Los Gatos, California
Los Gatos real estate, neighborhoods, condos, houses, homes, market trends, history, events, lifestyle, parks, events, businesses, home, Mary Pope-Handy
Site Feed
RSS Feed
|
Jul. 11, 2007
Posts here on haunted places in Los Gatos have been very well received, so I wanted to let this audience know that I've begun a new blog on Haunted Real Estate this week. Please take a look and feel free to share your own stories and insights: they are most welcome!
The Haunted Real Estate Blog can be found at www.HauntedRealEstateBlog.wordpress.com or for short, use the redirect of simply www.HauntedRealEstateBlog.com.
And please also visit a page I have on this topic too, www.HauntedRealEstate.com.
Meanwhile, I will continue to occassionally add posts here on haunted spots in beautiful Los Gatos, and again invite you to share your stories on them with me!
Jun. 4, 2007
In April, this blog featured an entry about a newcomer to the Los Gatos restaurant scene, Trevese. The building has the dubious honor of being one of the most notoriously haunted places in town, so that angle was the focus of the post.
Aleta Watson of The San Jose Mercury News did a very thorough review of Trevese's dining experience and it was published yesterday. For those with a distinctive palate, this restaurant sounds like a must!
http://www.mercurynews.com/restaurants/ci_6051064
Jun. 1, 2007

Forbes Mill. Truthfully, it just sounds boring. Doesn't it?
But actually the place has got an interesting bit of history to it. A little intrigue. A little scandal. And our town was once (briefly) named after it, first Forbes Mill, then Forbestown, then finally, Los Gatos.
Thank goodness that changed!
Built along the Los Gatos Creek, Forbes Mill was started early in the town's history (1854) and basically the town sprung up around it. Alexander Forbes thought that having a flour mill would be a great idea since the 49'ers gold rush was on.
The owner of the mill, however, never seems to have made a single mortgage payment to Hernandez and Peralta on his debt for it, though.
So it was off to a rocky start and was never profiltable with the original owner, Forbes. Under other ownership, things fared better, By creating and using a reservoir up near the current Holy Names Convent (on Reservoir Road), later owners enabled the water to flow year-round, and not just in winter. So the mill did better - though by then there was no monopoly on flour mills for feeding the forty-niners.
The mill was last used to produce flour in 1887 and it was demolished in 1916 (it was damaged in the 1906 earthquake).
What remains now is an annex that had been added on. Today it is a museum, one of two in Los Gatos..
Oh, and I almost forgot to add: it appears that this is yet another one of the town's many haunted spots. I know, you won't read that anywhere but here, but I had a conversation with a gal who works at Forbes Mill and she told me of a couple of stories that indicate the ongoing presence of an unseen resident.
Maybe Mr. Forbes is still trying to make his old mill profitable?
Location: 75 Church Street, which is off Main Street and close to Los Gatos High. Or if you are visiting Old Town Los Gatos, there's a footbridge that traverses the creek and the freeway and you can walk across it to reach the mill.
Hours: The museum is open Wednesday through Sunday, from 12 noon to 4pm. Parking is free. 408 395-7375.
Final note: Forbes Mill is located very close to Los Gatos High. It can be a little difficult to get in and out of the area due to school traffic at 2 or 2:30pm, so I would suggest avoiding this one window of time for arriving to or leaving from Forbes Mill.
|