Berchmans Hall 2014 @ Elm Street & Hedding, San Jose, CA 95126
For those of you that don't walk the neighborhood you can still catch a glimpse of this 98 year old historic home on your right just before you drive over the Hedding Street railroad bridge.
What you might glimpse is the oldest building on the Bellarmine campus called Berchmans Hall. It was a dorm for seniors who lived on campus (back in the day when Bellarmine was also a boarding school and the house hosted Christmas dinners & BBQs). It has also been a residence for staff and even an infirmary for the live in nurse during the 70 years it has been here (as of 2014). The building is named in honor of St. John Berchmans, a Jesuit seminarian who died in 1621.
The funny thing is that this house wasn't always called Berchmans Hall, and it wasn't built at this site.
What you might glimpse is the oldest building on the Bellarmine campus called Berchmans Hall. It was a dorm for seniors who lived on campus (back in the day when Bellarmine was also a boarding school and the house hosted Christmas dinners & BBQs). It has also been a residence for staff and even an infirmary for the live in nurse during the 70 years it has been here (as of 2014). The building is named in honor of St. John Berchmans, a Jesuit seminarian who died in 1621.
The funny thing is that this house wasn't always called Berchmans Hall, and it wasn't built at this site.
Who was Charles B. Polhemus?
The house was originally built for the Polhemus family. The architect was William E. Higgins and the house was built in 1916 at Stockton Avenue and Taylor (then called Polhemus Street). It stood there for 30 years before it was moved by Kelley Brothers to make way for the Salvation Army family store and dormitory around 1946.
The funny thing is...
The funny thing is...
As it looked in 1948 after it's move to the Bellarmine College Campus at Elm Street & Hedding Avenue.
Moving Day at the Polhemus House
Photo of the Polhemus home before the move in 1943. There is a large neighborhood World War II garden planted in the front yard near the corner of Stockton and Taylor (called Polhemus Street). http://bit.ly/1mTtJYE
This wasn't the original Polhemus house. This was the replacement home for the original Charles B. Polhemus home that had travelled thirteen thousand of miles from the East coast, around Cape Horn and into San Francisco Bay to be assembled at the corner of Taylor Street (then called Polhemus Street) and Stockton Avenue. Charles Polhemus owned a good chunk of the neighborhood (shaded purple area) in hope of profiting off the San Francisco to San Jose Railroad that he, Newhall and Donahue were building (before they sold it to Leland Stanford).
The original Polhemus house was one of a handful of homes that California's new military governor Commodore Stockton had prebuilt, shipped and assembled in 1849. Charles B. Polhemus (1818-1904) purchased and assembled the home in 1850 where it stood until it burned to the ground in 1916. Sadly I couldn't find any other surviving Commodore Stockton prebuilt homes, the last being at Newhall & Spring (right where the airport is today).
The original Polhemus house was one of a handful of homes that California's new military governor Commodore Stockton had prebuilt, shipped and assembled in 1849. Charles B. Polhemus (1818-1904) purchased and assembled the home in 1850 where it stood until it burned to the ground in 1916. Sadly I couldn't find any other surviving Commodore Stockton prebuilt homes, the last being at Newhall & Spring (right where the airport is today).
Near the corner of 1048 West Taylor Street. The Polhemus name is almost forgotten from the neighborhood's memory, but his impact was huge. His railroad allowed the neighborhood to prosper, and to easily ship out the bounty of our fruits and nuts to the nation by train instead of by boat or wagon.
If you walk West Taylor and look closely at the stamped street names on the curbs you might get lucky and find a reference to the original Polhemus Street name and laugh at the story of his moving houses.
If you walk West Taylor and look closely at the stamped street names on the curbs you might get lucky and find a reference to the original Polhemus Street name and laugh at the story of his moving houses.