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Leonard McKay

Leonard McKay

Welcome to www.leonardmckay.com, the site dedicated to the life and learnings of Leonard McKay, historian, San Jose, California. My grandfather was an amazing man and a wealth of knowledge. As such, I have decided that it is a crime to let his knowledge go to waste, and will be developing this site in his honor.

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Excerpts from Leonard's Blog

  • The Canning Industry in San Jose: The canning industry got its start in 1871 when Dr. Dawson and his wife canned some fruit over an old cook stove in their backyard on The Alameda. From this humble start, a huge industry developed right here in San Jose for three basic reasons: the fruit was grown here, there was a ready supply of labor and two railroads, Western Pacific and Southern Pacific, built rail sidings right to the canning plants.
  • The 1906 Earthquake (Part 3): I have told you a little about what happened in San Jose and San Francisco. Now let’s see what Ralph Rambo remembers about that fatal day and incident. For those of you who are unfamiliar with Ralph Rambo, he was an eminent historian and cartoonist who wrote 14 pamphlets about life in Santa Clara Valley. The following account is taken from his excellent booklet, E Day. The family’s windmill, their sole source of water, had been toppled by the quake.
  • The 1906 Earthquake (Part 6): “Naturally we were curious about the effect of the quake upon Santa Clara. For us the little town of 4,000 people served as our ‘shopping center,’ with grocer, doctor, dentist, clothier etc. and later for the writer, ‘Santa Clara High School.’
  • Local historian’s dream of South Bay artists’ exhibition about to come true: Newspaper article from the Rose Garden Resident about Leonard McKay’s seemingly impossible dream coming true, the collection of 32 watercolors and oil paintings by 20th century Silicon Valley artists going on public display for the first time at History Park, San Jose.
  • The Educated Fly Rod (Part 1): When I was rummaging around my garage recently, I found an interesting five-foot long box. The garage is packed as it houses two cars, cupboards, power saws, woodworking tools, workbenches, sanders, a sink and, of course, many treasures that I am going to use or may need some day. I was looking for a small umbrella that fastens to a chair when I came across the box.