Raven's Roads
Living an interesting life: the travels and musings
of motorcycling author Linda R. Moore

Feb 25, 2007

History Nuggets: Saratoga, California

The state historical marker for Saratoga is attached to an imposing white memorial arch that has changed location around three times since it was erected. It was one of my earliest indicators that historical markers are prone to moving around at night, and helped to build the same mythology over at Markeroni.

While Ohlone Indians and the De Anza expedition passed this way, it wasn’t until an 1846 land grant that the area was settled by Jose Noriega and his father in law, Jose Fernandez. Manuel Alviso later purchased it and the area was named Rancho Quito. Quito Road is a nice little biker road shadowed by trees–laburnum, flowering cherry. At the right time of year, it’s like riding through an archway of blooms.

What with there being a lot of trees hereabouts, the logging industry was soon in full swing. William Campbell built a sawmill about two miles west of present-day Saratoga, and an Irishman solved the problem of getting the logs down by building a toll road. Another historical marker notes where this came out in the town. It had been called Campbell’s Gap before; now it was Tollgate. The sign notes the many changes of names and there is still a Tollgate Road.

Later, when the County of Santa Clara was formed, the tolls were removed and the town renamed McCartysville. The Irish entrepreneur had already laid out plots for building on either side of what is now highway nine–Big Basin Way.

Are you with me so far? In 1865 the villagers decided to call their town Saratoga. That name hasn’t changed in the last hundred years, so it’s probably here to stay. Congress Springs in Saratoga, New York, had a similar type of water. (Congress Springs Road is an even more popular biker road–lots of switchbacks and steepness leading up highway nine.)

The open meadows gave way to wineries and orchards. Travelers attracted by the towns “pleasant aspect” came here and there were hotels and restaurants. Then rich San Franciscans “discovered it” and built their country homes. This might account for Saratoga’s current upscale air–it’s not like the rest of Silicon Valley, built up and full of offices. It actually feels a bit like it probably felt a hundred years ago. When suburban spread threatened this town of many names, in 1956 the members voted to become a city so that they could control who built what.

It worked. In 2005, the Saratoga zip code was named the 42nd most expensive zip code in the United States.

Saratoga Arch