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History of Santa Clara, California, USA
Journey back in time to Santa Clara, California, USA
Visit Santa Clara, California, USA. Discover its history. Learn about the people who lived there through stories, old newspaper articles, pictures, postcards and ancestry.
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Santa Clara was given its name from the Mission Santa Clara de Asis, one of the many missions that the Spanish created during their rule in California. Although the mission was founded in 1777, the city was not officially incorporated until 1852, about two years after California received statehood.
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Santa Clara Nostalgia: Vintage Photos, Ads, and Postcards
Santa Clara, California, USA
Postcard
Bridge Over Los Gatos Creek, California
Santa Clara, California, USA
Postcard
Beautiful California - Prune Orchard in Bloom, Santa Clara Valley
Santa Clara, California, USA
Postcard
![Pinterest](https://www.pinterest.com/pin/create/button/?url=https%3a%2f%2fgreenerpasture.com%2fPlaces%2fDetails%2f1261&media=https%3a%2f%2fgreenerpasture.com%2fContent%2fancestorimages%2fsanta_clara_ca_2.jpg&description=Santa Clara, California, USA - Santa Clara College, Santa Clara, Cal.
"The first two colleges in California were founded at the height of the Gold Rush in 1851, both in the small agricultural town of Santa Clara. Less than a year after California was granted statehood, Santa Clara College, forerunner of Santa Clara University, was the first to open its doors to students and thus is considered the state’s oldest operating institution of higher education. Shortly after Santa Clara began instruction, the Methodist-run California Wesleyan College received a charter from the State Superior Court on July 10, 1851—the first granted in California—and it began enrolling students in May of the following year. Santa Clara’s Jesuit founders lacked the $20,000 endowment required for a charter, which was eventually accumulated and a charter granted on April 28, 1855. Santa Clara bears the distinction of awarding California’s first bachelor's degree, bestowed upon Thomas I. Bergin in 1857, as well as its first graduate degree granted two years later." wikipedia)
Santa Clara College, Santa Clara, Cal.
"The first two colleges in California were founded at the height of the Gold Rush in 1851, both in the small agricultural town of Santa Clara. Less than a year after California was granted statehood, Santa Clara College, forerunner of Santa Clara University, was the first to open its doors to students and thus is considered the state’s oldest operating institution of higher education. Shortly after Santa Clara began instruction, the Methodist-run California Wesleyan College received a charter from the State Superior Court on July 10, 1851—the first granted in California—and it began enrolling students in May of the following year. Santa Clara’s Jesuit founders lacked the $20,000 endowment required for a charter, which was eventually accumulated and a charter granted on April 28, 1855. Santa Clara bears the distinction of awarding California’s first bachelor's degree, bestowed upon Thomas I. Bergin in 1857, as well as its first graduate degree... Read MORE...
Discover Santa Clara: History, News, Travel, and Stories
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1854 - Santa Clara
Santa Clara, a county in the W. central part of California, has an area estimated at above 1 200 square miles. It is bounded on the X. E. by the Coast Range, and is drained by the Guadalupe river and several other smaller streams flowing into San Francisco bay, which extends a few miles into the county. Soil well adapted to cultivation, and very fertile along the streams. Barley, wheat, potatoes, hay, onions, cattle, and horses are the staples. In 1852 this county produced 415,340 bushels of barley : 122,192 of wheat; 656,700 of potatoes; 3175 tons of hay, and 8,356,600 pounds of onions. There were 4201 cows, 16,020 beef-cattle, and 4371 horses. The county is partly intersected by the route of the proposed railroad from San Francisco to San Jose, the capital. Population, 6664.
Santa Clara, a post-town of Santa Clara county, California, is situated on a small stream flowing into the head of San Francisco bay, and on the main road from San Jose to San Francisco, about 10 miles from... Read MORE...
1869 - About seven months ago, a lady in Santa Clara, Cal., in kneeling down for the purpose of religious devotion,
knelt on the edge of a spring to her hoop skirt. She experienced some little pain in her knee at the time, but thought it no serious matter. However, the limb commenced swelling, and it became inflamed, causing her intense suffering. It continued to grow worse until a few days ago, when her physicians determined that the amputation of the limb was necessary to save the woman's life. The operation was performed, and the lady, although much reduced, is in a fair way to recover.
St Joseph Herald
Saint Joseph, Michigan
November 13, 1869
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1870 - The straw in a barn-yard near Santa Clara, California, was set on fire by a piece of meteoric iron which fell there the other day.
