Gilroy, California

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Gilroy (Template:IPA2) is a city located in Santa Clara County, California, USA. According to the United States 2000 Census, the city had a total population of 41,464. During the late 1990s and early 2000s, the city experienced a sharp increase in new construction, both residential and retail, due to the easing of growth restrictions by the city council. While providing more tax dollars to the city this boom of new development has caused the reduction of open spaces around the city as well as a gradual reduction of agricultural land. Gilroy is well known for its garlic crop; the Gilroy Garlic Festival occurs annually, featuring various garlicky foods including garlic ice cream. Gilroy also produces mushrooms in considerable quantity.

Approximately eight miles northeast of Gilroy, via Gilroy Hot Springs Road, lies the famous Victorian resort Gilroy Yamato Hot Springs, a California Historical Landmark. Gilroy also is home to the Gilroy Premium Outlets, a gigantic shopping mall consisting entirely of outlet stores. Well known Gilroy residents include Jeff Garcia, Paul Lacoste, and influential garlic farmer Don Christopher.

Long-time local landmarks include Bonfante Gardens Family Theme Park, formerly Treehaven, (a venue for corporate picnics). The park is located along SR152 west of town. Past Bonfante Gardens on SR152 about 12 driving miles west of town is Mount Madonna County Park. Another large presence is the Gilroy Foods plant at Template:Coor dms.

The future dictates the gradual loss of any open space between Hollister and Gilroy. Someday, development will fill the entire distance now occupied by square miles of agricultural land. For the time being, cattle, garlic, and strawberrys, occupy acres toward Hollister and San Martin. There has been intense debate over growth problems in the area, especially highway congestion. Several proposals to improve eastbound SR156 are stalled because of funding concerns.

1 History
- 1.1 Telephony history
2 Town folklore
3 Environmental features and Geography
4 Demographics
5 Parks and recreation
6 Bibliography
7 External links

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History

There are a number of extant historical buildings dating from the mid nineteenth century. Built in 1857, the Christian Church at 160 Fifth Street is the oldest wood framed church in Santa Clara County in continuous use. Blacksmith George Eustice house at 213 Fifth Street was constructed in 1869; Eustice was a Civil War Veteran who fought at Gettysburg. Samuel Moore was the long time Gilroy postmaster, whose home was built in the 1870s at 7151 Church Street (Santa Clara County, 1979).

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Telephony history

Continental Telephone offered manual telephone service until the arrival of dial phones in the late 1940s. Manual service in Gilroy used magneto phones which required the user to turn a crank in order to generate ringing battery, ringing the operator's switchboard. There were dry cell batteries inside the phones to provide talk battery.

Some manual service in rural Gilroy was on party lines with complicated ringing schemes. Users heard their own rings and rings directed at other party line users. In theory, subscribers only answered their own ring. One rancher reported his ring to be, "two long and two short." You could call someone on your own party line if you knew their ring. If their ring was "two short," for example, you would turn the magneto crank to generate two short rings and then wait on the line for them to answer. If you didn't know their ring, the operator would help you. Some manual service customers had private lines.

Telephone service in Gilroy was provided by Continental Telephone, also known as ConTel. With the acquisition of ConTel by General Telephone in the 1980s, Gilroy now has service from Verizon. General Telephone, also known as GTE, is now called Verizon.

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Town folklore

As with most small towns, Gilroy is home to a small number of urban legends of minor interest most of the longtime residents are aware of as general knowledge. For example, the Togo's restaurant on the west end of First Street is rumored to have had an employee amputate his own finger whilst cutting a sandwich. The story is commonly recounted having the employee not notice his missing finger until after already handing the wrapped up sandwich to the paying customer.

It is also rumored that an unoccupied house on Hudson Court is haunted. The rumors are thought to have spread from squatters.

"Gilroy to San Jose" is a slang term for a poker hand containing three tens. It refers to the distance between the two cities before the advent of suburban sprawl in the 1970's and 1980's; currently the distance is around 15 miles.

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Environmental features and Geography

Contributing to environmental noise are primarily U.S. Route 101, El Camino Real, Leavesley Road and other major arterials. The number of people exposed to sound levels above 60 CNEL is approximately 4000 (Hogan, 1982).

Image:CAMap-doton-Gilroy.pngGilroy is located at Template:Coor dms (37.012048, -121.580080)Template:GR. It is approximately 60 km (37 mi) south of San Jose, California on U.S. Route 101 and 24 km (15 mi) inland from the Pacific Coast. Lying in a southern extension of the Santa Clara Valley at an elevation of about 61 m (200 ft) above MSL, it is bounded by the Santa Cruz Mountains to the west and the Diablo Range to the east. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 41.1 km² (15.9 mi²). 41.1 km² (15.9 mi²) of it is land and 0.06% is water.

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Demographics

As of the United States 2000 Census Template:GR, there were 41,464 people, 11,869 households, and 9,590 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,010.1/km² (2,615.2/mi²). There were 12,152 housing units at an average density of 296.0/km² (766.5/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 58.91% White, 1.80% African American, 1.59% Native American, 4.37% Asian, 0.25% Pacific Islander, 27.73% from other races, and 5.35% from two or more races. 53.78% of the population were Hispanic.

There were 11,869 households out of which 47.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.8% were married couples living together, 14.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 19.2% were non-families. 14.3% of all households were made up of individuals and 5.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.46 and the average family size was 3.74. The age distribution is: 32.6% under the age of 18, 10.0% from 18 to 24, 32.7% from 25 to 44, 18.0% from 45 to 64, and 6.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 30 years. For every 100 females there were 99.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.6 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $62,135, and the median income for a family was $65,330. Males had a median income of $45,759 versus $34,710 for females. The per capita income for the city was $22,071. 10.4% of the population and 7.3% of families were below the poverty line. 12.8% of those under 18 and 6.5% of those 65 and older are below the poverty line.

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Parks and recreation

Coyote Lake-Harvey Bear Ranch County Park, immediately east of Gilroy
Bonfante Gardens, a few miles west of Gilroy on California State Route 152.

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Bibliography

Santa Clara County Heritage Resource Inventory, Santa Clara County Historical Heritage Commission, published by Santa Clara County, San Jose, Ca., June, 1979

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