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[QUOTE]Originally posted by CaptainMike: [QB] Holy City was once home to thriving cult and businesses A brothel in Los Gatos! Not exactly in Los Gatos, but up in Holy City, when self-styled "Father" William Riker ran his cult city in the early and mid-1900s on the old two-lane Santa Cruz Highway about seven miles south of Los Gatos. This was before a freeway bypassed his domain, thus spelling its demise. Riker had been a street preacher in San Francisco, where he offered discipleships to followers who liquidated their assets, including, in a few cases, homes. With this money and some of his own, he purchased a large tract of mountain property on both sides of the road and set up services for the public's physical and spiritual needs. In the early days of automobiles, it was a rare vehicle that could motor nonstop to Santa Cruz without water to cool a steaming engine. He established a gasoline station with plenty of radiator water on hand, as well as a restaurant, a grocery store and a print shop to stamp out his messages. Over a string of storefronts was the message "Holy City is the Comforter and the New Jerusalem." He also acquired one of the state's early radio licenses to spread his "word." Even the giant Santas spaced along the bending road through Holy City offered messages from Riker. It was said that the Santas once lined Hollywood Boulevard in Southern California. Riker's disciples, whom he expected to be celibate, worked these many enterprises and were assured a comfortable lifestyle--especially during the Great Depression. As World War II approached, Riker became an outspoken admirer of Germany's F�hrer, Adolph Hitler, and corresponded with him. When the United States entered World War II after the bombing of Pearl Harbor, Riker urged American servicemen not to fight against Germany but to aim their guns toward the Japanese. For this advice he was hauled into federal court in San Francisco on charges of sedition. His defense attorney was the late Melvin Belli, who got Riker off by telling the court that Riker was a "harmless old kook." When Belli asked for his fee, Riker threatened to sue Belli for calling him an "old kook," the very term that got him off. Belli got his fee. As for the brothel, it came to these ears in an unexpected way. A year ago last spring, the Los Gatos High School Class of 1937 held a reunion at Los Gatos Lodge, to which my wife, Barbara, invited me (LGHS '35) to tag along. You know her from previous columns as my "better half, better speller and better memory." Because some of the '37ers came from afar and were staying at the lodge, a few locals invited the travelers to breakfast in the lodge's dining room. The event later turned into a walk down memory lane, with everyone recalling something of old Los Gatos. When the nod went to longtime mountain resident Andy Lund, he spoke of Holy City and Stumble Inn, a bar a few hundred yards down the two-lane road toward Los Gatos. Travelers arriving in Holy City would first notice Stumble Inn. Lund said the second story served as a brothel. Perhaps Riker's disciples were not as celibate as he advised. [/QB][/QUOTE]
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