Manhole Covers of San Jose, California

Created 29 June 2006

This page was last updated on 30 November 2008
All photos copyrighted by David L. Magney 2006

This is a study of manhole covers from San Jose, Santa Clara County, California.

Manhole Covers of San Jose, Santa Clara County, California

San Jose is a large urban city in southern Santa Clara County at the southern end of the San Francico Bay, at an average elevation of 100 feet above sea level, but ranging from sea level to over 500 feet. The City of San Jose was founded in 1777, reportedly the first town in Alta California, was incorporated on 27 March 1850, the first incorporated city in the State of California, and served as the State's first capitol. San Jose currently has a population of about 950,000 people (894,943 in 2000). It is the third largest city in California, after Los Angeles and San Diego. San Jose citizens are composed of 47.5% Whites, 30.2% Hispanics, and 26.9% Asians, and 3.5% African American.

San Jose was originally settled by the Ohlone Indians, who where largely replaced by Spanish emigrants under Spanish colonization, with the pueblo of San Jose (El Pueblo de San Jose de Guadalupe) being established by Jose Juaquin Moraga on 29 November 1777. It was the first Spanish settlement not associated with a mission or a presidio (military post). San Jose is the center of the Silicon Valley, home to FMC (Food Machinary Corporation, a military vehicle manufacturer from WWII onward), IBM, Hewlet Packard, and hunderds of software and dotcom companies of the early 1990s. San Jose has a regional commercial airport.

San Jose has grown tremendously in the last 20 years, incorporating within its borders communities such as Alviso, Cambrian Park, which used to contain many farms and orchards. Crops grown included prunes, grapes, apricots, and broccoli. Communities like Campbell and Cupertino incorporated to keep San Jose from gobbling them up. San Jose is synonomous with urban sprawl. The median household income for San Jose residents is $74,813 (the highest of any California city over 500,000) and the per capita income is $26,697.

Nine highways pass through San Jose, Interstates 280, 680, and 880; U.S. Highway 101; and State Routes 17, 82, 85, 87, and 237. Southern Pacific Railroad passes through San Jose. The average commute time for San Jose workers is 28 minutes, but many workers commute much longer to get to San Jose because they cannot afford to live there. San Jose has a nearly perfect climate, with an annual average January high temperature of 59 degrees F and average low of 42 degrees F, and in July the average high temperature is 84 degrees F and average low temp. of 58 degrees F. The temperate between day and night can range 30 to 40 degrees F. The Guadalupe River and Coyote Creek are the main rivers passing through the city. Additional information about San Jose can be found at San Jose Info and at the Official San Jose site.

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