page_title: Alum Rock Park
section_title: San Jose & Alum Rock Park Railway
hierarchical_section_title: Alum Rock Park / History / San Jose & Alum Rock Park Railway
caption_attribution_description: English: Alum Rock Bridge
context_page_description: Alum Rock Park, in the Alum Rock district of San Jose, California, is California's oldest municipal park, established in 1872 but serving as public land since the pueblo was established in 1777. Located in a valley in the Diablo Range foothills on the east side of San Jose, the 720 acre park offers 13 miles of trails, varying from fairly level along Penitencia Creek to sharp switchbacks climbing to the ridges to the South Rim Trail and the North Rim Trail. The narrow floor of the valley includes a visitor center, a small museum/animal rehab facility, picnic areas, playgrounds, lawns, sand volleyball pits, mineral springs, lush plant life, woodlands, creek play opportunities, and occasional group camping.
  The ridge trails offer views of Santa Clara Valley and of the valley in which the park is located. Some trails in the park are a part of the Bay Area Ridge Trail; the Todd Quick trail connects with the Santa Clara Valley Open Space Authority's 1,600-acre Sierra Vista Open Space Preserve.
  Equestrians and mountain bikers have access to some of the park's trails, while others are reserved for hikers only.
context_section_description: Construction of a narrow-gauge railway to the park from downtown San Jose began in 1891. By 1896, 8 miles (13 km) of track had been completed from 26th Street up Santa Clara and Alum Rock Avenues to Kirk Avenue and thence upstream along Penitencia Creek into the park. Passengers paid 25 cents to ride to the park on street cars pulled by steam dummy locomotives. The line converted to electric power in 1901, but a storm during the winter of 1911 washed out the narrow-gauge line up Penitencia Creek. The narrow-gauge route was replaced on 2 September 1913 by the standard gauge interurban Peninsular Railway running up Berryessa Road from a connection with the downtown streetcars on 17th Street. Passengers could reach the park from any point on the San Jose streetcar system until service into the park was abandoned on 11 July 1932.
caption: Historic Alum Rock Bridge used by the interurban park railway from 1913 to 1932
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