History Milpitas, California

jose maria alviso adobe, ca. 1920

both landowners had built prominent adobe homes on properties. today, both adobes still exist , oldest structures in milpitas. eroded walls of jose higuera adobe, in higuera adobe park, encapsulated in brick shell built c.1970 marian weller, descendant of pioneer joseph weller.

the alviso adobe can seen in original form 1 kitchen addition made cuciz family after purchased adobe gleason family in 1922. prior city acquiring alviso adobe in 1995, oldest continuously occupied adobe house in california dating mexican period , today still gradually being restored , undergoing seismic upgrades city of milpitas. alviso adobe history park opened, after exterior restoration of adobe , outbuildings completed, educational museum historic items, trees, buildings, , documents.

monument peak visible landmark in milpitas , has long been symbol of milpitas. (click on image detailed description)

in 1850s, large numbers of americans of english, german, , irish descent arrived farm fertile lands of milpitas. burnett, rose, dempsey, jacklin, trimble, ayer, parks, wool, weller, minnis, , evans among settlers of milpitas. (today many schools, streets, , parks have been named in honor of these families.) these settlers farmed land once ranchos. set businesses on called mission road (now called main street) between calaveras road (now called carlo street) , alviso-milpitas road (now called serra way). late 20th century area became known midtown district. yet influx of immigration came in 1870s , 1880s portuguese sharecroppers azores came farm milpitas hillsides. many of azoreans had such locally well-known surnames coelho, covo, mattos, nunes, spangler, serpa, , silva.

there local legend in 1857, when u.s. postal service wanted locate post office in frederick creighton s store near intersection of mission road , alviso-milpitas road serve newly created township, there support naming penitencia, after small roman catholic confessional building had served local indians , ranchers , had once stood several miles south of village near penitencia creek ran west of mission road. local farmer , first assistant postmaster, joseph weller, felt spanish word penitencia might confused english word penitentiary. instead of choosing penitencia, suggested popular name area, milpitas, after name of alviso s property, rancho milpitas. born milpitas township.

for on century, milpitas served popular rest stop travelers on old oakland−san jose highway. @ north side of intersection of road milpitas-alviso road, many years stood french s hotel had been built alex anderson prior 1859, when alfred french bought austin m. thompson. south of site of french s hotel, saloon dating @ least 1856 when agustus rathbone purchased land , improvements richard greenham. first murder in milpitas committed in 1860s in rathbone s saloon (alas, murderer escaped). later saloon replaced hotel shown on 1893 sanborn fire insurance map goodwin s hotel (perhaps same henry k. goodwin who, in 1890, loaned money prominent local rancher marshall pomeroy) presumably, hotel burned down , smith s corner, still stands, built in 1895, john smith, saloon served beer , wine thirsty travelers century before becoming restaurant in 2001. around central core, grocery , dry goods stores, blacksmithys, service stations, and, in 1920s, 1 of america s earliest fast food chain restaurants, fat boy , opened nearby. of milpitas popular restaurants kozy kitchen established in 1940 carlo family in former central market building. kozy kitchen demolished after jimmy carlo sold restaurant in 1999. in 1950s, milpitas served farming community of 800 people walked mere 1 or 2 blocks work.

the new milpitas library (2009) integrates historic milpitas grammar school building (1915).

on january 26, 1954, faced getting swallowed rapidly expanding san jose, milpitas residents incorporated city included built ford auto assembly plant. when san jose attempted annex milpitas barely 7 years later, milpitas minutemen organized oppose annexation , keep milpitas independent. overwhelming majority of milpitas registered voters voted no annexation in 1961 election result of vigorous anti-annexation campaign. following election, anti-annexation committee, had compared revolutionary war minutemen fought british on lexington green—a role filled in case neighboring city of san jose - adopted image of daniel chester french s minuteman statue, stands near site of old north bridge in concord, ma, part of official city seal. in 1960s, city approved construction of calaveras overpass. formerly @ junction union pacific railroad, calaveras boulevard had bridge passing on 6 sets of railroad tracks after construction completed. though result local residents drive on train tracks without waiting slow freight pass, resulted in loss of historical residential area. here houses owned city leaders had purchased city @ full market value , either moved or demolished.

starting in 1955, construction of ford motor assembly plant, , accelerating in 1960s , 1970s, extensive residential , retail development took place. hayfields in milpitas rapidly disappeared industries , residential housing developments spread. soon, once rural town of milpitas found san jose suburb. population jumped 800 in 1950 62,698 in 2000. several local farmers , businessmen had chipped in $2 $50 file incorporation, had become millionaires within ten years. of them moved away.

in 1961, ben f. gross, civil rights activist, became milpitas first black city councilman backing of uaw. election recognized nationally , received attention , life magazines. in 1966, ben f. gross became california s first black mayor when elected city s residents , black mayor of predominantly white town in california . mayor gross reelected in 1968 , continued fighting against milpitas annexation san jose.

the ford san jose assembly plant closed in 1984, later being converted shopping mall, great mall of bay area , opened in 1994.

in 21st century, milpitas light rail transit system station added, making northeasternmost light rail destination in region. on january 26, 2004, city celebrated 50th anniversary of incorporation , issued book milpitas: 5 dynamic decades commemorate 50 years of milpitas history busy, exciting crossroads community.