Gilroy, California
Gilroy is a city in Northern California's Santa Clara County, south of Morgan Hill and north of San Benito County. Gilroy is the southernmost city in the San Francisco Bay Area, with a population of 59,520 as of the 2020 Census.
Gilroy, California | |
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City | |
| City of Gilroy | |
Old City Hall in Downtown Gilroy | |
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Flag Seal | |
Location of Gilroy in Santa Clara County, California | |
Gilroy, California Location in the United States | |
| Coordinates: 37°0′43″N 121°34′48″W | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | Santa Clara |
| CSA | San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland |
| Metro | San Jose-Sunnyvale-Santa Clara |
| Incorporated | March 12, 1870 |
| Named for | John Gilroy |
| Government | |
| • Mayor | Marie Blankley |
| • City Administrator | Jimmy Forbis |
| Area | |
| • City | 16.52 sq mi (42.78 km2) |
| • Land | 16.51 sq mi (42.75 km2) |
| • Water | 0.01 sq mi (0.03 km2) 0.06% |
| • Metro | 2,695 sq mi (6,979 km2) |
| Elevation | 200 ft (61 m) |
| Population (2020) | |
| • City | 59,520 |
| • Estimate (2021) | 58,101 |
| • Density | 3,576.18/sq mi (1,380.75/km2) |
| • Metro | 1,836,911 |
| • Metro density | 680/sq mi (260/km2) |
| Time zone | UTC−8 (Pacific Time Zone) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−7 (PDT) |
| ZIP codes | 95020, 95021 |
| Area code | 408/669 |
| FIPS code | 06-29504 |
| GNIS feature IDs | 277523, 2410591 |
| Website | www |
Gilroy's origins lie in the village of San Ysidro that grew in the early 19th century out of Rancho San Ysidro, granted to Californio ranchero Ygnacio Ortega in 1809. Following Ygnacio's death in 1833, his daughter Clara Ortega de Gilroy and son-in-law John Gilroy inherited the largest portion of the rancho and began developing the settlement. When the town was incorporated in 1868, it was renamed in honor of John Gilroy, a Scotsman who had emigrated to California in 1814, naturalized as a Mexican citizen, adopted the Spanish language, and converted to Catholicism, taking the name of Juan Bautista Gilroy.
Gilroy is known for its garlic crop and the annual Gilroy Garlic Festival, featuring various foods containing garlic. These led to the city being nicknamed the Garlic Capital of the World. It is also known for boutique wine production, as part of the Santa Clara Valley AVA, mostly consisting of family vineyards around the base of the Santa Cruz Mountains to the west.