So there we were riding along, and all of a sudden we realized that we were riding on a cement road. We began asking ourselves, "what in the heck is a road doing at the bottom of a lake?" At one point we came to what appeared to be a bridge. I remember seeing just the crest in the arch of the bridge, the rest was filled in with dirt from the bottom of the lake. I even remember seeing a date on the bridge but I can't recollect the year.
Years later after my bike ride I found out that the road and bridge I saw back on that hot summer day was part of the Old Santa Cruz Highway. Another interesting thing I learned is that two towns were once located where the bottom of the reservoir is today. One named Alma, hence the bridge I rode my bicycle across was the old Alma Bridge which crossed Los Gatos Creek; and the second town which was named Lexington, which is the name for the present day reservoir.
As an individual who enjoys learning about past eras, I decided to delve into the past of these two towns. What is the early history of these towns? Why was the dam constructed? What were the towns like towards the end before their destruction? And what can former residents tell me about the two towns?
Early History of Lexington
On December 2, 1858, John Pennel Henning and Santa Clara County Surveyor Lucien B. Healy made a survey for the City of Lexington. The town's name came from Henning's home back in 1839, Lexington, Missouri. According to Henning's daughter, Mrs. M. E. Hall , "the town of Lexington on the road to Santa Cruz was never a town of any size." (Clarence Hamsher's Los Gatos Historical Notebook) At this time in 1859, Lexington was primarily a redwood lumbering town. Today there are no redwoods in the area surrounding the reservoir; however back in the 1800's redwood trees were abundant in the area. The 1867 Pacific Coast business directory listed Lexington as having the following establishments: a blacksmith shop, hotel, post office, pipe manufacturer, wheelwright, and eight sawmills.
During this time many people living in the Bay Area region began traveling to Santa Cruz by stagecoach. One of the early stage coach companies was the Pioneer Stage Line. This stage coach line had daily trips leaving from Santa Clara at 10:15 a.m. On their way through the mountains many coach's would stop in the town of Lexington. The Lexington House, which was the town's hotel, served dinner to many of the passengers on the stage lines. In addition to running a hotel, Mr. and Mrs. Paddock owned the stage coach stop and stable across the street. The stable was a place where stage coach companies housed their horses. Upon reaching Lexington, the stage coach companies would get rid of their exhausted horses and exchange them for a fresh team for the ascent into the mountains. Lexington thrived both as a lumber town and as a traveler's stop up until the year 1873. The demise of the town was caused by two factors. First, years of lumbering left the hills surrounding the town empty. Loggers had to move deeper into the hills. Secondly, with the development of the railroad, Lexington was too close by train to be considered a vacation spot. At this time, Lexington became more of a community of people than a town.
Early History of Alma
The town of Alma was located one mile south of Lexington. The town
began with the building of the Forest House Hotel, back in 1862, by
Lysander Collins. Mr. Collins and his family ran this hotel as a
resting stop for travelers on the road to Santa Cruz. At this time the
town had three businesses, two hotels and a grocery store. During this
era the town was called Forest House. As the town of Forest House began
to flourish, Lexington began to decline. In the year 1873 the post
office moved from Lexington to what was then referred to as Forest
House. It was moved because many of the mountain folks living in the
area opposed having to walk through the saloon in Lexington to reach the
post office, which was located in the back of the establishment. A
postal official who thought there were too many other towns in
California with the word forest in them decided to change the name to
Alma, which in Spanish means soul. By 1887 Alma was a thriving little
town, which catered to travelers and loggers by offering them three
hotels and numerous saloons to choose from. At one point in the 1890's
there was 12 saloon's located in and between the towns of Lexington and
Alma.
