A history of:

The Pettis Neighborhood

(Pacific Press building; circa 1904)

The Pettis Neighborhood has a history that starts in the late 1800s. In 1887, D.B. Bailey, an early Mountain View pioneer subdivided the area.. The area was then resubdivided in 1888, and again in 1905. Most of the neighborhood was part of the original city of Mountain View when it incorporated on November 7, 1902. 

Between the 1880s and early 1900s, a variety of houses were built in the neighborhood. During this time, most houses were built for two types of people. Farmers from the surrounding country side who wanted second homes close to town, and business owners of Mountain View. Prominent examples from this time period, such as the Camp House at 336 Mariposa Avenue, still exist today. The house was built for Wilbur Camp, who was the founder of a bank which was located in a building that now houses the Red Rock Coffee House.

When the Pacific Press Publishing Company relocated its plant from Oakland to the Pettis Neighborhood, the neighborhood's development was jump started. The picture at the top of the page illustrates what the neighborhood looked like before Pacific Press opened its doors. Orchards and small homes dominated. Where the fence runs in the middle of the picture, marks the current path of Villa Street. The break in the fence before the tents, roughly marks the spot where Mountain View Avenue intersects with Villa Street today. 

Pacific Press was owned and operated by members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church.  When the Pacific Press opened its doors, 104 Seventh Day Adventist families moved into Mountain View and created the Pettis Neighborhood as we know it today. The Seventh Day Adventists also established a church, located at the corner of West Dana Street and Shoreline Boulevard, and a school. 

Just 2 years after the Pacific Press was built, the 1906 earthquake, and a fire after, destroyed it. It was quickly rebuilt in 1907, and stood intact until the 1980s. Extensive remodeling has occurred since then, including a Mission Revival style look that was added in 1948. Other industries, such as an early cannery, were also located in the neighborhood near the train tracks. 

Eventually the area bounded by the train tracks, Pettis Street, Oak Street, and El Camino Real was developed into a thriving neighborhood. The areas west of Pettis Street were home to large country estates situated on 1 to 2 acre parcels. 

Things pretty much stayed the same until the 1960s, when redevelopment caused great change in the neighborhood.

For many neighborhoods, and many families, the widening of Bailey Avenue (now Shoreline Boulevard) had huge impacts. In 1969, in an effort to help Mountain View grow into a "modern city," Bailey Avenue was widened from a 2 lane, tree lined street, into the very busy, and very wide, 6 lane mini-highway that it is today. The widening split the neighborhood from the rest of Old Mountain View. For more info on this, visit,  The Story of  the Washington Street Neighborhood.

Around the same time, California Street was widened from a 2 land neighborhood street into a 4 land road, splitting the neighborhood into two pieces. This, combined with the Bailey Avenue widening, resulted in the loss of dozens of homes. The homes that remained on the two widened streets lost most of their front yards. That's why you see turn of the century era cottages pushing up against the sidewalk on Shoreline Boulevard and California Street. 

No longer was the neighborhood one large area connected to the rest of Mountain View. Now thousands of cars were driving through the neighborhood every day to get from one section of the growing city of Mountain View to the next.

At the same time that all this street widening occurred, the neighborhood was rezoned for high density housing. Planners at the time envisioned a modern, dense, apartment neighborhood that would support Downtown businesses. However, this vision failed. Low quality developments were quickly thrown up in many portions of the neighborhood. The hardest hit areas were those west of Pettis Street, where the country estates were quickly demolished to make way for apartment complexes.

East of Pettis Street, some homes were converted into apartments, other homes lost there backyards to apartments. Those were dark times indeed for the neighborhood. But things soon got better.

Before redevelopment got too drastic, the area was rezoned again in the 1970s. This time, the rezoning helped to preserve the remaining  stopped what was left of the historic single family neighborhoods. Since then, much effort has been taken to restore and preserve the historic structures in the neighborhood.

In early 1980s, the Pacific Press left Mountain View. Many of the Seventh Day Adventist families who had lived in the area since the early 1900s left also. Perhaps the reason so many historic homes in the neighborhood survived until the 1980s is because the same group of people (and families) lived in the same houses for more then 80 years.

The formally close knit neighborhood was then opened up to a diverse assortment of other groups of people. Half of the Pacific Press buildings were renovated into a high quality office park, the other portion of the Pacific Press property was turned into the beautiful Villa Mariposa residential area. A large fountain and park like area near the intersection of Villa Street and Mountain View Avenue commemorate Pacific Press's contribution to the early development of Mountain View and the neighborhood.

Neighborhood activism reached a peak when the City of Mountain View looked at developing some parcels along Shoreline Boulevard. These parcels were once the backyards of homes that were located on the street  before 1969 when it was the smaller Bailey Avenue. For the first time, a neighborhood organization was formed. S.W.A.N. (shoreline west association of neighbors) successfully stopped the city from developing the parcels, which are now designated open space. But since then, S.W.A.N. has disappeared, and the neighborhood has not truly come together since. 

The boom of the Silicon Valley has brought many new people, and new families into the neighborhood. These newcomers have upgraded their historic homes, replanted their gardens, and spruced up the overall look of the neighborhood. In some cases, developers have bought large lots and then subdivided them to allow for new single family homes on small lots. The worst instance of this happening, is on the corner of Mountain View Avenue and Villa Street. Here, a series of tiny one room cottages built in 1905 were knocked down by a developer from Los Altos. All of their residents (most were low income residents or senior citizens) were evicted. In their place, a series of large 2 story single family homes was built. However, even this development at least looks nice, and fits in with the architectural style of the area. 

The future of the Pettis neighborhood will be a struggle to preserve the neighborhood's history, enhance its atmosphere, and develop its identity. More then 150 historic homes have survived over 100 years of change. Together they form one of Mountain View's most unique neighborhoods. Not only will the neighborhood need to work to save its historic atmosphere, but other issues, such as traffic problems, lack of open space, lack of affordable housing, and aging apartment complexes will need to be addressed. Hopefully, through learning about the history of the Pettis Neighborhood, more people will come to appreciate it, and be willing to help make the neighborhood's future brighter.

A Modern Day shot of the former Pacific Press Buildings, from Villa Street.

For more information on the widening of Bailey Avenue visit: The Story of  the Washington Street Neighborhood.

Historic information from Now and Then-Exploring Mountain View's Architectural Heritage; a book published in 1979 by the City of Mountain View Planning Department.

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