Our Mighty Oak

Cambrian Center is very aware of its roots, and although it fell  to old age and disease in 1996, our old oak is very much in our heritage. In 1986 Cambrian Center had the tree registered with the Live Oak Society as the "Cambrian Center Oak," officially number 1279.

According to information that was obtained from  the Department of Agriculture and  the Department of Forestery early in the 1090s, our  Talisman Oak was between 300 and 400 years old.  This means that about  sixteen hundred, a ground squirrel or a Jay hid an acorn in the ground.  It sprouted and  grew to become a mighty oak and to become the mode for our logo. Doing a little imagining, when our oak was a sapling, Indian children probably played near it.  Our oak was about one-hundred years old with Father Junipero Serra was building his chain of missions in California.  That was in 1769.  When the oak  was one-hundred and ten years old, the DeAnza Party was exploring "Alto," California in 1776.   A year earlier the Santa Clara Mission was established. in 1775.  Then gold was discovered in 1848 and the sturdy oak continued to grow.  In 1850 the  Oak and all the land of California became part of the United States when California achieved statehood.  As the gold boom waned, Agriculture began to grow and Santa Clara Valley became known for its magnificient orchards.  The old oak hung in there and was spared the fate of the woodsman's axe when the native trees were cleared away to plant the orchards.  Then came the development of Silicon Valley and its massive industry and booming cities and urbanization.  The oak came through again.  What a testimonial to survival!  Finally came the building of the condominums and Cambrian Center, and again the oak was saved.  It was a much loved and admired symbol of  strength and a living link to our past.. If the oak could have talked, think of all the wonderful tales it could tell and the languages it could tell them in.  That great tree heard at least three different indian dialects, Mexican, Spainish, English, Chinese, and Italian, all in its younger days.  At the close it was hearing Korean, Vietnamise as well as others that have remained in prominence in the Valley.  Rumer has it, that near its end it was learing Cobol,  Basic II, and Fortran.  What a wonder it is.              --adopted from the Cambrian Center Chatterbox article published in August 1983