Historic Niles, CA

Karen and I took a little drive through Niles-Canyon Rd. to the little town of Niles, CA.


 Niles retains a small town feel anchored by a tight-knit community. Geography partly explains the community's cohesion; in addition to sitting against the base of Fremont's hills, the town is physically divided from other parts of Fremont and neighboring Union City by Mission Boulevard  to the east and north, Alameda Creek to the south, Union Pacific Railroad to the west and southeast, and the Quarry Lakes to the southwest. The hills of Niles are lower than those of the area south of the Alameda Creek in Mission San Jose. 

   

Old Town Niles features its own library, post office, and silent movie theater as well as a large number of antique and craft stores. The town is named after Addison Niles.

Niles was the home of one of the first West Coast motion picture companies, Essanay Studios. Charlie Chaplin and Broncho Billy Anderson filmed some of their most famous silent movies in Niles. Scenic Niles Canyon stretches between Niles and Sunol. The nonprofit Niles Essanay Film Museum offers both artifacts of Niles' early years, and each Saturday evening, screenings of early-twentieth-century silent films, many of which were filmed locally.

      

The Niles Canyon Railway runs along Alameda Creek, and carries passengers on weekend excursions, including a holiday 'train of lights' which is extremely popular – tickets for these trains typically sell out by early October. The Niles Canyon Railroad has a small but well-maintained collection of historic rail stock.

  

   

The place was originally known as Vallejo's Mills for Vallejo Flour Mill built there. Niles was named by the Central Pacific Railroad in 1869 for Judge Addison C. Niles, who later was elected to the California Supreme Court. A post office was opened at Niles in 1873.

    

      

Part of historic Niles is Mayhew Spring, also known as Mayhew's Sulphur Spring, which was located 600 feet (180 m) north of the Niles railroad depot. The facility was owned by H.A. Meyhew.

Fioli Center Gardens

Karen and I took a tour of the Fioli Center in October. The grounds are amazing even in the fall, we are defiantly returning in the spring!

Fioli is located in the Woodside Hills off 280, take Cañada Road and follow the sings.

Filoli was built for Mr. and Mrs. William Bowers Bourn, prominent San Franciscans whose chief source of wealth was the Empire Mine, a hard-rock gold mine in Grass Valley, California. Mr. Bourn was also owner and president of the Spring Valley Water Company whose property comprised Crystal Springs Lake and the surrounding lands, areas that are now part of the San Francisco Water Department. He selected the southern end of Crystal Springs Lake as the site for his estate.

Mr. Bourn arrived at the unusual name Filoli by combining the first two letters from the key words of his credo: “Fight for a just cause; Love your fellow man; Live a good life.”

Mr. Bourn chose longtime friend and prominent San Francisco architect Willis Polk as principal designer for the House. Polk had previously designed the Bourns' cottage in Grass Valley as well as their home on Webster Street in San Francisco. An inventive architect, Polk frequently combined several styles in a single building, an eclecticism clearly evident in his design for Filoli.

Construction of Filoli began in 1915 and the Bourns moved into the House in 1917. Bruce Porter, a talented painter, sculptor, muralist, landscape designer and art critic was enlisted to help the Bourns plan the layout of the extensive formal garden that was built between 1917 and 1929. Both Mr. and Mrs. Bourn died in 1936.

The estate was purchased in 1937 by Mr. and Mrs. William P. Roth, who owned the Matson Navigation Company. Under the Roths' supervision the property was maintained and the formal garden gained worldwide recognition. Mrs. Roth made Filoli her home until 1975 when she donated 125 acres, which included the House and formal garden, to theNational Trust for Historic Preservation for the enjoyment and inspiration of future generations. The remaining acreage was given to Filoli Center.

A prime example of the California eclectic style, Filoli provides an inspiring vision of a new Eden, with bountiful land, plentiful resources and an emphasis on self-sufficiency. Built more than sixty years after the California Gold Rush that inspired massive migration to Northern California, and ten years after the devastating 1906 earthquake and fire in San Francisco, Filoli represented a desire to create a magnificent and enduring country estate.

Now operated by Filoli Center, the 654-acre estate is a California State Historic Landmark and listed on the National Registry of Historic Places. This outstanding showcase of early twentieth-century architecture and garden design can be enjoyed by the public during much of the year.

James Lick Observatory

As a James Lick HS Alum, I would visit the historic observatory all the time. One fall morning Karen and I decided to take a trip up the hill to visit the Observatory.

The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory, owned and operated by the University of California. It is situated on the summit of Mount Hamilton. The observatory is managed from the University of California, Santa Cruz.

The observatory, was constructed between 1876 and 1887, from a bequest from James Lick. In 1887 Lick's body was buried under the future site of the telescope, with a plaque with  the inscription, "Here lies the body of James Lick". The Observatory was the world's first permanently occupied mountain-top observatory.

