Cupertino DailyLouis Stocklmeir
Louis Stocklmeir was a phenomenal man of many talents .He was born on October 28, 1892 and soon settled on orchard land along the edge of the Cupertino Creek, not far from the present day Monta Vista area. In one of his many papers, Louis Stocklmeir wrote, “I visited original Cupertino area and also the Westside area in 1898 at the age of six years and retained from that visit impressions which still linger in my mind. Windmills and tall tank structures and their uses were of deep interest.”
Cupertino Creek
Louis Stocklmeir was also passionate about his orchards. He grew fig, pear, plum, peach, walnut and orange trees and maintained six acres even after his retirement. Someone heard him say once that when it came time to go to the “great beyond”, he hoped to find a nice resting place with an orchard on it.
Louis Stocklmeir recorded much of what we know about Cupertino’s history. In 1955, he was named official city historian, a role he clearly relished. Louis led the rehabilitation and preservations effort for the Le Petit Trinnon on the De Anza campus, He was the first president of the Cupertino Historical Society. Stocklmeir Elementary School in Sunnyvale and the regional library at De Anza College are both named after him. Despite all this, Louis always maintained that he’d rather be remembered for his beautiful orchards than for anything else.
The family’s home, located on Stevens Creek Blvd near the Blue Pheasant, has hosted four generations of Stockmier family. The historic nature of this home comes from its six acres of healthy fruit trees and from its association with Louis Stocklmeir. In addition, there once was beautiful ponds and gardens surrounding the house, and the walkway nearby is constructed with 4000 bricks from one of the first firehouses in San Jose.
This hidden jewel has managed to weather the development boom but has slowly fallen into disrepair through the years. CHS hopes to refurbish the house, grounds, orchard and outbuilding preserving a piece of our city’s heritage for all to share and enjoy.
I would urge the city council not to move the creek over to lose 41% of the land and not to put an 8 foot hard surface trail down the middle of the orchard. I think it is important to preserve the “Cottage by the Stream” because Cupertino History is all wrapped up in the buildings and in the orange orchard that was Louis Stocklmeir’s last experiment.
Tags: history of Cupertino, Lois Stocklmeir
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