St Joseph Herald
Saint Joseph, Michigan
December 31, 1870
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1871 - The cultivation of the strawberry in California has been most successful, on lands irrigated by artesian wells, in Santa Clara Valley.
This year the vines yielded more abundantly than ever before, and the business is represented as overdone, the prices having fallen so low as to leave little chance of profit. The wholesale price of the berries at San Francisco was five cents per pound, and the amount received there daily was estimated at 60,000 to 70,000 pounds, indicating a lively consumption for a city of 150,000 inhabitants.
St Joseph Herald
Saint Joseph, Michigan
June 17, 1871
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1871 - An orchard at Santa Clara, Cal, has 3,000 fruit trees and any quantity of rhubarb plants and berry vines. The proprietor does business altogether in dried fruits. Not a pound of fruit is allowed to waste.
That which is partly decayed is converted into excellent vinegar. - Hearth and Home
St Joseph Herald
Saint Joseph, Michigan
October 23, 1871
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1889 - It was stated by the Governor of Lower California on the 26th that the discoveries at the Santa Clara placers had been exaggerated, and only practical miners were finding gold.
St Joseph Herald
Saint Joseph, Michigan
March 30, 1889
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1895 - Santa Clara
Santa Ciara, a post-village in Santa Clara township, Santa Clara co., Cal., is in a fertile valley of its own name, on the Southern Pacific Railroad, 46 miles S.S.E. of San Francisco, and 3 miles W. by N. of San José. It is the seat of the University of the Pacific (Methodist Episcopal, organized in 1852), and contains also the Santa Clara College (Catholic), a high school, 6 churches, a bank, a news paper office, 2 tanneries, a lumber-mill, a brewery, a machine shop, and general stores. Pop. in 1890, 2891; of the township, 6577.
Lippincott's Gazetteer of the World: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World Containing Notices of Over One Hundred and Twenty-five Thousand Places ... Joseph Thomas January 1, 1895 J.B. Lippincott
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1906
Santa Clara, a banking post-town of Santa Clara co., Cal., is in a fertile valley of its own name, on the Southern Pacific R., 46 miles SSE. of San Francisco and 3 miles W. by N. of San Jose. It is extensively engaged in fruit culture and is the seat of Santa Clara College and other educational institutions. Pop. in 1890, 2891; in 1900, 3650.
Lippincott's New Gazetteer: A Complete Pronouncing Gazetteer Or Geographical Dictionary of the World, Containing the Most Recent and Authentic Information Respecting the Countries, Cities, Towns ... in Every Portion of the Globe Publisher J.B. Lippincott Company, 1906
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1968 - July 18 - The Intel Corporation is founded in Santa Clara, California
historyorb.com
July 18, 1968
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Discover Your Roots: Santa Clara Ancestry
Ancestors Who Were Born or Died in Santa Clara, California, USA
We currently have information about ancestors who were born or died in Santa Clara.View Them Now (sorted by year of birth)
Bernadine ENGLEKEN (21 March 1852, Bremen, Germany - 12 August 1944, Santa Clara, California, USA)
Emma UREN (26 October 1869, , New York, USA - 14 October 1942, Santa Clara, California, USA)
Charles Ethelbert DAMON (5 December 1879, St Albans, Maine, USA - 2 June 1942, Santa Clara, California, USA)Estella Lorena MCGUIRE (6 August 1881, Rushville, Indiana, USA - 1 August 1949, Santa Clara, California, USA)Herbert Leroy COLLINS (21 October 1885, Everett, Massachusetts, USA - 29 May 1965, Santa Clara, California, USA)Helena M SPERLING (7 November 1889, , Michigan, USA - 27 May 1981, Santa Clara, California, USA)
Ralph Monroe WADGE (16 December 1898, Sutter Creek, Amador, California, USA - 20 February 1978, Santa Clara, California, USA)Pruda Armington MOULTON (6 January 1905, Providence, Rhode Island, USA - 10 February 1979, Santa Clara, California, USA)Charles Sargent PARKER (28 September 1918, Highland Falls, Orange, New York, USA - 19 May 1968, Santa Clara, California, USA)Ancestors Who Were Married in Santa Clara, California, USA
We currently have information about ancestors who were married in Santa Clara.View Them Now
Charles Ethelbert DAMON (5 December 1879 - 2 June 1942) and Florence May HUBBACK (15 February 1892 - 30 October 1985) married 19 July 1909
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