History San Jose Celebrates the 235th Birthday of the Peralta Adobe

San José, CA – October 30, 2012  Mark your calendar and wish San José a happy birthday.  On Sunday, November 18 from noon to 4 PM History San José will be throwing a party to say, “Happy Birthday, San José!”

 

The traditional birthday party for the founding of El Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe the Peralta Adobe Historic Site, San José’s oldest address at the San Pedro Square Market, will include cake, candles, horses, music and historic home tours.

 

There will be a candle-lighting ceremony celebrating the enlightenment of the Californios, symbolic of their courage and innovation. Visitors can share birthday cake with San José’s founding family members. ‘Happy Birthday, San José!’ is a little early. The real birthday is November 29, 1777 and has become an annual family event. Music will be provided by Los Arrebeños de San Francisco, led by Lance Beeson, a member of the Californios.

 

Family educational activities will include making corn husk dolls and learning about the Ohlone Indians who lived in the Santa Clara Valley long before the Spanish arrived.

 

Special visitor ‘Stone Shield’ will make her appearance at the birthday party.

She is a paint mare, 18 years old with blue eyes, whose ancestry can be traced to horses ridden by Spanish settlers as they came to the new world. By 1492 Spain planned the expansion of their power, including into North America. It was the Spanish horses that carried the DeAnza party to settle Alta California and today provides the framework for thoroughbreds, standard breds, and the Morgan and quarter horse. Only 2,000 of the Colonial Spanish horses remain and are critically endangered.

 

Also on Sunday, November 18 at 1 p.m. the public is invited to the ribbon-cutting of the new National Anza Trail Exhibit.  It will be installed in the Lasardi Building, inside the San Pedro Square Market, facing St. John Street. This is the premiere interpretive bi-lingual exhibition outside of the state of Arizona, and focuses on the travel of the Anza expedition in 1775. It will run through January 15, 2013. 

 

Home tours are $8 for adults, $5 for seniors, and $5 for children who are accompanied by an adult. As usual, members of History San José receive free admission. Adult tours of the Peralta Adobe and the Fallon House will be held at 12:30 p.m., 1:30 p.m. and 2:30 p.m. Tours especially created for children will at 1 p.m., 2 p.m. and 3 p.m. ,but are not recommended for children 7 or younger. These hands-on tours will allow children to dress in period costumes while learning about life in the early 1800’s.

 

The Peralta Adobe – Fallon House Historic Site is located at 175 West Saint John Street, in downtown San Jose, CA 95110. For more information call 408 918-1047 or visit www.historysanjose.org

 

   # # # 

 

The Fallon House was built in 1855 by one of San José’s earliest mayors. The Victorian mansion showcases 15 fully-furnished rooms typical of the Victorian period. Thomas Fallon was a frontiersman in the John C. Fremont expedition, and Carmel Fallon was the daughter of one of the most prominent Mexican landowners in California.

 

The Peralta Adobe is San José’s oldest address. Built in 1797, the Peralta Adobe is the last remaining structure from El Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe. See the Adobe’s horno, an outside working oven or venture inside the home and see two rooms furnished as they might have been when they were occupied by the Gonzales and Peralta families. It is now surrounded by the new San Pedro Square Market.

 

# # # 

 

About History San José: 

History San José is a non-profit organization that collects, preserves and celebrates the stories of diversity and innovation in San José and the Santa Clara Valley. HSJ manages one of the largest and most comprehensive regional history collections in the State of California, from 1784 Spanish governmental records to twenty-first century Silicon Valley technology. 

History San José     1650 Senter Road     San José, CA  95112       408.287.2290

 

Website:  historysanjose.org

Blog: historysanjose.org/blog

Facebook: /historysanjose

Twitter: @historysanjose