None The Nature Conservancy in California Press Releases Search All Press Releases Misty Herrin Phone: (213) 327-0405 E-mail: mherrin@tnc.org

Nature Conservancy Purchases Gilroy Hot Springs

Acquisition Will Help Protect and Expand Henry Coe State Park

Gilroy, CA — February 7, 2002 — The Nature Conservancy of California announced today its recent purchase of Gilroy Hot Springs, a historic property in rural Santa Clara County. The Conservancy hopes to transfer the 240-acre property to the California Department Gof Parks and Recreation for inclusion in Henry Coe State Park.

For several years The Nature Conservancy has been working with the Santa Clara County Open Space Authority and other organizations to preserve significant portions of the county's backcountry. The Conservancy's Mount Hamilton Project has now safeguarded more than 80,000 acres of wild lands in the county.

Gilroy Hot Springs occupies a strategic location in this growing network of protected open spaces. The property is eight miles east of Morgan Hill and adjacent to Henry Coe State Park's western border. The land features good stands of blue oak, black oak, and coast live oak. The property has over half a mile of frontage on Coyote Creek, an important stream that provides drinking water for many Santa Clara County residents. This is ideal habitat for rare red-legged and yellow-legged frogs, although the Conservancy has not yet surveyed the property to see whether these native species are present.

Henry Little, Central Coast Managing Director for The Nature Conservancy, commented, "Protecting open spaces in the Mount Hamilton area is important for the quality of life of residents of San Jose, Santa Clara County, and the South Bay, just as the preserving of Point Reyes National Seashore and the Golden Gate National Recreational Area was crucial for people who live in the northern part of the Bay Area."

"Gilroy Hot Springs' former owner, Masaru Seido, should be recognized both for his appreciation of the property's historic importance and for his willingness to sell the property to The Nature Conservancy for a charitable price," Mr. Little added.

"By acquiring Gilroy Hot Springs," said Joe Hardcastle, District Superintendent for the California Department of Parks and Recreation, "we are preserving another key island of open space and wildlife habitat that is linked to the pristine oak woodland of Henry Coe State Park. We are also preserving what remains of the 140-year-old hot spring resort area, a valuable cultural resource listed as a California Historical Landmark."

"This window into our past," Hardcastle continued, "is now protected for all future generations. We will be looking for ways to open it to the public."

Gilroy Hot Springs was once a popular resort. In 1866 George W. Roop and William F. Oldham purchased 160 acres here. During the period from the 1870s to the 1920s, the resort owners expanded the property to its present size and erected a number of buildings, including cabins, a bathhouse, a swimming pool, dressing rooms, a three-story hotel, a single-story clubhouse, and a two-story sleeping annex.

In 1938 H. K. Sakata bought the property and built several new cabins and a new pool. The sleeping annex was demolished in 1946, and the hotel and clubhouse burned down in 1980. Eventually, Sakata sold the property to an investment group that used it for hunting. This group in turn sold it to Mr. Seido, from whom The Nature Conservancy bought the property.