Skip to main content

Gilroy Hot Springs Road

By


Gilroy Hot Springs Road is an approximately 6.5-mile highway located in the Diablo Range of southeast Santa Clara County.  The highway begins at the Coyote Lake Reservoir and terminates at the 1921 era Gilroy Hot Springs Road Bridge.  The site of Gilroy Yamato Hot Springs traditionally has been a luxury resort which saw significant Japanese design influence beginning in the late 1930s.  The resort site is now owned by the State Park service and is awaiting restoration.  




Part 1; the history of Gilroy Hot Springs Road

The site of Gilroy Hots Springs was passed during the Second Expedition by Juan Bautista de Anza in 1776.  The expedition camped twice along Coyote Creek in what is now Henry W. Coe State Park while passing through the Diablo Range.  

Gilroy Hot Springs was formally discovered in the early 1860s by Francisco Cantua.  The property the was purchased by California settlers George Roop and William Olden in 1866.  Roop would spur development of a resort which would see a three-story hotel constructed in 1874 along with Italian-Victorian style bathhouse in 1890.  

The site of Gilroy Hot Springs can be seen northeast of Gilroy on the 1882 Bancroft's map of California.  


During 1913 a Redwood water tank was installed at Gilroy Hot Springs.  A truss bridge was constructed over Coyote Creek in 1921 which permitted easier automotive access for visitors.  

Gilroy Hot Springs Road can be seen on the 1921 United States Geological Survey map of the area.  


Gilroy Hot Springs was sold by Roop to Emily and Williams McDonald who would continue to expand the resort.  Gilroy Hot Springs would begin to struggle during the Great Depression.  During 1934 the resort Post Office would close and in 1935 the Southern Pacific Railroad automotive stage service would end.  

Gilroy Hot Springs can be seen along modern Gilroy Hot Springs Road on the 1935 Division of Highways map of Santa Clara County.  The roadway is shown to be considered a major county highway.  


During 1938 Kyuzaburo Sakata a successful farmer from Watsonville purchased Gilroy Hot Springs.  Sakata would announce his intentions to construct a Japanese style garden at the resort which was complete prior to the United States entering World War II.  After the war Sakata would reopen the resort as "Gilroy Yamato Hot Springs" in 1946.  The resort would also become the home of approximately 150 Japanese American citizens who were released from internment camps following the end of the war.  

During 1964 Sakata could not meet Santa Clara County building requirements for heating requirements for the resort cabins.  Sakata would sell Gilroy Yamato Hot Springs in 1966 to Phillip S. Grimes.  During 1980 the resort hotel and clubhouse would burn down.  The facility was again sold in 1988 to Fukuyama International Incorporated.

Fukuyama International Incorporated planned to renovate Gilroy Yamato Hot Springs and successfully petitioned the state to designate it as a historic landmark by 1995.   The State Park system would purchase the property in 2003 as part of Henry W. Coe State Park.  The State Park system presently has not had the budget to restore the resort property but does offer private tours.  



Part 2; a drive on Gilroy Hot Springs Road

Eastbound Gilroy Hot Springs Road begins at the junction of Roop Road and Coyote Reservoir Road.  



Gilroy Hot Springs Road continues east along Coyote Creek and intersects Cañada Road.  Traffic following the Juan Bautista de Anaz Historic Trail is directed to turn south on Cañada Road.












Gilroy Hot Springs Road continues east from Cañada Road to the Hunting Hollow entrance to Henry W. Coe State Park.  






Gilroy Hot Springs Road turns north along with Coyote Creek.  The road ends at the 1921 Gilroy Hot Springs Road Bridge.  






The Gilroy Hot Springs Road Bridge is 120.1 feet long and has a wood road deck.  The structure was rehabilitated in 1993 and now has a metal gate to prevent unauthorized access to Gilroy Yamato Hot Springs.  









Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Bleriot Ferry - Alberta

By
  Alberta operates six ferries scattered throughout the province. Roughly twenty to twenty-five kilometers up the Red Deer River from the town of Drumheller is one of the most scenic ferry crossings in all of Wild Rose Country, the Bleriot Ferry. Using the North Dinosaur Trail (Alberta Highway 838, or AB 838), the Bleriot Ferry provides a scenic river cruise of sorts in the Canadian Badlands. The Bleriot Ferry started operating in 1913 as the Munson Ferry when a few bridges crossed the Red Deer River. The ferry was started by Andre Bleriot, the brother of famed early aviator Louis Bleriot, who became famous for being the first person to fly over the English Channel. At the time, the Alberta provincial government commissioned local residents to run the ferries. There were several ferries along the Red Deer River, and not only did they serve as vital transportation links, but they also served as local social hubs, since everyone had to take the ferries to go places. Over time, as the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

By
In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...
4 comments
Read more

I-73/I-74 and NC Future Interstates Year in Review 2024

By
Welcome to another annual review of progress in constructing North Carolina's New and Future Interstate routes. While 2024 was not too exciting, with no new segments of major routes opening, there was 1 new interstate signing, another proposed new interstate route, and the near opening of a new segment for 2 routes. As tradition, I will start off with a review of what happened with I-73 and I-74 and then move on to the major news of the year about the other new and future routes. Work continued on the I-73/I-74 Rockingham Bypass through the year. The last few months have been hoping for news of its opening before 2025, without luck. Signs of its near completion included the placement of new signs, many with interstate shields uncovered, along the Bypass and intersecting roadways. For example, these went up along US 74 East: Overhead signage at Business 74 exit which contains the future ramp to I-73 North/I-74 West. Signage was also updated heading west on US 74 approaching the unop...
Post a Comment
Read more