In 1880, the narrow gauge railroad made its way to Alma, and the South Pacific Coast Railroad established a train station in the town. The train made its way from San Jose, to Los Gatos through Lexington which was bypassed, and then up to Alma on its way to Santa Cruz. Back then the route through the mountains was advertised as the Switzerland of America, which offered pure air, shady canyons, and babbling brooks. Even though Alma was just a stop on the way to Santa Cruz, the town still acted as a vacation spot for travelers. A major attraction to travelers was the soda springs that were located close to the town. Apparently, many people believed that the springs offered medicinal treatment.
By 1897, Alma consisted of a store, post office, train station, blacksmith shop, the Lexington School, and a few homes. At this time, the town was primarily used as a hub for the local ranchers and passing travelers. Many ranchers in the surrounding hills would use the train station as a shipping point for their crops. The center of the town was George Osmer's General Store. The store acted as a place where local people could go to pick up general supplies. In 1885, the railroad began converting the narrow gauge train tracks to standard gauge tracks. This allowed for trains to run nonstop from Santa Cruz to San Francisco. In 1905, the Southern Pacific Railroad closed the station at Alma. By 1909, the conversion to standard gauge tracks was completed. Around this time, trains no longer made routine stops in Alma. In fact, the only way to get a train to stop was to flag the train down, which indicated to the conductor that someone needed to be picked up.
Luckily for Alma, by the 1920's automobiles were in general use. By the early 1920's the county began to pave the old dirt road which went through Lexington and Alma on its way up through the mountains to Santa Cruz. At this time many people traveling to the coast by automobile stopped in Alma for a breather. In Alma they could fill up their car with gas and grab a cold drink at George Osmers' Store. In 1934 construction for a new highway to Santa Cruz started. Highway 17, which was designed to be a more direct route and more accommodating to increased traffic conditions was completed in 1940. Unfortunately for Alma, the new highway completely bypassed the town. As a result, Alma began to face the same problem that Lexington encountered back when the train bypassed it in the 1880's. The masses of people no longer passed through the town. By 1940, Alma had become more of a community of people, than a town, as did Lexington some years ago. The Lexington Dam:
Back in 1943, the Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District was faced with the problem of the well water in the Santa Clara Valley. It was being diminished at a rapid rate. Their solution was to build a dam on the Los Gatos Creek, two miles south of Los Gatos. This would allow them to store winter rain runoff and displace it over the year into ponds down stream. The goal was to percolate the water into the ground, ultimately to increase the amount of well water available. The chosen site for the dam and reservoir was the land in and around the towns of Lexington and Alma. In October of 1947, an election was held to get a bond measure passed to construct the dam. The measure passed and the construction of the dam soon began. In the early stages of preparation and construction, there was much opposition to the project. Los Gatos residents were concerned that the dam, which was to be an earthfilled dam as opposed to a cement dam, would not be strong enough to withstand the pressure of the water it would be holding back. Other concerns included worries about the project going over budget and the need for another bond measure to be passed. Although local people objected, in the end the reservoir project won and construction began. After rerouting Highway 17 near Windy Point which is a mile south of Los Gatos, dam construction began in the spring of 1952. The 175 foot, 1000 feet thick earthfilled Lexington Dam was completed in 34 weeks in the fall of 1952.
Former Residents' Reflections
I decided to try and locate individuals who could tell me about what the towns were like in the early 1920's and up until 1952. 1952 was the year that the reservoir was built. What follows are some stories, from really interesting people I had the pleasure of meeting and conversing with.
