Henry W. Coe State Park - History

History

Henry W. Coe State Park began as the Pine Ridge Ranch, a private cattle ranch of 12,230 acres (4,950 ha). It was the home of Henry Willard Coe, Jr. and his family from 1905 until his death in 1943. Coe left the ranch to his son, Henry Sutcliffe Coe, who sold it to the Beach Land and Cattle Company of Fresno County in 1948.

The ranch's road network was greatly expanded during this time. Coe's daughter, Sada Coe Robinson, re-purchased the ranch in 1950 and donated it to Santa Clara County in 1953, when it became Henry Willard Coe County Park. It became a state park in 1958. Additional adjacent lands were added, and for many years, the park's size stood at 13,000 acres (5,300 ha). Indeed, many currently available state road maps still show the park in its 13,000 acre configuration. The park expanded considerably in the early 1980s with the purchase of adjacent properties to the east and south (the Gill-Mustang and Coit ranches, respectively), bringing the size to 67,000 acres (27,000 ha)). In the early 1990s the Redfern Ranch added some 11,000 acres (4,500 ha) in the south, and since 2000 lands to the west have been purchased for inclusion. The park is still growing.

The northern part of the park, including the Orestimba Wilderness, was swept by a massive wildfire starting on September 3, 2007. Named the Lick Fire after it was first spotted by nearby Lick Observatory, the fire had grown to 27,000 acres (11,000 ha) by the evening of September 6, and ultimately burned 47,760 acres (19,330 ha) by the time it was contained on September 11. Fire officials blamed the fire on burning debris within a barrel at a hunting club adjacent to the park. The person responsible for the fire came forward, but was not charged criminally, as the fire was not intentionally set. All areas affected by the fire were re-opened to unrestricted public access on February 16, 2008.