The earliest known permanent white settler in what became Patchen was Charles Henry "Mountain Charley" McKiernan.

Three San Jose doctors crafted a silver plate from two Mexican pesos and patched the wound, and did so without the use of anesthetics.

The post office name appears on government records as having been established at Patchen on March 28, 1872, and continued to operate until November 30, 1929.

In 1855, the California Stage Company was awarded the United States mail contract from San Jose to Santa Cruz and Patchen became the place to change horses.

Like other stage drivers, Parkhurst wore a heavy muffler, gloves, a buffalo skin coat and cap.

After another robbery in the same area on April 28, 1874, the culprits were captured and sent off to the state prison at San Quentin with the help of "Mountain Charley" and the local posse.

From the 1880s to the early 1900s vacationers, going into the mountains to places such as the Edgemont Hotel in Patchen or to Santa Cruz, filled the roads with horses and wagons.

Roads were blocked by landslides, bridges were broken, houses and hotels were shaken to the ground, and the railroad was destroyed.

The chimney of the old post office stood until 5:04 p.m. on October 17, 1989, when the Loma Prieta earthquake brought it crashing to the ground after more than one hundred years.

The farm preserves relics from Patchen's heyday, including the water supply reservoir, a historical landmark plaque, and remnants of a bar and hotel.

He told the Saratoga News that his "original motivation was because there was a lot of explosive growth in the mountains, and I didn't want to see all that development going on around me.

[3] Nearby the town's site is Patchen Pass, the highest point on Highway 17, with an elevation of 1,814 feet (553 m) above sea level.