Editing Gilroy, California (section)

===American era===
[[File:USA-Gilroy-Wheeler Hospital-1.jpg|thumb|Wheeler Hospital, built 1929 in a [[Mission Revival]] style]]

Following the U.S. [[Conquest of California]] and the [[California Gold Rush|discovery of gold in the Sierra Nevada]] in 1848, the trickle of immigrants from the eastern states and abroad became a flood. As many of the earlier Mexican and [[Californio]] landowners sold off their land, lost it to squatters, or were dispossessed through title hearings, the area around San Ysidro became known as Pleasant Valley. On March 12, 1870, it was officially [[municipal corporation|incorporated]] by the state legislature as the town of Gilroy (John Gilroy had died in 1869).<ref>{{cite web | title=A trip to the gold mines of California in 1848 | publisher=California, First Person Narratives | url=http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/calbk:@field(DOCID+@lit(calbk087div4))#N1-6 | access-date=January 14, 2007}}</ref> By then the town center had been relocated west of the El Camino Real (Old Gilroy is today a sparsely populated agricultural area).

Cattle ranching and timber from the nearby Santa Cruz Mountains were important to the economy for some time but, as in the rest of the valley, agriculture was the town's greatest source of income. During the 1920s, Kiyoshi "Jimmy" Hirasaki began growing garlic commercially in the Gilroy area.<ref name=cheek>{{citation |last=Cheek |first=Martin |title=The original Garlic King | newspaper=[[Gilroy Dispatch]] |date=July 25, 2005 |url=https://gilroydispatch.com/the-original-garlic-king/}}</ref> Referred to as the "Garlic King", Hirasaki continued to farm garlic into the 1950s.<ref name=niiya>{{cite web |first = Niiya | last = Brian | url = https://encyclopedia.densho.org/Kiyoshi_Hirasaki | title = Kiyoshi Hirasaki | publisher = Densho | access-date = November 22, 2022}}</ref><ref name=cheek/>  In 1979, the [[Gilroy Garlic Festival]] was launched. Farming remains significant, but in the 1970s the city began evolving into a bedroom community for [[Silicon Valley]] to the north.

There are a number of extant historical buildings dating from the mid-19th century. Built in 1857, the Christian Church at 160 Fifth Street is the oldest wood-framed church in continuous use in Santa Clara County. [[Blacksmith]] George Eustice's house at 213 Fifth Street was constructed in 1869; Eustice was an [[American Civil War]] veteran who fought at [[Battle of Gettysburg|Gettysburg]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Staff|first=Gilroy Dispatch|date=April 3, 2015|title=Lessons of Civil War still speak to all of us|url=https://gilroydispatch.com/lessons-of-civil-war-still-speak-to-all-of-us/|access-date=January 17, 2021|website=Gilroy Dispatch|language=en-US}}</ref>  Samuel Moore was a long-time Gilroy [[postmaster]], whose home was built in the 1870s at 7151 Church Street.<ref>''Santa Clara County Heritage Resource Inventory'', Santa Clara County Historical Heritage Commission, published by Santa Clara County, San Jose, Ca., June 1979</ref>

Nearby in the foothills of the Diablo Range to the northeast is the historic resort site [[Gilroy Yamato Hot Springs]], first developed in the 1870s (and now closed to the public).<ref name="CHL">{{cite web|title=California Historical Landmark: Santa Clara County|url=http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=21522|work=Office of Historic Preservation|publisher=California State Parks}}</ref> In 1905, the [[Old City Hall (Gilroy, California)|Old City Hall]] was built in downtown Gilroy; in 1975, it was designated on the list of [[National Register of Historic Places]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite web|last=Aver|first=William E.|date=1975|title=National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form, Old City Hall|url=https://npgallery.nps.gov/AssetDetail/NRIS/75000480|access-date=January 7, 2020|website=National Park Service, U.S. Department of the Interior}}</ref>