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| Landmark #435 | Santa Clara County | Visited: August 28, 2016 | Plaque? YES! 🙂 |
| What is it? | A plaque on an archway in the center of Saratoga! |
| What makes it historical? | THE GUIDE SAYS: The Anza exploring party passed through the Saratoga area March 25, 1776. Lumbering in the mountains, which began in 1847 and continued many years, brought the area’s first settlers in 1850. Among other industries established were a lime quarry (1850s), grist mill (1854), tannery (1863), paper mill (1868), and paste-board mill (1870). Pacific Congress Springs was a popular resort from 1866 to 1942. Farmers here pioneered in fruit industry and held Blossom Festivals beginning in 1900, after the end of a drought.
OTHER TIDBITS: This community grew up around the sawmill of William Campbell, or rather, what would have been the sawmill of William Campbell had the whole town not suddenly liquidated with the discovery of gold in 1848! Martin McCarty stepped in to lease the mill and built a toll road that gave the town its first name. That name changed to Saratoga when residents discovered a nearby mineral spring that was chemically a lot like Congress Spring in Saratoga Springs, New York! |
| How can I Help the Helpers? | HERE’S HOW:
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| Where is this place? | LISTED DIRECTIONS: Located in park SE corner of junction of Hwys 9 and 85 Saratoga, CA 95070 ANNOTATIONS: From Los Angeles: ~344mi (554km) — 5.8hrs |
| When should I go? | Whenever the mood strikes you! |