The City of Santa Clara’s beginnings were rooted in the Mission of Santa Clara de Asis, the State’s eighth mission, which was established by the Franciscan Fathers in 1777.  When California was annexed by the United States in 1846, the hamlet of Santa Clara was recognized.  In 1852, Santa Clara was incorporated as a city and 10 years later enacted a city charter.  

As the City grew, a variety of manufacturing, seed and fruit companies, including the Wampach Tannery, Pacific Manufacturing Company and C. C. Morse and Company seed farms, made it their home.

 

By the 1950s, the face of Santa Clara changed–from an agricultural town to a producer of the semiconductor chip.  The high-technology, electronics industry was off and running.  During that time, the City’s population grew 403 percent to 60,000.  Today’s population is nearly double that number.