The History San José Research Library & Archive Collection consists of more than 5,000 linear feet of research materials below are just a few hightlights.

Photographs
More than 2,500 easily accessible, catalogued photographs, from daguerreotypes of early settlers to Andrew P. Hill's magnificent redwood photographs taken in Big Basin State Park 100 years ago.

Silicon Valley History Online provides a selection of History San José photographs.

City of San José Records
Includes original manuscripts from the Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe beginning in 1789, and various City ledgers dating from 1849. View a 1781 Diseño (map) from the Pueblo Papers (53k JPEG) »

Santa Clara County Records
Dating from 1849 to the 1930s. Many are indexed, including marriage licenses, wills, probates, coroners’ inquests, deeds, as well as other miscellaneous legal documents from the county recorder’s office. County and District Court records starting in 1849 are also housed at the Research Library. View Manumission (Freedom from Slavery) Paper (21k JPEG) »

The Jimmy Schnieder and Robert Bullmore
Collection of New Almaden Mine Materials
Documenting the quicksilver mines at New Almaden from 1853 to 1973. The New Almaden Mines produced the majority of quicksilver used to purify gold during California’s Gold Rush.

An online guide to the collection is available at the Online Archive of California:
Finding aid of the The Jimmy Schneider and Robert Bulmore Collection of New Almaden Mine Materials
(Note you will need Adobe Reader or other PDF viewer.)

Sempervirens Club Records
Records from 1883 to 1966 [bulk dates 1900-1945] of a conservation club that created the first California State Park, Big Basin, in the Santa Cruz Mountains. Also included is selected correspondence of artist Andrew Putnam Hill.

An online guide to the collection is available at the Online Archive of California:
Finding aid of the Sempervirens Club of California Records
(Note you will need Adobe Reader or other PDF viewer.)

Bicycle Collection
History San José has a rich collection of materials on bicycling in San José. You will find photographs, registers of bicycle races, information on San José native and renowned bicyclist Otto Ziegler during the 1890s as well as his bicycle club the San José Road Club, Garden City Wheelman Club materials, local and California racing programs and scrapbooks. Lefebvre Bicycle and Slideshow »

Pamphlets and Ephemera
Voluminous pamphlet and ephemera files containing local women’s suffrage flyers, fruit labels, post cards and much more. View postcard slideshow »

City Directories
San José city directories starting in 1870, as well as many early published county histories. (see the Biographical Research Resources for more information)

Maps
The largest collection of San José Sanborn Fire Insurance maps, over 1,000 local maps from 1847 to the present, and atlases.

Aerial Photographs
Numerous aerial photographs of the Santa Clara Valley from as early as 1931.

Cemetery Records
Numerous records from Oak Hill Cemetery, the oldest cemetery in Santa Clara County.(see the Biographical Research Resources for more information)

Other Collections
Finding aids for other selected collections from History San José can be found here at the Online Archive of California.