A Brief Timeline of Alum Rock and King
Before the city sprawl, the valley and beyond were, and remain, the lands of the Tamien-Ohlone speaking Muwekma tribe.
From the mid-1800s to around 1900, the Sullivan Family owned the land just west of Pala Rancho, including the area of Alum Rock Avenue and King Road. Around 1903, the D’Oyly Family owned the land, and in 1904 had decided to subdivide the land.
In 1952, a Safeway grocery store was built on the southeast corner of Alum Rock Avenue and King Road.
According to a Special Section of the Mercury News, “Some 280 miles northwest of here, at Alum Rock Avenue and South King Road in East San Jose, is another piece of ground made hallow by the formidable legacy of Chavez. Today, this corner is the home of the brand new Mexican Heritage Plaza. But back in 1965, the intersection was the site of a now-razed Safeway supermarket where Chavez, the charismatic leader of the United Farm Workers, urged San Jose shoppers to boycott a food producer.” This extra edition of the Mercury News is available at the California Room and includes Spanish and English translations of every article.
The Safeway would eventually close in 1969 and was listed as vacant in 1970.
In 1971 a new office opened up as the new State Human Resources Development Center at 1700 Alum Rock Avenue. The former Safeway building would then house various employment offices over the next nineteen years, including: State Human Resources Development Center, Women in Community, and Youth Employment Services.
Fast forward to 1999. The Mexican Heritage Plaza opens after twelve years of planning as the largest San Jose Redevelopment Agency project outside of the Downtown area.
Celebrate San Jose Culture at La Cultura Vive! Presented by Timeless Art Collective
The California Room joins dozens of local artists exhibiting this Friday at the Mexican Heritage Plaza. The event is a celebration of art, food, music and culture. The California Room will be exhibiting historical snapshots of 1700 Alum Rock Avenue, offering glimpses of the site before it eventually would become the Mexican Heritage Plaza.
Location: 1700 Alum Rock Avenue
Date: Friday, February 27, 2026
Time: 6:00 PM - 10:00 PM
Free!
Further Reading
- TOMB, GEOFFREY. "A STRONG UNION SITE'S HERITAGE LINKED TO RISE OF UFW, CHAVEZ." San Jose Mercury News (CA), September 5, 1999: 14EN. NewsBank: Mercury News – Historical and Current. https://infoweb-newsbank-com.sjezp01.sjlibrary.org/apps/news/document-view?p=AMNEWS&docref=news/0EB72396B0072D1F.
- Property research is among the most popular topics at the California Room, and Rory used strategies and resources that we use here on a daily basis. The California Room has collections of maps, city directories, Sanborn Maps, aerial photographs, building permits, tax rolls, and newspapers.
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