Downtown Historic District (San Jose, California)
Encyclopedia
The Downtown Historic District of San Jose, California
is a designated U.S. Historic District
area of the city roughly the size of one square block
. It is bounded by S. First Street to the west, E. San Fernando Street to the south, S. Third Street to the east, and E. Santa Clara Street to the north, but also includes the south side of E. Santa Clara Street between Third and Fourth Streets.
's mercantile and financial center for the past 100 years, San Jose's downtown historic commercial district is significant both from a historic
and an architectural
perspective. The downtown commercial district retains the highest concentration of older buildings in the downtown, which reflects the best examples of architecture from almost every period in the growth of the city. It is the prime example in Santa Clara County
in its broad representation of historic California commercial architecture.
The district has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places
and contains buildings of six different architectural styles: Italianate
, Romanesque Revival, Victorian
, Edwardian
, Neoclassical
, Mission Revival
, and Spanish Colonial Revival
.
site of 1797 (relocated from the 1777 site after major flooding).
In the 1870s and mid-1880s, the heart of downtown commercial activity had moved northward along Market Street (immediately west of First Street and part of the Pueblo) to the Santa Clara Street intersection. However, by the latter part of the 1880s, Santa Clara and First Streets became the new focus for downtown business activity. The early horse drawn railway systems reinforced the importance of this intersection with single and, later, double tracks located along both streets.
During this period, Italianate and Romanesque Revival styles dominated. This was a group of buildings designed by the finest local architects and built by the leading citizens of the time: James D. Phelan
, F. Sourisseau, C. T. Ryland, Martin Murphy's descendants and the Auzerais family. Buildings such as the Knox-Goodrich Building at 34 South First Street, with its extreme rustication
, reflect the qualities of the wealthy, orchard oriented, agricultural community of the turn-of-the-century.
Following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake
, Edwardian and Neoclassical commercial buildings replaced the damaged Victorian and Romanesque businesses. In addition, Mission Revival, California's first indigenous architecture, dominated smaller commercial architecture. Spanish Colonial Revival also provided California with a new historic architectural mode.
During the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, modernization and further consolidation characterized the downtown core. New growth patterns to the west and south of the center of the city changed the commercial desirability of the downtown core area of San Jose. New construction was virtually nonexistent until the government sponsored redevelopment programs of the 1960s began razing of entire center city blocks for planned new development.
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
is a designated U.S. Historic District
Historic district (United States)
In the United States, a historic district is a group of buildings, properties, or sites that have been designated by one of several entities on different levels as historically or architecturally significant. Buildings, structures, objects and sites within a historic district are normally divided...
area of the city roughly the size of one square block
City block
A city block, urban block or simply block is a central element of urban planning and urban design. A city block is the smallest area that is surrounded by streets. City blocks are the space for buildings within the street pattern of a city, they form the basic unit of a city's urban fabric...
. It is bounded by S. First Street to the west, E. San Fernando Street to the south, S. Third Street to the east, and E. Santa Clara Street to the north, but also includes the south side of E. Santa Clara Street between Third and Fourth Streets.
Introduction
As Santa Clara ValleySanta Clara Valley
The Santa Clara Valley is a valley just south of the San Francisco Bay in Northern California in the United States. Much of Santa Clara County and its county seat, San José, are in the Santa Clara Valley. The valley was originally known as the Valley of Heart’s Delight for its high concentration...
's mercantile and financial center for the past 100 years, San Jose's downtown historic commercial district is significant both from a historic
History
History is the discovery, collection, organization, and presentation of information about past events. History can also mean the period of time after writing was invented. Scholars who write about history are called historians...
and an architectural
Architecture
Architecture is both the process and product of planning, designing and construction. Architectural works, in the material form of buildings, are often perceived as cultural and political symbols and as works of art...
perspective. The downtown commercial district retains the highest concentration of older buildings in the downtown, which reflects the best examples of architecture from almost every period in the growth of the city. It is the prime example in Santa Clara County
Santa Clara County, California
Santa Clara County is a county located at the southern end of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 it had a population of 1,781,642. The county seat is San Jose. The highly urbanized Santa Clara Valley within Santa Clara County is also known as Silicon Valley...
in its broad representation of historic California commercial architecture.
The district has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places is the United States government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects deemed worthy of preservation...
and contains buildings of six different architectural styles: Italianate
Italianate architecture
The Italianate style of architecture was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. In the Italianate style, the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian Renaissance architecture, which had served as inspiration for both Palladianism and...
, Romanesque Revival, Victorian
Victorian architecture
The term Victorian architecture refers collectively to several architectural styles employed predominantly during the middle and late 19th century. The period that it indicates may slightly overlap the actual reign, 20 June 1837 – 22 January 1901, of Queen Victoria. This represents the British and...
