HISTORIC CONTEXT SURVEY Greater Gardner Neighborhoods San José, Santa Clara County, California Prepared for: City of San José Department of Planning, Building, and Code Enforcement 200 East Santa Clara St. Third Floor Tower San José, CA 95113 May 23, 2011; updated October 2, 2017 ARCHIVES & ARCHITECTURE, LLC PO Box 1332 San José, CA 95109-1332 http://www.archivesandarchitecture.com Greater Gardner Historic Context Survey Publication Credits PUBLICATION CREDITS Preservation Planning Guidelines and Publications This report was prepared using the following guidelines and publications: Secretary of the Interior’s Standards and Guidelines for Archeology and Historic Preservation, Guidelines for Local Surveys: A Basis for Preservation Planning (National Register of Historic Places Bulletin #24) Greater Gardner Neighborhood Improvement Plan, Strong Neighborhoods Initiative, 2002, City of San José Greater Gardner Neighborhood Improvement Plan Amendment, Strong Neighborhoods Initiative, 2007, City of San José Historical Overview and Context Statement for the City of San José, prepared by Archives & Architecture, 1992. Department of Planning, City of San José Historic Context Survey Report Preparation ARCHIVES & ARCHITECTURE, LLC: Franklin Maggi, Architectural Historian Bonnie Montgomery, Historian Leslie Dill, Historic Architect Jessica Kusz, Public Historian Olivia Sawi, Assistant Historian Krista Van Laan, Editor Cover image: Van Grundy family photo album, courtesy of Dan Erceg. ARCHIVES & ARCHITECTURE 2 Greater Gardner Historic Context Survey Table of Contents TABLE OF CONTENTS Publication Credits ............................................................................................................................ 2 Preservation Planning Guidelines and Publications ..................................................................... 2 Historic Context Survey Report Preparation................................................................................. 2 Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................. 3 Introduction ....................................................................................................................................... 5 Regional Map ................................................................................................................................ 6 Area Map ...................................................................................................................................... 7 Boundaries of the Survey Area ..................................................................................................... 8 Planning Background ....................................................................................................................... 9 Methodologies for Surveys and the Development of Context Statements ................................... 9 Project Objectives ....................................................................................................................... 12 The Greater Gardner Strong Neighborhoods Initiative (SNI) Planning Area ............................. 12 Performance of the Survey ......................................................................................................... 14 Past Survey Efforts ..................................................................................................................... 15 Summary of Findings ...................................................................................................................... 18 Historical Overview ......................................................................................................................... 21 Spanish Period (1777–1821) ...................................................................................................... 21 Mexican Period (1821 – 1846) ................................................................................................... 23 Early American Period (1846-1869) ........................................................................................... 26 Horticultural Expansion (1870-1918) .......................................................................................... 30 Bird Tract .................................................................................................................................... 32 Odd Fellows Savings Bank Tract ............................................................................................... 36 Interwar Period (1918-1945) ....................................................................................................... 45 Industrialization and Suburbanization (1945- ) ........................................................................... 48 Historical Themes ........................................................................................................................... 49 Manufacturing and Industry ........................................................................................................ 49 Communication and Transportation ........................................................................................... 50 Religion and Education ............................................................................................................... 50 Social, Arts, and Recreation ....................................................................................................... 52 Population and Cultural Groups ................................................................................................. 52 Architecture and Shelter ............................................................................................................. 53 DEVELOPMENT HISTORY ........................................................................................................... 67 ARCHIVES & ARCHITECTURE 3 Greater Gardner Historic Context Survey Table of Contents Gardner Neighborhood ............................................................................................................... 68 Gregory Plaza Neighborhoods ................................................................................................... 84 PLANNING AND REGULATORY ISSUES .................................................................................... 87 Determining Architectural Significance ....................................................................................... 87 Conservation Planning in the Greater Gardner SNI area ........................................................... 88 San José Preservation Planning Program.................................................................................. 89 Discussion of Conservation Area Policy and Guidelines ............................................................ 89 FINDINGS AND PLANNING OPTIONS ......................................................................................... 91 Planning Options ........................................................................................................................ 93 SOURCES OF INFORMATION ...................................................................................................... 96 Primary and Unpublished Sources ............................................................................................. 96 Secondary and Published Sources ............................................................................................ 96 Maps ........................................................................................................................................... 98 Appendix ....................................................................................................................................... 100 ARCHIVES & ARCHITECTURE 4 Greater Gardner Historic Context Survey Introduction INTRODUCTION Historic resource surveys and historic context statements are technical documents developed by communities throughout the United States. These documents provide a comprehensive planning tool for the identification, evaluation, registration, and treatment of historic properties. By developing and maintaining historic resource surveys and historic context studies, local governments are able to implement planning practices addressing historical and cultural resources, practices that have century-old roots in the United States. San José - California’s first civil settlement following the 1769 introduction of European culture to the region - is one of the earliest non-indigenous communities established in historical times on the West Coast. It played a brief but important role during the late expansion period of European Colonialism in the Western Hemisphere that concluded with the signing of territorial treaties at Madrid in the 1790s. The town was founded as a pueblo on November 29, 1777 under Spain. As one of two significant settlements at the edge of the frontier under both Spain and Mexico during the late eighteenth and first half of the nineteenth century (the other being the pueblo of Los Angeles), San José was an agricultural center for the central coast area. During the last century and a half, San José evolved as a unique American city built upon its historic roots. The development of San José during the first century of the American Period following the concession of Alta California in 1848 by Mexico in the Treaty of Guadalupe Hildago is discussed in many local history books. There is less information available about San Jose’s development at the neighborhood