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Detailed map of the area around the City of San Jose and Santa Clara County, including the location of numerous early Ranchos.

San Jose, California's history begins with its founding as the state's first civilian settlement on November 29, 1777. Named Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe by José Joaquín Moraga on the orders of Viceroy Antonio María de Bucareli y Ursúa, it served a strategic role along El Camino Real, linking the military presidios of Monterey and San Francisco, as well as the mission network.

The settlement originally located near the Guadalupe River was moved approximately one mile south to the Pueblo Plaza (now Plaza de César Chávez) in 1791, due to recurrent flooding.

The year 1800 marked a significant administrative change when Governor Diego de Borica divided the Californias into Alta California and Baja California.

During the Mexican period, after gaining independence from Spain in 1821, San Jose became part of the First Mexican Empire and, later, the First Mexican Republic in 1824. The secularization of the California missions occurred around 1833 under Mexican rule.

To encourage settlement, the Mexican government issued land grants between 1833 and 1845, with 15 of these within modern-day San Jose's limits. By 1835, San Jose's population included approximately 40 foreigners among its 700 residents, expanding to 900 by 1845, influenced by American immigration.

Concerns among Californios regarding the influx of Anglo-Americans grew until the Bear Flag Revolt in 1846, during which Captain Thomas Fallon captured San Jose, ending Mexican rule in Alta California.

The American period commenced with California's conquest by the United States in 1847, formalized by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo in 1848, which transferred California to the U.S. San Jose was then named the capital of the unorganized territory of California on December 15, 1849, and became the first state capital upon California's admission to the Union on September 9, 1850.

San Jose was incorporated on March 27, 1850, alongside San Diego and Benicia. Josiah Belden became its first mayor. The city served as California's state capital from 1849 to 1851, after which the capital was relocated, and the first state legislature meeting site is now marked within the current Plaza de César Chávez.