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Previous: The Pioneers From The Alps
The Mission and The Guv
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| An Old Wine Press |
The Mission San Jose acreage was originally
owned in the 1800s by California Governor Leland Stanford. Some
say that Stanford's original plan was to build a university there
to honor the untimely death of his fifteen-year-old son. But Mrs.
Stanford thought that the educational memorial would be better suited
on a parcel west, across the bay in Palo Alto - affectionately known
then as "The Farm". It is today known as Stanford University. Once
the decision was made in 1869 to found the university in Palo Alto,
the Stanfords proceeded to build a winery annexed with newly planted
vineyards. It also turns out that the afternoon breeze off the bay
was just the cool relief needed for the sun-drenched grapes of Mission
San Jose.
While the university across the bay thrived into the next century
the Leland Stanford Winery did not. The vineyards went fallow because
of the potent punch of phylloxera and prohibition. In 1917, the
Stanfords finally sold the winery. The next thirty years saw various
owners and commercial uses, including a period when it was a horse-racing
track!Next: Family
and Vineyard Replanted
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