At the turn of the 20th Century, San Jose was a thriving city of 21,000 surrounded by orchards and fields. The valley’s agricultural industry was centered on finance, retail, manufacturing, and services. The Carnegie Building of the San Jose Public Library opened in 1903. Charles Herrold founded the first commercial radio station in San Jose in 1909.
The 1906 earthquake destroyed many buildings in San Jose. The city was still primarily rural, and its population was much smaller than that of San Francisco. Buildings on the peninsula were not as close together as they were on the peninsula, thus reducing the risk of major fires. Over 100 people were killed when the walls and roof of the all-brick Agnews Asylum (later Agnews State Hospital) collapsed. San Jose High School’s three-story stone and brick structure, which was8 years old, also collapsed, and many other buildings were severely damaged. Numerous other moderate earthquakes have been felt in San Jose without causing much damage. Most earthquake damage is quickly repaired, but some effects may still be visible, such as cracked sidewalks and raised curbs.
Here are some stunning historical photos that show San Jose in the 1900s.
#1 Photo from the Von Dorsten family album. Chinatown, San Jose, 1906
#2 Japanese Cottage at Nippon Mura, on line of the S.J. & Los Gatos Interurban R.R., 1903
#3 San Fernando & Second Street, San Jose, 1906
#4 Annex to Russ House, San Jose, 1906
#5 2nd Street, 1906
#6 Trinity Episcopal Church, 1902
#7 San Jose High School, 1903
#8 Unique Theatre, 1906
#9 Saint James Hotel, San Jose, 1900
#10 Church at San Jose, 1906
#11 Santa Clara Street, San Jose, 1905
#12 Horse drawn delivery trucks in front of San Jose Laundry Association Works, 1905
#13 Photo from Von Dorsten family album. Company B leaving San Jose for Spanish American war, 1906
#14 San Jose Parade with a float by Gas Light & Fuel Co, 1907
#15 Street scene at T&D Theatre, San Jose, 1900s
#16 San Jose Rubber Works interior. Left to right Jack Bean, Herb Bean, Charlie Bean, 1905
#17 Eilers Music Co., with San Jose Transfer truck, 1900s
#18 San Jose Laundry Association trucks in front of the laundry works about 1906. Corner of Tenth and Saint James Streets.
#19 Oldest theater still in business in San Jose is the Jose, at 64 South Second Street built in 1904 for Monterey investor David Jacks.
#20 Downtown San Jose, 1908
#21 Second San Jose State Normal School building, 1900
#22 The Post Office, from St. James Park, San Jose, 1907
#23 Market and San Fernando On margins Post Office, San Jose, 1908
#24 Grauman’s Unique Theater, San Jose, 1904
#25 San Jose showing adobe structures and Fallon House, 1900
#26 Men in front of Grauman’s Unique Theatre, 1904
#27 San Jose Normal School quadrangle, 1905
#28 San Jose Hospital ground-breaking, 1900s
#29 Lowell Grammar School First Grade, 1900s
#30 Market Street Station, San Jose, 1907
#31 The Italia Hotel, San Jose, 1900
#32 Knapp Plow Company offices located in downtown San Jose, 1900s
#33 City Hall, San Jose, 1901
#34 Hotel Vendome, San Jose, 1900s
#35 Letcher Garage on North First Street, San Jose, California, 1905
#36 House on North San Pedro Street, 1900s
#37 Ruins of Agnews Insane Asylum, San Jose, 1906
#38 Enterprise Grocery and Theodore Lenzen Offices, 1906
#39 Hotel St. James, San Jose, California, 1904
#40 Market Street, San Jose, 1907
#41 Lyndon Block-Eaton and Eaton Printing Company 173 West Santa Clara Street San Jose, 1908
#42 Parade, South First Street, July 4, 1907
#43 Horse-drawn cart outside Bennett, Patterson & Co. furniture store, 1900
#44 F. M. Jones Bicycle Store, San Jose, 1906
