Umbarger House

The Umbarger House, constructed during the 1870s, was donated to History Park in 1970. It is an example of home life in a late nineteenth century San Jose farmhouse, complete with a typical kitchen garden in the back. It was the home of David Umbarger, an ex-miner and Forty-Niner, and his family, who turned to farming after the Gold Rush. Tours of the house are part of a program for schoolchildren by History San Jose on child's work and play in San Jose. The house is one of nearly three dozen historic and reproduction buildings in the gated History Park, at the south end of Kelly Park; the entrance gate is at 635 Phelan Ave.

David Umbarger (1815-1891), a California Gold Rush "Forty-Niner", was originally from West Virginia, and left home for Illinois in 1838, then lived in Kentucky from 1846-1849. Like many others in 1849, Umbarger departed for California when gold was discovered, though the journey took him a full nine months. He began mining in Mariposa County, moving on to Sonora, Auburn, and Nevada before settling, in 1853, on the land he had purchased two years earlier in Santa Clara County. Farming was an occupation taken up by many Californian ex-miners, and Umbarger was no exception; he established a wheat and grain ranch on his 136-acre tract and built the farmhouse at 2662 Monterey Road in San Jose around 1870. A building is shown here on county maps by 1876.

David Umbarger was a 54-year-old farmer in 1880; the widower lived with his widowed sister, M. McBain (age 53) and niece, Alice McBain (23), a Missouri native. After Umbarger's death at home in May 1891 at age 75, he was described in a local newspaper as a "consistent member of the Christian Church, a Democrat of the old school and a man of spotless integrity." His entire property was bequeathed to his sister, Margaret McBane; it then contained 118 acres. His estate was appraised at nearly $36,000 in 1892. Mrs. McBane passed away in 1894. The land was divided and passed through a series of owners, including resort owner David Holt in the 1920s. In the 1940s, thirty-two acres of his former property became the Santa Clara County Fairgrounds.

The house itself was donated to History San Jose by Peter and Emma Aimonetti and moved to History Park on a truck in 1970. Today, the Umbarger House is used for tours and educational programs. While the house's current furnishings did not belong to the Umbarger family, they are from the era when the family resided there. The "kitchen garden" at the back of the house is an example of a typical feature of late nineteenth-century homes, and includes vegetables, fruits, and herbs commonly grown in the Santa Clara Valley during the Umbargers' lifetimes. It is one of three gardens featured in History Park events.

Anonymous. "Deaths." San Jose Herald (San Jose) May 25th, 1891. 3-3.

Anonymous. "A Pioneer Gone." San Jose Herald (San Jose) May 25th, 1891. 3-3.

Anonymous. "Dave Umbarger. He Leaves His Entire Estate to His Sister." San Jose Herald (San Jose) June 5th, 1891. 3-3.

Anonymous. "Matters in Probate." San Jose Mercury (San Jose) September 13th, 1892. 3-3.

Foote, H. S. ed. "Pen Pictures From The Garden of the World or Santa Clara County, California, Illustrated." Chicago: The Lewis Publishing Company, 1888. Transcribed by Carol Lackey. Accessed January 26, 2017. http://mariposaresearch.net/santaclararesearch/SCBIOS/umbarger.html.

History San Jose. "Umbarger House." Accessed January 26, 2017. http://historysanjose.org/wp/plan-your-visit/history-park/umbarger-house/. Accessed new website June 26th, 2024. https://historysanjose.org/plan-your-visit/history-park/umbarger-house/.

Mountain Charlie 1850. "ECV1850 at the San Jose Historical Museum: Umbarger House." Accessed June 26th, 2024. https://www.mountaincharlie1850.org/pl_sjhm_umbarger.html.

Swackhamer, Barry. "The Umbarger House: Late Nineteenth Century Homelife in a San José Farmhouse." Historical Marker Database. February 3, 2012. Accessed January 8, 2017. http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?MarkerID=52178.

U.S. Census Bureau. Household of David Umbarger, San Jose district 262, Santa Clara County, California, dwelling 150, family 151. Washington, DC. U.S. Government, 1880.