More Murals off of 1st street
Murals off of 2nd Street
Murals off of 1st Street
100 Mural Block
A mural comprised of 100 blocks, each painted by a different artist. This one has a lot to look at and enjoy off of 1st Street.
World’s First Radio Station- in San Jose
Many people began playing with radio waves in the early 1900’s, but one man named Charles Herrold in San Jose was the first to set up a regularly scheduled broadcast forming the first radio station.
Where now stands the KQED building, right between the Fairmont Hotel, Cathedral Basiilica, San Jose Museum of Art, and Cesar Chavez Park, once stood a bank building from where Charles Herrold attached his antenna and began broadcasting his weekly radio show. He may even have coined the term broadcasting, a term taken from farming, when he was “broadcasting for the people San Jose.” On the show, he, his wife, and a friend, entertained with talk, stories, contests, and the reading of the newspaper.
There are at least three plaques placed on the building now standing in the location of the world’s first radio station including the California State Historical Landmark plaque, the above pictured plaque commemorating 100 years, and one commemorating 50 years.
After the radio broadcasting act in 1921, Charles Herrold obtained a license and his station became radio station KQW. In an interesting circle of fate, CBS eventually purchased KQW and changed its call sign to KCBS in 1949. Then, in 2006, KCBS moved their San Jose news team into the building without at the time knowing the history of the location and how it related to the KCBS radio station’s early origins.
Here is an interesting article to read more about this history and how it came back to light: http://tech-notes.tv/History&Trivia/Radio/Who%20was%20first/San%20Jose%20Broadcast%20.htm . You can also read more about Charles Herrold on Wikipedia at: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Charles_Herrold .
Working near 2nd Street – Mural
Gish Road Neighborhood
Beautiful gardens in neighborhood near Gish Road.
Downtown San Jose
Above is The Peralta Adobe; worth learning about. The oldest building in San Jose, the last remaining from our original pueblo homes, hand built in 1797 by its first occupant. Perhaps it should be called the Jose Manuel Gonzales Adobe. Jose Manuel Gonzales built the house, was a member of the Anza expedition, an Apache Native American, one of the founders of the Pueblo de San Jose de Guadalupe (San Jose’s original name in 1777), the second Mayor of San Jose, and the first resident and builder of this Adobe which is the oldest building in our city. Very interesting article about it here. And you can sit right by it with a pizza and a beer to ponder it, as it is preserved in the outdoor area of the San Pedro Square Market.
Vida Abundante Mural
This is my favorite mural right now as I type this. It is beautiful and mixes several qualities so well. It is several aspects of San Jose in one artwork along the side of the Hotel De Anza. What I see is an inherently beautiful painting that manages to blend Hope, the Abundance of our fertile land, the Virgin Marry representation of gift and nurturer, Art Deco, and a Boldness of people in lines and in color. It is currently the mural I look forward to driving by most. One I appreciate walking up to greatly.
Mural on side of Hwy 87
I stare at this one so long. I can feel the heat. Up close, the heat is tangible. That small sun of a sphere in the sepia sky; that was the genius of this. That brought so much more of the woman’s texture to bear on my feelings, there in that sun.
There is more to interpret and play with as you see the rest.