Blossom Memories: Saratoga Heritage

Description

A new exhibit, "Blossom Memories: Saratoga?s Heritage will open June 11 and run through September 30. On June 19, a newly restored 1880 Petaluma cart will be outside on display for Heritage Day. Also on that day the Museum will have a blacksmith demonstration; free docent-led 1800?s games for children; a book signing by Town Historian Willys Peck; and costumed people will be in the Museum as famous Saratogans.
Blossom Memories: Saratoga?s Heritage celebrates the time when Saratoga and the Santa Clara Valley was awash in prune and apricot blossoms and was known as the "Valley of Heart?s Delight". The orchard period began about 1880 and ran until the 1950?s when fruit orchards abounded. By 1925 half the prunes and two-thirds of all apricots grown in California were harvested in the Santa Clara Valley. The prune crop, alone, comprised one-third of all consumed worldwide. Growers supplied 40 big canneries and 30 packing houses making the Santa Clara Valley, the premier canning center in the world. Discover some of Saratoga?s unique first?s including the first Blossom Festival; the largest prune orchard in the world; the prune dipper and more.