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HISTORIC SITES
SANTA CLARA COUNTY
• Ainsley House – 300 Grant St., Campbell; 408-866-2119; www.ci.campbell.ca.us. Thursday-Sunday, noon-4pm. Restored home from the 1920s decorated with original furnishings and surrounding English gardens.
• Almaden Quicksilver Mining Museum – Almaden Quicksilver County Park, 21350 Almaden Rd., New Almaden; 408-323-1107; www.parkhere.org. Learn about the history of mercury mining and the lifestyles of mining communities at New Almaden.
• Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch – Santa Teresa County Park Historic Area, Manila Dr., San Jose; 408-226-5453; www.parkhere.org. Friday, 10am-4pm and Saturday, 11am-5pm (Sept.-May). Historic ranch house, gardens and barn, restored and equipped with furnishings and tools typical of California farm life in the early 1900s.
• Berryessa Adobe – 373 Jefferson St., Santa Clara; 408-615-2488; www.ci.santa-clara.ca.us. Thursday, noon-2pm and Saturday, noon-3pm. Built in the 1840s, the building exhibit shows the changes in the structure over the years and tells the stories of the families that lived in it.
• Chitactac-Adams County Park – 10001 Watsonville Rd., Gilroy; 408-323-0107; www.parkhere.org. Interpretive shelter open daily, 8am-sunset. Offers a unique view into the Native American culture of Santa Clara County before and after the arrival of the Spanish with a self-guided interpretive walk around the site, including eight stations with interpretive panels.
• History Park at Kelley Park – 1650 Senter Rd., San Jose; 408-287-2290; www.historysanjose.org. Village of 27 original and reconstructed buildings features a vintage trolley and a working print shop.
• Mission Santa Clara de Asis – Santa Clara University Campus, 500 El Camino Real, Santa Clara; 408-554-4023; www.scu.edu/visitors/mission. The eighth oldest of California’s 21 original missions.
• Peralta Adobe & Fallon House Historic Site – 175 W. Saint John St., San Jose; 408-993-8300; www.historysanjose.org. Tours by appointment. Peralta Adobe is San Jose’s oldest address, while the Fallon House was built by one of San Jose’s earliest mayors.
• Pine Ridge Museum – Henry W. Coe State Park, 9000 E. Dunne Ave., Morgan Hill; 408-779-2728; www.coepark.org. Researching history, photos, Native American artifacts and nature walks.
• Rengstorff House – 3070 N. Shoreline Blvd., Mountain View; 650-903-6392; www.r-house.org. Tuesday, Wednesday and Sunday, 11am-5pm. Mountain View’s oldest historic house and one of the finest examples of Victorian Italianate architecture on the West Coast.
• Stroll Into the Past – Tour starts at the Santa Clara Civic Center, Civic Center Dr. and Lincoln Ave., Santa Clara; 408-615-2200; www.ci.santa-clara.ca.us. A self-guided tour of Santa Clara that leads visitors through a series of 28 plaques tracing the city's history from a Native American settlement to its present status.
• Winchester Mystery House – 525 S. Winchester Blvd., San Jose; 408-247-2101; www.winchestermysteryhouse.com. Open daily, visit site or call for schedule and tour information. A 160-room Victorian mansion full of unexplained oddities, such as a window built into the floor and doors that open into blank walls. .
SANTA CRUZ COUNTY
• Pajaro Valley Historical Association – 332 E. Beach St., Watsonville; 831-722-0305; www.pajarovalleyhistory.org. Tuesday and Wednesday, 9:30am-3pm; Thursday, 9:30am-4pm. Includes the historical Bockius-Orr House and the William H. Volck Museum.
• San Juan Bautista State Historic Park – Hwy. 156 (3 miles east of Hwy. 1, 7 miles west of Hollister), San Juan Bautista; 831-623-4526; www.parks.ca.gov. Daily, 10am-4:30pm. Several structures built in the 1800s, including the Plaza Hotel, blacksmith shop and jail, with exhibits showing California life of the Mission, Mexican and early American periods.
• Santa Cruz Mission State Historic Park – 144 School St., Santa Cruz; 831-425-5849; www.santacruzstateparks.org. Includes the 12th in the chain of 21 historic missions that stretch from San Diego to Sonoma.
• Wilder Ranch State Park – 1401 Old Coast Rd, Santa Cruz; 831-423-9703; www.santacruzstateparks.org. Restored buildings that now offer tours and living history demonstrations.
MONTEREY COUNTY
• Carmel Mission – 3080 Rio Rd., Carmel; 831-624-1271; www.carmelmission.org. Call for hours. Named after a friar who came to teach California’s Native Americans about Christianity, the restored mission dates back to 1771.
• Monterey State Historic Park – 20 Custom House Plaza, Monterey; 831-649-7118; www.parks.ca.gov. Collection of historic buildings, such as California’s First Theater and the Cooper Molera Adobe, and beautiful gardens.
• Point Sur State Historic Park – Hwy. 1 (19 miles south of Carmel); 831-625-4419; www.parks.ca.gov. Three-hour walking tours held on weekends year-round and seasonally on Wednesday. Point Sur Lightstation is the only complete turn-of-the-century lightstation open to the public in California.
• Steinbeck House – 132 Central Ave., Salinas; 831-424-2735; www.steinbeckhouse.com. The birthplace and boyhood home of author John Steinbeck offers tours of the home on Sundays, 1-3pm (Memorial Day to Labor Day).
• Tor House – 26304 Ocean View Ave., Carmel; 831-624-1813; www.torhouse.org. Docent-led tours hourly Friday and Saturday, 10am-3pm (children must be 12 or older). Built by poet Robinson Jeffers, features Tor House, Hawk Tower and old-world gardens.
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