Sites Revealing the Culture and History of San Jose

On my last day in San Jose I decided to stick close to the city and learn about its history. We think of San Jose as the center of Silicon Valley and all the modern technology that brings to mind. However, San Jose’s past goes back to a much simpler time. I set out to learn about some of that.

We started with the History Park in San Jose. My daughter Andrea hesitated to go there as she considers it mostly a place for kids. Nevertheless, I felt it would be a good place to go and learn about the city.

When we arrived, we discovered that a special event for mentally challenged youth was taking place. It meant first of all that we had to go somewhere else to park, and we had to pay to do so. From there we started to walk back towards the location of the History Park. On the way we came to the Japanese Friendship Garden which happened to be on my list to see.

Japanese gardens are usually quite stylized with their own sense of beauty. This garden was to connect the cities of San Jose and Okayama in Japan. Unfortunately there was one major problem with the garden; there was no water in the ponds. There are three ponds in the garden. Two are quite large, but they had no water. All one could see was the concrete bottom of the pond. Without water everything changes.

There is a third pond which did have water. This is a koi pond, and numerous koi fish were swimming around in the pond. The water looked a little dirty, and the plant life in the water looked a little slim. It wasn’t the most amazing pond, but at least it helped convey some of the atmosphere of a Japanese garden.

Despite the empty ponds, it was easy to see this was a beautiful garden. Interesting trees dotted the landscape as well as some other plants. Some Japanese style artwork was also around the pools. However, without the water it wasn’t the same. A ranger said the plan was to fill the pools next year (2025). They had apparently drained the pools during the COVID pandemic.

After walking around the surprisingly large garden, we proceeded over to the History Park. It was definitely a busy place with live music going continuously as part of the event. Part of the activities centered around vehicles. There was a row of old cars to admire. Police, fire and public utilities were on hand with their equipment. However, I was there to see history.

Throughout the park are some older buildings. Docents were inside to share some information about them. So I visited the dentist and the printing press passing by a gas station on the way.

In the hotel an exhibit of old items found in San Jose was on display. These included old radios and camera equipment.

A number of older homes have also been brought here. Signs outside tell something about the residents of each home and their claim to fame. There are also some community buildings like the post office, fire station, and school.

One of the things I was interested in was the museums of different cultures. A Chinese and a Portuguese museum sat side by side, but they were both closed.

On the opposite corner was a Vietnamese museum which was open. It was overflowing with a large display of historical artifacts. In fact I would say too many as it was hard to get a sense of the story the museum was trying to convey. However, since my new daughter-in-law is Vietnamese born, I figured this was an opportunity to get a better sense of their culture.

After that we left the San Jose History Park and headed for our next stop which was the San Jose Mission. It turns out the San Jose Mission is not in San Jose. It’s in Fremont. The story of this mission is actually quite interesting. An earthquake in 1888 destroyed the original adobe building. Only the convent next to it where the priests lived survived. They constructed a new church building made of wood to replace it. The new building had a more traditional European look to it.

In the late 1900s talk began of restoring the mission to look like it did when it was originally built. Eventually they decided to do that. They moved the wooden church building to another location where it continued to be a church. Then using more modern construction materials, they worked to construct an adobe building as close as possible to the original.

Visitors first start in the convent area. Located in some of the rooms, a museum tells the story of the mission. One thing to note is that they are owning up to the mistakes that the church made when it comes to how the Native Americans who lived there were treated. They acknowledge that not everything the early missionaries did benefited the people of the area. In fact in some ways it harmed them.

From the convent one walks over to the church. The interior is quite rustic looking with wood ceilings. and old wooden benches. It doesn’t look very comfortable for Sunday mass. A few of the items around had survived the earthquake. Others, such as statues, are recreations of the destroyed pieces. Pictures on the wall lead through the stations of the cross.

Passing through the church to the other side, one goes into the cemetery. The graves there are certainly of the old style with the tall monuments to honor loved ones. On the other side, between the church and the convent, is a very nice garden area with a statue of an early missionary.

My final stop for the day was Santa Clara University. This is the oldest university in the state of California. It started as a mission, and the mission church is still an important part of the campus. Mission Santa Clara de Asis was the first mission to honor a woman. We had stopped by a few years ago during Thanksgiving, but didn’t send much time as they were preparing the church for Advent.

I was looking forward to checking out the interior of the mission more completely. After taking some exterior photos, I went inside. I quickly realized that a wedding was taking place. So much for checking out the mission’s interior. Fortunately I have a photo from our Thanksgiving visit in 2019 to share.

Returning outside I was enamored with the roses which bloomed around the mission. These are roses grown like trees with a tall bottom stem that brings them up higher. There were so many roses, and almost all of them were in bloom. I had a great time going around trying to find the perfect rose shot. These are some of my best.

Just across from the mission is the de Saisset Museum. It is advertised as an art and history museum, but most of what I saw was history. On the main floor the emphasis is on the Native American group that lived in the area initially, the Ohlone. The current life and culture of this group comes alive through a series of photographs. They are apparently seeking status as a recognized Native American group which would bring them certain rights.

On the lower level large dioramas tell the history starting with the native peoples. The museum tells the story of the conquest of the land by the Spanish along with the development of the mission. Like Mission San Jose they are sensitive to how this conquest impacted the native peoples and changed their lives. It’s a good exhibit to help understand the history of the area.

With that my exploration of San Jose’s history came to an end as did my time with my daughter. It had been a good week, and I was able to experience a number of things I had wanted to see. It was good to check a few things off my bucket list such as Muir Woods and Alcatraz. How’s your bucket list? Have you been able to check anything off recently? I’d love to hear about it in the comment section below. Next week we are off to Colorado. See you there.