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San Jose has a lot more history beneath the surface than most people realize. Before today’s Downtown San Jose plazas, hotels, and museums, this area was home to the Second Market Street Chinatown — a thriving Chinese community that existed from 1872 to 1887. More than 1,400 people lived and worked here before the neighborhood was targeted during a period of intense anti-Chinese discrimination and ultimately destroyed by fire in 1887. Nearly 100 years later, archaeological work in Downtown San Jose uncovered remains and artifacts from the former neighborhood. Today, you can stand near the site at Circle of Palms Plaza and walk past a piece of San Jose history that many locals have never heard about. San Jose has changed a lot, but stories like this are still part of the city we live in today. Would you want to see more hidden San Jose history like this? #SanJose #SanJoseCA #DowntownSanJose #SanJoseHistory #SanJoseChinatown #BayAreaHistory #SouthBay #SouthBayCA #SanJoseRealtor #BayAreaRealEstate #SiliconValley #ExploreSanJose
September 29, 2026