Leonard McKay
Welcome to www.leonardmckay.com, the site dedicated to the life and learnings of Leonard McKay, historian, San Jose, California. My grandfather was an amazing man and a wealth of knowledge. As such, I have decided that it is a crime to let his knowledge go to waste, and will be developing this site in his honor.
UPDATED
Excerpts from Leonard's Blog
Anatomy of a Street (Part 1): What San Jose street is actually in two cites, has had a murder by hired assassins, has three churches and narrows at both ends?
What street had a property with a live lion patrolling the grounds in the 1930s and has a house that was once a brothel before it was moved to its present location?
What private eye living on this street was stabbed when answering his door late one night in 1974?
The Faith Davies Story: We lost a great benefactor to our community when Faith Davies died in 1996 at age 91. Not only was she one of the most generous people, she witnessed and was intimately connected with the growth of the largest and most important business in our pre-Silicon Valley, the Food Machinery Company, or FMC.
Local historian’s dream of South Bay artists’ exhibition about to come true: Newspaper article from the Rose Garden Resident about Leonard McKay’s seemingly impossible dream coming true, the collection of 32 watercolors and oil paintings by 20th century Silicon Valley artists going on public display for the first time at History Park, San Jose.
Beer Making in San Jose (Part 2): Prohibition brought chaos. There was no longer any control over alcohol quality or purity. Bootleggers flourished, sometimes killing their customers with bad hooch. If you knew the password, usually “Joe sent me,” and could afford it, then you could get a shot of “bathtub gin” at George’s on South First Street, out at the Hoo-Hoo House on Stevens Creek Road, or at many other local “blind pigs.”
Credo Quia Absurdum: There has been considerable debate about the purpose of the Ancient and Honorable Order of E Clampus Vitus. Is it a men’s historical and drinking society, or is it a drinking and historical society? What does the name stand for? I can’t answer these questions and the name doesn’t translate into anything meaningful in English. The society’s roots—as a benevolent fraternal society—go deep into the gold rush history of California, when there was a real need for such things.