One of the first conversations I had was with Los Gatos Historian Bill Wulf; he told me about an experience he had in the town of Alma. One spring day back in 1946, Bill, his mother, step-father, and grandmother took a ride up to Aldercroft Heights. Aldercroft Heights is a community that was back behind the town of Alma. This community still exists today, however now it is located back behind Lexington Reservoir. Bill's stepfather was a carpenter and he was doing some work on a prominent doctor's home in the area. After his stepfather had finished his carpentry work, Bill and his family jumped into their 1931 Ford Model A 2 Door Sedan and headed home. On their way down Aldercroft Heights Road, the spring rain shower they were driving through was causing the family to be a bit uncomfortable. According to Bill, rain easily made its way into the interior of the car, causing the family to become wet. Upon reaching the town of Alma the family decided to pull over and wait the storm out. Bill and his family took refuge in Referee Jimmy Welter's Bar. The owner, Jimmy Welter, was a former boxing referee. Naturally he decorated the bar walls with photographs of famous boxers and boxing matches. Bill remembers sitting down at the bar and drinking a Shirley Temple, and listening to the honky-tonk music on the jukebox. At one point, Bill remembers his stepfather getting up from the bar and going behind a curtain opening to use the bathroom in the back. Being quite curious, Bill got up from the bar and walked over to the curtain and peeked his head through the side. Much to his surprise, Bill saw a room lined with slot-machines and a handful of one-armed bandits playing away. At the tender age of seven, Bill really didn't have a clue as to what was going on in that back room, and proceeded to ask his mother what the machines were. She told him that they were bad and that he should stay away from them, so Bill went back to drinking his Shirley Temple.
The second person I had the pleasure of meeting and conversing with was
former resident of Lexington, Mr. Willie Frank. Willie grew up in the
town of Lexington and attended the one room Lexington School House in
Alma. He was raised in Lexington and lived there up until the time that
the reservoir was built. As a child, Willie remembers sometime back in
1920-1922 when the county began to construct the highway that went right
through Lexington, and on up to Alma. His father rented their barn out
to the contractor that was building the road. He housed his 40 mules
there, which were used to help construct the highway. He told me that
back then he use to build little structures out of the concrete that
they used to build the highway.
While Willie was growing up, he remembers the town of Lexington as follows: His friend Jack De Fozio's family owned the hotel in Lexington. Some years later he remembers the De Fozio's moving away and leasing the hotel to a family who ran it as a place were travelers could stop for a drink or spend the night. Close to the hotel was an old stage coach barn which was used before cars were introduced into the Lexington area. There was also a tiny house just south of the old barn which was the place where Hance Lund and his family lived. Mr. Lund worked for Willie's dad who owned a prune orchard in the area between what today is old Santa Cruz Highway and Highway 17. Mr. Lund worked there until 1929 when Willie's dad was forced to sell the land, due to the falling economy. After that, Mr. Lund worked on a ranch just west of Lexington on Black Road which was owned by Mr. Crane. Mr. Crane was the owner of the Crane Plumbing & Fixture Company.
On the farthest southern stretch of the old road in Lexington lived the Smith family. To the north, on the corner of the old Santa Cruz Highway and Black road, lived Mr. Ted Nickels and his family. Ted Nickels made a living working for Dr. Tevis who owned a lot of property in the area. According to Willie, Dr. Tevis owned land south and north of Lexington, and clear up to the summit of the mountains, adding up to over 1,800 acres of land. In his prime, prior to his retirement, Ted would rustle up a team of horses and head up to Dr. Tevis' land to spend the day working in the area. Along with other men, he built roads using horses and raised fruit trees and cultivated the land.
From 1918 until 1929 Willie and his family lived in a huge home which was 100 feet long and two stories high. It had 14 rooms, and three big porches which over looked their property. Apparently Willie's mother never liked the house due to the fact that it was on the north end of their property, where there was a lack of sunlight. Equally important was the fact she didn't like the feel of such a huge home. So around 1930, Willie's dad built the family a new home on the south side of their property. His dad sold their old home to the Montezuma School, which the school owned up until the time that the reservoir was constructed. Back in 1927, Willie's dad also sold a piece of land to Mr. Crane. As a sign of gratitude for selling him the land, Mr. Crane gave Willie's dad two sets of complete fixtures for the bathroom and kitchen of their home.
