Chemeketa Park

During the “Roaring Twenties,” the towns of Alma and Lexington were thriving. Lexington Reservoir didn’t exist, and Los Gatos Creek flowed freely. Pacific Coast Railroad trains steamed through the mountains, although the automobile was close on its heels. The Old Santa Cruz Highway was simply called the Santa Cruz Highway. It was the primary road between San Jose and Santa Cruz. The natural beauty of the Santa Cruz Mountains appealed to the expanding summer-home market.

Chemeketa Park Origins. One summer- home community was developed by J.B. Balcomb, a civil engineer from Palo Alto. In 1925, Balcomb purchased 63 acres of orchard land from Mr. Edwards about five miles south of Los Gatos. He named it Chemeketa Park. In June 1926, ads in the San Jose Mercury Herald listed a pre-opening sale of lots as low as $50. Because mountain water was scarce, and roads were difficult to navigate in wet winter weather, the original plan was to build resort cabins specifically for summer retreats. However, by the 1930s, roads and water systems had improved and some lots became full-time housing.

Sadly, only one year into the plan, Mr. Balcomb was killed in an automobile accident on Mountain Charlie Road. He was traveling with his head realtor, Grace Soules, and two others, when he lost control of his vehicle. The passengers escaped injury, but Balcomb did not survive.

Soules ended up purchasing all of the unsold lots in the Chemeketa Park, but soon defaulted on her payment. Mrs. Balcomb sued, which forced Soules into bankruptcy. Mrs. Balcomb then borrowed money to buy back the unsold lots. The legal proceedings dragged on for many years.

Soules eventually married a carpenter named L. N. Ball who helped manage water and road issues in the park. The couple also ran the Chemeketa Store out of their home. In the 1950s, Dean Ashford built a new store next to the house. The store is now a private home. Ashford’s son Jerry teamed up with Christopher Dean and Dennis Dias in the 1960s to play bluegrass as The Barons at local venues like the Hillbilly Fair and Chateau Liberte. Mrs. Balcomb lived in the park with her family until the mid-1980s.

A small church was located at the bottom of Comanche Trail in the 1920s and 1930s. Sadly, the church burned down and was never replaced. There is some evidence that the had a gas station at one time. The Name. People often wonder how to pronounce Chemeketa Park. Locals consistently say “CHEM-ah-kee-tah.” One historical source, The Legend of Chemeketa, explicitly uses “SHEM-ah-kee-tah.”

The word Chemeketa derives from the native American Kalapuya language. It means “gathering place,” “place of peace,” or “a place to rest a while.” Chemeketa was the historical name for the Salem, Oregon region and today is the name of a nearby community college. The name also appears in The Hermit of Chemeketa Mountain, an 1875 epic doggerel poem. Balcomb likely learned of the Kalapuya term while living in Oregon before he moved to California.

The Subdivision. Chemeketa Park is bounded on the northwest side by Moody Creek, on the west and south sides by Old Santa Cruz Highway, and on the east by Aldercroft Heights, the San Jose Water Works, and Los Gatos Creek. The original plan for the subdivision called for over 400 separate lots and clearly showed the South Pacific Railroad right-of-way through the San Jose Water Works. The Los Gatos phone book listed just two Chemeketa Park households in 1930, and 16 in 1938.

The 1943 assessor’s map identified 323 lots, indicating that some of the original lots had been combined. As the need for housing increased after WWII, summer homes turned into rentals, and year-round residences became the norm. Lots were combined as more homes in the park were occupied year- round. Since about 1950, there have been only 150 homes.

The subdivision’s layout is a maze of twisting narrow roads with tight turns. Most roads in the development are named after Native American tribes. They include Apache, Arapahoe, Assiniboine, Blackfoot, Cherokee, Comanche, Kiowa, Modoc, Navajo Trail, Nez Perce, Pawnee, Umatilla, and Walla Walla trails.

The one exception to the Native American road-naming convention is Edwards Road. It was named after the landowner who sold the property to Balcomb, and it was initially crowned with a large wooden archway. Located in unincorporated Santa Clara County, the roads are private, so road maintenance is the responsibility of the . The Chemeketa Park Mutual Water Company, incorporated in 1929, has managed road maintenance since the 1930s.

Water Supply. In addition to road maintenance, the Chemeketa Park Mutual Water Company runs the water board. Each property owner is a member and shareholder of the company, with an option to engage in management. A five-member board is chosen annually from the membership. Building and maintaining a reliable water system for the is an ongoing challenge.

Originally, the community’s water came from springs, with no storage. As more moved in, water shortages became frequent during the summer months. In the 1950s, the water board arranged to draw additional water from Moody Creek.

They acquired a permit from the San Jose Water Works to build a dam and a pump house. They purchased a small piece of land from Holy City to install storage tanks to hold 80,000 gallons of water. The efforts helped, but with 150 families now living in the park, there were still shortages. The water board got permission from the San Jose Water Works to build a backup line in Los Gatos Creek. Another 50,000-gallon water tank was later installed at the top of Ogallala Warpath Road. Even later, filtration systems and fire hydrants were added.

