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California State...
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California Counties
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California Counties
The U.S. state of California is divided into fifty-eight counties.
On January 4, 1850, the California constitutional committee recommended the formation of 18 counties. They were
Benicia, Butte, Fremont, Los Angeles, Mariposa, Monterey, Mount Diablo, Oro, Redding, Sacramento, San Diego, San
Francisco, San Joaquin, San Jose, San Luis Obispo, Santa Barbara, Sonoma, and Sutter. On April 22, the counties
of Branciforte, Calaveras, Coloma, Colusi, Marin, Mendocino, Napa, Trinity, and Yuba were added. Benicia was
renamed Solano, Coloma to El Dorado, Fremont to Yola, Mt. Diablo to Contra Costa, San Jose to Santa Clara, Oro
to Tuolumne, and Redding to Shasta. One of the first state legislative acts regarding counties was to rename
Branciforte County to Santa Cruz, Colusi to Colusa, and Yola to Yolo.
The last California county to have been established is Imperial County in 1907. |
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Santa Clara County, California
Santa Clara County History, Geography, Demographics, Cities and Towns, and Education
County Seat: San Jose
Year Organized: 1850
Square Miles: 1,291
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Court House: 70 W Hedding, 10th Floor
County Courthouse
San Jose, CA 95110-0000
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Etymology - Origin of County Name
The county is named after Mission Santa Clara, which was
established in 1777, and named for Saint Clara of Assisi, Italy. The name Clara
means "clear" or "bright."
Demographics:
County QuickFacts: Census Bureau Quick
Facts
History
Santa Clara County was one of the original counties of California, formed in 1850 at the time of statehood. The
original inhabitants included the Ohlone, residing on Coyote Creek and Calaveras Creek. Part of the county's territory
was given to Alameda County in 1853.
The county is named after Mission Santa Clara, which was established in 1777, and named for Saint Clare of Assisi,
Italy.
Known at one time as the "Valley of Heart's Delight," Santa Clara Valley once overflowed with
abundant agricultural riches. Before the cultivation of this beautiful valley, the land itself provided
richly for its original Native American inhabitants, the Ohlone.
The Ohlone lived in villages scattered throughout the Santa Clara Valley and lived peacefully for more
than 1,000 years before the arrival of Spanish Explorers in the late 1700's. Gaspar de Portola and
Father Junipero Serra discovered the region while looking for Monterey Bay in November, 1769. Life in
the area changed dramatically with the arrival of the Spanish and in 1777 the Valley's first mission and
pueblo, Mission Santa Clara de Asís was established along the banks of the Guadalupe Creek.
After nearly a half-century of Spanish rule, the Mexican Revolution in 1821 brought an era of Mexican
leadership. "Manifest Destiny" and the lure of gold brought American explorers, and in 1850 California
was admitted to the Union. The County of Santa Clara was one of the original 28 counties of California
and San José became, for a short time, the capital of the nation's 31st state. The Valley's fertile soil
provided perfect conditions for agriculture. In the 1850's grain crops flourished, followed by orchards
of prunes, apricots, peaches and pears. Acres of prized vineyards covered the Valley. Fruit processing
developed into a major local industry and remained vital to the economy throughout the 1940's and
1950's.
The Bay Area has always attracted its share of new waves of people--Dust Bowl migrants of the 1930's,
postwar veterans who received their discharge papers in California and chose to stay, emigres fleeing
war or hardship in their native lands, sophisticated traders, business entrepreneurs, technical experts,
and many more. Gradually, ideas came to be the area's lifeblood, as aerospace and electronics
manufacturing replaces orchards and packing plants. Universities and businesses grew. Today, the County
of Santa Clara is known as "Silicon Valley," the birthplace of the high technology revolution.
Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 1,304 square miles (3,377 km²),
of which, 1,291 square miles (3,343 km²) of it is land and 13 square miles (34 km²) of it (1.02%) is
water.
The San Andreas Fault runs along the Santa Cruz Mountains in the south of the county.
Neighboring Counties:
- Northeast: San Joaquin County; Stanislaus County
- East: Merced County
- Southeast: San Benito County
- Southwest: Santa Cruz County
- Northwest: San Mateo County; Alameda County
Cities and Towns:
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- Campbell |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Cupertino |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Gilroy |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Los Altos |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Los Altos Hills |
town |
Incorporated Area |
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- Los Gatos |
town |
Incorporated Area |
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- Milpitas |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Monte Sereno |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Morgan Hill |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Mountain View |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Palo Alto |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- San Jose
(County Seat) |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Santa Clara |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Saratoga |
city |
Incorporated Area |
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- Sunnyvale |
city |
Incorporated Area |
County Resources:
Enter County Resources and Information Here
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County Resource Guide
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The history of our nation can be seen as a prolonged struggle to define the relative roles and powers of our governments: federal, state, and local. And the names we've given our counties, our most locally based jurisdictions, reflects the "characteristic
features of our country!"
But age, size and colorful names of our counties isn't the only reason to explore counties' role in American history, or the history of county government itself. In fact, the story of county government reflects the larger meanings of American history.
Today's counties are the most flexible, locally responsive and creative governments in the US. They are the most diverse, varying in size, population, geography, and governmental structure. In their politics and policies, they express a 1990's political slogan "Think globally,
act locally." |
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