Although San José is one of the newest of cities, it is one of the oldest of communities in the State of California. It has a history both rich and varied. From the Spanish Conquistadors to the Mission padres to the mountain men voyageurs’ to the 49’ers, San José has been a glowing hope for the future. And so it remains. Here in this beautiful valley one group of travellers after another have found a tremendous opportunity to fulfill their dreams. It has provided a vision of a better life to those who arrived as overland emigrants in covered wagons or in tempest-tossed boats from lands at the other side of the Pacific Rim. It has always stood for things simple and profound: freedom and hope.

Those things that occurred in our past are more valuable to the present than any other commodity This has been a rapid and at times dizzying journey from the Llano de los robles to the Valley of Heart’s Delight to Silicon Valley, but it has been a journey filled with certain constants. The pueblo of San José is quite visible in the agricultural hub of early Twentieth century San José , just as that entrepreneurial place is present in the rising metropolitan high technology center of our own time. Whether it was cattle on the mission pasture or cherries and prunes in a crate or information onto a chip, San José has always been innovating, and improving. We remain so today. As we reap the benefits of a preeminent City of the future, we must never forget the lessons and values of our past. For generations San José has been the destination of choice and a wonderful home for my family and hundreds of thousands of others. In these pages we will relive the founding and emergence of our City as recounted by one who knows it better than any other. Enjoy the trip.

Mayor Tom McEnery