'Mountain Charley' McKiernan, one of the earliest residents of the Santa Cruz Mountains, settled near here in 1850, and John Martin Schultheis and his wife homesteaded land about a mile from here in 1852. Their home was still standing in 1950. The Patchen Post Office, named for a famous racehorse, was located in this vicinity from 1872 to the 1920s.

Citation from California Office of Historic Preservation