San Jose's Historic Downtown

Images of America: California

by Lauren Miranda Gilbert, Bob Johnson

San Jose is the Capital of the Silicon Valley the high-rise, economic engine of advanced technology. Yet it was once a verdant valley, inhabited by wildlife, waterfowl, and the native Ohlone people. The Spanish who founded California's first civilian settlement here in 1777 named it for Saint Joseph, the patron saint of the Spanish Expedition. Their farms fed the soldiers at the Monterey and San Francisco presidios, beginning an agricultural industry that thrived for nearly 200 years. Although serving briefly as California's first state capital, for many decades downtown was the somewhat sleepy commercial center of the Santa Clara Valley. A housing and population expansion that began in the 1950s exploded with San Jose's rebirth as a technological mecca.

Genres: History

128 pages, Paperback

First published September 27, 2004

Reviews

[Liz]

AWESOME pics and glimpses from the past. A great guide to a downtown fieldtrip for students or just a fun day out enjoying your local history. I wanted more information and was sad when the book ended. But for what it was (126 pages) it was great!

[Bonnie]

I snagged this book at a neighbor's garage sale. Reading it made me sad. San Jose's architectural history is characterized by a pattern of tearing down and replacing worthy, interesting and viable buildings with utterly soulless structures. And they are still doing it. No wonder there's no there in our "downtown.