1.
San Jose, California
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San Jose, officially the City of San José, is the economic, cultural, and political center of Silicon Valley and the largest city in Northern California. With an estimated 2015 population of 1,026,908, it is the third most populous city in California and the tenth most populous in United States. Located in the center of the Santa Clara Valley, on the shore of San Francisco Bay. San Jose is the county seat of Santa Clara County, the most affluent county in California. San Jose is the largest city in both the San Francisco Bay Area and the San Jose-San Francisco-Oakland Combined Statistical Area, which contain 7.7 million and 8.7 million people respectively. Before the arrival of the Spanish, the area around San Jose was inhabited by the Ohlone people, San Jose was founded on November 29,1777, as the Pueblo of San José de Guadalupe, the first civilian town founded in Spanish Alta California. When California gained statehood in 1850, San Jose became the states first capital, following World War II, San Jose experienced an economic boom, with a rapid population growth and aggressive annexation of nearby cities and communities carried out in the 1950s and 60s. The rapid growth of the high-technology and electronics industries further accelerated the transition from a center to an urbanized metropolitan area. Results of the 1990 U. S. Census indicated that San Jose had officially surpassed San Francisco as the most populous city in Northern California, by the 1990s, San Jose and the rest of Silicon Valley had become the global center for the high tech and internet industries. San Jose is considered to be a city, notable for its affluence. San Joses location within the high tech industry, as a cultural, political. San Jose is one of the wealthiest major cities in the United States and the world, and has the third highest GDP per capita in the world, according to the Brookings Institute. Major global tech companies including Cisco Systems, eBay, Adobe Systems, PayPal, Brocade, Samsung, Acer, Prior to European settlement, the area was inhabited by several groups of Ohlone Native Americans. The first lasting European presence began with a series of Franciscan missions established from 1769 by Junípero Serra, San Jose came under Mexican rule in 1821 after Mexico broke with the Spanish crown. It then became part of the United States, after it capitulated in 1846, on March 27,1850, San Jose became the second incorporated city in the state, with Josiah Belden its first mayor. San Jose was Californias first state capital, and hosted the first, today the Circle of Palms Plaza in downtown is the historical marker for the first state capital. The city was a station on the Butterfield Overland Mail route, in the period 1900 through 1910, San Jose served as a center for pioneering invention, innovation, and impact in both lighter-than-air and heavier-than-air flight. These activities were led principally by John Montgomery and his peers, the City of San Jose has established Montgomery Park, a Monument at San Felipe and Yerba Buena Roads, and John J. Montgomery Elementary School in his honor
2.
Great Seal of California
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The word Eureka, meaning I have found it, is the California state motto. The original design of the seal was by U. S. Army Major Robert S. Garnett, Garnett later became the first general to be killed in the Civil War, where he served as a Confederate general. The legal definition of the Great Seal of the State of California is found in the California Government Code, Sections 399-405. In 1928, due to the number of details that had crept into the seal over the years, state printer Carroll H. Smith was authorized to prepare a new. His design was not adopted as the seal, although it was used by the State Printing Office. Both features remain to this day, the 1937 standardization came about when state employees, wishing to print the seal on blotters for the State Fair, could not find any official design of the seal. Also in the 1937 standardized seal there is a building on the far left rear hill that has interpreted in a variety of ways. The building, along with the break in the mountains, may have added to give San Francisco Bay a stronger claim on its location being the landscape portrayed in the seal. This building first appeared in versions of the seal in the mid-1880s, and in most of these. Fort Point has no dome, and it is unknown what building the 1895 artist was attempting to portray, two years later, Harold F. Wilson, in his interpretation created for the old State Building in Los Angeles, retained the dome. In 1952, the structure, again with dome, was cast in bronze in the seal at the west steps of the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The rumor states it was added as a signature of the inmates who cast it. The unsanctioned addition, so the story goes, was not noticed until it was too late to do anything about it and that places the building on the wrong side of the Gate to be San Quentin. No building in form, including the chapel, has ever existed at San Quentin. The building first appeared in artistic renditions of the seal as early as 1886, decades before this seal was cast in 1952, and was officially added in 1937. The configuration of the building on this seal is similar to its appearance in the 1937 standardization. Four detailed, post-1952 accounts of the seal make no mention of the rumor and this seal features what appears to be two structures combined into one. The right half, with imagination, resembles the front gates of San Quentin State Prison
3.