Before construction could begin, a road to the site had to be built. All of the construction materials had to be brought to the site by horse and mule-drawn wagons, which could not negotiate a steep grade. To keep the grade below 6.5%, the road had to take a very winding path, which Mt. Hamilton Rd (SR 130) still follows. It is rumored  that this road has exactly 365 turns.  The road is closed when there is snow on Mt. Hamilton.

The 36 inch  refracting telescope on Mt. Hamilton was the largest refracting telescope during the period from 1888, until the construction of Yerkes in 1897. Warner & Swasey designed and built the telescope, with the 36-inch lens done by Alvan Clark & Sons. In May, 1888, the observatory was turned over to the Regents of the University of California, and it became the first permanently occupied mountain-top observatory in the world. Edward Singleton Holden was the first director. The location provided excellent viewing performance due to lack of ambient light and pollution; additionally, the night air at the top of Mt. Hamilton is extremely calm, and the mountain peak is normally above the level of the low cloud cover that is often seen below in San Jose area. When low cloud cover is present below the peak, light pollution is cut to almost nothing.  in 1980 San Jose began a program to reduce the effects of lighting, most notably replacing all streetlamps with low pressure sodium lamps. The result is that the Mount Hamilton site remains a viable location for a major working observatory. Asteroid 6216 San Jose was named in honor of the city's efforts to reduce light pollution by the International Astronomical Union.

There are daily tours inside the telescope housing. The floor is mechanically lifted more than 30' in order to manipulate the telescope in any direction for optimum viewing.

Here is a link to the 24 hr. Web Cam. You can enjoy the wonderful vistas at your desktop.

After our tour of the refractor we hiked up to the site where the reflector telescope. 

       After the Observatory we headed down the hill to Joseph D. Grant county park.its the largest of Santa Clara County's regional park and recreation areas. This 9,560 acre park includes some of the County''s finest open space resources, as well as rich environmental, cultural and recreational assets. The landscape is characteristic of the east foothills of the Santa Clara Valley with grasslands and majestic oak trees. As part of the park''s tradition and history, cattle grazing currently takes place in some areas, and is monitored under a resource management plan.

Santa Cruz Coastal Mountains & Pigeon Point Light House

One Saturday morning Karen and decided to take a drive down Hwy. 9 through the mountains. We started in San Jose grabbed a Starbucks in Los Gatos and headed down to Big Basin State Park on Hwy. 236. We drove through the majestic redwood trees and down to Boulder Creek.

Big Basin Redwoods

 

 We then proceeded to head down Hwy.1 to Costanoa Campgrounds in Pescadero CA. Costanoa is a interesting place to stay. Connected to four state parks, 30,000 acres of hiking trails and a vibrant wildlife reserve, Costanoa offers the unique opportunity to experience outdoor living in comfortable, stylish surroundings. Accommodations include canvas cabins, Douglas Fir cabins and a forty room lodge. Special features include on-site spa services, horseback riding, mountain bike rentals, children? s activities and a General Store and Cafe. We read the local attractions guide in the lodge and it recommended that we try the famous Artichoke / Garlic bread at Norm's Market in Down Town Pescadero...so off we went.

Tent Cabin

Comfort Station

  

We then headed down the road to Pigeon Point lighthouse. Perched on a cliff on the central California coast, the 115-foot Pigeon Point Lighthouse, one of the tallest lighthouses in America, has been guiding mariners since 1872. Its five-wick lard oil lamp, and first-order Fresnel lens, comprised of 1,008 prisms, was first lit at sunset, November 15, 1872. The lens stands 16 feet tall, 6 feet in diameter, and weighs 8,000 pounds. It sits in a lantern room that had been constructed at the Lighthouse Service's general depot in New York before being shipped around the Horn. Although the original Fresnel lens is no longer in use, the lighthouse is still an active U.S. Coast Guard aid to navigation using a 24 inch Aero Beacon.

After visiting the light house we proceeded south down Hwy.1 to Downtown Pescadero  and ran across hundreds of Kite Surfers along the coast.

  

Once in Pescadero we strolled down Main Street visiting many of the unique antiquity shops in the area. We stopped into a local store called Norm's Market to try their famous Artichoke / Garlic bread.


 

This is their signature bread--They take whole roasted and seasoned Artichoke quarters and hand-roll them into the Garlic Herb French dough. Each loaf of bread contains the equivalent of 2-4 small-to-midsized artichoke hearts, cut into quarters! You won't find anything like this anywhere! A very popular loaf. They sell it about 80% baked so you can take it home and finish it your oven. We did not know this at the time... but it tasted great anyway.