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Coming
August 18, 2012: Wolfe
& Wolfe Prairie Homes Tour
Do you know San Jose is one of the primary locations for Prairie-style architecture? The Prairie School is an American indigenous architectural style developed in the Midwest in the late 1800s, featuring horizontal lines, flat or hipped roofs with broad overhanging eaves, and windows grouped in horizontal bands. Frank Lloyd Wright was the most famous of the Prairie School architects.
San Jose’s own Frank Delos Wolfe and his son Carl made Prairie the signature style of their architectural firm while they were in business together between 1912 to 1916. Dozens of Wolfe & Wolfe Prairie buildings still stand in San Jose today, with many original interior and exterior details.
Owners of eight beautiful Prairie houses in several historic neighborhoods in San Jose will open their front rooms, kitchens, and more on August 18 for PAC*SJ’s Wolfe & Wolfe Prairie Open Homes Tour. Why go to Oak Park, Illinois, when Prairie School architecture is so close to home?
Click here to learn more about the tour and buy tickets.
Visit www.frankdeloswolfe.com or contact PrairieTour@preservation.org for more information.
Several intrepid teams tackled trivia questions on local history and other general local interest categories. Winn</strong></strong>ing teams in every round received gift baskets. The winning team "Murgotten but not Forgotten" will have their names engraved on a plaque that will be proudly posted in the front lobby of the Pacific Hotel at San Jose’s History Park.
Some sample questions from the evening:
1. What/who is
the City of Cupertino named after?
Best incorrect
answer: Steve Jobs' dog. Correct
answer: Arroyo San Jose de Cupertino (now Stevens Creek).
It
was named by Juan Bautista de Anza's cartographer after San Guiseppe
(San Joseph) of Cupertino, Italy.
2. What was the largest
residence in Santa Clara County before 1980?
Most popular
answer: Winchester Mystery House (24,000
sq feet). Correct
answer: Hayes Mansion (over 40,000 sq feet).
3. Name one of the sports
the Smothers Brothers participated in while attending San Jose State? Correct answers:
Track (Dick) and Gymnastics (Tom).
The Pioneers are offering up to $2,100 this year in prize money (including prize money for teachers)! Plus winners and their families will be honored at one of the Pioneers luncheons, given a subscription to the Trailblazer, and given recognition in the California Room and on the internet. The deadline is April 15, 2012 but authors should start working on their essays now.
The contest is open to everyone and has been going strong since 1958. Hundreds of essays have been produced which add to our community's collection of scholarly research. They are extending the contest to fourth graders this year, and have included as a new prize to fourth graders - "Westward Ho! presented by the California Pioneers of Santa Clara County".
View a PDF of the Contest Rules here or visit the California Pioneers website for rules, previous winners and more information.
Explore historical downtown San Jose - One
smartphone = 3 walking tours!
Thanks to a Library Services and Technology Act grant and about a
year's worth of hard work, SJPL has created three walking tours of
downtown San Jose that you can take using your smartphone and your
feet! Go to www.scanjose.org
to see images from the California Room
Collection while standing at the locations that the photographs were
taken. Think of it as a time machine in the palm of your hand!
There are three tours to choose from:
A Walk Around the Plaza
- takes you on a loop around Plaza de Cesar
Chavez
Tragedies and Calamities
- a no holds barred look at some of the tragic
events in San Jose history
Old Santa Clara Street
- highlights some of the great architecture that
has sprung up and come down over the years.
Don't have a smartphone? Join the SJPL staff on September 10th at
11:30 for a group tour using smartphones and iPads to take A Walk
Around the Plaza! Meet in front of the Art Museum - 110 S. Market
Street.
George was an accomplished architect, published author, public
speaker,
avid researcher and friend. In his career, George took great pride in
his architectural work and
helping his clients accomplish their goals for their family homes. He
was an acknowledged scholar on Frank Lloyd Wright and the expert on
Frank Delos Wolfe. He treasured his clients, business and historical
preservation associates and loved the work they did together. More on George's work.
Preservation Action Council has created the George
Espinola Memorial Fund and is
now receiving tax deductible donations to preserve his architectural
legacy and to continue his educational interests. Funds may be used to
encourage
printing his books, educational tours, research into the works of his
favorite
architects and more. Please take this opportunity to support George's
efforts to educate the community about San Jose's
architecture.
Checks, payable to Preservation Action Council of San Jose, may be sent
to: PAC-SJ, History Park, 1650 Senter Road, San Jose, CA 95112.
Please indicate the donation is for the George Espinola Memorial
Fund. PAC*SJ is a 501 c 3 non profit organization and
donations are tax deductible
as permitted by law.
Donate via PayPal here
Well this is pretty cool. A modern way to check out history in Silicon Valley. Just download the $1.99 app for your iPhone/ iPad and get a digital tour guide to Silicon Valley's historic sites. There are currently 125 sights -- key attractions include the birthplaces of the computer chip, disk drive, video games, video recorder, Ethernet, Apple, Google, HP, and numerous other important gizmos and corporations. SiliconValley.com article here
We have moved!
After 10 great years at Le Petit Trianon we have moved our
offices
to History San Jose.
Our new street address is: 1650 Senter
Road, San Jose, CA 95112-2599
Our phone number and PO Box remain unchanged.
Lowe's opens on the
Site of IBM Building 25.
A true story of
rising from the ashes. That's what can be said about the saga to save
the historic IBM Building 25 and PAC-SJ's collaboration with Lowe's.
When Building 25 was lost to a fire in March 2008 it appeared we also lost any chance of commemorating the building and the history that took place on that campus. PAC-SJ had been in discussions for quite awhile with Lowe's at the time of the destructive blaze and had nearly reached agreement on how to incorporate the building or elements of it into the Lowe's project. After the fire, Lowe's made it clear they intended to honor the agreement we had been discussing, and they drew up plans that would bring in design elements from Building 25 and the surrounding buildings of the IBM campus. They also agreed to rebuild a version of Building 25 on one of the outlying pads for eventual retail use, and construct an exhibit highlighting the history of the site.
In March 2010, the new Lowe's store opened. Design elements from Building 25 can be seen on the main warehouse building as well as in the historic exhibit. The historic exhibit allows Lowe's customers an opportunity to learn a little about the history and architecture of this location. The Building 25 re-creation will wait until the economy improves but all indications are that this project has made the best of a bad situation and shows what can be done under adverse conditions. More pictures of the new building here
Signposts Revisited is now
available for purchase!
This new publication combines
author Pat Loomis' previous two books, Signposts and Signposts II and
tells the stories of how our streets were named. Signposts Revisited is
a must-read for anyone interested in local history. The book is a
combined project of PAC-SJ, California Pioneers of Santa Clara Valley,
History San Jose, and the Argonauts Historical Society.
Signposts Revisited is available through the PAC-SJ office for $25. If you would like the book mailed, please add $3 for shipping and handling. Call the office at 408.998.8105 or email: info@preservation.org to place an order. The books will also be available at all of our events.
The book is also available as a premium to new and renewing
PAC-SJ members who JOIN
at the $100+ level.
PAC-SJ is looking for a few qualified applicants to be considered for openings on our Board. Help us pursue our mission of preserving the architectural heritage of San Jose and help educate homeowners, developers, and decision-makers about the importance of historic preservation