What San Jose, California looked like in the 1890s

On the left women are preparing and packing fruit. On the left a group of mostly male workers pose.

A procession of women, children and men in formal dress is walking down the middle of the street. The sidewalks are filled with onlookers.

Horses and carts are parked outside of R. Wallace Grey Eagle Livery Stables on the right side. Sign for Garden City Nursery can be seen next to the post office building.

In 1868 the first horsecar began running along The Alameda. The fare between San Jose and Santa Clara was 10 cents. According to driver A. C. Clevenger it took an hour and forty-five minutes to drive his horsecar between San Jose and Santa Clara.

Fourth of July Parade, 1890, looking southeast across the intersection of First and St. John Streets. The Park Exchange Building site was later occupied by the Elks Building (now on North Third). Note the spire of the First Presbyterian church in background.

The space used by the San Jose Mercury is on the right and the space used by the Santa Clara Valley Land Agency is on the left. Both spaces are fronted by long counters with men sitting/standing behind them. More men are standing at the rear of the photograph. This office was located at 171 West Santa Clara Street in San Jose. Office space was shared by these two companies for only a few years.

Native Sons of the Golden West on either Third or Fourth Street. The house in the background belonged to Dr. Ed Ulrich who died in 1916.

A letter from a previous owner (Walter Torbet) that accompanies the letter reads, "In the sixties when my Dutch wife and I were living in San Jose, a Dutch relative sent us the enclosed photo. At the time we checked, and the house was still there. Other than that, I know nothing about the photo. Three children and their parents are standing in the front yard outside a Queen Anne/Victorian style one-story wood-framed house. A rose vine extends the length of the front porch.

The Bank of San Jose is the main focus. A Spring & Co. horse-drawn trolley is visible on the left; another street railroad trolley is approaching on tracks from the center. Horse-drawn carriages are parked outside the bank. St. Joseph's domes are visible in backround.

Driver, Pancho Alcaraz left New Almaden in the morning and returned from San Jose in the late afternoon. The Concord Stagecoach in this image could carry 18 passengers, nine inside the coach and nine on top.

Exterior view of the San Jose Hall of Records, court house, and the Hotel St James. The image is taken looking south on North First Street.

Members of the San Jose Police Department march past the Pacific Hotel and Saint Joseph's Roman Catholic Church. The Electric Light Tower can be seen in the background. The California State Legislature had met for the first time in San Jose fifty years before.

Gubserville in Santa Clara County was established as a post office on the stage route from San Jose to Saratoga on July 5, 1882, and named for Frank Gubser, the first postmaster.

The Linda Vista Sanatorium is located near Alum Rock Park, and catered particularly to people with the dread disease Tuberculosis.

Twelve Mile House was a rest stop on the stage line between Monterey and San Jose. As the name indicates, it was located twelve miles south of San Jose in the Coyote area. Twelve Mile House also served the local population as a general store, saloon, hotel and post office.

Black-and-white photograph of a replica of California's first Statehouse. It was built to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the meeting of the first State Legislature in San Jose.

San Jose's first high school was built at the southwest corner of Seventh and San Fernando Streets. The $100,000 brick-and-stone structure was designed by Jacob Lenzen and Son and included an assembly hall that could seat up to 2000. The new school opened in September 1898 but was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake.

View from the upper floors of San Jose City Hall looking north up Market Street. The city hall was located in the middle of Plaza Park, now known as Plaza de Cesar Chavez. On the right the tan sandstone building with the clock tower is the San Jose Post Office. Beyond the post office is St. Joseph's Cathedral with its dome and twin spires.

Black-and-white photograph of six man Hay Press crew and cook. Note that the cook (at right) has lost his hat. Cook wagon is in the background right.

View looking down North First Street. Streetcar tracks run down the center of the street. The street is empty of vehicles and there are no pedestrians to be seen. The exact location of this stretch of North First Street is not known.

Hensley House (later Rea Building) under construction. Thomas Rea purchased the building at the corner of Market Street and Santa Clara Street in 1885 and added two stories to the building. The Electric Light Tower intersection is in foreground.

People tour the replica of the first California State House, erected on The Plaza in 1899 to commemorate the 50th anniversary of first meeting of the California State Legislature.

View of very large two-story house on a corner lot with bare trees lining the streets. This was Judge Myles P. O'Connor's house. It stood at the corner of Second Street and Reed Street. O'Connor later gave the house to the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur. They used it for an orphanage, the Notre Dame Institute, and then it was used for Notre Dame High School.

Across a lawn planted with palm trees is the second San Jose State Normal School building. It was built in 1881 to replace the original Normal School building which was destroyed by fire. It was built of brick and stone to in an effort make it more fire resistant and incorporated a 5000 gallon water tank on the third floor. But the brick was unable to resist the strong shaking of the 1906 earthquake and the building was too badly damaged to be repaired. The gray building on the right held elementary school classrooms where student teachers could practice before graduation.

The Twelve Mile House was a rest stop on the stage line between Monterey and San Jose. As the name indicates, it was located twelve miles south of San Jose in the Coyote area. Twelve Mile House also served the local population as a general store, saloon, hotel and post office.

A man stands in front of the station next to a small child sitting on a window ledge. On the second floor a women and small child look through a window. To the right of the station is a handcart holding a trunk.

A man stands in front of the station next to a small child sitting on a window ledge. On the second floor a women and small child look through a window. To the right of the station is a handcart holding a trunk. The depot was built in 1888 and torn down in 1959.

South Second Street looking north. Parade passing the Empire Fire House, which burned down in 1892. A replica of the fire house can be seen at History Park in San Jose.

The Electric Light Tower spanned the intersection of Market and Santa Clara from 1881 to 1915, a symbol of technology and progress

Hester School, located on The Alameda at Schiele. The 1890 San José City Directory lists teachers as J. M. Allen, Emma Stockton, M. C. Burt, Rosa Denne, Susie W. Rucker, Virginia Calhoun, Olive M. Knox, Ester Summers, and Miss Wood. On display at the Andrew P. Hill House, History Park.

Hale's, an early San José department store, outgrew these quarters and moved to First and San Carlos.

Jamison Fish Market, on the northeast corner of Third and Santa Clara. A wide variety of food was readily available in local markets.

Mangrum & Otter Plumbing and Hardware, located at 85 East Santa Clara Street, San Jose. On display at the Andrew P. Hill House, History Park.