Santa Clara, California

L ocated in the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area (“South Bay”), 45 miles south of San Francisco and surrounded by Cupertino, San José and Sunnyvale, the City of Santa Clara, California was founded in 1777, with the establishment of Mission Santa Clara de Asís, named for Saint Clare of Assisi, and the eighth of 21 California missions. By the 1850s, the hamlet of Santa Clara began to take shape as a recognizable small town. As it grew, it was supported by a variety of manufacturing, seed and fruit industries. One of the earliest manufacturing businesses in Santa Clara was Wampach Tannery, established in 1849. Its fine leather products were sent to the eastern U.S. states as well as Europe, until it was torn down in 1953. Another major employer was Pacific Manufacturing Company. Established in 1874, it became the largest wood products supplier Santa Clara, CALIFORNIA The center of what’s possible