In early 1982, a devastating winter storm plugged up the culvert at Moody Creek and Highway 17. The water level was up to 65 feet by 8 a.m. By 3 p.m., the water let loose a torrent that rushed out of the Ogallala culvert with enough intensity to wash away the dam and dump the pump house into the creek.

With funds from the 1980 Water Bond Act, new state-of-the-art pipes, fire hydrants, and filtration services were installed at a cost of $390,000. The Chemeketa Park water systems were in excellent shape. That is, until the 1989 earthquake struck. The quake took out the main pump line and some water tanks. Once again, repairs and upgrades were made, this time using dollars from FEMA and the Red Cross.

In recent years, local volunteers secured a

$1.8 million grant for a new 80,000-gallon water tank. They managed the entire process from design, permits, and construction, along with a hired project manager, cooperation of the community and board, plus tenacity to see the new tank get commissioned. The tank went into service in 2026 and substantially increased water capacity for the park. The water board continues to manage the water supply in Chemeketa Park today.

Fire Safety. Chemeketa Park lies in a high- fire-risk Wildland-Urban Interface. The 1985 Lexington Fire was the most destructive in the region, charring over 13,000 acres. The fire was a result of arson, started by a teenager setting off a bottle rocket at Lexington Reservoir around the 4th of July. High temperatures and strong winds pushed the fire The communities of Aldercroft Heights, Soda Springs, Mt. Bache, Highland, and Idylwild were quickly evacuated. Thinking they would be spared, Chemeketa Park inhabitants were only given a few hours to depart. Redwood Estates residents were put on notice but did not have to leave. There was significant regional damage, but Chemeketa Park was ultimately saved from the flames. It took a 1,600-person fire crew to contain the In 2019, a shaded fuel break project was initiated along Highway 17 between Los Gatos and the Summit to reduce the risk of fire. Chemeketa Park is now a Firewise certified community, and protection efforts are ongoing. The community holds educational gatherings. Brush-clearing teams make the safer. They are also working to secure grants for shaded fuel breaks and home- The Community. In the 1940s, Chemeketa Park had an active women’s club. Over the years, the women organized community events included inspirational stories about the seasons, cooking, and community.

Bunny Warner was so well liked that when she passed in 1972, a small garden area was named after her as Bunny’s Corner. The When the 1989 quake damaged the clubhouse, the Chemeketa Park Mutual Water Company agreed to rebuild it. Today, the water company manages the clubhouse Chemeketa Park Today. Long-time resident Diana Crawford shared that what stands out the most in Chemeketa Park is the and their deep sense of community.

According to local resident and amateur historian Fred Schenkelberg, “Today, the spirit remains strong. The cars may be fancier, but the people here still look out for one another.” The neighborhood is divided into pods, or clusters of homes that share vital information with each other in While the park no longer has an active women’s club raising funds, community members have donated and found matching funds to raise $25,000 for a new large play The sense of community is also evident by weekly community gatherings, a community Friendsgiving on the Saturday after Thanksgiving, Octoberfest parties, and more.

The clubhouse and playground are regularly the site of birthday parties, marriages, celebrations of life, and other events. The park is full of people walking dogs (mostly) on leashes. Children gather at the park to play. Parents coordinate carpooling kids to/ from school. Almost everyone either has a chainsaw or knows someone who does in the event large branches or a tree come down.

Chemekeka Park is not just a collection of converted summer cabins. It’s home to a vibrant and welcoming community. To celebrate their 100-year anniversary, Chemeketa Park will hold a small public event at their clubhouse later this year. Watch the Mountain Network News events section like the Chemeketa Park Pow Wow and the Hillbilly Fair. A key goal of the events was to raise funds for one good cause or another, such as the war effort during WWII and repairing or enhancing neighborhood In the 1940s, the club purchased one of the cabins on Apache Trail, near Comanche Trail, for use as a community clubhouse. The clubhouse was used for holidays, birthdays, parties, and other social and community gatherings. A playground featured swings, slides, and climbing structures. At one time, kids could swing on a tire way out over the canyon. A youth baseball team, consisting of local ragamuffins, played ball at the park in In 1951, the Los Gatos Daily Times reported that the women’s club had completed a crazy quilt project. Each participant created one square, and the group combined them into a single quilt. The quilt was awarded at the The women’s club created another beautiful quilt in the late 1960s. In this case, each square represented the family name of one member of the women’s group, for a total of 49 names. One square is intentionally blank, and another is dedicated to Bunny Warner. Bunny was an active member of the community, but she never joined the women’s club. The friendship quilt was a prize at the 1966 Hillbilly Fair and was later donated to the community. Money raised from the event went toward currently on display at the Chemeketa rentals to a majority of permanent homes. New property owners fixed up many of the 50-year-old cabins.

The women’s club fundraised spruced up the clubhouse with new curtains and fresh paint. After collecting cash donations from local merchants, the ladies compiled and published a cookbook. Each member contributed one recipe, and they divided the collection into seasons. The cookbook