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Published on 09/22/1997 All articles from this issue

25 years ago in the Town Crier

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Pages of the Past

The Sept. 25, 1947, issue of the Los Altos News again reported speculations regarding the fate of the former Morgan estate on Stonybrook Road in Los Altos Hills. Its owners, Gerald and Gypsy Buys, admitted negotiations were under way for a real estate transaction.

If the transaction became fact, the Buys planned to depart for Hollywood and live at another of their residences, "The Falcon's Lair," one-time home of former movie idol Rudolph Valentino.

Gerald and Gypsy Buys had owned the Morgan Estate for close to two years. The fate of the imposing Tudor-style, two-story, two-wing mansion had aroused the local townspeople to action when there were reports that the couple might sell to a religious cult. A local drive to raise funds to purchase the estate failed to raise the amount asked by the Buys. However, the anticipated sale to the cult did not materialize.

(The estate has been up for sale on today's market at the asking price of $7.2 million.)

Los Altan Vincent J. Garrity joined the elite company of golfers, each of whom had scored a hole-in-one. Using a 7 iron, he scored the "birdie" on the 142-yard fourth hole at the Los Altos Golf & Country Club. His spectacular play, witnessed by members of his foursome, was the first ace ever recorded at the hole.

50 years ago in the Los Altos NewsAn editorial in the Sept. 27, 1972, issue of the Town Crier extended best wishes to the new Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) which had become a reality the previous week. By late fall 1972 the high speed electric trains were expected to run to Richmond and to Concord in Contra Costa County. San Francisco and Daly City looked forward to their services in 1973.

According to the editorial, BART had been the butt of jokes for years with all its delays and problems, but no one could laugh now because it was in operation. It was a much needed service for the thousands of East Bay commuters.

Permanente Creek almost received a free concrete lining when fate stepped into the Kaiser cement operations, resulting in 10 minutes of sludge being dumped into the stream bed.

Residents downstream noticed the water was running brown and called several governmental bodies to investigate.

Because of a hitch in Kaiser's monitoring system, the breakdown in the system was not immediately noticed. Fortunately, the material flowing down the creek was all natural substances and had no added chemicals.

- Ellen Shaw of the Los Altos History House Association