San Antonio Valley, California
Encyclopedia
The community of San Antonio Valley, also called San Antonio or San Antone, is located along the Diablo Range
in eastern Santa Clara County, California
. The locale is on the border of Alameda County
and Stanislaus County
. The sparsely-populated area is located at the junction of San Antonio Valley Road, Mines Road, and Del Puerto Canyon Road. San Antonio Valley Road connects with State Route 130 (SR130)
and is the shortest route to San Jose and UCO Lick
. Mines Road leads to Livermore
. Del Puerto Canyon Road leads to Interstate 5. The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) shows the area as San Antonio Valley, a valley with the feature ID 232374. The ZIP Code
is 94550.
The U.S. Postal Service established a Deforest Post Office in the area during 1892. It was moved within the area in 1897, 1906, and finally closed in 1909. Another 1924 map calls a group of buildings along San Antonio Creek, Deforest. The name comes from Ransford S. Deforest, the first Postmaster in the community.
in Alameda County
. Del Puerto Canyon Road leads 20- to 25-miles east to the area of Interstate 5 and the Stanislaus County
community of Patterson
. The steepest route out, San Antonio Road, climbs west toward University of California
, Lick Observatory
, topping out at around 4,200 ft (1,280 m). There it turns into State Route 130
and descends into San Jose
in Santa Clara County
.
mutual aid identifier SCU).
There is a restaurant at the junction of the three roads (Mines, San Antonio Valley, Del Puerto Canyon), appropriately called The Junction Bar and Grill. This restaurant serves as a community center as well as a stopping-off point for the many motorcycles, bicycles, and tourists that travel the roads.
) 897-xxxx. The telephone utility serving this area today is Frontier Communications.
I Made a Lot of Tracks by Phil Stadtler, CP Media, Bonanza, OR, 2007, ISBN 0-9759841-2-8
Diablo Range
The Diablo Range is a mountain range in the California Coast Ranges subdivision of the Pacific Coast Ranges. It is located in the eastern San Francisco Bay area south to the Salinas Valley area of northern California, the United States.-Geography:...
in eastern Santa Clara County, California
Santa Clara County, California
Santa Clara County is a county located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 it had a population of 1,781,642. The county seat is San Jose. The highly urbanized Santa Clara Valley within Santa Clara County is also known as Silicon Valley...
. The locale is on the border of Alameda County
Alameda County, California
Alameda County is a county in the U.S. state of California. It occupies most of the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,510,271, making it the 7th most populous county in the state...
and Stanislaus County
Stanislaus County, California
Stanislaus County is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. As the price of housing has increased in the San Francisco Bay Area, many people who work in the southern reaches of the Bay Area have opted for the longer commute and moved to Stanislaus County for the...
. The sparsely-populated area is located at the junction of San Antonio Valley Road, Mines Road, and Del Puerto Canyon Road. San Antonio Valley Road connects with State Route 130 (SR130)
California State Route 130
State Route 130 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California in Santa Clara County. The route runs between San Jose, California, and Mount Hamilton. Much of its length goes through the Diablo Range as Mount Hamilton Road where it is a narrow 2 lane highway...
and is the shortest route to San Jose and UCO Lick
Lick Observatory
The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory, owned and operated by the University of California. It is situated on the summit of Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, USA...
. Mines Road leads to Livermore
Livermore, California
Livermore is a city in Alameda County. The population as of 2010 was 80,968. Livermore is located on the eastern edge of California's San Francisco Bay Area....
. Del Puerto Canyon Road leads to Interstate 5. The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) shows the area as San Antonio Valley, a valley with the feature ID 232374. The ZIP Code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
is 94550.
Variant names
The 1956 Thomas Brothers map spells it San Antone. This spelling mimics the way it is pronounced in common, modern usage by locals. It was spelled San Antone on the 1924 "Mount Boardman, California" U.S. Geological Survey 15-minute quadragle.Historic variant names
In 1776, Anza and his explorers called the area El Cañada de San Vicente.The U.S. Postal Service established a Deforest Post Office in the area during 1892. It was moved within the area in 1897, 1906, and finally closed in 1909. Another 1924 map calls a group of buildings along San Antonio Creek, Deforest. The name comes from Ransford S. Deforest, the first Postmaster in the community.
