( it ran lower in the canyon between 1940 and 1950) It had to be rerouted to get above the new lake. Some of our partners may process your data as a part of their legitimate business interest without asking for consent. Lexington Reservoir and James J. Lenihan Dam are located on Los Gatos Creek about three miles south of the town of Los Gatos. bridge over the dam's spillway. A king and a war are on his agenda, An Iowa meteorologist started talking about climate change on newscasts. The resevoir is being drained to a very low level for pipe repair and replacement. We are planning on writing up several stories about spots along Highway 17 and Holy City is definitely one of them. An example of data being processed may be a unique identifier stored in a cookie. Thank you Bill. Eventually, it appears that the entire thing was removed but I cant find any info on what it was or when it was from. Most of Lexingtons families moved to Alma soon after, and the town dwindled and quieted to a mere whisper of what it once was. I live right above Holy city in Redwood Estates. Courtesy Ron Pugh, The town, along with Lexington, was submerged to create the Lexington Dam and Reservoir in 1950. route that I took. Their sensational trial in San Jose drew coast-to-coast newspaper coverage similar to that accorded the Lizzie Borden ax murders nine years later in Massachusetts. You must mean the two guys on the National Geographics Diggers: King George Wyant and Tim The Ringmaster Saylor. Lexington Reservoir. Lexington and Alma - California Ghost Town The train remained the most popular mode of travel in the area until the tracks were badly damaged by winter storms in 1940. Others relocated. For 56 years, all of it has been lost, under the reservoir, with parts resurfacing only a few times, like during the droughts of 1977 and 1991. Today, with the water level down 95% due to construction retrofit of the dam, parts of the past can be seen on the floor of the reservoir. Your email address will not be published. Zooming Starting at 49 acres, it began as a failed attempt at a commercial trout farm and ended as a 2500-acre estate, complete with a 40-room house and several other buildings, an experimental farm, massive gardens filled with a staggering number of rare flowers, and a private water system large enough for a small city. Today, with the water level down 95% due to construction retrofit of the dam, parts of the past can be seen on the floor of the reservoir. Built in 1926, the bridge once spanned the Los Gatos Creek between Alma and Lexington and is almost always submerged. The heart of Alma, a ghost town of Californias past, lies submerged and mostly forgotten in the basin of the Lexington Reservoir along Highway 17, near Silicon Valley. Thanks to the plentiful El Nio rains, in early April, Lexington Reservoir was at 69% capacity. The Originally located along Los Gatos Creek, the town was 550 feet above sea level. The receding water has revealed lost cars, an entire canyon, and, between Park City and Coalville, the ghostly remains of a former town. A private road linked Alma to an ornate mountain mansion in the nearby hills owned by James L. Flood and his wife, teenage runaway and former burlesque dancer, Rose Flood. Lexington, California, is a ghost town in Santa Clara County, now submerged by the Lexington Reservoir. These historical structures have been exposed only three or four times since the dam was constructed.[11]. Required fields are marked *. Through one section, the highway crossed Soquel Creek 25 times without any bridges. One of those places - an underrated t. After rerouting State Route 17 near Windy Point, which is a mile south of Los Gatos, the District began dam construction in the spring of 1952, completing it that fall. In the 1850s, loggers settled where this lake now sits. Once described as a vigorous and rollicking community, the city featured a train station, mining store, general store, hotel and a post office only accessible through a bar. Madrones are such pretty trees! In the 1890s, when alcohol was illegal in Los Gatos, 12saloons lined the road between Lexington and its neighboring town, Alma. A U.S. It prompted my recall of the time my Dad took me for a drive on that stretch of road and told me how it was to be covered with water and disappear. This has caused the remnants of 2 former towns, old roads, and an old bridge to re-appear. If that had remained the route, Los Gatos, Santa Cruz, and certainly the small town of Alma, would have been too far off the beaten tracks to bother visiting, and few would have known of their existence. The ruins of a town submerged when the Lexington Reservoir was constructed Courtesy Ron Pugh, @media(min-width:0px){#div-gpt-ad-ghosttowns_com-box-1-0-asloaded{max-width:250px!important;max-height:250px!important;}}if(typeof ez_ad_units != 'undefined'){ez_ad_units.push([[250,250],'ghosttowns_com-box-1','ezslot_5',200,'0','0'])};__ez_fad_position('div-gpt-ad-ghosttowns_com-box-1-0');report this ad Today, when the water level of Lexington Reservoir dips low enough, you can walk the same ground as the ghosts of Lexington, searching for remnants of a time gone by. drove back to the dam and parked near the St. Joseph's Hill trailhead. Once the war ended, the settlers used the material from the wall for other purposes. seen just ahead. The location is