Sunnyvale Heritage Trees – 880-882 Hollenbeck

This pair of sycamores (Plantanus Acerfola) were planted on either side of the entry to Lester E. Bocks’ farm and fruit orchard in 1927. The ornamental trees were purchased from a San Jose nursery, as nothing like them were available in Sunnyvale at the time. The original 50 acre tract from 1850 owned by C. O. Bocks was the largest cherry orchard in the world at one time, and Bocks was known as “The Cherry King.”

On C. O. Bocks’ death the estate was divided evenly between his two sons, Lester and Charles. Lester grew pears, apricots, and walnuts on the land, later replacing the apricots and walnuts with cherries. Eventually he also planted strawberries and did some truck gardening. The Bocks family sold the property in 1964 for a subdivision, and all that remains to identify the site of the farm are these two grand, heritage sycamore trees. The trees are about 1/4 mile south of El Camino Real.

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