La Honda, California
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
La Honda is a small unincorporated town located in the Santa Cruz Mountains between Silicon Valley and the Pacific coast of California, western United States. Its population is approximately 1,500 with a few hundred more living on the outskirts of town. It is near the La Honda Creek Open Space Preserve. It's situated alongside Highway 84 on its downward slope towards the Pacific ocean, that is, on the ocean side of the Coastal Range.
The ZIP Code for La Honda is 94020 and the community is located in area code 650. Wired numbers in the La Honda telephone exchange follow the pattern 747-xxxx while wired telephones along Portola Park road work out of Los Altos exchange with 94x-xxxx numbers. U.S. Geological Survey NAD83 coordinates for the community are . The Survey says Lahonda is a historic variant of the modern spelling.
The book A Separate Place by Charles Jones describes the people, history and landscape of La Honda.
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[edit] Landmarks
Area landmarks include the Glenwood Boys Ranch, (located along West Alpine Road.) The school is referred to by locals as the Log Cabin School For Boys. The camp has two schools: Log Cabin High School, an alternative high school, and Glenwood Boys Ranch School, an elementary and middle school.
Additionally, off upper West Alpine road is the "Sheriff's honor camp". This camp serves as a correctional facility for non-violent offenders. The Honor Camp is now closed.
Apple Jack's, also written Applejacks, is an infamous bar located at 8790 La Honda Road. It's a long-time cultural presence in the community.
[edit] 1960s history
La Honda is well known as one of the birthplaces of the Psychedelic era. Ken Kesey, the author of One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest, Sometimes a Great Notion, Demon Box, Sailor Song and other books, owned a home in La Honda, which served as the base of operations for The Merry Pranksters where they used LSD and other drugs. The escapades of Kesey and the Merry Pranksters are documented in Tom Wolfe's The Electric Kool-Aid Acid Test, which describes the wildly painted school bus, 'Furthur,' driven by Neal Cassady, who had been the frenetic driver in Jack Kerouac's On the Road.
The La Honda house where Kesey's adventures became famous - one mile west of Applejack's saloon - has been faithfully restored after years of neglect and a near catastrophic flood in 1998, although the road sign on the bridge no longer exists: "No Left Turn Unstoned".
[edit] Sources
- U.S. Geological Survey, Geographic Names Information System.
- Map: State of California, Division of Oil, Gas, and Geothermal Resources, District 3, Map W3-10.
[edit] See also
[edit] External links
- Sam McDonald county park – reference includes biography of a very interesting man more details
- Pescadero creek park
- Memorial park
- PDF Oil field map of La Honda area, (see Inset B).
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps or MapQuest
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Microsoft Virtual Earth, or WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
