Sunnyvale, California

1800s

In 1843, Rancho Pastoria de las Borregas was granted to Francisco Estrada and his wife, Inez Castro.^[10] Portions of the land given in this grant later developed into the cities of Mountain View and Sunnyvale.^[11] In 1844, a land grant was provided to Lupe Yñigo, one of the few Native Americans to hold land grants.^[12][13] It was first called Rancho Posolmi, in honor of a village of the Ohlone that once stood in the area.^[10]

Martin Murphy Jr. came to California with the Murphy family as part of the Stephens–Townsend–Murphy Party in 1844.^[14] In 1850, he bought 4,894 acres (19,810,000 m²) of Rancho Pastoria de las Borregas for $12,500. Murphy established a wheat farm and ranch named Bay View. He had the first wood-frame house in Santa Clara County; it was shipped from New England. In 1861, Murphy allowed the San Francisco and San Jose Rail Road to lay tracks on Bay View and establish Murphy's Station.^[15] Lawrence's Station was later established on the southern edge of Bay View.^[16] When Murphy died in 1884, the land was divided among his heirs.^[17][18][19] Parcels of the land were sold starting in 1900 to real estate developer Walter Crossman.^[17] The Bay View House was demolished in 1961, but was reconstructed in 2008 as the Sunnyvale Heritage Park Museum.

In the 1870s, small fruit orchards replaced many large wheat farms, because wheat farming turned uneconomical due to county and property tax laws, imports and soil degradation.^[20] In 1871, James M. Dawson and his wife, Eloise (née Jones), established the first commercial fruit cannery in the county.^{[20][21][22][23]} Fruit agriculture for canning soon became a major industry in the county. The invention of the refrigerated rail car further increased the viability of an economy based upon fruit. The fruit orchards became so prevalent that in 1886, the San Jose Board of Trade called Santa Clara County the "Garden of the World".

In the 1880s, Chinese workers made up roughly a third of the farm labor in Santa Clara County.^[24] This proportion declined after the Chinese Exclusion Act was passed. In the 1890s, many immigrants from Italy, the Azores, Portugal, and Japan arrived to work in the orchards.^[25]

In 1897, Crossman bought 200 acres (810,000 m²) of orchard land from Patrick Murphy to organize and develop the town, which he named Encinal. He advertised the area as "Beautiful Murphy" and later, in the 1900s, as "the City of Destiny".^[19][26][27]

In February 1899, Encina School District was established. The town's first schoolhouse, Encina School, was constructed at a cost of $4,000 and opened in September 1899. Previously, the closest school had been in Mountain View.^[28]

1900s

To avoid confusion with Encinal, Alameda County, Sunnyvale adopted its current name on March 24, 1901. The name was chosen to attract new residents from foggy areas near San Francisco.^{[19][26][29][30]}

Sunnyvale continued to grow and in 1904, dried fruit production began. Two years later, Libby, McNeill & Libby, a Chicago meat-packing company, decided to open its first fruit-packing factory in Sunnyvale. Today, a water tower painted to resemble the first Libby's fruit cocktail can label identifies the former site of the factory.

Also in 1906, the Joshua Hendy Iron Works relocated from San Francisco to Sunnyvale after the company's building was destroyed by fire after the 1906 earthquake. The ironworks was the first non-agricultural industry in the town. The company later switched from producing mining equipment to other products such as marine steam engines.

In 1912, the residents of Sunnyvale voted to incorporate and Sunnyvale became an official city.^[30][31]

Fremont High School first opened in 1923.^[32]

In 1924, Edwina Benner was elected to her first term as mayor of Sunnyvale. She was the second female mayor in California history.

In 1930, Congress decided to place the West Coast dirigible base in Sunnyvale after "buying" the 1,000-acre (4.0 km²) parcel of farmland bordering the San Francisco Bay from the city for $1.

This naval airfield was later renamed Naval Air Station Moffett and then Moffett Federal Airfield and is commonly called Moffett Field.

In 1939, the National Advisory Committee for Aeronautics (NACA, the forerunner of NASA) began research at Ames Laboratory.

