San Jose Library California Room The first place to visit when researching a local building.  Check out the online digital Sanborn Fire Insurance maps with detailed maps of San Jose dating back to 1884.

A Guide to Researching the History of a House A comprehensive set of instructions for researching the history of your home from HomeAdvisor.

History San Jose manages History Park and the Peralta Adobe/Fallon House Historic Site as well as a collection of over 500,000 historical artifacts from Santa Clara Valley. They house a Research library containing records from the Santa Clara Valley, host exhibits and provide history themed school programs and tours for children.

 The Portuguese Historical Museum is located in History Park.

Market Street Chinatown Archaeological Project A program to catalog, analyze, and curate San Jose's first Chinatown, once located where the Fairmont Hotel is built.

Japantown San Jose Did you know that San Jose's Japantown is one of only three Japantowns in the United States? Read about the history of this still vibrant community.

Santa Clara County: California's Historic Silicon Valley Features a suggested itenerary for visiting historic sites in Santa Clara County with historic background and pictures of each site. Includes a comprehensive history of the Santa Clara Valley.

German American Heritage has information about German immigrants' contributions to the Santa Clara Valley.

 

Historic Buildings of Santa Clara County Pictures and history of many local landmarks.

 

John's Silicon Valley History page Read about how places and streets in Santa Clara Valley got their names. Also some info on the Irish in California history.

 

Soft Underbelly of San Jose Photos and musings on San Jose landmarks, environs and lifestyle. The discriminating links page is worth a visit. 
 

Local photographer Gabriel Ibarra's website contains local history and pictures of landmarks -- lots of great links.

 

Go State! seeks to increase the visibility and integrity of the oldest public institution of higher learning in California (SJSU) by promoting its history.

 

Firato's Delicatessen Ever pondered the history behind that wonderful "RAVIOLI" sign next to the Bank of America building?  It once advertised Firato's Delicatessen -- a family run business from 1922 to 1977.  The Firato family wants to reopen the deli in the original location, restoring the 1880 brick building at 28 E. Santa Clara. 

 

Terry Thompson is an SJSU graduate whose realistic paintings focus on "googy" style business signs, many in San Jose. He has painted signs of the Jose Theatre, De Anza Hotel, Andy's Pet Shop, Mexico Theatre and many other local landmarks.  His painting of the Stephen's Meat Products sign is part of the San Jose Museum of Art's permanent collection. Perusing his website feels like driving around San Jose and beyond.  Interesting how these iconic signs and landmarks become part of our visual experience.

 

SVModern.com Celebrating Silicon Valley's Mid-Century past. SVModern is a web site devoted to portraying the Santa Clara Valley during its years of transition from the Valley of Heart's Delight to Silicon Valley, roughly 1945 to 1965." Created by PAC*SJ member Heather David, this site is full of interesting pictures and background on local modern architecture and worth the visit. 
 

The Santa Clara County Photographers' Collection is now available for research.  The collection consists of over 57,000 black and white and color photographs chronicling the County's activities and development between 1950 and 1993.  Examples of subjects include aerial photographs of urban and rural parts of the county, portraits and activites of County employees and pictures of County facilities, including airports, schools, courts, and parks.  For further information on the collection or to schedule a research appointment, please call the Archives at 408-792-1895 or e-mail the County Archivist at Michael.griffith@rec.sccgov.org.