#45 President McKinley in St. James Park, 1901
#46 Schuetzen Inn, Monterey Road, 1908
#47 Police Court, San Jose, 1905
#48 Scottish Rite Temple – Cornerstone Ceremony, San Jose, 1909
#49 Berryessa School group posed in front of school building, 1906
#50 One of the Mercury News downtown locations, or one of its predecessor newspapers, 1900s
#51 West Hall, University of the Pacific, San Jose, 1908
#52 O’Brien’s Candy Factory, Wholesale and Retail, located at 30 South First Street, 1900s
#53 Pasetta family home, San Jose, 1905
#54 O’Connell Brothers Meat Market & Grocery, San Jose, 1908
#55 Two cars of Alum Rock Steam Railroad at Alum Rock Park, San Jose, 1900s
#56 The original Oak Grove School was located on Downer Avenue near Snell. Downer is now Blossom Hill Road in San Jose, 1908
#57 Court House and Hall of Records, San Jose, 1903
#58 San Francisco From Fairmont Hotel, 1908
#59 First Street, San Jose, 1907
#60 Postcard of the Driveway of the Garden City Sanitarium, San Jose, 1900s
#61 Hotel Vendome, San Jose Calif, 1900
#62 St. James Hotel, Park & McKinley Monument, San Jose, 1909
#63 Rose Carnival 1901, Florence Cunningham San Jose State Normal School Float (ca) Market & Santa Clara Streets, 1901
#64 New Cars of the San Jose and Los Gatos Interurban R. R., 1900s
#65 Branding Claves near San Jose and Los Gatos Interurban R. R., 1905
#66 Phelan Building, 1906
#67 Lick Stables, 1900
#68 People on the Street After the Devastation, 1906
#69 Native Sons Hall, 1906
#70 Lord & Westlake’s Stables, 1900
#71 Rail Tracks Cleared, 1906
#72 Toward State Normal School, 1900
#73 Old City Hall, Cogswell monument, 1906
#74 Stanford Campus, 1906
#75 Horace Mann School, 1909
#76 Two story building with cupola, possibly a school, 1905
#77 Southern Pacific Railroad depot in Santa Clara, 1900
#78 Adults and children at Campbell Union High School event, 1900s
#79 4th of July Parade, 1909
#80 Woodrow Undertaking Co, 1900s
#81 Lick Observatory buildings on top of Mount Hamilton, 1900
#82 West Hall, University of Pacific (Emory Street near Elm), 1902
#83 Asa Adam’s House, San Jose, 1902
#84 Santa Clara Municipal Gas Works, 1905
#85 Bicycle Race, Agricultural Park, 1905
#86 David Umbarger House, 1909
#87 Regal Shoes, 1900s
#88 View of Los Gatos, 1904
#89 Large family in front of house, 1900s
#90 Old Glory and Some of Its Children, 1900s
#91 Charles Doerr Home at 226 South Second Street, 1909
#92 Second Street, Eilers Music Co. and Lyric Theater, 1900s
#93 Hall of Justice, 1906
#94 Presbyterian Church, 1906
#95 Power House, Stanford University, 1906
#96 Broadway Store on the southeast corner of Broadway and Coe Avenue, 1903
#97 Man walking in front of grand house, 1900s
#98 Man looking at photographer while standing on brick rubble, second story of brick, 1906
#99 Floral Parade, 1900
#100 The Modern School of Business, 72-78 North Second Street; Roley S. Kooser, Plumbers and Tinners, 46 North Second Street, 1906
#101 Sperry Flour Company Building.1900
#102 Cottage 16-West Side, Agnews Mental Hospital, 1906
#103 Sunnyvale Civil War Veterans, 1907
#104 Lipe, R. M. Foundry, Caton’s Foundry, 1904
#105 Tillie’s Catch one day at Capitola, 1906
#106 Train at Station Los Gatos, 1905
#107 Auto race on Alum Rock Hill, 1906
#108 Cyclists with Trophy, 1905
#109 Rose Carnival Parade, 1901
A horse drawn float, elaborately decorated with flowers, passes by crowds during the Rose Carnival Parade. Spectators can be seen standing on balconies and at second-story windows to watch the parade. The Rose Carnival was part of the festivities surrounding President McKinley's visit.
