Casa Loma, Santa Clara County, California

Casa Loma along with Loma Chiquita are private roads, in a rural area of Santa Clara County covering over 5,500 acres (22.3 km²) with an unofficial population of 175. Both names are marginalized with Loma Chiquita appearing in the US Geological Survey's National Geographic Names Database as feature ID 227487.

Use of the name Casa Loma is supported by the existence of "Casa Loma Volunteer Fire Association" (CLVFA) The fire department has some level of official recognition and is dispatched by the California Department of Forestry. One tract within this area is named "Twin Falls", which runs off Casa Loma Rd. Santa Clara County Open Space Authority lands and Mid-Pen Regional Open Space surround this mountain community.

Proposed geographic definition

This location appears on the US Geological Survey 7.5-minute quadrangle "Loma Prieta, California" The area comprises canyons along the eastern face of the Santa Cruz Mountains between Hecker Pass and Loma Prieta summit. The area would cover the canyon communities along Casa Loma and Loma Chiquita Roads. A proposed northwest extent of the area is the US Geological Survey's Loma Chiquita feature at coord|37|06|18|N|121|49|21|W. Loma Prieta is shown to be 3,791 feet (1,155 m), Loma Chiquita is shown to be 2,586 feet (788 m) AMSL according to US Geological Survey figures. The southeast extent of the area, and possibly the lowest elevation, could be identified by the intersection of Uvas Road and Casa Loma Road at NAD83 coordinates coord|37|09|04|N|121|44|50|W.

Rural Los Gatos ZIP Code 95033 and Morgan Hill ZIP Code 95037 serves this area, as does area code 408. The area is heavily vegetated chaparral. Both Casa Loma Road and Loma Chiquita Road are mostly unpaved. In winter, the clay soil makes the roads difficult. Creeks cross the roads in several places. In summer, they turn to a powdery dust. Heavy Manzanita and Poison Oak growth overhangs the roads and pinstripes vehicles using them.

Other similar-named locales in California

There is a Casa Loma in Placer County, California near Dutch Flat with a ZIP code of 95704. There is a smaller locale also named Casa Loma in Riverside County near the community of Lakeview.

The name sounds similar to "Costa Loma", the name of a group of wells in an active oil field along Oil Creek. The oil field is located in Santa Cruz County west of the intersection of State Route 9 and State Route 35. [State of California, Department of Conservation, Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources, Map W3-10, 08/11/2003. ]

Notes

External links

* [http://www.clvfa.org/ Casa Loma Volunteer Fire Association home page]