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The origin of St. James Square dates back to the beginning of San Jose's American period (1848) when the city fathers commissioned the Yale educated surveyor Charles S. Lyman to lay out a plan for the future city of San Jose. Lyman reserved a large open area for public open space by combining twin rectangular blocks within the standard grid plan for the city, This area was called St. James Square. Twenty years later Frederick Law Olmsted, America's greatest pioneer landscape architect, laid out the diagonal and peripheral walkways. Plantings were begun. With this addition, St. James Square became officially known as St. James Park.
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Over the years, beginning with the construction of the Trinity Episcopal Church in 1863, St. James Park has been the favored site of many of the city's distinguished churches and public buildings. Serenely set apart from the downtown commercial district, the park has been spared the periodic renovations and upheavals of the city's main street, and it remains one of the few areas in San Jose which reflects an earlier era. This was duly recognized in 1977 by the United States Department of the interior, when the park and its surroundings were placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Nine remaining buildings which surround St. James Park are designated National Register and San Jose Landmarks. They are:
Trinity Episcopal Church is the oldest permanent Protestant church in San Jose. Constructed by John W. Hammond, it is one of the finest examples of carpenter Gothic religious architecture in the western United States. The interior of the church is very ornately carved redwood, with ornamented beams and trusses, and an exceptional multi-Gothic arched chancel. Other features include beautiful stained glass windows crafted by the New York firm of Doremus, and the tower chimes which date from the 1860's.
Hoping to lure the state government back to San Jose, the city fathers proposed a courthouse so grandiose that it would have been possible to use it as a capitol building should such a move occur. Designed by Levi Goodrich, a pioneer architect who went on to build many important local structures, the courthouse was one of the most ornate and opulent civic buildings of its day. Designed along classical lines, the original building was two-storied with a central dome. A fire in 1933 led to the dome's removal and the addition of a third story. Renovated and restored in 1973, it continues to be one of the most impressive court buildings in the state.
County Courthouse
The First Unitarian Church was designed by local architect G. W. Page who had among his commissions many of the city's finer homes, including the Hayes mansion in Edenvale. The church, built in the Romanesque Revival style, was said to resemble a "Transylvanian Unitarian church." The unusual design includes such features as four domer, a large triple arched stained glass window on the facade and two towers flanking the main entrance. The central chapel is circular. The Unitarian congregation in San Jose has never been large, but the size and opulence of their church indicates that the members have been some of the city's most prominent and well-to-do citizens.
The Sainte Claire Club was organized by Senator James D. Phelan as a meeting place for local businessmen. Phelan, a former mayor of San Francisco who spent the summers at his Villa Montalvo in Saratoga, was also the owner of the Victory Theatre on North First Street. He chose San Francisco's leading pre-earthquake architect, A. Page Brown, to design the Sainte Claire Club. Best known as the architect of the San Francisco Ferry Building, Brown was a leading exponent of this Mission Revival architectural style. Many features of this style are evident in his design for the club including the tile roof and arched entryways.
Following the example of the Sainte Claire Club, the Masons chose to build their first temple facing St. James Park, This structure, which late became the home of the Eagles order, was one of the finest examples of Greek revival architecture in San Jose, The massive doric columns and the facade of the original building have been incorporated into the new office building which was constructed on the site of the hall.
The First Church of Christ Scientist is one of the few examples in the South Bay of the work of architect Willis Polk. One of California's most famous architects, he designed the church along classical lines with modifications similar to those of Palladio. The ground floor plan of the church is in the shape of a Greek cross.
The local Masonic order, at first located in what we now refer to as Eagles Hall, commissioned Carl Werner to design a new temple at the corner of Third and St. James, The result was a massive three-story neo-classical structure with elements of Beaux Arts styling and Egyptian ornamentation. The massive facade is consistent with several other buildings around the park, particularly the Courthouse which faces it on the west. Now the home of the San Jose Athletic Club, the exterior of the temple has been restored, and its maintenance has been assured.
This garage, remodeled as the Oasis Night Club, was part of one of the first automobile showroom garages in San Jose. It was owned and operated by Clarence Letcher who was one of the city's earliest auto enthusiasts. It was acclaimed as the first auto garage on the west coast, and was to become the nucleus of San Jose's first automobile row. For a short while Letcher manufactured his own cars, but he gave that up to become the local dealer for Cadillac, Packard and Pierce Arrow. His "milepost" signs were familiar throughout the state for a quarter of a century.
The building has unique architectural features such as an expansive wood truss roof design and large steel shutters on the rear window openings.
The former main post office was a WPA project. It was built to replace the 1892 post office on Market Street. This newer structure, designed by Ralph Wykoff, incorporates many elements of Spanish Colonial Revival style, including terra cotta facing, churrigueresque ornamentation around the windows and doors, and red tile roof covering.
The ornate interiors add to a feeling of quality which is not evident in more recent government buildings. The post office is on the site of the former St. James Hotel, one of the city's leading hostelries dating from the 1890's.
Text taken from Historical Footnotes of Santa Clara Valley by Jack Douglas.