California Pioneers of Santa Clara County

In kinder years, the Pioneers love getting together at barbecues, reunions, luncheons, museums, and picnics, like this one in Alum Rock Park in 1898. In 2020 we just hope our members and friends are staying safe and healthy, making memories to share in the future. If you’re looking for a project, the Pioneers still have lots of volunteer projects, from helping identify and label photos and videos to transcribing old documents. Our Essay Contest deadline has also been extended... to 2021, so you can finally turn that oral history or research project into a prizewinning essay. And don’t forget your own history! This is the perfect time to take notes - we’d love to hear from you about what you remember, whether it’s playing in long-gone orchards, participating in a school event, or meeting someone for coffee in a favorite spot. Stories of our past keep history alive, and help future generations understand us, and themselves. See more

Our early founders, including Alex P. Murgotten, A.P. Hill, and others, established the Sempervirens Club to save Big Basin. The park and its place in our history will recover because those who care, like the Pioneers, persist.

The Oakland Museum of California is home to the largest collection of Dorothea Lange's photos - and now they feature an incredible and moving online exhibit of her photography, much of which shows the hardships and struggles of life in the Bay Area.

Can’t travel? Take a virtual trip with us! Our Pioneers Film Archive collects films from across the globe, primarily focused on the history of Santa Clara County and the Bay Area - but the films our donors and collectors give us range from birthday parties to vacations - like these fascinating films of Florida’s past!

This heat has us thinking about swimming - like these 1940s students from Woodrow Wilson Jr. High in San Jose. But they have better hats.

How many of you remember the spinning sail on the Almaden AFS radar tower? This photo was taken by Mary Lou Lyon in May 1979, when the FPS-24 radar was still spinning, and less than a year before the facility was decommissioned.

Here’s a #historymystery for our friends from Campbell! We have this photo of the Campbell Union High School baseball team from 1910, but don’t know who they were! The back of the photo says p.17 of Oriole has names. Anybody got a copy of the Oriole (yearbook?) who can help with some IDs?

Here’s a third #historymystery from the Pioneers’ Arbuckle’s slide collection! This seems to be a maypole celebration in a local schoolyard in the Santa Clara Valley - but we know nothing else! Can anyone spot something that might give us more clues? Do the nearby buildings help us figure out where the school was? Do the ladies’ hats and dresses help date the image with any accuracy? What can you find, sleuths?

Here’s #historymystery number two - another of Clyde Arbuckle’s slides. As with many in his collection, he took a slide photo of an old print - but in the process, we lost any info from the original! This slide was made in 1979, but we want to know the following about the original: when it was taken, what the building is, where the scene takes place, and who is in it! Any clues to be had from the open roadster? Perhaps from the sign next door that seems to end in ng? Have at it, internet sleuths!

Ok, friends, how about a history mystery to work on? We’ll post a few of these over the next few days, and see if you faithful internet detectives can help us identify some unidentified historical images! The first one is this image from Clyde Arbuckle’s slide collection. Clyde liked to make copies of his old photos by taking pictures of them, and developing them as slides so that he could use them in the classroom. This one he re-photographed in about 1969, but we don’t know when the original was taken, or what locomotive this was. We’d especially love to know where the original photo was taken - does the ghost sign on the building in the background give any clues? Let us know what you discover! #historymystery

Looking for a time machine? Visit the Roberto Adobe & Suñol House Museum today and every Saturday from 12-2pm and see one of the only structures in California that represents this region’s entire history! Built starting in 1836 by an Ohlone, expanded by a Spanish Don, second story raised by a Gold Rush-era sea merchant, and modernized through the early 1900s by Italian immigrants, this is the second oldest Adobe building in the county, possibly the first fired brick structure in California, a beautiful example of a Monterey Colonial, and a quintessential turn-of-the-century farmhouse. 770 Lincoln Avenue, San Jose.

Dear Pioneers Due to the spread of the coronavirus, and in accordance with the CDC and Santa Clara County Health Department recommendations, the Board of the California Pioneers of Santa Clara County has regretfully decided to cancel the quarterly luncheon planned for this Saturday March 7. We feel that the health and well-being of our members out-weighs the inconvenience, however we do apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We look forward to seeing you again in ...the future at our luncheons when this outbreak has died down. Best regards, Sylvia Hew Luncheon Committee Chair

Did You Know? Hacienda Cemetery, the Pioneers' beloved graveyard grove in New Almaden, is featured on Atlas Obscura - why, you may ask? Because of the single buried arm that lies there. Though this has all the makings of a lurid campfire tale, you'd never know it from the placid surroundings. If you want to help us maintain and restore this cemetery, and find out more of its many stories, join us May 16th at 9am for a workday!

How are you getting ready for the Big Game? In 1941, Hangar 1 was the proving ground for more than airplanes and airships! The pigskins were flying! #49ers #football #GoNiners

A Resolution: Join the California Prune and Apricot Growers!