665 W. Olive Ave
Sunnyvale, CA
94086
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The Sunnyvale Collection
Sunnyvale - Silicon Valley - San Francisco

It is the mission of the Sunnyvale Collection to preserve and share a record of the evolution of our community, past and present. 

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                 to 1879       1880-1899       1900-1919       1920-1939       1940-1959       1960-1979       1980+

3,000 B.C.
Pre-historic "Sunnyvale girl" lived. Discovered in 1972, providing evidence of early human habitation in the area

 

 

 1770s
Santa Clara Valley populated by Ohlone Indians. The large village of Posolmi located along shore of San Francisco Bay, near location of present Moffett Field

Spanish arrive

1777
Mission Santa Clara founded, built and populated mainly by Christian Ohlone Indians from the Santa Clara Valley

 

 

1842
Rancho Pastoria de las Borregas granted to Estrada and Inez Castro. Mountain View and Sunnyvale later develop in the area of the land grant.

1844
Lupe Yñigo receives Rancho Posolmi, 1700 acre land grant at the site of the Posolmi Ohlone village, one of only a few land grants held by natives. Later known as Rancho Ynigo

 

1844
Martin Jr. and Mary Murphy leave Missouri for California on first wagon train to successfully cross the Sierra Nevada mountains

1850
Martin Murphy Jr. buys a portion of Rancho Pastoria de las Borregas for $12,500, establishing a wheat farm. Bay View established, first frame house in Santa Clara County, shipped from New England
1861
San Francisco and San Jose Railroad given right of way by Murphy to lay tracks through the property, agree to use Murphy Station. Lawrence Station later built at southern edge of Bay View

1870s
County property tax laws and state enclosure laws, along with soil degradation and imports, contribute to making wheat production uneconomical in the Bay Area. Small landholdings, especially fruit orchards, are replacing large wheat farms in Santa Clara County
1871
James and Eloise Dawson establish first cannery in Santa Clara County

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 


next > 1880-1899

 
Photographs courtesy of the California History Center, except:
Ohlone village: Mural under Main Street bridge at Highway 101, Los Gatos, California, photo by Randy Herrick, retrieved from http://www.indiancanyonvillage.org/ohlonevillage

Information chiefly from:
Mary Jo Ignoffo. (1994). Sunnyvale, from the City of Destiny to the Heart of Silicon Valley. Cupertino, California: California History Center & Foundation.