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#110 Market Street Depot, 1905
#111 Armory-California National Guard, 240 North Second Street, 1900s
#112 Elk’s Hall & Meyer Bros. Clothing, 1906
#113 Saint Claire Club on Saint James and Second Street, 1905
#114 Boys with drums, marching, 1904
#115 Hotel Vendome and Grounds, 1905
#116 State Normal School, 1900
#117 Santa Clara County Almshouse, formerly O’Toole Farm, 1905
#118 Damage to Main Fire Station, 1906
#119 Horse-drawn vehicles and employees outside the Kelley Laundry building, 1900s
#120 Gymnasium, Stanford, 1906
#121 Lick Observatory buildings on Mount Hamilton, 1901
#122 The building that now houses the Cantor Arts Center at Stanford University, 1900s
#123 Casino and Wharf at Lake Tahoe, 1908
#124 California Nursery at Niles, 1900
#125 Hare family home, 1075 Madison Street, 1907
#126 Phelan Building, Hobson’s Store, San Jose, 1906
#127 San Jose Normal School, 1900
In the foreground is a curved dirt path leading to the main entrance. To the right is part of the school landscaping. This brick building was built in 1881 to replace an earlier building destroyed by fire. The building seen here was badly damaged in the 1906 earthquake and subsequently demolished.
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#128 San Jose High School, 1908
San Jose High School was opened in 1908 to replace an earlier structure destroyed in the 1906 earthquake. The central building flanked by bell towers housed administrative offices and an auditorium. Separate wings on either side housed classrooms. The high school was demolished in the 1950s to make room for expansion of San Jose State College.
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#129 San Jose State Normal School, 1906
#130 First Presbyterian Church, North Second Street, 1906
#131 Rebuilding Fredericksburg Malt House, May 22, 1903
#132 Children looking into a fountain, Saint James Park, San Jose, 1904
#133 Market Street Summer Celebration, June 1906
Market & San Fernando Streets with electric light tower in the distance. St. Joseph's Church on the right. Scaffolding is still on the post office at the far right. This image was featured on a series of collectible cards produced by The Image Group in 1992, with the following caption: Dominating the intersection of Market and Santa Clara streets is the famous Electric Light Tower, some 237 feet tall.
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#134 San Jose High School, 1906
#135 San Jose High School, 1906
#136 San Jose Transfer and Storage Company, 1906
#137 San Jose, CA branch of AP Giannini’s Bank of Italy, 1907
#138 Workmen on the Line of The Interurban Road, 1903
#139 A drying ground west side district near line of S. J. &, 1903
#140 Sixty-five Post Street was the saloon of P. H. Sullivan in 1905.
#141 Fredericksburg Brewery – Malt House Fire, 1902
#142 Between Los Gatos and Saratoga on the Line of the S.J.L.G. and Saratoga Interurban Road, 1903
#143 Drying grounds of Prof. Childs showing the partial crop of prunes of a farm, 1903
#144 Brass band at Hotel Vendome, 1900
#145 Residence of Geo. E. Hyde, Interurban Road, 1903
#146 Los Gatos on line of S.J. & Los Gatos Interurban R.R.., 1903
#147 U.S. Post Office, San Jose, 1906
#148 Trinity Episcopal Church, San Jose, 1900
#149 Peacock Stables, Hansen & Poulsen, 1908
Horse-drawn carriage parked in front of the Peacock Stables. Jacobi B. Poulsen became proprietor of the Peacock Livery Stable at 59 North San Pedro Street from around 1908 to 1913. In 1913 he sold all of his stock at public auction after the automobile industry started making inroads. He then engaged in hay, grain, and fuel business with partner and brother-in-law Hans A. Hansen, at the corner of Julian and San Pedro Streets.
