The development of the Hooked on Los Gatos - Library and Museum History Project digitized database is a collaborative effort between Los Gatos Public Library and The Museums of Los Gatos, with collections of the two institutions forming the core of the project. Additionally, many individuals, families, and organizations have generously shared their photo archives in order to preserve and make accessible the cultural memory of the town.


Collections are primarily pictorial, but as the project develops you will find maps, letters, postcards, scrapbooks, programs from events, and other materials of interest. In using these images and for reprints, please refer to the Reproduction and Use policies. In all cases, please give credit to Hooked on Los Gatos - Library and Museum History Project and to any additional credits that may be indicated in the information included with the photograph.



Current Hooked on Los Gatos Digital Collections Online:

C. F. Hamsher Collection
The Hamsher Collection consists of approximately 100 enlarged photographs, many currently hung on the library walls in the lower level. Most were printed from original images taken between the late 1860s and 1920. Clarence Hamsher was a banker, elected President of the First National Bank of Los Gatos in 1927. He was also an avid local historian with an intense interest in preserving the past. Mr. Hamsher collected these photographs in the 1920s, had them framed, and hung them on the walls of the bank building. When the bank was purchased by the American Trust Company in 1955, the photographs were presented to the library as a gift.

Los Gatos Death Records
Local Certificates of Death issued by the California State Board of Health, Bureau of Vital Statistics from 1905 - 1933. A few of the deaths recorded here occurred as early as 1875, with this paperwork prepared at the time of removal from the Old Los Gatos Cemetery on Cemetery Lane to the New Los Gatos Cemetery on Los Gatos-Almaden Road in the early years of the 20th century.

Local History Mysteries
Of the thousands of historic Los Gatos photographs scanned, only a fraction were originally identified and dated. Research is ongoing at the library to create accurate metadata to accompany each image as it is added to the database. Can you help identify or date any of these photographs? Please contact history librarian Paul Kopach at pkopach@losgatosca.gov.



Collections coming soon . . .

Library and Museum Collections
Keyword searchable, as well as by these general subject areas: Agriculture, Business Enterprises, Los Gatos Creek, Mountain Communities, Structures, Town Life, Transportation, Views

John Baggerly Collection (Courtesy of the Los Gatos Weekly Times)

Bruce Baker Collection

Charles Bergtold Collection
A longtime Los Gatos antique dealer and art collector, Mr. Bergtold has generously granted access to his collections gathered over the last forty years.

Frank Burrell Collection

California Room, San Jose Public Library

Nadine Caperton Collection

Cilker Family Collection

Lena Barbieri Conley Collection

Eddie Chase Collection

Paul Curtis, Jr. Collection

Joseph Doetsch Collection

Alice Fink Collection

Bruce Franks Collection

Shirley Henderson Collection

Hillbrook School Collection

History Club of Los Gatos Collection

Jim Holmes Collection Egon Jensen Collection

Los Gatos Parent Nursery School Collection

Los Gatos Union School District Collection

Daniel and Sarah McCoy Collection

Gavin Pate Collection

Scott Rose Collection

Elayne Shore Shuman Collection

Peter Simon Family Collection (Los Gatos Public Library)

St. Mary's Catholic Church Collection

Eleanor Sussman Collection

Sunshine Tomlinson Collection (Macabee Family)

Justin D. Vanderlaan Collection

Linda Ward Collection

We and Neighbors Club Collection

Marlene Wiley Collection