History of San Jose, California
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For thousands of years before the arrival of European settlers, the area now known as San Jose was inhabited by several groups of Ohlone Native Americans. Don Pedro Fages, the governor at Monterey, passed through the area on his 1770 and 1772 expeditions to explore the East Bay. Late in 1775, Juan Bautista de Anza led the first overland expedition to bring colonists from New Spain to California and he left the colonists at Monterey in 1776, and explored north with a small group. Anza returned to Mexico City before any of the settlements were actually founded, el Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe was founded by José Joaquín Moraga on November 29,1777, the first pueblo-town not associated with a mission or a military post in upper Las Californias. The town was founded by the colonists led to California by Anza, as a community to provide food for the presidios of San Francisco. In 1778, the pueblo had a population of 68, in the ensuing years a number of Mexican Rancho Land Grants Land Grants were confirmed within the lands now considered San Jose. During the Bear Flag Revolt, Captain Thomas Fallon led a force from Santa Cruz. Fallon would later become the mayor of San Jose. Its unclear whether or not Fallon ordered all townspeople of Spanish/Mexican origin out of San Jose, during the California Gold Rush period, the New Almaden Quicksilver Mines just south of the city were the largest mercury mines in North America. Mining operations began in 1847 at what was the first operating mine in the province, the importance of the mercury industry at the time explains why the local newspaper is named the Mercury News. On March 27,1850, San Jose became the first incorporated city in the U. S. state of California, the first mayor was Josiah Belden. It also served as the states first capital with the first and second sessions of the California Legislature, known as the Legislature of a Thousand Drinks, from 1858 to 1861, San Jose was a stop on the Butterfield Overland Mail stage line. In 1881, because of a campaign by editor J. J. It didnt provide sufficient illumination, and by 1884 was used only for ceremonial purposes and it collapsed during the great gale of 1915. In 1989, an informal Court of Historical Inquiry looked into the issue of whether the Eiffel Tower was an infringement of the Electric Light Tower. Before the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, the Winchester Mystery House reached a height of 7 stories, many visitors to the house claim to have felt the presence of ghosts, while others claim there is no detectable presence. In 1909, Dr. Charles Herrold began experimental broadcasts in downtown San Jose. His station was licensed in 1921 as KQW, then moved to San Francisco
4.
San Jose Chinatown
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The initial Chinatowns in San Jose were frequently burned down by arson, with artifacts from May 1887 discovered during initial excavations in the construction of the Fairmont Hotel. Many of these artifacts were installed at the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, another Chinatown was excavated during an urban renewal project to build the Fairmont Hotel and Silicon Valley Financial Center on Market and San Fernando Streets. According to another article, this Chinatown was also known as the Plaza Street Chinatown, according to this article, the area at the time was subject to controversy as many whites often complained to the city council about the area as bothersome. By 1870, the area was burned to the ground with many Chinese evicted from the area as the public sentiment grew. The area was known as Heinlenville and contained a variety of merchants, barbers, traditional doctors. And the Ng Shing Gung temple, some artifacts from this Chinatown are now located in Kelley Park. At the time, an existing Japantown nearby was evacuated due to the war, Chinese enclaves in Silicon Valley History of the Chinese Americans in San Francisco Japantown, San Jose Connie Young Yu
5.
Emma Prusch Farm Park
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Emma Prusch Farm Park is a 43.5 acre park in East San Jose, California. The park is host to an annual Harvest Festival and is operated cooperatively by the San Jose Parks and Recreation Department and the non-profit Emma Prusch Farm Park Foundation. The land for this 42-acre farm park was donated by Emma Prusch to the City of San Jose in 1962 to keep for agricultural purposes, the park is operated as a small farm by the City of San Jose, Department of Parks, Recreation, and Neighborhood Services. Barn space is provided to city kids in the 4-H and Future Farmers of America so they can experience farming practices in an urban environment. The farm also has a fruit orchard, a deciduous fruit orchard. In the spring, the park offers guided tours for K–3 school groups and these tours provide a sensory education emphasis while students learn about gardens, fruit orchard, poultry and livestock. Preserved Prusch farmhouse San Joses largest free standing barn is run by City of San Jose staff, livestock varies by season with kids in 4-H and the Future Farmers of America raising animals in the middle of the city. Small animal yard where children can see farm animals up close, new signage will allow visitors to identify each tree while on a self-guided tour. Several acres of open grass perfect for picnicking, kite flying, games and relaxing 5 reservable group picnic areas, outdoor Wedding Barn, and a rental Meeting Hall community room with kitchen. Veggielution Community Farm, On a little over 6-acre Veggielution empowers youth, Emma Prusch Farm Park website California Rare Fruit Growers Association National 4-H Club of America Future Farmers of America Veggielution Community Farm
6.
