Plaza de Cesar E. Chavez

Part of the original plaza of the 1797 Pueblo de San José, the Plaza de César E. E. Chávez is the oldest continuously used public open space in the city. It was the hub of the old Spanish settlement, the site of Juzgado and the church, and a focus for the public life of the pueblo. After the U.S. takeover, surveyor Chester Lyman laid out the present elliptical park at the southern edge of the plaza. It became the primary civic open space of the new American city and, in 1849, the first State Capitol stood on its eastern edge. The plaza continued to serve the functions of the original Hispanic plaza as a parade ground, cock-pit, and racetrack, while also becoming a site for public hangings. The park declined in favor during the 1870s, when San Jose's large Chinese population established itself along the eastern side of Market Street. Although city leaders considered closing the park and extending Market Street through it, public protest stopped the plan, and after a fire destroyed the adjacent Chinatown in 1887, the park was chosen as the site for a new City Hall. Until its demolition in 1958, the elaborate brick and stone building dominated the park. In 1993, the park was renamed in honor of César E. Chávez, a resident of San José, community organizer, and founder of the United Farm Workers Union, whose vision for the UFW was born in San José.

San Jose, California · United States