was founded by the Spanish in 1777. Prior to the arrival of Europeans in the 18th century, the
Tamien tribe of the
Ohlone nation of
Indigenous Californians had inhabited the area for several millennia.
Spanish period The first European to visit the valley was
José Francisco Ortega in 1769. The Spanish began to colonize California with 21
missions, and the
Mission Santa Clara de Asís was founded in 1777.
Mexican period , fought between the Americans and the
Californios, was one of the last battles of the U.S.
Conquest of California. The
Battle of Santa Clara, one of the last battles of the
Conquest of California, was fought between a contingent of
Californios, led by
Francisco Sánchez, against the invading American forces.
American period in 1910 In 1851,
Santa Clara College was established on the grounds of the original Mission. In 1852, Santa Clara was
incorporated as a town; it became state-chartered by 1862. For the next century, the economy centered on agriculture since orchards and vegetables were thriving in the fertile soil. By the beginning of the 20th century, the population had reached 5,000 and stayed about the same for many years. In 1905, the first public high-altitude flights by humans were made over Santa Clara in gliders designed by
John J. Montgomery. The
semiconductor industry, which sprouted around 1960, changed the city and surrounding
Valley of Heart's Delight; little of its agricultural past remains. Santa Clara's first medical hospital was built in 1963. This structure, on Kiely Boulevard, was replaced in 2007 with a new Kaiser Permanente medical center located on Lawrence Expressway at Homestead Road. Santa Clara was also home to a major mental health facility,
Agnews State Hospital. According to the National Park Service, more than 100 persons were killed at this site in the 1906 earthquake. The site is the former home to
Sun Microsystems and is listed in the
National Register of Historic Places. in 1933
Urban renewal policies of the 1950s and 1970s further accelerated downtown Santa Clara's decline. In 1957, the city filed an application for federal urban renewal funds under the 1954 Housing Act, proposing what was called the “Franklin Facelift”—a plan to rehabilitate the downtown business district and reverse perceived blight. Initially framed as a preservation effort, the plan evolved into a sweeping redevelopment proposal that included demolition of historic buildings and reconfiguration of the street grid. In September 1961, the city council voted to knock down the eight-block grid of Downtown Santa Clara, in order to receive federal funding for
urban renewal. Following the 1961 city council vote, a group of citizens filed lawsuit and challenged the scope of demolition and use of federal funds. The court limited redevelopment to original "facelift" funding, constraining broader plans. The city cleared the land but failed to rebuild the downtown, contributing to a decades-long vacuum. In 1965, the demolition of the eight-block grid (between Benton, Lafayette, Madison, and Homestead) was completed. Historic buildings like the City Hall, Franck Building and Santa Clara Theater were razed. Only the two-block Franklin Mall was built to replace the demolished buildings; however, most businesses did not return to the area due to high land costs. ==Geography==