Around the corner from San Jose's Convention Center..is this small plaza of a few trees, benchses and a wall..with a few plaques.
One of the plaques reads:
"DEDICATION
THIS PLAZA, COMMEMORATING THE
200TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE FOUNDING OF
THE PUEBLO OF SAN JOSE DE GUADALUPE ON
NOVEMBER 29, 1777 IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF
CITY MANAGER A.P."DUTCH" HAMANN (1950-1969),
AND HIS WIFE, FRANCES, WHO PERISHED IN THE AIRLINE
DISASTER AT SANTA CRUZ DE TENERIFE,
CANARY ISLANDS, MARCH 27, 1977.
DUTCH IS GRATEFULLY RECOGNIZED FOR
HIS STRONG LEADERSHIP AS CHAIRMAN OF THE
SAN JOSE BICENTENNIAL COMMISSION, INC.
DUTCH AND FRANCES WILL ALWAYS BE REMEMBERED
FOR THEIR SELFLESS CONTRIBUTIONS
TO OUR COMMUNITY.
JUNE 11, 1977"
Wikipedia (
visit link) adds:
"San Jose was founded on November 29, 1777, as El Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe, the first town in the Spanish colony of Nueva California, which later became Alta California.[5] The city served as a farming community to support Spanish military installations at San Francisco and Monterey. When California gained statehood in 1850, San Jose served as its first capital.[6]
After more than 150 years as a small farming city, San Jose and the surrounding Santa Clara Valley became the last (and largest) contiguous area of undeveloped land surrounding the San Francisco Bay. San Jose experienced increased demand for housing from soldiers and veterans returning from World War II. San Jose then continued its aggressive expansion during the 1950s and 1960s by annexing more land area. The rapid growth of the high-technology and electronics industries further accelerated the transition from an agricultural center, to an urbanized metropolitan area."