latitude 37.18N and longitude 121.98W. The original town name registered with the Postal Service in 1861 was Lexington. This project replaced the old 48-inch (1,200mm) outlet pipe that ran through the base of the dam, from the reservoir to Los Gatos Creek. Zachariah "Buffalo" Jones bought the mill for $3000 and laid out a town called "Jones Mill". There is a flat area, then a slope. It probably stood for a couple of hundred years before it fell in the 1950s. He remembers 1946, when he was 7 years old, riding with his parents and grandmother on a car trip through the mountains. If you would like to change your settings or withdraw consent at any time, the link to do so is in our privacy policy accessible from our home page.. The Los Gatos Creek Trail starts at the dam and continues downstream along the creek's canyon. . Los Gatos,then called Forbes Mill, wasjust a small crossroadsin its large shadow. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Lexington Reservoir, Los Gatos, California. There is an official park entrance All charges were eventually dropped, and the accusing family was banned from going near the property again. It was really interesting to be standing at an overlook for the reservoir and to see faint traces of foundations of old homes and a road all below where the water would normally be, Dewey explained. According to local lore, the town was originally named Forest House, but was renamed by the postmaster to honor his sweetheart. Another story claims it was named after a sex worker. Video shows Britney Spears inadvertently hit herself in the face in encounter with Victor Wembanyama. Lexington Reservoir - Wikipedia - Al-Quds University Alas, as hard as I peered into the water, I saw nothing of Alma. to the shore are the foundations of another small room. Alma was also known for the grandiose Tevis Estate, located just outside of town. The railroad ceased operations in 1940. Thanks again to Bill for noticing the error and bringing it to my attention. It is pretty detailed after 1950. [1] There are two different possible origins for the name of the town. Thank you Carol. The estate also claimed to have the largest madrone tree in the world growing on its acreage, visible from Bear Creek Road. By 1950, only about 50 families lived in Alma and less than a dozen families lived in Lexington. Near back towards the east shore, showing this large cove, which is normally In 1883, a brutal robbery that would lead to five dead men in Lexington, made national headlines. Eventually though, the reservoir will refill and the ghost town of Alma will again disappear beneath the water. The pioneer town of Lexington, a mile north of Alma and also now lost to the water, fell into hard times when the Southern Pacific Railroad was built in 1878, replacing the horse-and-buggy toll. Gambling machines. Also, all those plants have burrs, [6], Besides serving as a water supply for the area, the lake is used for rowing, paddling, and fishing. Donauwrth is a small town located in Bavaria. I basically headed )Sometimes it can be a lengthy process to obtain the rights to historic photos otherwise we would post more. It lies beneath the Rockport Reservoir in Summit County and is usually difficult to see from the surface. to Alma Bridge Road, you can see the high water line, just below the The story told of an old lady living in Alma who was no longer able to sleep as she had become so used to the noise. Ive lived in san jose 51 years drove past Lexington hundreds of times, I did not know this. But the South Bay, with its newly growing electronics companies, was desperate for new dams to help provide drinking water and recharge its underground aquifers. Or the district would do it. The paper published a photo of schoolchildren outside Lexington School, which was still open as the dam was being built on the horizon. Originally located along Los Gatos Creek, the town was 550 feet above sea level. Today, Highway 17 runs through the old location of the estate. Wolgsegg Castle is one of the most beautiful castles in the Bavarian region known for its splendid architecture. Location: Santa Cruz Mountains Santa Clara County, California: Coordinates: 371121N 1215917W / 37.1892893N 121.9881592W / . Please feel free to e-mail me at julia@mobileranger.com, Your email address will not be published. When I go by, I look down and can still picture how those towns looked.. Todays reservoir was named after one of these towns, which was a stage coach stop en route to Santa Cruz. is a tunnel under Hwy 17, which emerges next to Black Road (shown as The old Santa Cruz hwy ( Glenwood) was a very twisty road, graded without heavy equipment,. Parts of the roadbed have been We had to think of water for the valley. The grizzly bears, locomotives and redwood sawmills are long gone. Often a tricky conundrum. It was re-registered as Alma in 1873.