![]() The town of San Jose was dominated by its business community, in some part Irish Catholic (San Jose was never dominated by Anglo-Saxon Protestants), who had a self-contained social life which did not include immigrant labor. Italians, who often had experience with raising fruit trees in the old country, did well. During the 20th century there were Filipino immigrants and increasing numbers of immigrants from Mexico who during World War II became the dominant agricultural workforce. Toward the end of the nineteenth century many Italians and other immigrants from Southern and Eastern Europe came to the valley and worked in the orchards and canneries. In the nineteenth century Chinese and Japanese immigrants met that need. The need for workers greatly exceeded the local population. Del Monte and Sunsweet are two brands which originated in the Santa Clara Valley. Many orchards were small with housing and fruit growing in a dispersed pattern. When the water table dropped wells were pumped. Water was supplied from an artesian aquifer. The valley with its scenic beauty, mild climate, and thousands of acres of blooming fruit trees was known as "The Valley of Heart's Delight." Prunes were the major crop and were shipped internationally. For a time wheat became the main crop, but in the 1870s fruit gradually became the main crop and processing of fruit by drying or canning the predominant industry. In 1860, as an American town, the population of San Jose was 4,579, with cattle ranching still the main agricultural activity. The influx of Americans resulted in relocation of many of the native Mexican and Indian people of San Jose to the mission at Santa Clara which had been under control of Jesuits from 1850, They founded Santa Clara University there in 1851. Following the Mexican–American War San Jose was briefly the Capital of California. In Spanish and Mexican times the land was devoted to cattle, as was most of California. It is the oldest town in California (though there are older missions). San Jose was also founded in 1777 by Spain as an agricultural pueblo. Mission Santa Clara de Asís with control over a vast tract of land stretching from Palo Alto to Gilroy was founded by Franciscans in 1777. Santa Clara Valley has a Mediterranean semi-arid climate. The population of the valley is 1.81 million people along with approximately 865,700 wage and salary jobs. Its largest city, by an 86.7% margin, is San Jose. The valley is approximately 30 miles (50 km) long by 15 miles (20 km) wide. The valley is bounded by the Santa Cruz Mountains on the southwest, which separate Santa Clara Valley from the Pacific Ocean, and by the Diablo Range on the northeast. The northern end of the Santa Clara Valley is at the southern tip of the San Francisco Bay, and the southern end is in the vicinity of Hollister. It was one of the first commercial wine-producing regions in California (and possibly the United States), utilizing high-quality French varietal vines imported from France. More recently, extensive droughts in California, further complicated by drainage of the local Anderson reservoir for seismic repairs, have strained the city's water security.įew traces of its agricultural past can still be found, but the Santa Clara Valley American Viticultural Area remains a large wine-making region. The high-tech industrial growth starting in the 1960s-later known as Silicon Valley-transformed the area from extensive agricultural tracts to an urbanized landscape. Until the 1960s it was the largest fruit-producing and packing region in the world, with 39 canneries. The valley, named after the Spanish Mission Santa Clara, was for a time known as the Valley of Heart's Delight for its high concentration of orchards, flowering trees, and plants. In practical terms, the central portion of the Santa Clara Valley is often considered by itself, contained entirely within Santa Clara County. Within the valley and surrounding the bay on three sides are the urban communities of San Mateo County, Santa Clara County, and Alameda County, while the narrow southern reaches of the valley extend into rural San Benito County to Hollister. The valley floor is an alluvial plain that formed in the graben (tectonic depression) between the San Andreas Fault to the west and the Hayward and Calaveras faults to the east. The San Francisco Bay borders the valley to the north, and fills much of the northern third of the valley. The longitudinal valley is bordered on the west by the Santa Cruz Mountains and on the east by the Diablo Range the two coastal ranges meet south of Hollister. The Santa Clara Valley is a geologic trough in Northern California that extends 90 miles (145 km) south–southeast from San Francisco to Hollister. San Francisco Bay (north), Santa Cruz Mountains (southwest), Diablo Range (east)
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