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Historic
Resource Salvage
Opportunity: Meyer’s Appliance Salvage Tour - May 16 at 10 AM
The Existing Meyer’s Appliance Building (formerly the Gordon
and Silvia Appliance Store) at 305 Meridian Avenue, San Jose is
available for relocation. If no one comes forward to relocate the
building it will most likely be demolished.
Contact Erik Hayden at Republic Urban Properties for more details:
(408) 292-1601 - ehayden@republic-urban.com
Speakeasy: Saturday, May 19, 7 to 10 PM - $40. Afternoon Tea: Sunday, May 20, 1 to 4 PM - $20. Visit www.HanchettPark.org for more information.
Coming
August 18, 2012: Wolfe
& Wolfe Prairie Homes Tour
Do you know San Jose is one of the primary locations for Prairie-style architecture? The Prairie School is an American indigenous architectural style developed in the Midwest in the late 1800s, featuring horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, and windows grouped in horizontal bands. Frank Lloyd Wright was the most famous of the Prairie School architects.
San Jose’s own Frank Delos Wolfe and his son Carl made Prairie the signature style of their architectural firm while they were in business together between 1912 to 1916. Dozens of Wolfe & Wolfe Prairie buildings still stand in San Jose today, with many original interior and exterior details.
Owners of eight beautiful Prairie houses in several historic neighborhoods in San Jose will open their front rooms, kitchens, and more on August 18 for PAC*SJ’s Wolfe & Wolfe Prairie Open Homes Tour. Why go to Oak Park, Illinois, when Prairie School architecture is so close to home?
Learn more about the tour and purchase tickets here.
Visit www.frankdeloswolfe.com or contact PrairieTour@preservation.org for more information.
An event as big of this needs many volunteers. If you are interested in helping with the pre-tour party or working a shift as a docent at one of the houses, please contact Sharon McCauley at sharon@preservation.org or (408-926-2312). Docent experience is not required, since new volunteers will be paired with experienced ones. Volunteers are eligible for free entrance to the tour.
PACSJ will host three walking tours in June. All tours begin at 10:00 AM and last from one and a half to two hours.
1. Sunday, June 10 - Alviso, the original port of San Jose and Santa Clara. This tour includes industrial sites and residences and a discussion of the sustainability issues affecting the history of San Jose. The starting point is the large marina parking lot. There are some stairs, but there are ways to avoid them. More information on Alviso here.
2. Saturday, June 16 - the Hensley District, San Jose’s oldest neighborhood, which has many San Jose Landmark homes. You will learn a little more about some of the city’s early citizens and the styles of the architects who designed their homes. The starting point will be at Fifth Street and Empire. It is a level walk on city streets. There is a two hour parking lot on Sixth between Empire and Jackson as well as street parking nearby. More about the Hensley Historic District here.
3. Saturday, June 23rd - Japantown, one of only three remaining recognized Japantowns in the United States. It will be hosted by the Japanese American Museum of San Jose. The starting point will be at the museum, which is at 535 North Fifth Street. In addition to visiting several historic sites, participants will be able to visit the museum itself. It will be a level walk on city streets. This tour requires an advance reservation through the website before the deadline. Learn more about the museum here.
Individual tours are priced at $10 for members of PAC*SJ and $15 for non-members. If you order all three, the price is $25 for members and $40 for non-members. Tickets will be available online soon and continuing through June 7th. Walk-up registration will be possible for the first two tours.
Purchase Tickets ONLINE now.
The Northern California Chapter of the Society of Architectural Historians (NCCSAH) will tour six San Francisco churches to learn about the history of American stained glass from the 1880's to World War I. The buildings will represent a broad spectrum of American glass: St Johns Presbyterian, St Marks Lutheran, Unitarian Universalist, Trinity Episcopal, Calvary Presbyterian, and the Sherith Israel synagogue. Many of their windows are outstanding examples of the various styles. Also learn about the church buildings themselves, by well known architects such Albert Pissis and A. Page Brown.
Because of the difficulty in parking near many of the churches, the
group will meet at the CPMC garage on Clay St (between Fillmore &
Webster) at 9:30 am, Saturday, 2 June.
The hospital garage offers loads of parking on Saturday at a discounted
rate. A bus will take the group to the various churches in the morning
and then there will be box lunches at Alta Plaza Park. After lunch and
a brief walk to Calvary Presbyterian, and then to Sherith Israel, where
the tour will end at about 4 pm. Sherith Israel is only two blocks from
the hospital garage, so everyone will be close to their cars at the end
of the tour.
Cost: $35/person for members, $45 for nonmembers. The tour is limited to 30 people -- If you want to reserve early, send your check (made out to NCCSAH) and email address to Ward Hill, 3124 Octavia, #102, San Francisco, 94123.
Are you a Facebook member interested in getting local news
items
more quickly? "Like" Preservation Action
Council on Facebook.