[2]. washed away. And what of the project that has brought fleeting glimpses back to the surface? Stay Tuned! The post office was then moved to the neighboring town of Alma in 1873, partlydue to complaints from church-goers that women and children had to pass through the rowdy Lexington saloon to reach the post office located in the back. the old bridge. he was my Great Great Grand Father George Osmer. Once located near the mouth of the Kalamazoo River, the "ghost town" has gathered lore and mystery since its ultimate . Original Post October 31, 2014 The James J. Lenihan Dam, a 195ft (59m) high, 1,000ft (300m) thick earthen dam, forms the third-largest reservoir in Santa Clara County. Close N 37 11.586 W 121 59.359, shown as "HOUSE" in the map below. Now it seems a bit cool to know that a town used to be there, Id love to go check it out . I am familiar with Holy City as my dad use to meet his friends at the Holy City bar in the 1960s. A few craggy foundations show where buildings stood half a century ago. In 1952, the dam was almost finished. The location is latitude 37.18N and longitude 121.98W. I could have taken photographs. 1. Walking down the hill, someone left a memorial cross here. the end of the old road is a large concrete slab. When he passed his daughter and son in law George inherited the town. in, you can see the pipe snaking along the reservoir bottom. Harriette Cole: Is it a red flag that he wants me to ride a bus to our first date? That was what was most important.. I am pretty sure you are correct in this. [3], Some foundational structures are only visible when the water levels drop in the reservoir, and some old roads and a bridge dating from 1926. the Miller Point Picnic Area. That little trickle of water On a different note, have you seen our blog post on Holy City? Ghost Towns of Lexington Reservoir: Lexington north of Bear Creek Road and south of the turnoff to Alma Bridge Road. is a satellite photo of Lexington Reservoir as it usually looks, from Ghost Town San Jose, CA - Last Updated October 2022 - Yelp This piece is part of the Highway 17 Tour. Download the free app with many tours of the Santa Cruz area and beyond. It was peaceful, quiet, almost lonely, a Los Gatos Times reporter wrote days after the highway opened. The stone foundations of family homes. That original plan changed, though. Lexington declined in the 1880s, when the South Pacific Coast Railroad a line that raced passengers, lumber and orchard fruits between Alameda and Santa Cruz in less than four hours rolled right past the town. down the middle is technically Los Gatos Creek. The town hung on, with fewer than a dozen families still residing there, until the construction of the dam in 1952. The crooks burned the old man with turpentine-soaked rags and beat him with pistols, killing him and a friend, and then fled with the gold. That same year, the general store was robbed its safe exploded with dynamite, destroying a large part of the building. The locals knew better, however, and never ate the tough, stringy meat with a flavor that was best described as rancid fish.. is a valley that was probably an old creekbed. I was aware of some. Ghost town remnants resurface as Lexington, Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window), Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window), Click to email a link to a friend (Opens in new window), Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window), Six killed when small plane crashes, bursts into flames in field near Southern California airport, Ghost town remnants resurface as Lexington Reservoir level falls, | Natural resources and environment reporter. Each town had a post office, hotel, saloons, blacksmith shops and half a dozen redwood sawmills. below. in the Mercury News today about a ghost town re-emerging. It became a resort for San Francisco vacationers who hunted for deer or fished for trout. Rothenburg ob der Tauber (German pronunciation: [otnbk p de tab] ()) is a town in the district of Ansbach of Mittelfranken (Middle Franconia), the Franconia region of Bavaria, Germany.It is well known for its well-preserved medieval old town, a destination for tourists from around the world. The second phase, which includes the former college buildings, will open to the public between 2020 and 2026. The story returned to headlines after one of the killers turned on Majors and helped the prosecution to avoid execution. City search USA 11. A pioneer ghost town that was submerged underwater for more than 60 years has resurfaced because of a drought. Ghost Towns of Lexington Reservoir: Alma - DocsLib Today, remnants of the town can now be seen thanks to the lowering water levels of . He found abandoned buildings, including the boarded-up Alma train depot. bottom, I didn't know where to go, so I improvised. "ENTER" is the parking lot on the side of Hwy 17. To the left above is the Alma Bridge Road The reservoir has been drained to allow construction of new outlet pipes. After reading about this Utah ghost town revealed by drought, discover the story of the Buddhist temple Wat Nong Bua Yai also exposed by dry weather. The water district condemned their homes and paid them. That fall, the dam was sealed, and the Lexington Reservoir slowly filled with the winter rains, drowning the historic towns. The South Pacific Coast Railroad served Alma between 1880 and 1940, providing service between Los Gatos and Santa Cruz via Wrights, also known as Wrights Station or Wright's Station. The original route, however, would have spelled Almas demise and decreased the popularity of Santa Cruz as well. I didn't know where the ruins were and did not have a map of the lake A decade later, the federal government tapped the land around Rockport as the site of a reservoir. but will probably not be once we get more rain. Looking back towards the