The Town Gets a Name
The village of Cupertino sprang up at the crossroads of Saratoga-Sunnyvale Road (now DeAnza Boulevard) and Stevens Creek Road. It was first known as West Side, but by 1898, the post office at the Crossroads needed a new name to distinguish it from other similarly named towns. John T. Doyle, a San Francisco lawyer and historian, had given the name Cupertino to his winery, in recognition of the name bestowed on the nearby creek by Pedro Font. In 1904, the name was applied to the Crossroads and to the post office when the Home Union Store incorporated under the name, The Cupertino Store, and moved to the northeast corner of the Crossroads
Many of Cupertino’s pioneer settlers planted grapes in the late 1800s. Vineyards and wineries proliferated on Montebello Ridge, on the lower foothills, and on the flat lands below. Around 1895 the flourishing wine industry was struck by phylloxera (a root louse). It virtually destroyed 75% of the vineyards in 5 years. A few of the more substantial vineyardists resorted to grafting, while many others switched to French prunes (prunes are a type of plum which dries without spoiling), peaches, apricots, cherries, plums, walnuts, and almonds.
As these orchards flourished the valley became known for the spring profusion of blossoms. Many more people passed through the Cupertino area first by electric railway and later by car to view all the blossoms in the “Valley of Heart’s Delight.” Because of the electric railway, the Monta Vista area of Cupertino developed. Monta Vista was the name of its first housing tract.
