SAN JOSE (sari' ho-za.'), a city of California, U.S.A., 5o m. S.E. of San Francisco and 8 m. S.E. of the southern end of San Francisco bay; the county seat of Santa Clara county. It is served by the Southern Pacific, the Western Pacific and electric railways, and by numerous motor coach and truck lines. Pop. 39,642 in 192o (78% native white) ; in 1930, 57,651 by the Federal census, with an additional io,000 in the contiguous suburbs. It is a de lightful residential city in the heart of the beautiful and fertile Santa Clara valley, and the largest fruit-canning and packing cen tre of the country. The county has 130,000 ac. in orchards (including 70,000 ac. of prunes), i,i00 in berries and 26,00o in vegetables. In and near the city are 4o fruit-canneries, besides evaporators and dehydrators, and 3o packing plants, whose prod ucts aggregate 300,00o tons or more annually. The output of all the manufacturing establishments within the city limits in 1927 was valued at $42,769,065. San Jose is the seat of a State teach ers college, the oldest one in California (established 1862). The University of Santa Clara (1851) is in an adjoining suburb; the Leland Stanford Junior university is 18 m. N.W. ; and on top of Mt. Hamilton (4,209 ft.), 26 m. E., is the Lick observatory (affiliated with the University of California). Besides several parks in the city, San Jose owns a tract of 600 ac. in the foot-hills 7 m. E. (Alum Rock park), which contains many mineral springs, sulphur and mud baths, a large swimming-bath with plunge, chil dren's playgrounds and various other recreational facilities. The
New Almaden quicksilver mine, which has been worked since 1824, is 14 m. S. Since 1916 the city has had a city-manager form of government. The assessed valuation for 1927 was $42,182,145 Building permits in the eight years following the World War repre sented values aggregating $25,000,000. Bank clearings in 1927 were over $148,000,000.
The Pueblo de San Jose de Guadalupe, the first Spanish pueblo in California, was founded on Nov. 29, 1777, primarily to promote agriculture, so that the country need not be dependent on Mexico for provisions. Father Junipero Serra had already (Jan. 18, 1777) established the Mission of Santa Clara de Asis in the vicinity.
Plants, seeds and cuttings were supplied to the mission and to the settlers. In March 1846, General Fremont, with a party of 62, visited the valley, and in July the town was occupied by Capt. Fallon and the American flag was raised over it. The first State legislature convened in San Jose on Dec. i 5, 1849, and this was the seat of government until May 1, 185r. The city was incorporated in 185o and reincorporated in 1865. By 187o the population was 9,o89. After the secularization of the church properties in 1834 the mission orchards and gardens were neg lected, and the Santa Clara valley was given over largely to cattle and horse ranges. The foundation of the fruit industry on a com mercial scale is credited to Louis Pellier, who in 1856 brought a number of prune cuttings from his home near Agen.