National Register of Historic Places Program
The National Register of Historic Places is the official list of the Nation's historic places worthy of preservation. Authorized by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966, the National Park Service's National Register of Historic Places is part of a national program to coordinate and support public and private efforts to identify, evaluate, and protect America's historic and archeological resources.
| Property Name | Rhoades Ranch |
| Reference Number | 13000158 |
| State | California |
| County | Santa Clara |
| Town | Morgan Hill |
| Street Address | 2290-A Cochrane Road |
| Multiple Property Submission Name | N/A |
| Status | Listed 4/17/2013 |
| Areas of Significance | AGRICULTURE, EXPLORATION/SETTLEMENT, ARCHITECTURE |
| Link to full file | https://www.nps.gov/nr/feature/places/pdfs/13000158.pdf |
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| The 12.27-acre site known as Rhoades Ranch located on Cochrane Road is locally significant under National Register Criteria A , B and C in the areas of Agriculture, Exploration/Settlement and Architecture. It is significant at the state level under Criteria A and B for its association with the Strawberry Institute of California and Harold E. Thomas , its head, who is a person important to California's agricultural development. It is the historic headquarters of what was once a larger ranch in South Santa Clara County (located to the east of Morgan Hill). Today it represents one of the last remaining agricultural settings able to convey the broad patterns of late nineteenth and early twentieth century agricultural development in the now mostly urbanized floor of Santa Clara Valley. This northern California agricultural property contains resources illustrating the early American-era agriculture period, the early twentieth-century development of the property during years of regional horticultural development, and is directly associated with California's pioneering strawberry industry (the largest in the United States). The property is eligible under Criterion C due to the presence of the Rhoades House, a distinguished example of an architect-designed Mission/Spanish Colonial Revival residence designed by Howard Higbie and Andrew Hill Jr. The period of significance begins in 1863 and ends in 1966, the period from initial settlement of the property until the sale of the property to Driscoll Strawberry Associates in 1966. The property meets the requirements of Criteria Consideration G due to the exceptional significance of Harold E. Thomas and the role of the Rhoades Ranch in California's strawberry industry. |
Properties are listed in the National Register of Historic Places under four criteria: A, B, C, and D. For information on what these criterion are and how they are applied, please see our Bulletin on How to Apply the National Register Criteria
Last Updated: 06/13/2011 1900 hrs