CAGenWeb Santa Clara Co. - When San José Was Young

The Evening News, a local weekly newspaper published January 1, 1898 through December 30, 1922, ran a series of articles called When San José Was Young. These history articles include Spanish, Mexican and American settlement, oral traditions, biographies, romances, and "firsts" of Santa Clara County. This series was introduced September 18, 1916:

Many people have the mistaken idea that history is dull. How can it be dull, when it is the recalling to life of thousands of interesting men and women who trod this earth before we did? How can it be dull, when it quickens the imagination, and fills the waste places of today with the busy hum of voices and songs of long ago? Wine, that stores up within itself the sunlight and chemical energy of years gone by, has never been accused of being dull, whatever else may have been said against it. And history is a sort of wine, sparkling and revivifying, containing the vital essence of olden days, and enlivening our own times with the memory of brave deeds and beautiful characters of earlier years.

We see that history is veritably an intoxicating draft from life's wine cup, and by no means the dull thing that it is pictured by those who simply remember it as a string of hard to remember dates painfully studied at school.

The historical series entitled "When San José Was Young" is bound to interest all those who feel that the mere food and drink of the moment are not the only things worth thinking about. It will awake in all readers a keener appreciation of the present if they gain the knowledge of the past which these articles will give.

You can browse these articles, or search for keywords using the search engine.

1. The Great Adventure
2. The First Pueblo In California
3. Life At The Mission
4. The Saint
5. The Alameda, The Beautiful
6. School Days In The Pueblo
7. First Church In The Pueblo
8. Wine and Brandy In The Pueblo Days
9. Law And Order In The Pueblo. Part I.
9. Law And Order In The Pueblo. Part II.
9. Law And Order In The Pueblo. Part III.
10. San Jose As A Child
11. Making A Living In The Pueblo. Part I.
11. Making A Living In The Pueblo. Part II.
12. Days Of The Dons. Part I.
12. Days Of The Dons. Part II.
13. The House Of Don Jose
14. The Daughter Of Don Jose. Part I.
14. The Daughter Of Don Jose. Part II.
15. The Death Of Don Jose. Part II.
16. The Unconquered One. Part I.
16. The Unconquered One. Part II.
17. The First Frame House. Part II.