Gilroy is a city in Santa Clara County, California, at the southern end of the Santa Clara Valley. It is the southernmost city in the county and the gateway to Silicon Valley, sitting along U.S. Highway 101 about 31 miles south of San Jose. With a population of about 59,500, it is a city of roughly equal parts suburban and agricultural character, framed by farmland, the eastern foothills, and the Santa Cruz Mountains to the west. The city is named for John Gilroy, a Scottish sailor who became the first non-native resident of the Santa Clara Valley in the early 1800s. Agriculture shaped its early economy, and garlic became its signature crop, earning Gilroy the title "Garlic Capital of the World." Christopher Ranch, one of the nation's leading garlic producers, remains a major local employer, and the city's Garlic Festival, first held in 1979, ran for four decades and cemented the nickname. Gilroy also lies within the Santa Clara Valley American Viticultural Area, with wineries scattered across the surrounding countryside. Residentially, Gilroy offers a mix of older central-neighborhood homes, newer subdivisions, townhomes, and apartments. Public education is provided by the Gilroy Unified School District, which enrolls about 10,200 students across 14 schools, including two comprehensive high schools. Transportation is anchored by U.S. 101, Highway 152 to the Central Valley and Monterey, and the Caltrain commuter rail line, which terminates in Gilroy and links the city to San Jose and the rest of the Bay Area. Recreation centers on the Gilroy Gardens theme park, the Gilroy Premium Outlets, wineries, and community events. Gilroy offers a more relaxed, agricultural-rooted alternative at the southern edge of Silicon Valley, with the region's job centers and the Monterey Bay coast both within reach.