Milpitas Street Name Stories: Evans Road
Evans Road, which marks the eastern boundary of residential Milpitas in many places, is named for Josiah Evans, one of our early settlers, who owned a ranch that bordered the road.
Evans came to Milpitas in 1853 from Ohio after a few years in the California gold fields, during which time he founded the Butte County city of Evansville. He bought 800 acres of Rancho Tularcitos land in 1853. His ranch was described in 1874 by a reporter for the San Jose Mercury as having fine orchards of fruit and nut trees. The present day road follows the same route as the historic road that served the ranches of the 1860s.
In 1862, his daughter, America Evans, married Samuel Ayer, another Milpitas pioneer rancher, who became a respected long-time county supervisor, for whom the first high school in Milpitas was named. That school (1959- 1980) was located at 1395 E. Calaveras Blvd, the current location of the Milpitas Sports Center.
Filed under: History and
Pretty cool mention of my great-great grandfather Josiah. He was buried at the Laguna Cemetary and later relocated to Oak hill Cemetary. Somehow he and Cavy Evans’ stone disappeared from the site (in the last ten years) and presently cemetary staff is replacing it with a copy of the origional (been waiting a year). I took pictures of the origional.The Topham name entered the picture when my grandfather Chester married Annie Evans in 1903. Her father was Milpitaas farmer Francis Marion Evans brother of America. Chester’s father Edward had a blacksmith shop in Milpitas that he was in parnership with David Boyce. thanks for the article.