MLS Cambrian, Real Estate in San Jose, CA

History of Cambrian

In the 1800s, the majority of land now known as Cambrian Park was held in huge Mexican land grants, some as expansive as 13,000 acres. Rancho de Los Gatos was to the southwest and Rancho San Juan Bautista Narvaez covered a swath of land to the southeast. Tucked between the two ranchos and north of Dry Creek was 3,800 acres of former mission land granted to Juan C. Galindo by Father Real of Mission Santa Clara. The courts later negated Galindo’s entitlement and the property became public land and opened for settlement, a common practice undertaken for the majority of the Cambrian area. Galindo’s small home on Dry Creek eventually became the home of H. A. Leigh for whom Leigh High School is named.

In 1827, the Cambrian area continued to be used as grazing land for upwards of 14,400 head of cattle and 15,500 sheep. Over time, the land grants were subdivided and sold to settlers in 80 to 600-acre parcels. A few 2,000-acre plots were sold to returning gold seekers who found that the shortage of wheat, vegetables, and fruit made farming lucrative and considerably more stable than their elusive search for the precious metal. By 1860, the principal crop in the Cambrian area was wheat, with those employing irrigation methods and varying crops able to more than double the value of their farms and their annual output. The area gradually became more populated but many land titles were not finalized until the 1870s, with some settlers being forced to purchase their property multiple times, with others “squatting” until the title was finalized.

In 1863, settlers created two distinct geographical educational entities, the Cambrian and Union School Districts. The first Cambrian School was built on property donated by Lewis Casey and his sister, Rebecca, on what is now the southeast corner of Bascom and Curtner. David Lewis, the Welsh immigrant, and farmhand on the Casey Ranch donated money to build the schoolhouse and was asked to help name the new school. He suggested Cambria, which is Latin for Wales. Constructed by local farmers, the first Cambrian School was the only one in the area and educated children from Campbell, San Thomas, and parts of the Moreland district. The first president, Ida Price, played an invaluable role in establishing the Cambrian Home and School Club, which provided hot lunches and eventually convinced the school board to install inside plumbing. Ida Price Middle School was named in her honor.

These outlying school district boundaries of Santa Clara County were used by cartographers for geographical delineation as shown in the 1876 Thompson & West Historical Atlas of Santa Clara County. The school names had grown into geographical and directional references and thus, the Cambrian name was solidified, especially once local San Jose newspapers began referring to the neighborhood as Cambrian Park.

Cambrian settlers, armed with sweat-equity, innovation, and rich soil, were benefitting from their proximity to San Jose, the canning community of Campbell, the Los Gatos gateway to the Santa Cruz Mountain lumber, and the New Almaden Mine. Cambrian was poised for growth with the key elements of development, location, and transportation.

Throughout it all, Cambrian farmers focused on continually increasing their yield of wheat and barley, boosting production eightfold from 2.7 to 20 bushels per acre by 1870. It was also during this time that the community constructed its first elementary schools. By the late 1870s, the wheat market plummeted and so did per-acre production. With the collapse of one-crop farming, there began a transition to raising various forms of livestock and grains while landowners W. Ware, H. A Leigh, L. Casey, G. W, Gardner, and G. M. Harwood began to dabble in horticulture and growing fruit orchards, leading the way for second-generation farmers to realize incredible profits, bolstered by their ability to get their products to market via the Campbell railroad depot and canning facilities.

In 1892, the women’s club, We and Our Neighbors were formed in the adjacent Union School District area. Its mission was “…to promote social ties, intellectual and cultural pursuits, charitable deeds, and recreation for the farm families of the neighborhood.” Their clubhouse, a Craftsman-style bungalow built-in 1910, is a San Jose Historical Landmark. After the 1906 earthquake, the club’s members sent wagonloads of food and clothing to affected families.

Cambrian farmers were active participants in the burgeoning fruit drying and canning market. In 1929, when the Campbell-Los Gatos Prune and Apricot Association was approved by the state, W. A. Riggs from Union and L. Hiatt of Cambrian was elected to the board of directors. Cambrian’s William H. Cilker and Frank Steindorf were elected representatives to the California Prune and Apricot Growers Association, builders of the Sunsweet Plant 1 in 1919.

The success and profitability of orchards prompted industrial growth and a population explosion that would change this once farming-focused valley. Three key projects completed in 1939 contributed significantly to the future of the Cambrian area: water conservation programs, the connection of the Bayshore Freeway, and the establishment of Moffet Field as a naval dirigible base.

As was common throughout the Santa Clara Valley, the end of World War II brought with it an influx of people looking to purchase homes. Between 1950 and 1975 the Cambrian Park population increased five-fold. Second-generation farmers subdivided and sold their land to developers, who built Cambrian’s first housing developments in between the apricots, peaches, and prune orchards. Post-war contracts were awarded to Hewlett Packard, who, along with other companies, continued to grow the electronics industry, forming the embryonic Silicon Valley.

During this time, Cambrian saw a rapid transition from a farming community to a residential one. Numerous retail shops and services overtook the small mom & pop shops like Carmen Nursery, Pepper Tree Market, Mac’s Market, and Daugherty’s Drugs. As tract housing continued to encroach on orchards, the area was in desperate need of new schools. In the 1950s, with more services being required to meet resident demand, a significant change in political boundaries occurred with the incorporation of Campbell as a city, the extension of the Los Gatos borders, and the dramatic expansion of San Jose. Though Cambrian was never incorporated as a town, there were efforts to do so in the 1960s.

Cambrian is now a mixture of three generations: those who arrived after World War II, Millennials, and a few remaining pioneer ancestors. Although the number of houses, political boundaries, and livelihood of the area have changed drastically in the past 150+ years, Cambrian remains a relatively quiet respite tucked between its bustling city neighbors. Cambrian Park has retained its deeply rooted focus on family and community that was inherent in the original settlers. Cambrian is “as much as the state of mind as of friendliness and informality that makes it a wonderful place to live.”