People
Tyler Beach
Mr. Beach is now running a special milk wagon to supply customers with this superior quality of milk, taking pains to furnish milk every day from the same cow when required for infants.
Postcard
of the St. James Hotel, c. 1930With the arrival of the Americans in the 1840s and 1850s, the San Juan Bautista Hills started their period of most intensive use. Americans began to arrive in Alta California when the Mexican government invited settlers to come and make the land profitable in the 1830s. With the discovery of gold, this slow trickle of settlers became an onslaught in the 1840s and 1850s. Many Americans (and men from other countries), having tried and failed to make their fortune in the Gold Country, came out of the hills and settled in the Santa Clara Valley.
Tyler Beach, a native of New York state who arrived in San José in 1854, purchased Dairy Hill in the late 1860’s and named it Beach Hill Farm. Beach raised fine stock of Ayrshire cattle, pureblood Berkshire and Essex swine, and Pekin ducks. The dairy operation on the Farm produced excellent milk, cheese, and butter. By draining land at the foot of the hill, Beach was able to create a fertile patch on which to grow grapes, citrus, and other fruits. This application of technology brought Dairy Hill to a new level of productivity.
Much of the farm's produce was delivered directly to Beach’s St. James Hotel, located on St. James Park in the heart of the city. The fresh dairy products, excellent meats, and stellar fruits were highlights of the Hotel’s menu. The Farm also supplied high quality dairy products directly to customers.
Tyler Beach was active in the Santa Clara County Agricultural Society, serving as its secretary from 1868 through 1871. Upon his death in 1904, Beach was buried in Oak Hill Cemetery; his hotel was razed in 1932 to make way for the St. James Post Office.