, Edwardian
Edwardian architecture
Edwardian architecture is the style popular when King Edward VII of the United Kingdom was in power; he reigned from 1901 to 1910, but the architecture style is generally considered to be indicative of the years 1901 to 1914....
, Neoclassical
Neoclassical architecture
Neoclassical architecture was an architectural style produced by the neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century, manifested both in its details as a reaction against the Rococo style of naturalistic ornament, and in its architectural formulas as an outgrowth of some classicizing...
, Mission Revival
Mission Revival Style architecture
The Mission Revival Style was an architectural movement that began in the late 19th century for a colonial style's revivalism and reinterpretation, which drew inspiration from the late 18th and early 19th century Spanish missions in California....
, and Spanish Colonial Revival
Spanish Colonial Revival Style architecture
The Spanish Colonial Revival Style was a United States architectural stylistic movement that came about in the early 20th century, starting in California and Florida as a regional expression related to history, environment, and nostalgia...
.
History
Soon after the Mexican-American War, the city was surveyed first by Thomas Campbell in 1847 and later by Chester Lyman, in 1848, following the standard grid street pattern utilizing traditional Spanish pathways. This street pattern has remained virtually unaltered to this day. The development of American commercial areas in San Jose extended into this newly surveyed area, just east of the original puebloPueblo
Pueblo is a term used to describe modern communities of Native Americans in the Southwestern United States of America. The first Spanish explorers of the Southwest used this term to describe the communities housed in apartment-like structures built of stone, adobe mud, and other local material...
site of 1797 (relocated from the 1777 site after major flooding).
In the 1870s and mid-1880s, the heart of downtown commercial activity had moved northward along Market Street (immediately west of First Street and part of the Pueblo) to the Santa Clara Street intersection. However, by the latter part of the 1880s, Santa Clara and First Streets became the new focus for downtown business activity. The early horse drawn railway systems reinforced the importance of this intersection with single and, later, double tracks located along both streets.
During this period, Italianate and Romanesque Revival styles dominated. This was a group of buildings designed by the finest local architects and built by the leading citizens of the time: James D. Phelan
James D. Phelan
James Duval Phelan was an American politician, civic leader and banker.-Early years:Phelan was born in San Francisco, the son of an Irish immigrant who became wealthy during the California Gold Rush as a trader, merchant and banker. He graduated from St...
, F. Sourisseau, C. T. Ryland, Martin Murphy's descendants and the Auzerais family. Buildings such as the Knox-Goodrich Building at 34 South First Street, with its extreme rustication
Rustication (architecture)
thumb|upright|Two different styles of rustication in the [[Palazzo Medici-Riccardi]] in [[Florence]].In classical architecture rustication is an architectural feature that contrasts in texture with the smoothly finished, squared block masonry surfaces called ashlar...
, reflect the qualities of the wealthy, orchard oriented, agricultural community of the turn-of-the-century.
Following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake
1906 San Francisco earthquake
The San Francisco earthquake of 1906 was a major earthquake that struck San Francisco, California, and the coast of Northern California at 5:12 a.m. on Wednesday, April 18, 1906. The most widely accepted estimate for the magnitude of the earthquake is a moment magnitude of 7.9; however, other...
, Edwardian and Neoclassical commercial buildings replaced the damaged Victorian and Romanesque businesses. In addition, Mission Revival, California's first indigenous architecture, dominated smaller commercial architecture. Spanish Colonial Revival also provided California with a new historic architectural mode.
During the 1930s, 1940s and 1950s, modernization and further consolidation characterized the downtown core. New growth patterns to the west and south of the center of the city changed the commercial desirability of the downtown core area of San Jose. New construction was virtually nonexistent until the government sponsored redevelopment programs of the 1960s began razing of entire center city blocks for planned new development.
Late 19th-century buildings
- Oddfellows Building, 1883 (Italianate)
- La Rosa Pharmacy, 1870
- Letitia Building, 1890
- Security Building, 1892 (Romanesque Revival)
Early 20th century
- Landmark Square, 1907
- Bank of AmericaBank of AmericaBank of America Corporation, an American multinational banking and financial services corporation, is the second largest bank holding company in the United States by assets, and the fourth largest bank in the U.S. by market capitalization. The bank is headquartered in Charlotte, North Carolina...
building, 1926 — San Jose's first skyscraperSkyscraperA skyscraper is a tall, continuously habitable building of many stories, often designed for office and commercial use. There is no official definition or height above which a building may be classified as a skyscraper...
, at thirteen stories - Jose Theater (Mission Revival)
- "El Paseo" shopping block, 1920s (Spanish Colonial Revival)