Los Gatos, California

Los Gatos is a town located in Santa Clara County, California, United States. As of the 2000 census, the town had a total population of 28,592. It is located on the edge of Silicon Valley on the southwest corner of San Jose on the hilly edge of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Homes are mostly upscale, varying from million-dollar cottages in the village itself to large custom homes in the surrounding hills. The town is noted for its many antique stores and upscale but small-town downtown.

Related Topics:
Santa Clara County, California - United States - 2000 - Silicon Valley - San Jose - Santa Cruz Mountains - Antique - Store

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The name Los Gatos is Spanish, meaning the cats. The name derives from the 1839 Alta California land-grant that encompassed the area, which was called Rancho Rinconada de Los Gatos, ("the corner of the cats"), where "the cats" refers to the mountain lions that are indigenous to the Santa Cruz Mountains in whose foothills the town nestles. The name is normally pronounced in anglicized form, sounding like las gaddis, although one also hears pronunciations truer to the original Spanish, lohs GAH tos.

Related Topics:
Spanish - 1839 - Alta California - Mountain lion - Indigenous - Santa Cruz Mountains

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