City Editor Gregg here — while driving through the Edenvale neighborhood in south San Jose, I noticed a few streets with some unique names. Whirlaway? Phar Lap? Gallant Fox? After doing a little digging, it became apparent that they’re named after legendary racehorses.
Sure, some street names in San Jose are self-explanatory — First Street is the first designated street in San Jose, and Main Street is generally designated as the main thoroughfare through the city.
But, why are these streets named after racehorses?
Let’s lay out what we know:
- Many Edenvale streets contain names pertaining to the Hayes Mansion.
- There are no known historical horse tracts at the Hayes Mansion.
- The Hayes family was particularly famous for the area’s production of fruit, but not for horses or horseracing.
- None of the horses were from San Jose.
We’ll update the story as soon as we know more, but let us know if you’ve got any leads.