Hakone Gardens
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Hakone Gardens is a traditional Japanese garden in Saratoga, California, United States. In 1915, two San Francisco arts patrons, Oliver and Isabel Stine, intending to build a summer retreat, inspired by her trips to Japan, Isabel Stine modeled the gardens upon Fuji-Hakone-Izu National Park. She hired Japanese landscape artists and architects to design the gardens, in 1932, ownership passed to financier Major C. L. Tilden who added the main gate to the gardens. When he died, Hakone was inherited by his sister, Mrs. Walter Gregory, after her death in 1959, Hakone was left untended, and the property was put up for sale. This partnership restored Hakone to its splendor, keeping its traditional Japanese authenticity while using it as a private retreat. In 1966, the partners offered a beautifully maintained Hakone for sale to the City of Saratoga, today Hakone is administered by The Hakone Foundation, a non-profit organization, which was established in 2000 to restore and enhance the gardens independently of public funding. The gardens are open to the public and the community facilities are often used for cultural events. Hakone Gardens was a location for the movie Memoirs of a Geisha. List of botanical gardens in the United States Hakone Gardens official web site
7.
Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph (San Jose)
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The Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph is a large Roman Catholic church located in Downtown San Jose. The minor basilica is the cathedral for the Roman Catholic Diocese of San Jose in California, the basilica is named for Saint Joseph, patron saint of the universal church. The Pueblo de San Jose de Guadalupe was connected with Mission Santa Clara by the The Alameda which was part of the historic El Camino Real, the original adobe structure was damaged by earthquakes in 1818 and 1822, and a new adobe church was built from 1835 to 1846. The second church was damaged by the 1868 Hayward earthquake. The third church was destroyed by fire in 1875, and a fourth church was built a few blocks away while the fifth. The fifth church was dedicated by Joseph Alemany, Archbishop of San Francisco, the current portico was completed in 1884, and the large dome was finished in 1885. In 1981, a renovation project was begun at the church. In 1985, the church was elevated to a cathedral, pending completion of the restoration in 1990 and it replaced Saint Patrick Proto-Cathedral Parish, located a few blocks away, as the cathedral of the diocese. The cathedral was made a basilica by Pope John Paul II in 1997. The Cathedral Basilica of St. Joseph is listed as a California Historical Landmark and is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, the cathedral is open to visitors seven days a week from 7,30 am to 3 pm and 5pm on Saturday. Guided tours are available Tuesday through Friday between 1 pm and 3 pm. H. and C. S. Odell Company in Yonkers and it is the only such Odell instrument surviving in its original condition in the United States. It has 27 ranks of 60 pipes each, Official Cathedral Site Roman Catholic Diocese of San Jose Official Site Cathedrals of California
8.
Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library
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The Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library is a 136-foot tall public library in downtown San Jose, California, the King Library is a collaboration between the City of San José and San José State University, it is the main library for both San José State University and the San José Public Library system. In 2004 it was honored as Library of the Year by Library Journal and Thompson Gale, on its tenth anniversary in 2013 it was still the largest joint university-municipal library in the United States. The Library building can accommodate over 2000 visitors, Special collections within the library include, all on the 5th floor, the Ira F. Brilliant Center for Beethoven Studies, the Martha Heasley Cox Center for Steinbeck Studies, a California History Room, there is also the Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Civil Rights Collection on the 3rd floor. The lower level provides public computers, magazines and government documents, the reference collections are on floor 2. The volumes of the City Library system are shelved on floor 3, there, the non-fiction are indexed via the Dewey Decimal Classification and the fiction are sorted alphabetically by authors last name. The volumes of the University Library are shelved in floor 6 to 8 and are indexed via the Library of Congress Classification, some duplicate volumes exist in both systems. The center of the building is known as the Koret Atrium, on floor 1, in the atrium, a large LED display shows in real time the number of item loans that the entire City Library System has made since 2000. As of May 2016, that showed a figure of over 177 million. The lower level, second and third floors are where the majority of the computers are located. The fourth floor is dedicated to visitors with their laptops, all floors except floor 1 provide individual alcoves for students or members of the public who are engaged in research for their studies. Floors 6 and 8 are quiet study floors and floor 7 is a silent study floor, the library provides public computers and an online reservation system to reserve time on them. Students can also reserve study rooms through an online system. The computers are configured with Traditional Chinese input methods and input methods for some European languages, some public computers are configured to access the library card catalog and other services only. In the Koret Atrium on floor 1, there is a kiosk of eight computers with Internet access for which a library card is not required. These are configured so that use is limited to 15 minutes at a time, the lower level has about 20 public computers, and floors 2 and 3 about 50 public computers each. Login to these computers requires a San Jose city library card number, login sessions of public computer users are automatically terminated when the library closes to the public
9.