The Frank ranch was used to grow prunes, grapes and to raise some stock, and was comprised of 140 acres of land. Their ranch had 50 acres of prunes, which produced 60 to 120 pounds of dry fruit each year. According to Willie these were some of the sweetest, tastiest prunes he has ever had in his entire life. In addition to the prune orchard, they also had 12 acres of vineyards. Each harvest his dad would use some of the grapes to make wine. The remaining grapes were sold to a local restaurant owner in Los Gatos who also used them to make wine. In the fall, Willie remembers loading up their wagon with prunes and heading down to the Los Gatos Prune Association which was located on the corner of today what is Highway 9 and North Santa Cruz Avenue. There they sold their prunes for under 10 cents a pound. During the depression years, the Franks and other local ranchers had some really bad times. Many ranchers lost their places to the banks. Luckily in 1929, Willie's father bought a tractor and was able to make a little extra money on the side plowing other peoples fields. You see back in those days many ranchers used a team of mules or horses to plow their fields, but with a tractor, the job was completed much faster and more efficiently.
As a young boy, Willie remembers going fishing in the Los Gatos Creek with his friends, Andy and Wilbur Lund along with his brother, Bruce. He remembers walking over to a section in the creek where the dam now sits today, and slowly working their way up to the bridge in Alma. Most of the boys had a willow stick with some line attached to it to use as a fishing pole. According to Willie, Andy was the ace fishermen of the bunch; he usually caught 25 fish by the time they reached the bridge. The rest of the boys were lucky if they caught 2 or 3 fish a piece. As an avid fishermen myself, I frequent Lexington Reservoir for trout, usually walking away with 0 to 1 fish. I can only imagine walking in the creek working my way back towards the mountains, catching native trout, as Willie and his friends did many years ago.
As a boy, Willie remembers that he and his friends always caught something. They used to trap raccoons, possums, and coyotes. The goal was to catch a raccoon and sell the hide to a company back in St. Louis which bought the hides for the handsome price of five to six dollars a piece. Much to their dismay, the boys would often end up catching skunks in their traps. After releasing the skunks they usually stunk for a while, causing them to be excused from attending school for a week.
As I stated before, Willie lived in Lexington until the time of the completion of the dam. As a young adult, Willie's mother had left him three acres of land in Lexington. At the time of construction, Willie recalls the water district buying out everyone's land who lived in the towns of Lexington and Alma. The water district bought out the local people's land for very low sums of money. Most people were barely able to put a down payment on another piece of property with the money they were given for their land. Not Willie though, because he played hard ball with the water district. There was a realtor named Fraser Reed working for the water district, who had the dirty work of buying out the local property owners. This gentleman approached Willie one day with regards to his land. Willie told me that Fraser Reed came up to his place demanding that he sell his property to the water district. Luckily, Willie wasn't going to let his families last remaining piece of property go without a fight. Basically, Willie told Mr. Reed that he had facts and figures regarding the corruption that went on in the buying out of the local peoples land in the area; and that he wasn't going to be swindled out of his property by the water companies lucrative methods. In no time at all, Mr. Reed began probing Willie, asking him how much he wanted for his land. Willie told Mr. Reed that he didn't want money, but a piece of land that he knew the water district owned. By the time their conversation was through, Willie had gotten Fraser Reed to agree to move his house and workshop onto the new piece of land. He also made Mr. Reed allocate money so that he could rent a place to stay during the transition process.
Believe it or not that is exactly what happened. The water district gave Willie the piece of property he owns to this day in the Santa Cruz mountains, near the Lexington School. This is where the original Lexington School was moved to back in 1952. Today two of the old Army barracks from the original site are part of the school; these buildings were moved from Alma during the construction of the dam. In addition to getting the piece of property, the water district moved his house, gave him money to rent a place, and even built him a new shop do to the fact that they were unable to move his old shop located on his land. For years, Willie was quite upset with the water district and Fraser Reed for what they had done to the local people during the construction of the Lexington Dam. However in retrospect, he is grateful for all that Mr. Reed did for him. In all actuality, Fraser Reed arranged quite a bit for Willie; he went out of his way to help him out, and he didn't have to because in the end, the water district would have acquired his piece of land one way or another.