During World War II, the war economy began a change from the fruit industry to the high-tech industry in Santa Clara County. The Joshua Hendy Iron Works built marine steam engines, naval guns and rocket launchers to aid in the war effort. As the defense industry grew, a shortage of workers in the farm industry was created. Immigrants from Mexico came to Sunnyvale to fill this void of workers.

After the war, the fruit orchards and sweetcorn farms were cleared to build homes, factories, and offices.

In 1950, the volunteer fire department and the paid police department were combined into the department of public safety.^[33]

In 1956, the aircraft manufacturer Lockheed moved its headquarters to Sunnyvale.^[34]

Since then, numerous high-tech companies have established offices and headquarters in Sunnyvale, including Advanced Micro Devices and Yahoo.

The first prototype of Atari's coin-operated Pong, the first successful video game, was installed in Sunnyvale in August 1972, in a bar named Andy Capp's Tavern,^[35][36] now Rooster T. Feathers.^[37] Atari's headquarters were at 1196 Borregas Avenue in north Sunnyvale.

In 1979, an indoor mall called Sunnyvale Town Center opened in what used to be a traditional downtown shopping district. After years of successful operation, the mall started to decline in the 1990s. After numerous changes in plans and ownership, the mall was demolished in 2007.

2000s

By 2002, the few remaining orchards had been replaced with homes and shops. There are still city-owned orchards, such as the Heritage Orchard next to the Sunnyvale Community Center.^{[citation needed]}

Sunnyvale celebrated its 100th anniversary on August 25, 2012.

According to the Bay Area Census, there was a total population of 130,885 in households and 875 in group quarters in 2000.^[38]

Climate

Like most of the San Francisco Bay Area, Sunnyvale has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate (Köppen Csb), with short, cool, wet winters and long, warm, very dry summers. Average daytime summer temperatures are in the high 70s or low 80s, and during the winter, average daytime high temperatures rarely stay below 50 °F (10 °C). Snowfall is rare, but on January 21, 1962, and February 5, 1976, measurable snowfall occurred in Sunnyvale and most of the San Francisco Bay Area. Sunnyvale was briefly hit by tornadoes in 1951 and 1998, but they are extremely rare.^{[49][50][51][52]}

2020

Largest employers

According to the city's 2024 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report,^[73] the top employers in the city are:

Private schools

• Challenger School
• French American School of Silicon Valley
• Helios School
• Rainbow Montessori
• Resurrection School (religious)
• Silicon Valley Academy (religious)
• South Peninsula Hebrew Day School (religious)
• Stratford School
• Sunnyvale Christian School (religious)
• The King's Academy (religious)

^[88]

Public transportation

Sunnyvale is served by Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority (light rail and buses) and by Caltrain commuter rail. Two Caltrain stations are in Sunnyvale: the Sunnyvale station in the Heritage District downtown, and the Lawrence station in eastern Sunnyvale, north of the Ponderosa neighborhood.

Bicycle

Sunnyvale has been listed by the League of American Bicyclists as a bronze-level Bicycle Friendly Community.^[96]

The Bicycle and Pedestrian Advisory Committee advises the city council on the continued development of the bicycle plan for the city.

Airports

For commercial passenger air travel, Sunnyvale is served by three nearby international airports:

• Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport (SJC), 9.5 miles from downtown Sunnyvale by car. It is also accessible by Caltrain, VTA light rail, and VTA bus. Caltrain and light rail stations require a transfer to a free shuttle bus to get to the airport terminal.
• San Francisco International Airport (SFO), 27.7 miles by car. SFO is transit accessible from Sunnyvale via Caltrain and Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART).
• Metropolitan Oakland International Airport (OAK), 37.5 miles by car. Access to Oakland airport by public transit is possible via multiple transfers.

Gangs

According to Sunnyvale's Department of Public Safety, confirmed gang members make up less than one percent of the population, although 95% of the crime is gang on gang violence.^[102] Sunnyvale's Gang Task-force agency as well as the FBI note three main gangs that exist in Sunnyvale, thrice allying to either Sureño or Norteño families, one existing since the 1960s.^[103][104]

Mass shooting

On February 16, 1988, Richard Farley shot 11 people, killing seven of them, at his former employer ESL Incorporated in north Sunnyvale, across Borregas Avenue from Atari. The 1993 made-for-television film I Can Make You Love Me starring Brooke Shields and Richard Thomas was based on the event.