Gilroy Overview

General Description

Gilroy is best known as the "Garlic Capital of the World," and home of the annual Garlic Festival in July. But the City is also known for its peaceful residential environment, its award-winning parks, golf course and recreation programs, and for its "urban forest," for which the City has won Tree City USA awards annually since 1979.

Gilroy is centrally located within a short driving distance of Monterey Bay, Santa Cruz, the San Joaquin Valley, and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Community Resources

A variety of superior community facilities and resources have placed Gilroy high in recent surveys which have attempted to measure the "quality of life" in Bay Area cities.

Major community facilities unveiled in the last decade include St. Louise Regional Hospital along U.S. 101, Wheeler Manor (senior residence) and an expanded Senior Center complex at Sixth and Hanna streets. The Gilroy library is also newly refurbished and computerized. Gavilan Community College in Gilroy is known for the beauty of its campus, set in the foothills which surround the City. Downtown, new vitality and a healthy respect for history make for a lively and interesting town center. Mature neighborhoods blend with newer homes to create an ambient atmosphere for residential areas, served by nearby schools, parks and churches, and just the right combination of rural and suburban amenities.

Average home costs in the area are in the $410,000 range.

Street Plan

Gilroy is situated in South Santa Clara County at the crossing of U.S. Highway 101 and State Highway 152.

The 1.5 square mile rectangle known as "The Old Quad, " was laid out in the mid-1800's, and served as the City's original city limits from its incorporation in 1870 until the first annexation in 1948. The system of numbered streets was used for east-west streets, with First Street/Hecker Pass Highway at the north, and Eleventh Street at the South. East-West streets added in modern times have not been numbered, but have been named after trees, birds, presidents, historic Gilroy names, and old spanish or early American names.

Sixth Street was once the central road, with p

John Cameron was born in Scotland in 1794. At the age of 19 he left England, using his mother's maiden name of Gilroy, and arrived in Monterey in 1814. He was baptized at the mission at Carmel in 1817 and took the name of Juan Bautista Gilroy. He then made his way to Rancho San Ysidro where he was employed by Ygnacio Ortega as a barrel maker. He married Clara Ortega in 1821 at Mission San Juan Bautista. The Gilroys had 17 children. eight died, but nine survived.

The First Wagon Train From AmericaThe first wagon train to successfully cross the continental divide and arrive in California left Council Bluffs Iowa in 1843. In the winter of 1843-1844 the settlers forged their way over Donner Summit, five years before the Donner party met disaster in the same aresouth. The addressing scheme changed in 1969. Now Gilroy and Morgan Hill share a common numbering pattern for Monterey Road. East-West streets are labeled "East" and "West" as they cross Monterey.

History

The first inhabitants of the Gilroy area were the Ohlone Indiansa. Among the 1843 group was the Martin family who were the first Americans to settle in the Gilroy area.

Hay and Grain Capitol Following the gold rush years, pioneers flooded the fertile Gilroy area with farms of every size and description. Americans, English, Irish, and Germans joined erpendicular streets being labeled, for example, "North Hanna" to the north of Sixth, and "South Hanna" to the . They lived by hunting and gathering until the arrival of the Spanish missionaries and military forces. Spanish colonization began in the area in 1800. Two Spanish grants, the Las Animas and the San Ysidro, and many Mexican grants divided the area into large ranchos which raised cattle for hides, tallow, and jerked meat.

the Spanish and Mexican pioneers. These early settlers engaged in stock raising and grain farming and soon what was then called Pleasant Valley became known as the hay and grain capitol of California.

Gilroy got its start in 1850 as a stage stop along the San Jose to Monterey Road. By the time the village was incorporated as the Town of Gilroy in 1867, it was the third largest community in the county with a brewery, a flouring mill, and a distillery. The railroad arrived in Gilroy in 1869 and made the community the hub of the south Santa Clara Valley. In the 1860s and '70s, Gilroy also became known for horse raising.