

Was it settlers in the area or the train that came first?

“It’s hard to say which came original – the chicken or the egg,” McDonald quipped.

For McDonald’s book, the text came basi – 36,000 words later whittled to 18,000 – chronologically detailing Los Altos’ modest beginnings, from fruit-producing ranches, Main Street merchants and the darker history of the Japanese internment for the duration of WWII.

“That was 10 percent of the population,” he said of the internment. “That was a big blow.”

McDonald worked with Bajuk and the museum’s Lisa Robinson to match photos to the story.

Although the Los Altos History Museum shares credit with McDonald for the book, some photos were gleaned from other origins – Mountain View’s History Center and private collections such as Florence Fava’s (Fava chronicled Los Altos Hills’ history in the 1970s) and friends.

“It was teamwork,” he said. “It couldn’t have been done without them.”

Twenty-five of the book’s photos have never been published before, which will make it special for Los Altos history buffs, with captions that carry forward the story.

There are a good deal of photos that didn’t make the cut.

“(Acquiring) Paul Shoup’s 1930 cover photo as president of (Southern Pacific) in Time magazine – local boy makes good story – it was more than we were more than willing to spend,” McDonald said.

The book likewise remunerate homage to various humans not normally credited with roles in the town’s growth – Menzo Loucks, Herman Peters, William Marvin and Frank Taylor.

It’s difficult to say what Los Altos will be like in another 100 years – that will be for another author to chronicle, McDonald said – but with history as a gauge, it goes without saying that things will be much dissimilar than they are now.

“I don’t think persons 100 years ago could have conceived the changes we’ve experienced,” he said.

And for those who lament the loss of golden hills, orchards and dirt roads?

“There’s some things to be said for a more elementary life,” McDonald said. “But we can’t alter things – we can’t go back.”

About the AuthorDon McDonald, longtime volunteer at the Los Altos History Museum, has been passionate regarding local history for over 30 years, weaving each new piece of info into an ever-expanding story. Built altogether with private donations, the Los Altos History Museum exists to collect, preserve, and interpret the history of the Los Altos are, providing instructional probabilities for children and adults to learn when it comes to the community thru interactional exhibits and hands-on activenesses aligned with the museum’s objectives.

Street Alto

Los Altos would never have existed if not for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Since the 1850s, Los Altos, Spanish for “heights” or “foothills,” was the name in general employed to the two ranchos (San Antonio and La Purisima Concepcion) amongst Palo Alto and Mountain View southwest of El Camino Real. In 1906, visionaries Paul Shoup, who worked for the railroad, and Walter Clark, a Mountain View real estate developer, saw the potential to turn Sarah Winchester’s ranch near Stanford University into an idealisti San Francisco suburb. They would capitalize on new commuters-those who wanted to live in ease in the country but work in the city. Slowly, a new town grew in influence well beyond it is original Altos Land Company plat, realizing tremendous post-World War II expansion. Now two communities solidly embedded in Silicon Valley, Los Altos and Los Altos Hills share a school system, downtown shopping, libraries, and water system, as well as a history of interesting people.

Certaldo Alto is a medieval town in Tuscany located halfway among Florence and Siena. This ancient town has preserved it is medieval look and with it is red brick buildings it glimmers like an old terracotta pot on top of a hill under the hot Tuscan sun.

Certaldo was a feudal town belonging to the Alberti Counts. Of peculiar interest is the Pretoria Palace and the house of Giovanni Boccaccio, the widely known and esteemed author of Italian literature. It is also widely known and esteemed for Mercantia in July, a medieval street theatre with street performers and musicians coming from all over the world to participate.

But my favourite event is the medieval dinner which is kept for the duration of June. Tables are laid along the brick paved street and the locals host a medieval feast fit for kings and queens. The menu includes dishes of antiquate Tuscan cuisine with the spotlight being baked pig’s knuckle which is served on a huge wooden cart carried by two men. The staff and galore of the guests wear medieval costumes which you may hire from a local shop.

Visitors may also find craft shops and restaurants of outstanding charm where you may receive pleasure from incomparable views of the pretty Tuscan countryside. One of my favourite craft places in Certaldo Alto is the Artesia where I attended a class for painting ceramics in the majolica style. One of those experiences that I will cherish for the rest of my life. There is also a terrifi cooking school where you may learn the art of making a great deal of delicious Tuscan dishes.

Among the places to visit in Certaldo Alto is the Pretorio Palace. It is positioned at the top of the main street (Via Del Boccaccio) and in the late twelfth century it was the former residence of the Alberti Counts. The facade of the building is made of old bricks topped by battlements. On the right hand side there is a clock tower which was built in the fifteenth centry. The surface of the wall is studded with badges and plaques made of marble and stone, each of them representing the coats of arms of respective noble families.

You must likewise remunerate a visit to Casa del Boccaccio, where the famous medieval Italian writer lived (although a great deal of dispute whether he genuinely lived there). The house was purchased by the Marchioness Lenzoni, a friend of the Leopards, who restored the building after Byron came for a visit and lamented in regards to it is state of neglect. Unfortunately the house was destroyed in the last world war, but it has now been lovingly reconstructed to it is original state.

If you are visiting Tuscan or staying in one of the nearby villas, do put Certaldo Alto on your itenary. You may reach Certaldo Alto by walking up a steep cobbled road which takes you to the hill top or alternatively taking the funicular from the main town centre. There is also a back road which takes you to a car park located just behind Certaldo Alto.

Street Alto Pic

Street Alto Pic

Street Alto Picture

Street Alto Picture