In my conversations with Willie he recalled the following about Alma: He remembers the Alma Grocery store which was owned by George Osmer. He said there was a store, a bar, a post office and a garage all next to each other. He remembers going down to the store to pick up various items. He said many times he would see travelers taking a ice cream and soda break at the store. The store served many people who lived not only in Alma and Lexington but also places such as Aldercroft Heights.
Willie remembers spending time down at Jimmy Welters Bar, which was
adjacent to the Alma Store. According to Willie, Jimmy was a real
character, but was quite a nice guy. Sometimes he and his friends would
go down to the bar and listen to a story about a boxer or a boxing match
that he had refereed. Willie remembers going into the bar and playing
on the skee ball machine. Apparently, Jimmy used to let him and his
friends play the game for free until one day the owner of the machine
came in and caught them in the act. After that, there were no more free
games of skee ball for the boys.
The End of Lexington and Alma
Back in 1950, when the dam was constructed Lexington and Alma had less than 100 people living in or around the two towns. In Lexington all that was left were a few old structures and the old stage barn. When the water district began demolishing the structures in the Lexington area, the old stage coach barn was the only one of it's type still standing in the entire Santa Clara County. By the summer of 1952, the water district was ready to take down the remaining structures in Alma. At that time all that remained in Alma was the old train depot, school, garage grocery store, bar, post office, a few homes, and a market. The days of trains rolling by the Alma train station had surpassed, ending in 1940. Some years prior to the dam construction the train depot was converted into the town's community center. George Osmers' old grocery store was Greens Market. The market served as a place where locals could grab a few items and shoot the breeze with other locals. Next to the store was Jimmy Welters Bar, which was frequented by locals from the surrounding area. The post office was next to the market and had served the community from December 2, 1873 until August 31, 1952. Adjacent to the post office was the Alma Garage, which served the community since the onslaught of automobiles. There was also the Lexington School which was built back in the 1860's. Originally it was a one room school house, however over the years it expanded as did the population in the area. In addition to those structures, there were a few homes scattered throughout the area. A handful of determined locals moved their homes to higher ground, but the majority of the structures were destroyed. By January 1952, the water began rising and the towns of Lexington and Alma slowly began disappearing. On April 24, 1956 Governor Goodwin Knight dedicated the dam and reservoir as it sat near full capacity. Forever gone were Lexington and Alma. Every once in a while the water level drops and you can see the the old Santa Cruz Highway and the old Alma Bridge; other than those two objects nothing else remains of the two towns.
A Ride Into the Past
As I rode my bike through Downtown Los Gatos and made my way up College Avenue towards the mountains and the trail Head of the Jones Trail, my mind began to wander. As I pedaled along the trail towards the top of the hill I began to think about all of the wagons and stage coaches that had traveled the same path many years ago on there way to Lexington and Alma. When I reached the top of the hill, I stopped and took a rest. As I stood there looking south towards the open water of Lexington Reservoir, I began to daydream. As I looked down at the water I saw a big cloud of dust bustling down the road towards the mountains and Alma. All of a sudden the dust cleared away and I saw a stage coach stop at a barn. I saw a group of people exit the coach and walk across the street to the Lexington House for some of Mrs. Paddocks hospitality. As I looked further into the water, I saw Willie and his friends walking through the Los Gatos Creek, catching wild trout. I saw acres of vineyards and orchards, and fields covered with wild flowers and grasses.
