Gilroy Historical Society & the Gilroy Museum

Jenny Knerr took part in our Walking Tour on May 1st and sent us these great photos of the Dunlap House, the Cupich House and the tiny little house next to it, on Forest Street, plus The Thayer house on Martin Street.

TBT: Gilroy Hot Springs circa 1930s Gilroy Hot Springs was discovered in 1865 and was a resort until the 1980’s when the hotel burned down. It used to be a ver...y popular place for Gilroy residents to swim and served as a temporary refuge for Japanese families when they were released from internment camps after WW II. It is now part of Coe State Park and the Gilroy Hot Springs Conservancy is working on its restoration so it can again be open to the public. #GilroyGrown #gilroy150 #visitgilroy

If you live on Hoxett Street, each time you write your address you keep alive the name of the woman the 1927 Gilroy Advocate, styled the Gilroy Benefactress. Born Caroline Amelia Brooks (1840-1927) in Painesville, Ohio, she married her first husband Abial Osborne, and they set out by ship bound for the gold fields of California. They settled in Placerville where her husband mined, and Caroline delivered her only child, a girl named Ada, in 1860. A mining accident took her...Continue reading

We are pleased to announce that our Video Museum Tour is now available to view with Spanish subtitles. Find it on our website, www.gilroyhistoricalsociety.org and on our YouTube channel.

Have you wondered about the railroad turntable that used to exist? Follow this link to see a great video showing it in use in 1947! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=L2VxKomUaVI The last 3 photos were taken in 2016 across from the depot.

Good Morning all, We are excited to be opening the Museum in Hollister and the Visitor Center at the Historical Park today. The museum will be open at 10 am a...nd the Visitor center will be open at 11 am. Please remember that Face Masks will be required at all time when indoors and Social Distancing will be expected. While we cannot allow large groups inside at any one time, small and especially family groups can come in. If you go the the Historical Park, you will likely see the Clampers doing project work for us. Say Hello and Thank You. Hope to see you sometime today! John Wrobel, President

Gilroy High Choir from 1974. Are any of you in it?

Today we look at Ousley Drive. This street was named for Samuel and Electa Ousley, very early pioneers who homesteaded 600 acres on Hecker Pass in 1854. After Samuel died Electa had to fight to have the land recorded in her own name. She also gave 50 acres to the City to be used for a water reservoir, specifying that it was to be enjoyed by the residents of Gilroy in perpetuity. Her home is still there, just east of Gilroy Golf Course, which is called Ousley Park.

GILROY FLOOD. January 1, 1952. This pickup truck became an island when water piled up on the west side of Gilroy’s Monterey St., during the heavy weekend downp...our. No damage was reported in area although Carnadero and Pajaro Rivers experienced the sharpest rises of season. Flooding of Llagas Creek placed portion of Bloomfield Ave., under water too. See more

Rainbow Girls was a very popular organization for young women. We believe this photo is from 1952.

Club House. Gilroy Hot Springs. Nearby in the foothills of the Diablo Range to the northeast is the historic resort site Gilroy Yamato Hot Springs, developed in... the late 19th century. Francisco Cantua, a Mexican shepherd, while hunting for some of his stray flock in 1865, discovered these famous springs. He lost no time in filing a squatter's claim to the premises, and for some years used it as a camping-ground for himself and friends. The hot spring represented remarkable medicinal qualities. It discharges continuously about three inches of water, of a nearly uniform temperature of one hundred and eighteen degrees, Fahrenheit, and contains in solution sulphur, iron, soda, magnesia, baryta, arsenic (in small quantities), and alum (in small quantities) It is pungent, but by no means unpleasant to the taste. The bathing accommodation is well arranged, there being two separate plunge-baths for ladies and gentlemen, and a dozen tub-baths in neat and clean apartments. Within fifteen feet of the hot spring, there are a dozen or more large springs of pure cold water. Wealthy people from San Francisco came to the resort for holidays and the healing properties of the water. Most of the buildings left for today date from the 1920’s. The Hotel and Clubhouse built in the 1870’s were demolished by fire in 1980.

We could easily put today's date on these

https://fb.watch/2ivHoN6Y59/ JJ's Burgers was featured in the March 2016 Mission Village Voice. Grab a burger and beer and read all about the history of the historic location.

This photo belongs to one of our followers, but it is not any of her family and she does not know who it is. She'd like to get it to the person or a relative. If you can identify the young girl, please let us know!