Saratoga Map
Saratoga is a city in Santa Clara County, California, USA. It is located on the west side of the Santa Clara Valley, directly west of San Jose, in the San Francisco Bay area. The population was 29,926 at the 2010 census.
Located on the Western edge of the Silicon Valley, Saratoga is known locally for its suburban small-town feel, wineries, and high-end boutiques. In 2008 CNN/Money ranked Saratoga number 4 in its listing of top-earning towns. Saratoga also was ranked by Forbes in 2009 as one of America's top 20 most-educated small towns. In 2010 Bloomberg Businessweek named Saratoga the most expensive suburb in California. Major attractions include Villa Montalvo, Hakone Gardens, and the Mountain Winery.
The European settlement of what is now Saratoga occurred in 1848, when William Campbell (father of Benjamin Campbell, the founder of nearby Campbell, California), constructed a sawmill about 2.5 miles (4.0 km) southeast of the present downtown area. An early map noted the area as Campbell's Gap. In 1851 Martin McCarthy, who had leased the mill, built a toll road down to the Santa Clara Valley, and founded what is now Saratoga as McCarthysville. The toll gate was located at the present day intersection of Big Basin Way and 3rd St., giving the town its first widely used name: Toll Gate. In 1867 the town received a post office under the name of McCarthysville.
Nearby cities include Boulder Creek, Brookdale, Milpitas, Ben Lomond, Portola Valley.