dam, there is a steep dropoff along the side It was renamed Bear Creek Redwoods Open Space Preserve, and a first phase, including about 500 acres lying west of Bear Creek Road, was opened to the public on June 8, 2019. view from the dam, showing how low the water is. The Santa Cruz Turnpike was eight feet wide, built largely by hand, and a much easier passage for horses and wagons. [7] The park provides facilities for hiking and picnicking. Fewer than 100 people still lived in Alma and what was left of Lexington. Sometimes, receding water lines exposed a hint of its old buildings. We use their deep knowledge to create great stories that bring their favorite places alive for you. Lexington (historical), California: Lexington (historical), California Latitude and Longitude, "Justice was swift for murder suspects in 1880s San Jose", https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lexington,_California&oldid=1145173916, Ghost towns in the San Francisco Bay Area, Former settlements in Santa Clara County, California, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License 4.0, This page was last edited on 17 March 2023, at 16:57. Overview Description Many old concrete foundations, an old bridge (from 1926), old tree stumps, the old Santa Cruz Highway 17 (which built in 1940 and then rerouted in 1950 to avoid the rising waters when the Lexington Dam was constructed and completed in 1952. Language links are at the top of the page across from the title. Looking As the family sat inside drying off, the young lad noticed his father disappearing behind a curtain in the back. She expects to become gradually accustomed to the quiet, and is looking forward to the day when Almas now truly rural simplicities will exert for her the charm that she now feels is only latent.. I The first is that the town was the location of a branch road that led to the New Almaden mine. [3], Lexington gained national attention in 1883, when a Los Gatos saloon keeper, Lloyd Majors, hired two thugs to rob an elderly Lexington man who kept $20,000 in gold in his cabin. This is a view of the ruins from The photo I submitted was taken October 29, 2009, as I was helping somebody look for their lost dog and we tracked the dog to inside the reservoir. The western portions of the upper parcels are crossed by a network of trails and roads built by the Jesuits, while the southern parcel is the steepest and most heavily wooded part of the land and can't be easily accessed. Most of them have died off now.. This is the Lexington, California, is a ghost town in Santa Clara County, now submerged by the Lexington Reservoir. Another The dam was constructed in 1952. We provide you with inspiring stories and fun information about the natural and human history of interesting places. Alma is a ghost town and drowned town in Santa Clara County in California, United States. craigsosmer@gmail.com, Thanks Craig! By Lexingtons heyday in 1867, a group of Santa Cruz County residents had constructed the Santa Cruz Turnpike. She graduated from Oberlin College, where she earned a double degree in American History and French. Outside of the bars, the community gathered around the Alma general store, where ranchers tied their horses and traded hay and fruit. The bridge is stamped with 1926 on both ends, visible to people who park near the Bear Creek Road overpass and walk a few hundred feet down into the dried lake bed. getting your feet wet, it's best to wait until summer to take this. Lexington Reservoir is an artificial lake on the Los Gatos Creek near Los Gatos, California. Lost in the Water: 11 Sunken Ghost Towns You Can Visit (PHOTOS) structure are N 37 11.611 W 121 59.365. you reach the bottom of the old creekbed, you can see the dried, I This is a view you dont see too often, said Dave Chesterman, capital program manager for the water district, as he walked across the 82-year-old bridge in rubber boots. The murder trial received national coverage and made Lexington infamous for a while, but infamy lasts only so long. Ghost town remnants resurface as Lexington Reservoir level falls, The Hidden Collateral Damage in Santa Cruz, How Santa Cruzs Bank of Italy Turned a New Leaf, Santa Cruzs Many Wharves: From Lime and Lumber to Ecotourism, http://mobileranger.wpengine.com/losgatos/holy-city-father-rikers-cult-in-the-santa-cruz-mountains/, http://www.sccgov.org/sites/parks/parkfinder/Pages/Lexington-Reservoir.aspx, Santa Cruz Trains: Railroads of the Santa Cruz Mountains, http://www.valleywater.org/Programs/TeachersStudents/TeacherMaterials/WaterHistoryTeachersGuide/SantaClaraCountyWaterHistory.aspx. More information about Lexington Lexington, California is a ghost town in Santa Clara County, now submerged by the Lexington Reservoir. trees. In February 1969, the school relocated to Berkeley to become one of the member schools of the Graduate Theological Union and placing it in close proximity to the University of California. Its also said that the first-ever Western movie star, Academy Award winner Broncho Billy Anderson, shot silent movies in the town. The second, and more fanciful, origin is that the town was named after a local prostitute. The town was deliberately drowned and destroyed in 1952. Underrated town in Bavaria: Landsberg am Lech - Travel Cubed, Germany foundations of a small square building built along the slope are here. In