Guadalupe Elementary School

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Letter from the girl who chose the name Guadalupe
November 22, 1965

Susanne K.
Guadalupe School

I chose the name because the name Guadalupe is an old name for the area called Montevideo. It goes back to the days of the Spanish land grant Rancho de Los Capitancillos.

There is a creek running through the property. It is called Arroyo de Los Capitancillos which means “Creek of the Little Captains”.

Back in the early mission days, Father Junipero Serra and the other Padres at the Mission Santa Clara, visited the three tribes of Indians that lived in the area. Gradually the area and the creek became known as Guadalupe by the Padres.

There is also a quicksilver mine near the creek, called Guadalupe Mines. In 1846 it was mined by the Indians until 1856.

From 1856-1875, it was mined by the Santa Clara Mining Company. Then for the next ten years, the Guadalupe Mining Company mined it. The mine was closed for many years until 1900. Then from 1900-1906 the Century Mining Company managed the property. From 1906-1922 it was mined be the New Guadalupe Mining Company.

In the years following, it was intermittently mined by various companies until 1936, when the H.N. Mason Laco Mining Company mined the quicksilver until 1947. During 1954-1959 Palo Alto Mining Corporation mined it. From 1856-1954, a 112,000 flasks of mercury were mined from the Guadalupe Mines.
There was a school called Guadalupe School that served children in the area. It was closed in 1932 for lack of students.

The name Guadalupe School for the new school in Montevideo would preserve the history of the property and continue a Guadalupe School to serve children of the area.