It's often been a joke that California is the land of "Santa" cities--Santa Barbara, Santa Cruz, Santa Maria, Santa Ana, and, one of my personal favorites, Santa Clara, California. As an alumnus of the University of Santa Clara, I am proud to have called Santa Clara my home for a brief period. Santa Clara is one of the oldest cities in Northern California, and the home of the eighth--Mission Santa Clara de Asis--of 21 missions in California. Some of the following information was provided by Wikipedia.com
History: When José Francisco Ortega visited Santa Clara in 1769, found the area inhabited by Native Americans that the Spanish called the Costanos, "coast people," and which we now call the Ohlone. The Spanish began to colonize California with 21 missions and the Mission Santa Clara de Asis was founded in 1777.
In 1846, the American flag was raised over Monterey and symbolized the transfer of California to the United States. In 1851, Santa Clara College (now, the University of Santa Clara) was established on the grounds of the old mission, and a portion of the original mission wall remains in the courtyard near the current church. In 1852, Santa Clara was incorporated as a town and was state-chartered by 1862. Like most of Santa Clara County, the town's economy centered on family-operated farms since orchards and vegetables thrived in the fertile soil. In 1905, the first public high-altitude flights by man were made over Santa Clara in gliders designed by John J. Montgomery. By the beginning of the 20th century, the population had reached 5,000 and stayed about the same for many years. The semiconductor industry, which sprouted in the late 1960s and early 1970s along a small stretch of Central Expressway between Lawrence and Monroe--the "true" Silicon Valley, changed the valley forever. Santa Clara is now home to some of the largest and most innovative companies in the world, including Intel, Hewlett Packard, and Sun Microsystems.
Santa Clara's first medical hospital, the Kaiser Hospital, was built in 1963 on Kiely Boulevard near Homestead Road. In 2005, Kaiser began moving all of its medical operations to their new facility located on Lawrence Expressway at Homestead Road. The transition to the new facility was completed in 2007, and, although the original building still stands on Kiely Boulevard, all medical services are provided at the new site.
Santa Clara is also the home to one of California's first major mental health facilities, Agnews State Hospital. Agnews was one of the first institutions to provide medical facilities to the mentally ill and housed residents in Spanish style buildings located on grounds surrounded by trees and parks. Agnews was so successful that it became the model for other medical facilities catering to the mentally ill. According to the National Park Service, Agnews greatest tragedy occurred during the San Francisco Earthquake of 1906, when more than 100 persons were killed when the largely unreinforced masonry constructed buildings collapsed. In 1996, the State of California sold over 90 acres of surplus land around Agnew for development into housing, schools, shopping areas, and commercial/industry. In order to protect the almost 100 year old buildings from destriction, the Agnews Hospital was listed in the National Register of Historic Places. The newly developed residential and commercial areas that grew around the Agnews Hospital are now part of the "River Oaks" section of Santa Clara. Agnews Hospital is still located in this area, but is a much smaller facility than it once was. Most of the original Agnews buildings have since been converted into corporate buildings for Sun Microsystems. There is a small museum in the newly refurbished Auditorium at the Sun Microsystems/Agnews Developmental Center commemorating the history of the hospital.
Some Cool Facts About Santa Clara:
Santa Clara is also home to Great America Theme Park, located on Great America Parkway; a wonderful convention center on Great America Parkway and Tasman, and the training camp for the San Francisco 49ers. If you're a 49er's fan, you might even catch of glimpse of team members having lunch in the local eateries along Great America Parkway.
The City of Santa Clara prides itself in being "green" far before such efforts were recognized. Santa Clara is one of the few cities in California to start and own its own power plant, called Silicon Valley Power. The plant has been continuously improved and now provides over 140 megawatts of power to its citizens. As a result, the citizens of Santa Clara enjoy far less expensive costs for electricity than is charged by the major electrical provider, Pacific Gas and Electric (PG&E).
Santa Clara University is one of the top rated schools in California with excellence in business (Leavey School of Business), Engineering and Law. The mascot is the "Bronco" and the school colors are red and white. Santa Clara University's quiet campus is located on the Alameda in Santa Clara near the San Jose border. The University is home to an active Church community and houses a unique athletic center, the Leavey Center, a theater (the Mayer Theater) and a museum.
Santa Clara annually hosts a pancake breakfast and fireworks show each Independence Day holiday at Memorial Park on Kiely Boulevard and it is one of the best celebrations around!
The City of Santa Clara annually offers a "free trash discard day" to all residents of Santa Clara. Residents may discard an unlimited amount of small and large items, such as furniture, gym equipment and computers, during the free trash day.
Santa Clara has active Korean community and a Korean shopping district on El Camino Real from Lawrence Expressway to Scott Boulevard.
Santa Clara residents attend either Santa Clara Schools or Cupertino School District schools. Due to the higher student achievement scores within the Cupertino School District, some of the most desirable homes are those located in this school district. The homes in the Cupertino School district are located in an area roughly bounded by Tantau, Stevens Creek, Pruneridge, and Kiely Boulevard, where the schools are Eisenhower Elementary, Hyde Middle School and Cupertino High School.
For More information about my town--Santa Clara, please feel free to email or write.
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