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1953 Map of San Jose East

Name: 1953 Topographic Map of San Jose East
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1955
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1955

About this map

The expanding urban edge of San Jose meets the agricultural valleys and foothills of the Santa Teresa Hills in this mid-century survey. The landscape is a mix of established community institutions and the emerging infrastructure of a growing city, featuring the County Fairground, the San Jose Speedway, and aviation activity at Reids Hillview Airport. Education is a clear priority in the developing neighborhoods, with numerous schools such as James Lick High Sch and Franklin McKinley Sch appearing as anchors for local families.

Transit and industry dictate the movement of the era, from the path of the Bayshore Highway to the Southern Pacific railroad lines. To the south, the economy transitions toward the hills, where the Hillsdale Mine and New North Almaden Mine mark the persistent importance of local mineral extraction. Waterways like Coyote Creek and Silver Creek provide the geographic framework for the older settlements of Evergreen and Edenvale, tracing the natural drainage before the intensive suburbanization of the late twentieth century.