Los Gatos’ post office opened in 1864, and 4 of its places are on the National Register
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns · #117 of 847 in California. What drives it
Most of Los Gatos was built recently: 8% of its homes predate 1940 and the median home dates from 1972. 4 places in town are on the National Register, among them a historic district with 19 buildings. Below: 4 old photos and papers, maps from 1884 on, and the census since 1880.
The Los Gatos post office opened in 1864, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 555 in 18802020 census: 33,529162 years
How did Los Gatos get its name?
The name derives from the 1839 Alta California land grant that encompassed the area, which was called La Rinconada de Los Gatos ("The Corner of the Cats"), where the cats refers to the cougars (mountain lions) and bobcats that are indigenous to the foothills in which the town is located.
How historic is Los Gatos?
B
More historic than 58% of U.S. towns, on its age, its old homes and the National Register.
On its age, its old homes and the National Register, Los Gatos is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #117 of 847 in California. Its National Register listings hold the grade up; its age pulls it down.
B
HistoryA character grade: shown, never part of Los Gatos’ overall grade.
Few California towns list much on the Register (a typical California town has 0.0 per 10,000 residents, the U.S. 2.4), so Los Gatos’ 6.7 sits above most of its state (89% of California towns have fewer) while its 22 historic buildings outnumber those of 80% of U.S. towns.
How sure. Graded on any two of the three inputs instead, the letter would range from C to B+. The pre-1940 share (±2.0 points) is firm at this size. The founding year is the first post office, not a stated founding date.
Founding year: the first post office (other dates in Quick answers). Homes: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register: National Park Service, May 2026 list; each listing counted once (boundary changes and added documentation belong to their listing), and a historic district counts its contributing buildings. How TownRatings grades history →
What stands out about Los Gatos’ past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
Fire insurance maps drew every building, what it was made of and what it was used for, so insurers could price the risk of fire. Pick a year, then a sheet.
1884Sheet 1 of 1
Edition
Sheets
BrickWoodStone
Sanborn Map Company, via the Library of Congress. Editions published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Famous people
37 famous people were born in Los Gatos
Writers, athletes, leaders and more, ranked by how widely they’re known.
The first inhabitants of the area that is now Los Gatos were the Ohlone Native Americans. At the time the first settlers arrived in the area, it was estimated that approximately 5,000 indigenous people were living in the Valley, and noted that the relationship between the settlers and natives was very good. The first settlers to enter the Valley proper were two soldiers that had strayed from their missionary group on November 2, 1769. By 1777, there were between 1,500 and 2,000 Native Americans living in the mission compound.
Passages that mention Los Gatos, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Santa Clara County California1922 · page 560Read the page →
Read the text
On November 1, 1883, he went to visit his people, who were then residing in Los Gatos, Cal., and being favorably impressed with the place, lie decided to make it his home, accepting a position with the Southern Pacific Railroad, with which he remained until April, 1884. He was the first to suggest to that company the advisability of the Mayfield cut-ofif, thereby decreasing the railroad distance of twelve
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Santa Clara County California1922 · page 403Read the page →
Read the text
Panama route, arriving in San Francisco January 23, 1869. His brother. John W. Lyndon, who was James' senior by eleven years and had come out to California in 1859, had preceded him to Los Gatos and had established there a lumber yard, where later the Wilcox House and the railroad depot stood; and James hurried to Los Gatos and accepted a position as clerk in John's employ. In 1872 he bought his
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Los Gatos, 1864 to 1986
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Nothing in the archives for these yearsWeddings on Main Street, storms, parades, school pictures, the old store. If it’s in your family album, it belongs here.
The Los Gatos post office opened in 1864, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
How does Los Gatos rank for history?
Los Gatos is more historic than 58% of U.S. towns, #117 of 847 in California. The History grade combines the town’s founding era, the share of homes built before 1940 and its National Register listings. It’s a character grade, so it isn’t part of the overall grade. How it works.
What is on the National Register in Los Gatos?
4 listings: 3 buildings, among them the McCullagh-Jones House (listed 1974, the first), and 1 historic district, the Los Gatos Historic Commercial District, with 19 contributing buildings. 22 historic buildings in all.
How old are the homes in Los Gatos?
8% of Los Gatos’ homes were built before 1940 (Census estimate, ±2.0 points), against a typical 3.4% for a California town; the median home was built in 1972.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021).
From Wikimedia Commons (1), the Library of Congress (4), Wikidata (3), the National Register of Historic Places (4), Wikipedia, Wikidata and Wikipedia for famous people, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System, Sanborn fire insurance maps (Library of Congress) and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
Date?
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2010