Sphere of influence
The area is within the sphere of influence of three different counties. The flattest and easiest drive to town is via Mines Road to LivermoreLivermore, California
Livermore is a city in Alameda County. The population as of 2010 was 80,968. Livermore is located on the eastern edge of California's San Francisco Bay Area....
in Alameda County
Alameda County, California
Alameda County is a county in the U.S. state of California. It occupies most of the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2010 census it had a population of 1,510,271, making it the 7th most populous county in the state...
. Del Puerto Canyon Road leads 20- to 25-miles east to the area of Interstate 5 and the Stanislaus County
Stanislaus County, California
Stanislaus County is a county located in the Central Valley of the U.S. state of California. As the price of housing has increased in the San Francisco Bay Area, many people who work in the southern reaches of the Bay Area have opted for the longer commute and moved to Stanislaus County for the...
community of Patterson
Patterson, California
Patterson is a city in Stanislaus County, California, United States, located off Interstate 5. It is 45 miles southeast of Livermore and part of the Modesto Metropolitan Statistical Area. Patterson is known as the "Apricot Capital of the World"; the town holds an annual Apricot Fiesta to...
. The steepest route out, San Antonio Road, climbs west toward University of California
University of California
The University of California is a public university system in the U.S. state of California. Under the California Master Plan for Higher Education, the University of California is a part of the state's three-tier public higher education system, which also includes the California State University...
, Lick Observatory
Lick Observatory
The Lick Observatory is an astronomical observatory, owned and operated by the University of California. It is situated on the summit of Mount Hamilton, in the Diablo Range just east of San Jose, California, USA...
, topping out at around 4,200 ft (1,280 m). There it turns into State Route 130
California State Route 130
State Route 130 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California in Santa Clara County. The route runs between San Jose, California, and Mount Hamilton. Much of its length goes through the Diablo Range as Mount Hamilton Road where it is a narrow 2 lane highway...
and descends into San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
in Santa Clara County
Santa Clara County, California
Santa Clara County is a county located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 it had a population of 1,781,642. The county seat is San Jose. The highly urbanized Santa Clara Valley within Santa Clara County is also known as Silicon Valley...
.
Community
The community includes a CAL FIRE station at 47405 Mines Road. The station is called, Sweetwater - Station 25 and is part of the Santa Clara Ranger Unit, (FirescopeFIRESCOPE
FIRESCOPE is an abbreviation which stands for "FIrefighting REsources of Southern California Organized for Potential Emergencies." It is a system developed to improve the capability of firefighting agencies in southern California in allocating and managing fire suppression resources.-System design...
mutual aid identifier SCU).
There is a restaurant at the junction of the three roads (Mines, San Antonio Valley, Del Puerto Canyon), appropriately called The Junction Bar and Grill. This restaurant serves as a community center as well as a stopping-off point for the many motorcycles, bicycles, and tourists that travel the roads.
Telephony
The area was served by manual telephone service until deregulation forced the arrival of dial service in the early 1980s. Prior to this, a non-dial Western Electric 1A1 coin telephone served on San Antonio Road about one mile east of the Observatory. Its telephone number was San Antonio California Toll Station Number 3. Today, wired telephone numbers for the area follow the format (408Area code 408
North American area code 408 is a telephone area code in California that covers most of Santa Clara County and includes Gilroy, Morgan Hill, Saratoga, Los Gatos, Monte Sereno, Milpitas, Sunnyvale, Santa Clara, Cupertino, and San Jose. It was created in a 1959 split from area code 415 in a flash-cut...
) 897-xxxx. The telephone utility serving this area today is Frontier Communications.
Sources
- Santa Clara County Street Atlas, (1956 Edition), George Thomas.
- Durham, David L., Durham's Place Names of the San Francisco Bay Area, (Clovis, California: Word Dancer Press, 2000) pp. 153.
Books about the area
Red Mountain: The Rise and Fall of a Magnesite Mining Empire, 1900-1947 by Robert W. P. Cutler, Morris Publishing, 2001, ISBN 0-9713235-0-XI Made a Lot of Tracks by Phil Stadtler, CP Media, Bonanza, OR, 2007, ISBN 0-9759841-2-8
