Vasona Lake County Park is a
park
A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are urban green space, green spaces set aside for recreation inside t ...
located in
Los Gatos, California
Los Gatos (, ; ) is an incorporated town in Santa Clara County, California, United States. The population is 33,529 according to the 2020 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area just southwest of San Jose in the foothills of the ...
and part of the
Santa Clara County Parks
Santa Clara County Parks and Recreation Department, sometimes referred to as Santa Clara County Parks Department or Santa Clara County Parks, is a government department in Santa Clara County, California. The department manages 29 parks with a total ...
system. Vasona Park surrounds the
Vasona Reservoir. Adjacent to the park are the
Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad William Jones (1884–1968), a seasoned veteran of the steam era who established the Wildcat Railroad in Los Gatos, California, was born the son of a teamster in the town of Ben Lomond, California, USA.
Jones found employment as an engine wiper at ...
, a
ridable miniature railway
A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad or grand scale railroad) is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by diesel or petrol ...
, and the W.E. "Bill" Mason Carousel at the Oak Meadow Park.
History
![Vasona Lake County Park meadow with geese](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/84/Vasona_Lake_County_Park_meadow_with_geese.jpg)
The land within the park's boundaries is among the most historic in Los Gatos. The grantees of the "Rancho Rinconada de Los Gatos", Jose Hernandez and Sebastian Peralta, constructed an
adobe
Adobe ( ; ) is a building material made from earth and organic materials. is Spanish for ''mudbrick''. In some English-speaking regions of Spanish heritage, such as the Southwestern United States, the term is used to refer to any kind of e ...
house on what is now one of the park's lawns. It was the first structure built in the area.
The
narrow gauge
A narrow-gauge railway (narrow-gauge railroad in the US) is a railway with a track gauge narrower than standard . Most narrow-gauge railways are between and .
Since narrow-gauge railways are usually built with tighter curves, smaller structu ...
South Pacific Coast Railroad
The South Pacific Coast Railroad (SPC) was a narrow gauge steam railroad running between Santa Cruz, California and Alameda, with a ferry connection in Alameda to San Francisco. The railroad was created as the Santa Clara Valley Railroad, founde ...
once traversed the western edge of the park en route to downtown and over the
Santa Cruz Mountains
The Santa Cruz Mountains, part of the Pacific Coast Ranges, are a mountain range in central and Northern California, United States. They form a ridge down the San Francisco Peninsula, south of San Francisco. They separate the Pacific Ocean from ...
to
Felton and
Monterey Bay
Monterey Bay is a bay of the Pacific Ocean located on the coast of the U.S. state of California, south of the San Francisco Bay Area and its major city at the south of the bay, San Jose. San Francisco itself is further north along the coast, by a ...
at Santa Cruz Wharf. The
Southern Pacific Railroad
The Southern Pacific (or Espee from the railroad initials- SP) was an American Class I railroad network that existed from 1865 to 1996 and operated largely in the Western United States. The system was operated by various companies under the ...
later acquired the South Pacific Coast Railroad and converted the line to
standard gauge
A standard-gauge railway is a railway with a track gauge of . The standard gauge is also called Stephenson gauge (after George Stephenson), International gauge, UIC gauge, uniform gauge, normal gauge and European gauge in Europe, and SGR in Ea ...
after the turn of the century. A farmer near Pollard Road, Albert August Vollmer, contacted the Southern Pacific asking for a flag stop to be established to allow a more convenient place to board the train. The railroad not only agreed but allowed him to name the stop. He chose the name "Vasona", which was the name of his favorite pony during his childhood. "Vasona Junction" was the point on the line where the tracks split off from the
San Jose-
Campbell Campbell may refer to:
People Surname
* Campbell (surname), includes a list of people with surname Campbell
Given name
* Campbell Brown (footballer), an Australian rules footballer
* Campbell Brown (journalist) (born 1968), American television ne ...
-Los Gatos mainline with the Vasona Branch through the
Cupertino
Cupertino ( ) is a city in Santa Clara County, California, United States, directly west of San Jose on the western edge of the Santa Clara Valley with portions extending into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The population was 57,8 ...
Hills to
Palo Alto
Palo Alto (; Spanish for "tall stick") is a charter city in the northwestern corner of Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto.
The city was estab ...
, allowing more direct travel to
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish language, Spanish for "Francis of Assisi, Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the List of Ca ...
. The name "Vasona" has reappeared locally ever since, including in the naming of the park. The dam was completed in 1934, and the railroad continued to run along the Western side of the reservoir until 1959. The railroad right-of-way over the reservoir is now University Avenue.
Other owners of property
Owners of property have been the Alvernaz Family, Vasona Lake Park, dairy farming through the
Great Depression in the United States
In the United States, the Great Depression began with the Wall Street Crash of October 1929 and then spread worldwide. The nadir came in 1931–1933, and recovery came in 1940. The stock market crash marked the beginning of a decade of high un ...
. José Alvernaz started Sun Ray Dairy in Los Gatos in 1933 and was a well-respected member of his community.
Years: 1903 — 1993
José Pereira Alvernaz, who was born in 1903, on Faial Island, Azores, arrived in Providence, Rhode Island in 1916 at age 13. After a week with relatives, he set out for California. After working at various jobs, including working at the University of Santa Clara, he was able to buy a dairy in 1933 that became known as Sun Ray Dairy in Los Gatos. The dairy was in what is now Vasona Lake Park, which includes a man-made lake. The house in which José lived was located on the hill near what is now Hwy 17. The house has been torn down to make way for a new visitors’ center.
