Chemeketa Park is an
unincorporated community
An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...
of approximately 150 homes located in
Lexington Hills, in the
Santa Cruz Mountains
The Santa Cruz Mountains ( Mutsun Ohlone: Mak-sah-re-jah, "Sharp Ridged Mountain of the Eagle" or "People of the Eagle Mountain") are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States, constituting a part of the Pacific Coast R ...
in
Santa Clara County, California
Santa Clara County, officially the County of Santa Clara, is the sixth-most populous county in the U.S. state of California, with a population of 1,936,259 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. Santa Clara County and neighboring Sa ...
, that is now effectively a rural neighborhood of
Los Gatos, California
Los Gatos (; ; ) is an List of municipalities in California, incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population is 33,529 according to the 2020 United States census, 2020 census. It is located in the San Franc ...
. The postal designation for Chemeketa Park is "Los Gatos 95033", although it lies approximately five miles South of the official boundaries of the incorporated town of Los Gatos. The community is in
area codes 408 and 669
Area codes 408 and 669 are telephone area codes in the North American Numbering Plan (NANP) in the U.S. state of California. The numbering plan area comprises most of Santa Clara County and Northern Santa Cruz County, and includes Gilroy, Morg ...
.
Nearby communities are
Redwood Estates, Aldercroft Heights, and the
ghost town
A ghost town, deserted city, extinct town, or abandoned city is an abandoned settlement, usually one that contains substantial visible remaining buildings and infrastructure such as roads. A town often becomes a ghost town because the economi ...
of
Holy City
A holy city is a city important to the history or faith of a specific religion. Such cities may also contain at least one headquarters complex (often containing a religious edifice, seminary, shrine, residence of the leading cleric of the religi ...
. Chemeketa Park is accessed off of
State Route 17, on Old Santa Cruz Highway along the Big Moody Curve.
Early history
Chemeketa Park was developed in 1925 and 1926 by J.B. Balcomb, a
civil engineer
A civil engineer is a person who practices civil engineering – the application of planning, designing, constructing, maintaining, and operating infrastructure while protecting the public and environmental health, as well as improving existing i ...
from
Palo Alto
Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto.
Th ...
who had acquired a orchard in the Santa Cruz Mountains. An advertisement in the Sunday, June 20, 1926 edition of the
San Jose Mercury Herald lists a
"pre-opening sale" of lots "as low as $50.00."
Initially, lots were used for vacation cabins. The mountain communities of Chemeketa Park and Redwood Estates, etc., were considered too remote, and too difficult to access, for year-round living. Lots were advertised to
Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...
families as a summer retreat, far from the stress of city living in
San Francisco
San Francisco, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...
or
San Jose.
By the mid-1930s, with the improvement of roads and water systems, many residents began occupying their cabins year-round and combining smaller lots into larger parcels.
The Balcomb Family and Chemeketa Park
J.B. Balcomb was killed in an automobile accident in the summer of 1927. His widow and son continued the sale of lots at Chemeketa Park. Balcombs continued to own property in the development until the mid-1960s.
Name derivation
Chemeketa is a
Kalapuya
The Kalapuya are a Native American people, which had eight independent groups speaking three mutually intelligible dialects. The Kalapuya tribes' traditional homelands were the Willamette Valley of present-day western Oregon in the United Sta ...
Indian word with various meanings attributed to it, including "resting place," "meeting place," "old home," or "old camping ground." The Kalapuya lived in the area now known as the
Willamette Valley
The Willamette Valley ( ) is a valley in Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. The Willamette River flows the entire length of the valley and is surrounded by mountains on three sides: the Cascade Range to the east, the ...
of
Oregon
Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
. Chemeketa was an original name of
Salem, Oregon
Salem ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital city of the U.S. state of Oregon, and the county seat of Marion County, Oregon, Marion County. It is located in the center of the Willamette Valley alongside the Willamette River, w ...
, and still exists as the name of a community college, a library district, and various parks and streets in the Salem and
Portland
Portland most commonly refers to:
*Portland, Oregon, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Oregon
*Portland, Maine, the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maine
*Isle of Portland, a tied island in the English Channel
Portland may also r ...
areas.
When J.B. Balcomb and his wife emigrated from the mid-West to
California
California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
, they first stopped through eastern
Oregon
Oregon ( , ) is a U.S. state, state in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States. It is a part of the Western U.S., with the Columbia River delineating much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington (state), Washington, while t ...
where they most likely heard the name. The Native American theme is present throughout Chemeketa Park with street names including "Comanche Trail," "Ogallala Warpath," "Apache Trail," and "Navajo Trail."
Governance
Chemeketa Park lies in the unincorporated area of Santa Clara County. Districts for local elected representatives are:
*1st Supervisorial (County)
*
18th Congressional (US)
*
28th State Assembly (CA)
*15th Senate (CA)
Most of the roads within Chemeketa Park are considered private, and are not maintained by the County. The water system is also privately owned by the community and draws from natural sources and creeks within the Santa Cruz Mountains.
The Chemeketa Park Mutual Water Company was incorporated in 1929. Each property owner is a member and shareholder in the water company and may take part in its management. A five-member board is elected from the membership at an annual meeting each Spring. Board members, who are not paid for their service, meet monthly, with meetings open to all members.
The board is responsible for hiring the water master and bookkeeper and maintaining the roads. Each property owner pays a set fee each month for water and roads. Additionally, the water company owns and maintains a clubhouse that is used for meetings and community events. A separate volunteer group organizes the events, such as
bluegrass music
Bluegrass music is a genre of American roots music that developed in the 1940s in the Appalachian region of the United States. The genre derives its name from the band Bill Monroe and the Blue Grass Boys. Bluegrass has roots in African America ...
concerts and family picnics. Individual members may also arrange to use the clubhouse for private events.
References
External links
Biography of Jean B BalcombChemeketa Park Mutual Water Company
{{authority control
Unincorporated communities in California
Unincorporated communities in Santa Clara County, California