New Edition of Sara Winchester Biography by Mary Joe Ignoffo

The house Sarah Winchester built before her death in 1922 is certainly a remarkable one. Most of her real estate in the San Francisco Bay Area sold quickly after she died. This house did not and within a very short time became a very successful tourist attraction. 

The stories that circulated about rifle heiress Sarah Winchester in Santa Clara county seem to have been the result of her reclusiveness. She lived in an age when newspaper reporters--given little real information--would just make up things in order to sell newspapers. Imagine that. 

Railroads Once Powered Work and Life in the West

Two commuters wait for the Southern Pacific railroad in Los Altos, California circa 1963. Service ended very soon after that with the construction of Foothill Expressway. The photograph was taken by Greg Gnesios. 

A friend of mine from Los Altos High School found me on the internet and sent me a photo he had taken one morning long ago of two men waiting for the railroad train--very near the end of the era when Los Altos commuters could easily get back and forth to work that way. 

His message made me ponder how important the rails were to our families, when I was young, and in the life and settlement of the West. And led to this column in my "Santa Clara Valley Lives" series for the local newspaper.  Click the link for the story: 

Railroads and Santa Clara Valley Lives