As I looked deeper into the depths of the water, I saw a train billowing out a huge cloud of white smoke. Within seconds, the train stopped at the depot in Alma. There I saw many passengers board and unboard the train. Then the train slowly disappeared in a cloud of smoke as it headed south towards the mountains. In Alma, I saw an old Ford pickup stop at the garage for some gas. A gentleman got out and headed over to the market for an ice cold soda. As I looked on, I saw Bill and his family, and Willie and his friends heading into Jimmy Welters Bar. I followed them in and had a seat at the Bar. As I sat at the Bar, drinking a beer, I listened to another one of Jimmys colorful boxing match stories. Willie was right, Jimmy was a character, but I'm sure glad I had a chance to learn about him, his bar and the towns of Lexington and Alma.
As I began descending down the trail towards Lexington Reservoir, I began to realize that I have a totally different perspective on the area. In the future, as I ride around the reservoir on Alma Bridge Road, or decide to climb up Soda Springs Road; I will be reminded of the town of Alma and the medicinal springs that many had flocked to in the past. As I sit in my little boat on the waters of Lexington searching for fish, I will for ever think about catching a native trout in the Los Gatos Creek. As I work my way around the lake, I will always be thinking about the fact that I'm floating above where two towns once stood.
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References
Books
Arbuckle, Clyde. Historic Names Persons, and Places in Santa Clara County. San Jose Chamber of Commerce, 1948
Beal, Richard. Highway 17. The Pacific Group, Aptos, CA, 1991.
Bruntz, Dr. George G. The history of Los Gatos: Gem of the Foothills. Valley Publishers, Fresno, CA, 1971.
Lexington Dam. Santa Clara Valley Water Conservation District, Santa Clara, Ca 1947
Macgregor, Bruce & Truesdale, Richard. A Centennial South Pacific. Bruett Publishing, Boulder Co, 1982
Payne, Stephen. A Howling Wilderness, The Summit Road of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Loma Prieta Publishing, Los Gatos, Ca, 1978
Payne, Stephen. Santa Clara Harvest of Change. Windsor Publications, Northridge, Ca, 1987
Sawyer, Eugene. History of the Santa Clara County California. Historic Record Company. Los Angeles, CA, 1922
Sunshine Fruit and Flowers: Santa Clara County California. San Jose Publishing And orinting Company. San Jose, CA, 1896
Wulf, William A. A History of the Santa Cruz Mountains and Early Los Gatos. Unpublished Paper, 1979
Young, John V. Ghost Towns of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Western Tanger, Santa Cruz, CA, 1984
Los Gatos Mail News, January 5,1951; June 22, 1951; July 27, 1951; September 28,1951; January 11, 1952; May 2,1952
The Los Gatos Daily Times, June 14, 1951
Los Gatos Times Observer, April 25, 1956; July 3, 1958; July 15, 1958; April 28,1959; May 7,1959; June 25,1959; October 26, 1977; November 15, 1977
Santa Cruz Sentinel, May 25, 1860; July 13, 1860; August 31, 1860; November 28, 1861; November 7, 1868;
San Jose Evening News, August 13, 1952
Los Gatos Library, Newspaper Clippings File; Unknown Dates and Publishers
San Jose Martin Luther King Library, California History Room, Newspaper Clippings File; Unknown Dates and Publishers
Ed Carmen: Former resident of Lexington. Interview, Ed helped fill in details about the two towns.
Willie Frank: Former resident of Lexington California. Willie allowed me to interview him and was a wealth of information. My time spent with Willie is memorable, what an interesting old timer.
Wilma Thompson: Wilma is a Los Gatos Historian. In my conversations with her she was able to give me a few avenues in my research pursuits.
William A Wulf: William is a Los Gatos Historian. I obtained information and leads on my research from this individual, and quite an interesting story. William has an extensive collection of artifacts from the early days in the Santa Cruz Mountains ( he allowed me to make copies of photos of Lexington and Alma, from his collection). I am grateful for his generosity and knowledge. I'm so glad I had the opportunity to meet and spend time with him.
Stephen Payne: In a telephone conversation with Stephen, he gave me a few leads in my research pursuits.
The Los Gatos Libraries Special Collections
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