What is the Oldest Park in Milpitas?

In January 2014, the National Parks Service called a Milpitas employee to find out the name of the oldest park in Milpitas. There are no records for that at city hall. However, Mort Levine, owner of the Milpitas Post and longtime resident and Milpitas Historical Society member, was able to supply the information.

It turns out that that there was a bond election in Milpitas in 1955 for building new schools and city parks. It passed and three new schools and parks were built in 1956 and opened in late 1956 or 1957. The schools and parks were adjacent. Spangler School was built on 10 acres with a 4-acre parcel across Abbott Avenue for Starlite Park. Weller School was paired with Weller Park. Alexander Rose School was paired with Milmont Park (which is now called Foothill Park, off Roswell Drive).

So there wasn’t just one oldest park, there were three. But unfortunately, even three parks dating from the mid-fifties weren’t old enough to impress the Parks Department.

Of course, the park named for the one of earliest Milpitas residents is Creighton Park, at Olympic Street west of South Park Victoria. Creighton Street and Creighton Park were both named after Frederick Creighton, who is credited with building the first store in Milpitas. It was located on the east side of Main St. across from Campbell’s/Smith’s Corner.

Creighton and his partner Tito de la Roza were the first “bankers” in Milpitas and made annual loans to local wheat farmers (at 2% interest compounded per month). Creighton opened his store around 1857 and in 1870 he sold it and moved to San Jose, where he purchased a farm. “Fred” and his store are mentioned several times in Alfred Doten’s diary of his stay in Milpitas from 1858 to 1862.