Monta Loma is a neighborhood in Mountain View,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

in the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. Located between the bounds of San Antonio Road, Middlefield Road, Rengstorff Avenue and Central Expressway. This was the location of an Ohlone village and the Castro Indian Mound, one the largest shell mounds in the

. After World War II, there was a housing boom, and this neighborhood's current housing was formed.

History

Ohlone village and Castro Indian Mound

The first inhabits were the Ohlone Native Americans and the land from the current corner of Central Expressway and San Antonio Road was the Castro Indian Mound, also known as Indian Hill, Castro Shell Mound, and Secondino Robles. The mound measured 400 feet long, by 300 feet wide, and 10 feet high. In 1893, Stanford University professors began to "investigate" the

shell mound A midden (also kitchen midden or shell heap) is an old dump for domestic waste which may consist of animal bone, human excrement, botanical material, mollusc shells, potsherds, lithics (especially debitage), and other artifacts and ecof ...

to better understand local Ohlone Native American customs. They discovered this was not only a place to dump cooking

refuse Waste (or wastes) are unwanted or unusable materials. Waste is any substance discarded after primary use, or is worthless, defective and of no use. A by-product, by contrast is a joint product of relatively minor economic value. A waste prod ...

but also a Native American burial ground. The Castro Indian Mound showed evidence of

cremation Cremation is a method of final disposition of a dead body through burning. Cremation may serve as a funeral or post-funeral rite and as an alternative to burial. In some countries, including India and Nepal, cremation on an open-air pyre is ...

and it's thought these cremations were only held for the social elite. The archeologists found a wide variety of items in the mound, including many oyster shells, fishing spears, pestles,

jewelry Jewellery ( UK) or jewelry ( U.S.) consists of decorative items worn for personal adornment, such as brooches, rings, necklaces, earrings, pendants, bracelets, and cufflinks. Jewellery may be attached to the body or the clothes. From a w ...

arrowhead An arrowhead or point is the usually sharpened and hardened tip of an arrow, which contributes a majority of the projectile mass and is responsible for impacting and penetrating a target, as well as to fulfill some special purposes such as sign ...

s, and among others. Radio carbon dating puts the origin of the Castro Mound around 1460 ± 100 B.C. In 1947, the mound was leveled and demolished to sell it as

topsoil Topsoil is the upper layer of soil. It has the highest concentration of organic matter and microorganisms and is where most of the Earth's biological soil activity occurs. Description Topsoil is composed of mineral particles and organic matt ...

for gardening. In 1989, Stanford University surrendered the collected artifacts and remains from the Castro Shell Mound to their descendants, this includes the remains of 550 Ohlone people.

Post-World War II

The homes were built during the post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

housing boom, mostly California-style mid-century modern homes by

Joseph Eichler Joseph Leopold Eichler (June 25, 1900 – July 1, 1974) was a 20th-century post-war American real estate developer known for developing distinctive residential subdivisions of Mid-century modern style tract housing in California. He was one o ...

, John Calder Mackay, and Mardell Building Company. Originally the neighborhood was named by each developer as they created sections, named "Oakwood" by Eichler, as well as "Fairview" by Eichler and "Mardell Manor" by Mardell Building Company. From 1959 until 1967, a young Steve Jobs and his family lived on Diablo Avenue in Monta Loma and he attended the local elementary school. The neighborhood has one of the best preserved tracts of Mackay homes.

Monta Loma Neighborhood Association

The Monta Loma Neighborhood Association (MLNA) was founded in 1977 and originally served as a "beautification committee". The MLNA hosts several annual neighborhood events, and serves to encourage dialog between the Mountain View city government and the neighbors.

References

External links

Monta Loma Neighborhood Association (MLNA)
website {{Mountain View, California Mountain View, California Costanoan populated places