Not many people know this, but Los Gatos had a little oil field," relates Los Gatos historian William "Bill" Wulf, a former Los Gatan himself. "Around 1901, oil was discovered on both sides of Los Gatos Boulevard, including around what is now Live Oak Manor. Most of the land with the oil was owned by the Main family, a prominent family in town at the time."
"There was Orchard Tract One and Orchard Tract Two, and there were oil derricks spouting up over the fruit orchards," he continues, chuckling at the incongruity. "That's all they talked about in those years; there was a real madness about it. They thought the town was going to be rich."
"None of the wells produced much, though. They weren't commercially viable—only about five to 10 barrels a day," Wulf says. The remains of one well, he adds, can still be seen if folks know where to look—behind the gas station at the intersection of Los Gatos Boulevard and Garden Lane.
The gas station is the Rotten Robbie station on Los Gatos Blvd.; I fill up there all the time. I'll have to have a look around next time I'm there.
Grim, are your parents near that location?