Happy Presidents’ Day! This year, let’s celebrate by remembering the first presidential visit to Los Gatos. Do you know who it was?

President Benjamin Harrison. Courtesy of the National Portrait Gallery.

If you said President Harrison, you’d be right! Benjamin Harrison was the first United States President to visit Los Gatos on May 1st, 1891, four years after its incorporation as a town. President Harrison reportedly disliked the political intrigues of Washington, D.C., and spent as much time touring the country as possible. In 1891, former Governor Leland Stanford invited (and partially financed) President Harrison to visit California, and, in particular, to visit his newly-built namesake university. Harrison jumped at the chance, and traveled throughout California, later moving on to Oregon and Washington State.

The president’s visit to Los Gatos was brief, and consisted of him emerging from his private train onto a platform built for the occasion at the train depot. He gave a speech praising California, its people, and especially the agriculture of the mountains and hillsides. He remarked that he was surprised to find the local vineyards and orchards were as productive as those of the better-known valleys of California. Nearly all of the town’s residents, led by mayor John W. Lyndon, turned up at the Los Gatos train depot to greet President Harrison and his party. Once his speech was finished, the President returned to his train, and made his way up to San Francisco.