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#150 San Jose Post Office, 1906
#151 Castro Street, Mountain View, 1907
#152 Osen Hunter Auto Co., First & Saint James Street, 1908
#153 San Jose post office, 1905
#154 San Jose City Hall, 1900
#155 San Jose City Hall, 1901
#156 View looking straight down The Alameda which is lined with tall trees. A horse drawn trolley stands on the right, 1900
#157 The Alameda, 1900
#158 Gardner School Graduates, 1907
#159 First Street, 1903
#160 Street Scene- Saratoga Ave. & Stevens Creek Road, 1907
#161 Agnews Asylum Ruins, 1906
#162 Monastery at Mission San Jose, Alameda County, 1902
#163 San Jose, Alum Rock jail, 1900
#164 Sainte Claire Club, 1905
#165 Naglee House, 1902
#166 St Joseph’s Cathedral, 1905
#167 Plaza, Market Street from City Hall, 1900
#168 Lawrence Station, 1900
#169 Native Daughters of the Golden West Parade, 1907
Photograph of a group of women from the Native Daughters of the Golden West participating in the 1909 Admissions Day parade in San Jose. A few women are on horseback but most are riding in carriages. They are stopped on South Market Street near the intersection of Post. The woman sitting in the first carriage peering over the shoulder of the man with the cigar is Tillie Brohaska, member of the musical Brohaska family and a well-known local pianist.
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#170 Sainte Claire Club, 1900
#171 Portrait of two young children outside stone house, 1900s
Portrait of two older men and one woman standing outside the front of a stone building in Scotland. The first two floors of the building are visible; it's unclear how many floors there are. Another man, possibly a gardener, is working in the front garden. This building is part of a row of buildings, either single family attached homes, or flats, which would have had larger gardens in the back, sometimes shared between residents.
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#172 Sempervirens Camp, May 1900
#173 Santa Clara Mission in the old belfry, bells given by King of Spain, 1904
#174 Western Wireless Equipment Co., 1905
#175 Park Commissioners in Big Basin, September 1901
#176 Morning Times and Evening Herald. 65 South Market Street, 1900
#177 Driving Around the Big Basin: La Honda, near Pescadero, June 1900
#178 Trolling with a Wilson Spoon for Trout, Big Creek Dam, 1901
#179 Mill Hands on H. L. Middleton’s Property Edge of Big Basin, 1901
#180 Hotel at Boulder Creek, 1901
#181 Commodore Huntington’s Yacht Thelma, 1907
#182 Garden City House, 1906
#183 Alviso Hotel, 1905
#184 Stanford Family Mausoleum, 1900
#185 San Jose High School, 1906
#186 Establishing Big Basin State Park, 1900
#187 State Normal School Main Entrance, 1909
View looking across the quadrangle lawn toward the main entrance to San Jose State Normal School. The main entrance gate has three arches and faces Fourth Street. On the right is one of the classroom wings connected to a colonnaded arcade. The structure was built of reinforced concrete to replace one destroyed in the 1906 earthquake. It opened in September 1910.
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#188 San Jose Post Office, 1908
#189 Portrait of Gerhardus DeWit, 1900
#190 San Jose Court House, 1905
#191 City Hall San Jose, 1905
#192 Native Daughters of the Golden West parade, 1907
A group of women from the Native Daughters of the Golden West participating in the 1907 Admissions Day parade in San Jose. A few women are on horseback but most are riding in carriages. They are stopped on South Market Street near the intersection of Post Street. The woman sitting in the first carriage peering over the shoulder of the man with the cigar is Tillie Brohaska, member of the musical Brohaska family and a well known local pianist.
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#193 View of a street near the Alameda between Santa Clara Street and San Jose Street, 1900
#194 Longfellow Grammar School, 1907
An adult and three children stand in front of the left side of Longfellow Grammar School. The school is surrounded by a dirt field. Longfellow Grammar School was constructed to replace an older building destroyed by the 1906 earthquake. It stood at 275 Terraine Street near North San Pedro and West Julian Streets. It was closed in the early 1970s as an earthquake hazard and its students were transferred to Hester Elementary School.
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#195 Gerhardus De Wit who served as one of San Jose’s first mail carriers stands in front of his horse drawn carriage, 1900
#196 Parade on Market Street, 1909
#197 Exterior view of the Carnegie Library, San Jose’s main public library, 1903
The library was located at the southeast corner of San Fernando and Fourth streets. The cornerstone was laid February 17, 1902 and the new building opened June 6, 1903. The library was designed in the Classical Revival style, by architect William Binder, who also designed the Hollister Carnegie. The builder was F.A. Curtis. By 1908 the Carnegie building was already overcrowded and in 1936 it was sold to San Jose/Main State College. The old Carnegie building served the college as Student Union until it was torn down in 1960 to make room for a new wing on the college library.