maybe an anachronistic presage of the future free love revolution in California, further accusations within the cult surfaced about married couples being separated and assigned to groups whose vibrations matched. I lived through a fire near where I live in the Santa Cruz Mountains in 2008 (the Martin Fire). The tunnel under the road is just north of the parking underwater. It was also used to ferry tourists from San Francisco to Santa Cruz. Watershed: Guadalupe River Capacity: 6.5 billion gallons Depth: 130 feet Length: 2.5 miles Built: 1952 Lexington Reservoir, named for the historic 1850's town which once stood on the valley's floor, is a significant source of local drinking water. upstream side at the mouth of the old creek. Quabbin Reservoir | Ghost Town of Greenwich Massachusetts The level of the water is very, very low due to a long drought, and the photo is of a concrete bridge where Alma used to be. Thank you Denise. Very scary night.. In 1999, the Mid-peninsula Regional Open Space District signed a contract to acquire the former college site, set on 1,071 acres (4.33km2) of wooded hillsides. The town was abandoned in the 1950s after the federal government announced plans to construct a . List of flooded towns in the United States - Wikipedia Paul Rogers is the Bay Area News Group natural resources and environment reporter. of this hill, which is usually underwater. Alma Bridge Road (Limekiln Canyon Road) runs around the eastern side, connecting with 17 at the north end and again at the south end via other surface streets. In 1943, because of the rapid expansion of orchards in the county, the Santa Clara Valley Water District determined that the well water in the Santa Clara Valley was being diminished rapidly and a dam was needed on Los Gatos Creek, with one goal being to percolate the water into the ground and ultimately increase the amount of well water available. noted Rockport State Park Manager Eric Bradshaw, the ghost town of Centralia, Pennsylvania. Meet Cheryl Bradshaw, The 'Dating Show' Contestant Who Chose Serial Killer Rodney Alcala, Archaeologists Just Uncovered How The City That Inspired The Biblical Sodom Was Destroyed, What Stephen Hawking Thinks Threatens Humankind The Most, 27 Raw Images Of When Punk Ruled New York, Join The All That's Interesting Weekly Dispatch. Passing the only other living soul around the 450-acre lake, a solitary fisherman under a blue umbrella, I walked up to the waterline at the spot several archival maps had pointed me. When the reservoir is full, it's a It jogs my mind. The visible ruins under Lexington Reservoir are actually those of Alma, not Lexington; building foundations and original pavements of roads are sometimes visible during droughts. 59.352, shown as "ROOM" in the map below. The silent movie star Broncho Billy Anderson filmed several Western movies there in 1906. The brief history of Alma, a drowned Bay Area town As you drive over Highway 17 past the Lexington Reservoir, the water level reminds you whetherits been a particularly wet or dry year but probably not of the two towns that disappeared with the rising waters. I am so glad Teresa. [8] The park includes part of the San Andreas Fault, which crosses Los Gatos Creek just south of the upstream end of the reservoir. (Check out the book called Holy City: Rikers Roadside Attraction in the Santa Cruz Mountains by Betty Lewis for full history and photos. It was the last official passenger stop while the Summit Tunnel was constructed. from my GPS receiver and loaded into Magellan Mapsend, this shows the share. The two beautiful little mountain communities are scheduled to join the submerged cities which have woven themselves into legend, the Peninsula Times wrote. When the Lexington Reservoir was created in 1952, both Lexington and Alma were officially abandoned and SR 17 was rerouted to its present location. As for the towns of Alma and Lexington, their heyday was the mid-1800s, when each of them was populated by about 200 hearty souls. Their sensational trial in San Jose drew national attention similar to that accorded to the Lizzie Borden ax murders nine years later. San Rom de Sau, Spain. Lexington, California "TUNNEL" is the tunnel under Hwy 17 to Black Road. This year, water levels have dropped dangerously low. It is kind of cool, you know, its still history, said Bradshaw. There are a few places you can park. Initially, the dam was referred to by different names, primarily "Windy Point Dam," because the location of the proposed dam was near an obscure spur known as Windy Point. cracked mud that was once the lake bottom. The toll for a wagon and two horses or oxen to pass was 50 cents. The Jesuit School is accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, the American Association of Theological Schools, and by the Vatican Congregation of Catholic Education as an Ecclesiastical Faculty of Theology.[7]. We and our partners use data for Personalised ads and content, ad and content measurement, audience insights and product development. He was a volunteer at the Redwood Estates fire department for several years. The California Office of Environmental Health Hazard Assessment (OEHHA) has developed a safe eating advisory for Lexington Reservoir based on levels of mercury or PCBs found in fish caught from this water body.
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