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Photograph of Los Gatos Historic Commercial District
Photograph by Eugene Zelenko, CC BY-SA 4.0. Via Wikimedia Commons.

Los Gatos Historic Commercial District

Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1991. 11 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1916.

From the record

“The Los Gatos Historic Commercial District of Los Gatos, Santa Clara County, California is a designated U.S. The commercial district comprises a collection of commercial buildings that is bounded by both sides of West Main Street, North Santa Cruz Avenue, and University Avenue.”

Wikipedia article Los Gatos Historic Commercial District, CC BY-SA 4.0.

One of 117 National Register listings published here for Santa Clara County · listed in 1991 · category: District.

Sources: the Wikipedia article · the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service

The listing

Then and now

1916 to 1978

The ground this property stands on, surveyed 62 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.

Topographic sheet covering Los Gatos Historic Commercial District, surveyed 1978
Topographic sheet covering Los Gatos Historic Commercial District, surveyed 1916

Fires near this property

256 since 1992

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 256 fires within 5 miles of Los Gatos Historic Commercial District between 1992 and 2020, burning about 152 acres in total. None started naturally. 24 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Reported cause Fires
Missing data/not specified/undetermined129
Equipment and vehicle use57
Arson/incendiarism24
Smoking16
Misuse of fire by a minor11
Power generation/transmission/distribution10
Recreation and ceremony4
Debris and open burning4
Other causes1

The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.

DateCause SizeReported by Name on the report
9 September 2019Power generation/transmission/distributionunder an acreSanta Clara Unitnot named
9 September 2018Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
9 September 2014Missing data/not specified/undetermined1.0 acresSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitLOST
6 September 2008Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named
6 September 2000Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSanta Clara UnitFEE
6 September 1996Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSan Mateo-Santa Cruz UnitPG&E #22
29 September 2019Equipment and vehicle useunder an acreSanta Clara Unitnot named
28 September 2017Missing data/not specified/undeterminedunder an acreCalifornia Department of Forestry & Fire Protectionnot named

Every fire recorded in Santa Clara County

Mines and quarries near this property

10 of 23 shown

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 23 workings within 5 miles of Los Gatos Historic Commercial District: 10 past producers, 6 producers, 4 prospects, 2 occurrences. 6 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Crushed/Broken, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Mercury. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.

Where SiteCommodity StatusRecorded
Hooker CreekCopper, Gold, SilverOccurrenceMalachite
Hooker CreekCopper, Silver, GoldPast Producer
John Knorr MineStone, DimensionUnknown
Douglas RanchCalciumProducer
Douglas RanchCalciumPast Producer
Greenwalls PropertyChromiumProducer
Steinheimer Ranch ProspectChromiumProspect
AlmaStoneProspect
Guadalupe MineMercuryPast Producer1846, 1856
Lone HillStoneProducer

Every working recorded in Santa Clara County

Storms near this property

15 since 2002

Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Los Gatos, the town this property stands in, in 15 storm reports between 2002 and 2020: 5 debris flow, 4 hail, 2 flood, 1 heavy rain. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.

WhenEvent Place namedHarm What the report says
January 2017HailLos Gatos$5,000,000Damage dollar amounts is a low estimate. Impacts are not fully known, but any individual car crash would likely exceed this amount.
January 2017HailLos Gatos$10no account filed
March 2020HailLos Gatos-Spotter reported small hail in Los Gatos.
August 2020Thunderstorm WindLos Gatos-Los Gatos station reported.
January 2019Debris FlowLos Gatos-Mud slide reported at Cats/Lexington south side on Hwy 17.
November 2018FloodLos Gatos-Roadway flooding reported at Daves Avenue and SR9.
January 2017Flash FloodLos Gatos-Los Gatos Creek flooding.
January 2017Funnel CloudLos Gatos-Video of brief funnel cloud submitted via social media. Location and timing are approximate from radar.
February 2017Debris FlowLos Gatos-Mud and rocks blocking Limekin Canyon Rd at Soda Springs Rd.
February 2017Debris FlowLos Gatos-Highway 17 southbound shut down due to rock slide just north of Lexington Reservoir.
February 2017Debris FlowLos Gatos-Mud slide reported at 18500 Limekiln Canyon Road.
February 2017Debris FlowLos Gatos-Rock slide, trees down at SR9 and Serramonte off ramp.
January 2010FloodLos Gatos-State Highway 17 was closed for about three hours due to flooding.
March 2017HailLos Gatos-no account filed
December 2002Heavy RainLos Gatos-no account filed

Every storm recorded in Santa Clara County

Maps showing this location

11 surveys

United States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.

Listed places nearby

6 within 8 miles

Other National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.

Photograph PropertyDistance Listed
Forbes Mill Annex0.2 miles1978
McCullagh-Jones House0.7 miles1974
John Steinbeck House1.1 miles1989
Yung See San Fong House1.3 miles1983
Villa Montalvo3.0 miles1978
Earl and Virginia Young House3.2 miles2009

Sources for this property

National Archives recordThe nomination case file for reference 91001382 in Record Group 79.
Wikipedia articleCommunity-written account of this property, licensed CC BY-SA.
Santa Clara CountyAll 117 listed properties in this county.

Provenance

  • Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
  • Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
  • How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
  • Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
  • Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
  • Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.