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#198 Carnegie Library, 1903
#199 Street scene, San Jose, 1906
#200 First Street Looking South, 1908
First Street looking south from the intersection of Post Street is crowded with wagons and carriages. Pedestrians walk the sidewalks while a streetcar runs on tracks down the middle of the street. The tall building on the right is the Garden City Bank building which opened in 1908.
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#201 Grauman’s Unique Theatre, 1903
The staff and performers of Unique Theatre photographed in front of the building at 20 East Santa Clara Street. Two sign boards advertise the moving pictures and Vaudeville performances. Opened by Sid Grauman in 1903, the Unique Theatre was irreparably damaged in the 1906 earthquake.
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#202 Rose Carnival Parade, 1901
#203 Rose Carnival Parade, 1901
#204 Hotel Saint James, 1900
The Hotel Saint James, which stood at 123 North First Street, opposite Saint James Park. An American flag flies atop the building. The hotel is flanked by the Saint James Livery and Feed Stables and the Santa Clara County Courthouse. The courthouse is still in use.
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#205 Railroad car entering the tunnel on the way to Alum Rock Park in San Jose, 1900
The railroad car is at center and partially inside a small tunnel cut into a mountain behind it. A man in a railroad uniform is standing near the car at center. The tracks on which the car rides split in the foreground, with one track extending to the left and the other to the center. A large wooden water tank can be seen on the hill in the background, and a wooden fence runs above the tunnel. Several trees and bushes can be seen around the tunnel.
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#206 Postcard of West Main Street in Los Gatos, 1900
#207 Club house of the South Bay Yacht Club, Alviso, 1903
#208 View of Morgan Hill, 1900
#209 Franklin Street and Main Street, 1900
#210 Victorian house with barn, 1900
Roses climb to the second story of a Victorian style house. The unpaved driveway is lined with trees and bushes and leads to a barn behind the house. Steps used for dismounting from a carriage stand at the path leading to the house's front porch. A sign hangs at the entrance to the house but the words are obscured by a rose bush.
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#211 Grant Grammar School, Empire Street, San Jose, 1906
#212 St. James Annex, St. John’s St. San Jose, 1906
#213 Hall of Justice, Market and St. James Street, San Jose, 1906
#214 S. Second Street, Ruins after the Fire. San Jose, 1906
#215 Post Office. San Jose, 1906
#216 View of San Jose Post Office from Plaza Park, 1907
The circular park has a y-shaped walkway where in the center stands a statue. The landscape, consisting flower plants and trees, is beautifully designed. Trees line the circular perimeter of the park. One prominent building, across the street from the park, features castle-like architecture. Behind it is another unique building that features a Moorish or Spanish-like architecture. In the distance is the San Jose's Electric Light Tower.
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#217 Four children posing in the courtyard in front of the San Jose City Hall, 1907
#218 Alum Rock Mineral Springs in San Jose, 1900
A paved road emerges from the left side in the foreground and bends towards the background on the right. Trees line both sides of the road with several lightly-colored structures standing on the left side behind a thin sidewalk at center. On the far left a palm tree stands in center of a circle of flowers planted in a small plot of grass on the side of the road.
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#219 Exterior view of Saint James Hotel and park in San Jose, 1900
The tall hotel stands on the right with several balconies under the many windows. Dark, glass doors can be seen in the hotel at street level and two wooden wagons with horses stand next to the park across the street. Palm trees line the sidewalk in front of the grass park where a statue depicting a man pointing towards the ground stands on a top of a wide, stone pedestal with a second, dark figure on the back side of the pedestal.
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#220 Exterior view of the Cathedral Basilica of Saint Joseph in San Jose, 1900
The large building appears to be a church with several towers, including one at center, with arched windows and a cross displayed on top. A large dome-like roof can be seen in the back with another cross presented on top. Large, double-doorways can be seen on the left beyond thick columns underneath printed words on the roof above. Palm trees stand on either side of the entrance behind the short, black fence that surrounds the yard.
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#221 Exterior view of an unidentified residence in Garden City, San Jose, 1900
A large tree stands at center splitting a paved pathway which is lined with flowers and grass. One section extends to the left where a staircase leads to the plant-covered porch and entrance of the large house. The pathway also leads straight with another staircase at center on the path's left and the window to a rounded sitting room further down.