Sun Ray Dairy was very successful and grew. José sold his milk, and those who did not have much money were allowed to pay him by bartering with eggs, vegetables, meat, or other products. He took very good care of his customers during those difficult years. One of his customers was Sarah Winchester.
When the stock market crashed and the banks were forced to close, José was doing well -- having $1,000 in the bank and money coming in daily. He was well-respected by the community for providing a great dairy for the town's residents. José was naturalized as an American citizen in 1930.
José was also a member of: The Lions Club, the Luso-American Fraternal Federation (Past President), and he attended Five Wounds Portuguese National Church. He assisted in the building of the church by delivering supplies, and his uncles helped by volunteering their labor. He was also a leading member of the Santa Clara Dairymen's Association. He was the first to purchase a pasteurizing machine for his dairy in Los Gatos.
Mini Train and Carousel
![Billy Jones Railroad in Vasona Lake Park (25450475603)](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/e/ea/Billy_Jones_Railroad_in_Vasona_Lake_Park_%2825450475603%29.jpg)
After the death of Southern Pacific engineer
Billy Jones in 1968, a volunteer-led movement secured part of the park's southern end for the reconstructed, gauge
Billy Jones Wildcat Railroad William Jones (1884–1968), a seasoned veteran of the steam era who established the Wildcat Railroad in Los Gatos, California, was born the son of a teamster in the town of Ben Lomond, California, USA.
Jones found employment as an engine wiper at ...
(BJWRR), a
miniature railway
A ridable miniature railway (US: riding railroad or grand scale railroad) is a large scale, usually ground-level railway that hauls passengers using locomotives that are often models of full-sized railway locomotives (powered by diesel or petrol ...
which Jones ran around his prune orchard on Winchester Boulevard and Daves Avenue. The depot and engine house, concessions and souvenir stand, and W.E. "Bill" Mason Carousel are all in Oak Meadow Park, a short walk from adjacent Vasona Park. The railroad operates weekends year-round as well as daily during school summer vacations. Steam locomotive No. 2, 100 years old in 2005, was once again made operable after being reboilered over the course of about a decade. The carousel building also houses a custom built
band organ
A fairground organ (french: limonaire) is a French pneumatic musical organ covering the wind and percussive sections of an orchestra. Originated in Paris, France, it was designed for use in commercial fairground settings to provide loud music ...
that plays from
Wurlitzer
The Rudolph Wurlitzer Company, usually referred to as simply Wurlitzer, is an American company started in Cincinnati in 1853 by German immigrant (Franz) Rudolph Wurlitzer. The company initially imported stringed, woodwind and brass instruments ...
150 rolls. The organ was extensively rebuilt and upgraded to include a
MIDI
MIDI (; Musical Instrument Digital Interface) is a technical standard that describes a communications protocol, digital interface, and electrical connectors that connect a wide variety of electronic musical instruments, computers, and re ...
interface in 2012.
In 2013, the park's picnic areas were renovated.
Location
![Vasona Reservoir - panoramio](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/a4/Vasona_Reservoir_-_panoramio.jpg)
Vasona Park surrounds
Vasona Reservoir, which is along with the
Lexington Reservoir
Lexington Reservoir is an artificial lake on the Los Gatos Creek near Los Gatos, California. The James J. Lenihan Dam, a high, thick earthen dam, forms the third-largest reservoir in Santa Clara County.
Background
The reservoir is in ...
located in Los Gatos's southern edge, was formed by damming
Los Gatos Creek.
The adjacent Oak Meadow Park is owned by the Town of Los Gatos.
Animal life
A
bald eagle
The bald eagle (''Haliaeetus leucocephalus'') is a bird of prey found in North America. A sea eagle, it has two known subspecies and forms a species pair with the white-tailed eagle (''Haliaeetus albicilla''), which occupies the same niche as ...
was spotted in the Vasona Lake County Park in early 2017.
Public activities
The reservoir is host to non-power recreational boating, and a marina on site has pedal boats for public rental. Other popular water sports in the reservoir include kayaking and standup paddleboarding. The park is also home to the Youth Science Institute, several picnic pavilions, and several hiking/biking trails. The popular
Los Gatos Creek Trail
The Los Gatos Creek Trail is a 9.7-mile (15.6 km) pedestrian and bicycle trail that runs through western Santa Clara County in California, from Lexington Reservoir in Los Gatos, California through Campbell, California to Meridian Avenue in Sa ...
, which runs from Lexington Dam to just short of downtown
San Jose, passes through the park. It is one of the most popular parks in the south bay.
Since 1998, the Park organizes throughout the month of December the annual event ''Vasona Fantasy of Lights'' where the park is filled with light-powered holiday scenes, imageries, and animations which illuminate the park. The park also co-hosts the annual ''Pianos in the Park'' event organized by the Santa Clara County Parks.
Pianos in the Parks returns to the South Bay
''Abc7news.com'', 5 September 2015
Vasona Science and Nature Center
Opened in 1980, the Youth Science Institute - Vasona Science and Nature Center is a youth science and nature education facility operated by the Youth Science Institute. The center features natural history exhibits, live animals found in the Guadalupe Watershed
The Guadalupe River watershed consists of of land within northern California's Santa Clara County. The surface runoff from this area drains into the Guadalupe River, its tributary streams, reservoirs or other bodies of water which all eventually ...
region and a native plant trail. The center offers nature and science school and group programs, after-school science and summer camp programs.
The Vasona center is the administrative headquarters for the Youth Science Institute.
References
External links
Official website
Vasona and Los Gatos Creek County Parks
Wildcat Railroad
{{San Jose and Silicon Valley attractions
County Parks in Santa Clara County, California
Regional parks in California
Nature centers in California
Los Gatos, California