The Plaque near the flagpole at St. Luke's Chapel In The Hills

 

The building that is today St. Luke's Chapel In The Hills started out originaly as the one-room school building of Purissima School, where the initial meetings took place associated with the founding of the Town of Los Altos Hills in 1956.

 

The original building has been added to and modified (including the addition of a steeple) but just to the side of the main structure is another much smaller building - still in its original state as seen in the next picture.

 

Here we see the original "cloakroom" building, viewed from the parking lot at the top of the driveway.

Next to it is a flagpole, however the original flagpole has been replaced by a cell-tower disguised as a flagpole. This is what it looks like in 2021.

 

A closer view. The flagpole stands on a concrete base with a step up - and at the bottom there appears to be a plaque. (The white metal cabinets to the right of the base of the pole contain cell-phone equipment.)

 

A detailed view of what is indeed a plaque...

 

Closer examination of the plaque however leaves us no wiser. The "plaque" is in fact just a flat metal (Bronze or maybe Brass?) plate on which a jeweler had once engraved an inscription, much as is done for example for sports trophies and employee-recognition plaques. The inscription has however unfortunately been obliterated through the ravages of corrosion over time.

 

Despite our best efforts to manipulate the digital image with various filters and contrast adjustments to try and render the inscription legible again, at best we can make out (and guess at) just a few of the letters that appear.

 

However, just when all hope had been given up of deciphering the original inscription, a resident found the following snippet of text in the book by Florence Fava on the History of Los Altos Hills. It reads as follows:

The Episcopal Layman's group of Los Altos purchased the little building in the latter part of 1966 for the sum of $24,000. The little "Chapel in the Hills" accommodating one-hundred people, held its opening service on Thanksgiving Day, 1966. Although the horse barn and water tower are gone, the one-room school building and cloak room have been preserved. The flag pole carries the following inscription:

This Flag Pole erected
to the Glory of
God and Country
On site of the Old
Purissima School
Erected 15 Sept 1968
Dedicated 20 Oct 1968

 

So now that we know the original wording of the text, it would be possible to construct a longer lasting plaque in keeping with similar markers already placed around town, with suggested wording as below. Perhaps this should be suggested to the Fathers (and Mothers) of the Town as well as The Church for their consideration.

 

 

 

A Replacement Plaque was obtained and Rededicated in December 2021

 

A new plaque was cast in bronze and mounted on a suitable rock.

Together with members of The Church, a suitable site was chosen for the rock with the new plaque mounted on it, and on a sunny afternoon on December 17 2021, the plaque was rededicated in a small ceremony attended by some town residents and members of the Church community.

 

A short introductory and welcoming speech was given by George Tyson, Mayor of Los Altos Hills (extreme left above) and a brief Benediction and Prayer were offered by The Reverend Chris Parrish, (standing next to the Mayor) Rector to St. Luke's Chapel in the Hills.

The text of the Mayor's remarks is reproduced below.

Good Afternoon

My name is George Tyson, and I am (as of very recently) Mayor of Los Altos Hills, and as such it is my honor to be invited to the re-dedication of a plaque on this spot, a plaque that commemorates the role this place had in the founding of our town

For it was right here, that a few local residents met to discuss the idea of forming a town back in the early 1950’s – so nearly 75 years ago or so.

At that time, a water tower stood where this flagpole stands today, and on that same platform, was mounted one of those agricultural windmills used for pumping water. As far as we can tell from an old photo, the small wooden building right next to this flagpole was the school’s cloakroom and the one room schoolhouse became what is now the Chapel.

According to Florence Fava’s book "Los Altos Hills – A Colorful Story", the building’s history dates back to April 29, 1901, when the Purissima School District voted to establish a school in the Hills. While a permanent location was sought, the first classes commenced on September 10, 1901, and were held in Captain Mex’s Fruit Shed until February of 1902, when it moved to its present site. The schoolhouse served not only as school but as a Church and Sunday School as well as a Public Library and a social center in the summers.

After a half century of service, it was abandoned in 1953 and sold to Rita Duval for $11,445 who rented the former schoolhouse out for social events and meetings.

As the local schoolhouse, it was the first focal point of what was to become our community. Not only because it was the school where local residents brought their kids to school, but because this room also functioned as an informal meeting place for local community members to get together. It was in this room – the default focal point of the community – that half-a-dozen local residents met to consider forming their own town, so that they could have more of a say in how the town developed and would evolve over time.

It took a year or two of hard work, but in early 1956 there was a vote on the ballot to incorporate the Town of Los Altos Hills. That vote passed by a handsome margin and the former schoolhouse was rented to the Town for its first Town Hall.

In the last half of 1966. The Episcopal Layman’s group purchased the two acres and buildings, for $24,000, and and the school house became the “Chapel in the Hills”. In the fall 1968, the flagpole was erected, and a brass plaque was placed at the foot of it.

The plaque, while it still exists, became unreadable over time. The simple engraved brass plate became corroded, and the shallow inscription faded from sight.

So it is fitting, and with great pleasure, – on behalf of the Town of Los Altos Hills - that we offer this newer plaque to the church - and to rededicate the spot where this flagpole stands – on a symbolic rock marking the spot of the original haven where the heart of our community was formed, - and which over the last many years – and to this day - houses, represents, and stands for - the values that we aspire to in our community.

Thus, it is with great pleasure that we re-dedicate this spot both metaphorically and physically at the heart of our community, that I unveil this plaque.

December 17, 2021

 

Mayor Tyson and The Reverend Parrish remove the covering to officially unveil the plaque.

 

Dignitaries present included (left-to-right) Councilmember Stan Mok, The Reverend Chris Parrish, Councilmember Linda Swan, Mayor George Tyson, and Councilmember Lisa Schmidt.

 

Mounted on a rock next to the pathway leading to the flag pole.

 

The same text as on the original, but supplemented with some words to explain this new version.