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#222 Exterior view of an unidentified residence in San Jose, 1900
The three-story, mission-style building is at center and is facing to the right. A second-story balcony serves as a cover for the front porch. The walls are covered with spackle and the roof is made of terracotta tiles. Another unidentified house can be seen in the foreground at right. It is a two-story clapboard house with a flat roof.
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#223 Exterior view of Hotel Vendome in San Jose, 1900
The tall, lightly-colored hotel stands at center in the back with a many windows and a tower that presents the American flag on a pole at top. Another rounded tower can be seen on the right while a shady porch sits on the first level on the left. A grassy yard occupies the foreground with a small patio as well as several circular gardens and a variety of trees.
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#224 Exterior view of San Jose College, 1900
The large, brick building stands three stories tall at center with a long staircase leading to the columns of the entrance on the left. A road emerging from the foreground at center is split to either side of a small, triangular garden in part of the grassy yard of the college.
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#225 The Bank of San Jose, 1900
The lightly-colored building stands five stories tall with a clock tower at the corner of the two intersecting streets at center. Balconies protrude from underneath several of the many windows and bare flag poles extend from underneath the clocks on either side of the clock tower.
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#226 First Presbyterian Church in San Jose, 1900
The church is lightly shaded with a darkly covered roof and trim and a short staircase that leads to the castle-like entrance at center. Stained glass windows can be seen in a row in the wall on the right while a giant tower presents a cross further down the road on the right. Several people stand on the steps leading from the tower on the right to the sidewalk that runs along the far side of the street in front of the church.
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#227 Trinity Church from a park in San Jose, 1900
The large church stands at center with most of the front walls covered in trees and long plants that climb the tall walls. A shingled, slanting roof can be seen on the left presenting a cross and another can be seen on the right with arched windows below it. A small staircase stands between them and a steeple extends from the trees above.
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#228 The Hotel Vendome in San Jose, 1900
A paved driveway leads through the yard from the foreground on the left to the large hotel at center. Trees stand along the edge of the grassy yard that surrounds the driveway while at the end of the driveway staircases lead to a shaded porch on the first floor of the hotel.
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#229 Exterior view of St. Clair Club, San Jose, 1900
Plants nearly cover the walls of the building on the right while the left side is relatively uncovered with brick trim around the windows and doors. Two palm trees stand in the small yard on the right side with two massive bushes on either side of them. Short, lightly-colored posts stand on the sidewalk outside the entrance of the building on the far left and another building stands further down the street.
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#230 The second Normal School Building (completed in 1881) in San Jose, 1901
#231 Santa Clara Street, San Jose, 1907
#232 Santa Clara County court house and Hall of Records, San Jose, 1905
The building is about five-stories tall and features Greek or Romanesque architecture. Wide steps lead up to the large portico entrance supported by six columns. "justitiæ dedicata" is embossed on the wall directly below the large pediment above the portico. To the right of the court house is the Hall of Records.
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#233 Auditorium Rink, San Jose, 1900
#234 St. James Park William McKinley monument, 1903
#235 Wreck of Overland Limited near San Jose, 1906
#236 Wreck of Overland Limited near San Jose, 1906
#237 Postcard of Main Street, Santa Clara,1900
#238 Businesses on Murphy Avenue in Sunnyvale, 1906
#239 Willows Tavern near San Jose, 1907
#240 President Theodore Roosevelt in San Jose, 1903
#241 Jackson School, Morgan Hill, 1909
#242 Summit of Mount Hamilton, 1900
#243 Sunnyvale, Butcher’s corner, Bicycle racers, 1900
#244 Santa Clara County Municipal Gas Works, 1900
#245 Swiss Hotel, Market Street, 1900
#246 Beach and Porter buildings, San Jose, 1905.
#247 Looking south on Market Street, 1905
Looking south on Market Street from St. John, c. 1905. On the left is the J. S. Williams clothing store next to the Palm Restaurant and the New York Exchange Hotel. City Hall (built in 1887) is in the center of the Plaza in the background. The Electric Light Tower, 237 feet high, spanned Market and Santa Clara Streets from 1881 to 1915