CEFCU Stadium
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CEFCU Stadium is an outdoor athletic stadium in the western United States, located in San Jose, California. Owned by San José State University, the venue is the home of Spartan football. The stadium also hosts high school football games, and the university commencement ceremony every year on Memorial Day weekend. Known as Spartan Stadium for over eight decades, it was renamed in 2016, CEFCU Stadium was the home of the San Jose Earthquakes of Major League Soccer from the leagues inception in 1996 through the 2005 season. Soccer Bowl 75 was also held at Spartan Stadium, during the winter and spring of 2009, the stadiums natural turf was removed and replaced with FieldTurf, a new generation of artificial turf with a crumb rubber and sand infill. This improvement has resulted in significant savings to the university in water use, fertilizer and this project was completed in time for the May 2009 commencement ceremony. The stadium also received significant upgrades to the scoreboard and sound system in 2011 and this included installation of a high-definition video board by Daktronics at the south end of the stadium. Originally built in 1933 as a 4, 000-seat facility, CEFCU Stadium has been renovated and expanded over the years to its present seating capacity of 30,456. The most recent additions came in the late 1980s when the capacity of the stadium was expanded from 18,000 to approximately 33,000 by adding boxes and an upper deck on the west side. In the early 2000s, renovations were carried out for the San Jose Earthquakes in order to make the field enough for a FIFA regulation size field. As a result of renovations, parts of the stands closest to the playing field were removed. The maximum capacity for MLS games is 26,525, CEFCU Stadium has hosted numerous FIFA events. Most notably the stadium was used as one of the venues for the 1999 Womens World Cup, the stadium also hosts the commencement ceremonies of San José State University every spring, as well as musical concerts throughout the year. CEFCU Stadium is only one block from San Jose Municipal Stadium, home of the San Jose Giants, the now defunct NCAA Silicon Valley Football Classic bowl game was held at CEFCU Stadium from 2000 to 2004. A CEFCU Stadium north end zone building addition is currently in the planning stages and will cost approximately $40 million. The 61,000 GSF facility will house sports medicine and athletic training space, a team locker room, football coaching staff offices, meeting rooms, a hall of fame. The facility will serve the day-to-day operations of the athletics department and it will be located at the South Campus site, north of CEFCU Stadium. In August 2016, Citizens Equity First Credit Union purchased naming rights to Spartan Stadium for $8.7 million, the deal between CEFCU and San José State University will last for 15 years
10.
Levi's Stadium
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Levis Stadium is a football stadium located in Santa Clara, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It has served as the home of the San Francisco 49ers of the National Football League since 2014, the stadium is located approximately 40 miles from San Francisco. In 2006, the 49ers initially proposed constructing a new stadium at Candlestick Point in San Francisco, the project, which included plans for retail space and housing improvements, was claimed to have been of great potential benefit to the nearby historically blighted neighborhood of Hunters Point. After negotiations with the city of San Francisco fell through, the 49ers focused their attention on an adjacent to their administrative offices. A construction loan, raised from investors, was secured in December 2011. Levis Stadium opened on July 17,2014, Levis Stadium hosted Super Bowl 50 on February 7,2016. Levis Stadium also serves as the site of the Pac-12 Football Championship Game for at least three years, beginning in 2014, previously, the game was played at the home stadium of the division winner with the better record entering the game. The stadium was designed by HNTB, a renowned architectural firm, with a focus on creating a multi-purpose venue and with the fan experience. Civil engineering work was performed by Winzler & Kelly, which was acquired by GHD Group in 2011, commissioning services were provided by Glumac. Levis Stadium is designed as a stadium with a natural grass field. It has a capacity of 68,500, expandable to approximately 75,000 to host major events like the Super Bowl. However, on June 27,2015, The Grateful Dead Fare Thee Well Tour made history by extending the stadium to 83,000 in attendance. The seating design of the stadium places approximately two-thirds of the fans in the lower bowl, the design features significantly improved accessibility and seating options for fans with special needs and disabilities when compared to Candlestick Park. As a multi-use facility, the stadium can be configured for special touring events including concerts, motocross events, indoor/outdoor conferences, the stadium will also feature over 109,000 square feet of flexible premium meeting space in the club areas. The stadium has created an in stadium app designed specifically for home games for the 49ers to provide a better fan experience for fans. The app can be downloaded for free off of the App Store, features are limited on non football game days or if you are outside the vicinity of the stadium. However, when having the app within the stadium on game and event days you have many options including in-seat delivery, live streaming, navigation and much more. The app can be extended to events hosted by the stadium if the third party would like to include its features for their guests