(1) Search for Preservation Action Council. (2) Select the one
marked Non-Profit
Organization. (3) Like it.
When important things happen, you will get a message. If you want to
share a
preservation story, you can write on the wall and share a picture or a
link.
OK. Smokey didn't say that, but PACSJ may need a
fire
prevention
mascot of it's own soon. Help prevent the loss of even
more historic structures to fire and vandalism by helping the City
enforce its Vacant Building Ordinance. File an online
complaint
on the City's website.
Start here: http://www.sanjoseca.gov/codeEnforcement/
On the left side under "Online Services" click on "Submit an Online Blight Complaint." From there fill out the appropriate information. If enough people file complaints maybe the City will pay attention and work harder to protect these historic resources.
Several intrepid teams tackled trivia questions on local history and other general local interest categories. Winners in every round received gift baskets. The winning team "Murgotten but not Forgotten" will have their names engraved on a plaque that will be proudly posted in the front lobby of the Pacific Hotel at San Jose’s History Park.
Some sample questions from the evening:
1. What/who is
the City of Cupertino named after?
Best incorrect
answer: Steve Jobs' dog. Correct
answer: Arroyo San Jose de Cupertino (now Stevens Creek).
It
was named by Juan Bautista de Anza's cartographer after San Guiseppe
(San Joseph) of Cupertino, Italy.
2. What was the largest
residence in Santa Clara County before 1980?
Most popular
answer: Winchester Mystery House (24,000
sq feet). Correct
answer: Hayes Mansion (over 40,000 sq feet).
3. Name one of the sports
the Smothers Brothers participated in while attending San Jose State? Correct answers:
Track (Dick) and Gymnastics (Tom).
Explore historical downtown San Jose - One
smartphone = 3 walking tours! SJPL has created three walking tours of
downtown San Jose that you can take using your smartphone and your
feet! Go to www.scanjose.org
to see images from the California Room
Collection while standing at the locations that the photographs were
taken. Think of it as a time machine in the palm of your hand!
There are three tours to choose from:
A Walk Around the Plaza
- takes you on a loop around Plaza de Cesar
Chavez
Tragedies and Calamities
- a no holds barred look at some of the tragic
events in San Jose history
Old Santa Clara Street
- highlights some of the great architecture that
has sprung up and come down over the years.
George was an accomplished architect, published author, public
speaker,
avid researcher and friend. In his career, George took great pride in
his architectural work and
helping his clients accomplish their goals for their family homes. He
was an acknowledged scholar on Frank Lloyd Wright and the expert on
Frank Delos Wolfe. He treasured his clients, business and historical
preservation associates and loved the work they did together. More on George's work.
Preservation Action Council has created the George
Espinola Memorial Fund and is
now receiving tax deductible donations to preserve his architectural
legacy and to continue his educational interests. Funds may be used to
encourage
printing his books, educational tours, research into the works of his
favorite
architects and more. Please take this opportunity to support George's
efforts to educate the community about San Jose's
architecture.
Checks, payable to Preservation Action Council of San Jose, may be sent
to: PAC-SJ, History Park, 1650 Senter Road, San Jose, CA 95112.
Please indicate the donation is for the George Espinola Memorial
Fund. PAC*SJ is a 501 c 3 non profit organization and
donations are tax deductible
as permitted by law.
Donate via
PayPal here
Well this is pretty cool. A modern way to check out history in Silicon Valley. Just download the $1.99 app for your iPhone/ iPad and get a digital tour guide to Silicon Valley's historic sites. There are currently 125 sights -- key attractions include the birthplaces of the computer chip, disk drive, video games, video recorder, Ethernet, Apple, Google, HP, and numerous other important gizmos and corporations. SiliconValley.com article here
We have moved!
After 10 great years at Le Petit Trianon we have moved our
offices
to History San Jose.
Our new street address is: 1650 Senter
Road, San Jose, CA 95112-2599
Our phone number and PO Box remain unchanged.
Signposts Revisited is now
available for
purchase!
This new publication combines
author Pat Loomis' previous two books, Signposts and Signposts II and
tells the stories of how our streets were named. Signposts Revisited is
a must-read for anyone interested in local history. The book is a
combined project of PAC-SJ, California Pioneers of Santa Clara Valley,
History San Jose, and the Argonauts Historical Society.
Signposts Revisited is available through the PAC-SJ office for $25. If you would like the book mailed, please add $3 for shipping and handling. Call the office at 408.998.8105 or email: info@preservation.org to place an order. The books will also be available at all of our events.
The book is also available as a premium to new and renewing
PAC-SJ members who JOIN
at the $100+ level.
PAC-SJ is looking for a few qualified applicants to be considered for openings on our Board. Help us pursue our mission of preserving the architectural heritage of San Jose and help educate homeowners, developers, and decision-makers about the importance of historic preservation