John Weldon Lyndon arrived in California in 1859 at the age of 23. He worked as a grocer, earning enough to invest in his own land and open his own store. After a time he took over the town hotel, known first as Ten Mile House and then Los Gatos Hotel. After a series of sales, repurchases, and a fire, the newly remodeled Hotel Lyndon opened in 1899. Located at the corner of N. Santa Cruz Avenue and Main Street—conveniently across from the Southern Pacific Railway Station—the hotel welcomed travelers from all over, including, as an 1891 newspaper article said, “A president, governors, writers, royalty, big businessmen, and stage and screen personalities.” Hotel Lyndon saw and contributed to the economic growth of Los Gatos until the building was demolished in 1963.
The abundance of information about the Lyndon family leads us to ask who else might have contributed to the success of the hotel? We know that the Head Chef was a Chinese American man, born in San Francisco to Chinese parents, and that many of the staff were from the Philippine Islands. The contributions of immigrant communities are perhaps less known, and we are looking for more information about the lives and work of all people in Los Gatos.
