150th Anniversary : Mtn . View Fire Dept .
160th Anniversary : Train Service to Mountain View
100th Anniversary : Yuba Street Bridge
100th Anniversary : Wunderman House
100th Anniversary : Loreto Street
MV Milestones in 2024
150th Anniversary : Mtn . View Fire Dept .
On April 1 , 1874 , the Mountain View Fire Department was formed when 50 of the town ’ s civic-minded residents sat around a potbellied stove and a cracker barrel in the “ Rogers & Rogers ” Department Store and organized the first brigade for the then town of Mountain View . It is one of the oldest officially formed fire departments west of the Mississippi . On May 19 , the Fire Department will have a parade along Castro Street and celebrations in front of City Hall .
160th Anniversary : Train Service to Mountain View
In 1864 train service commenced on the peninsula . Near Castro Street in Mountain View was the location of the primary station for our city . The service from San Francisco to San Jose is the oldest continually run railroad west of the Mississippi . In 2024 Caltrain will launch Electrified service , another historic landmark in the evolution of rail in the Bay Area .
100th Anniversary : Yuba Street Bridge
This once vital section of our road system was built 100 years ago . Originally this bridge on the Alviso Road was one of only two crossings of Stevens Creek in Mountain View . The road connected the original Mountain View location at Grant and El Camino and the port town of Alviso , from where many agricultural products were shipped . When Highway 85 was planned the road was severed -one side is now Yuba Drive and the other Moorpark Way .
100th Anniversary : Wunderman House
When this house was constructed , the area was quite rural . Several years later the 7,200 square foot house was converted into a speakeasy and gambling center . A greyhound racetrack was added . After years of illicit activities , the property was confiscated by the federal government and later sold as a private residence . The Wunderman family has owned the property for over sixty years .
100th Anniversary : Loreto Street
Loreto Street will mark its 100th Anniversary this year . Beginning in January 1924 , the Minton Lumber Company purchased and developed Loreto Street and a portion of Velarde , naming the subdivision Palmita Park after the signature little palms that it planted along the parkway . Nearly all of the original structures retain their 1920s character . The Mtn . ReView will feature an article about the anniversary in the next issue .
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