Purple Flower in San Jose
Happy Place on 4th Street
Being introduced to this place this year pleased me beyond all expectations. If I found this place anywhere in any town on any road trip, I would have been so completely proud and happy with myself. So, to be taken here, right in San Jose, on 4th street, where I had never been… well, it blew me away.
First, I should say that I find Diners and Coffee Shops to be one of humanity’s special places. And, I love to enjoy them, to eat, drink coffee, and basque in the humanity and time within them.
This one, right in San Jose at 4th Street Bowl, is quite special. Let me share some of the beautiful highlights about this coffee shop. Plenty of energy with customers and staff. Lots of windows. A looooong counter and a bunch of booths. A big menu. A glass door and windows that connect and look into the bowling alley. The alley is not updated. There is a cocktail lounge, a pool hall, a few video games, and of course, the coffee shop, all connected to the alley. Despite the simplicity of my words, the reality is a poetry of place and presence. It is a block of time and a splash of nostalgia whipped with distraction and covered in coffee. It is a treasure.
More Murals off of 1st street
Murals off of 2nd Street
Alum Rock Mural
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.
Almaden Quicksilver Miner Museum
An interesting place. Also, once each summer they put on a “Play like a miner” event. Crafts, learning, gold panning for kids; its a good time to tour the museum in the historical Casa Grande mansion, as an adult or child, with so many extra activities and staff throughout the buildings and grounds. The displays and artifacts dealing with the historical mercury mining done in the area are intriguing.
San Jose City Hall in 1900
San Jose has had several centers of government. From 1889 to 1958, the San Jose City Hall stood where today you find the water fountains in the middle of Plaza de Cesar Chavez that are popular with children on summer days.
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 .