Little Portugal, San Jose

Little Portugal is a historic neighborhood of San Jose, California, in East San Jose and historically the center of San Jose's Portuguese-American community.

Little Portugal
Neighborhood of San Jose
Little Portugal
Location within San Jose and Silicon Valley
Coordinates: 37.35012°N 121.85768°W / 37.35012; -121.85768
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
CountySanta Clara
CitySan Jose

Little Portugal is home to numerous Portuguese businesses, including Adega, San Jose's only Michelin starred restaurant, Portuguese social clubs, and the Five Wounds Portuguese National Church.

History
Portuguese restaurant Adega is San Jose's only Michelin starred restaurant.

Portuguese immigrants to California have historically come from the Azores, rather than from Mainland Portugal, and were traditionally farmers.[1] Portuguese settlers came to the Santa Clara Valley beginning in the 1850s.[2]

The Mexican Heritage Plaza is within the neighborhood.[3]

Development

In the mid-2010s, the Urban Displacement Project at the University of California, Berkeley cited it as one of the three neighborhoods in San Jose where low-income residents were most at risk of displacement by gentrification.[4]

The proposed second phase of the Silicon Valley BART extension project would include an 28th Street/Little Portugal station behind Five Wounds Church.[5] Two of the first urban villages proposed in the city's general plan for development until 2040 as a means of providing employment and low-cost housing are to be in the neighborhood, one on Alum Rock Avenue.[6]

Portuguese community
The Five Wounds Portuguese National Church has been a center for the Portuguese-American community since its construction, in 1915.

Little Portugal includes a number of Portuguese American social organizations, including Aliança Jorgense, Centro Leonino da Califórnia, IES Hall, the Portuguese Band of San José (the oldest surviving Portuguese marching band in California), Sociedade Filarmónica União Popular,[7] local sport clubs[8] such as the Portuguese Athletic Club,[7] the Portuguese Association for Social Services and Opportunities (POSSO), a neighborhood social services agency founded in 1974,[7][9] and a business association.[10]

Long-time Portuguese businesses in the neighborhood have included: Bacalhau Grill & Trade Rite Market; Café do Canto;[7] Casanova Imports;[11] Five Star Bakery;[11] Foto Christiano;[11] Furtado's Jewelers,[7][11] now closed; KSQQ radio,[11] formerly one of five owned by Batista Vieira,[7] now multi-lingual; L & F Fish Market;[7] Silva Sausage;[11] Popular Bakery or Padaria Popular;[1][7][11] Vieira Painting; and Sousa's restaurant.[7][11][12]

The Portuguese Historical Museum in San Jose's History Park is a replica of the city's original Portuguese império (chapel) that preceded the building of Five Wounds Church.[1][13] Portuguese Heritage Publications of California is headquartered in the Berryessa district.[14]

Adega, open since 2015, is the second Portuguese restaurant in the US to win a Michelin star and San Jose's only Michelin starred restaurant.[15][16]

Geography

Little Portugal is within the heavily Hispanic East Side, centering on the four blocks of Alum Rock Avenue around the intersection of 31st Street and the overpass over the Bayshore Freeway (Highway 101),[11][12][17] and extending into the Anne Darling neighborhood.[1]

References
  1. Vicky Elliott (June 9, 2004). "Home for the Holidays / Dia de Portugal / Bem-Vindos! / Portuguese community's traditions stretch from Azores to California". SFGate. San Francisco Chronicle.
  2. Portuguese Historical Museum - History
  3. "Knight Cities Challenge Names 2 Winners from San Jose". San Jose Inside. April 14, 2016.
  4. Jennifer Wadsworth (April 24, 2017). "Following Historic Vote on Rent Protections, San Jose Considers Ban on Voucher Discrimination". San Jose Inside.
  5. "Fact Sheet: Alum Rock/28th Street Station" (PDF). BART Silicon Valley Phase II Extension Project. Santa Clara Valley Transportation Authority. November 8, 2018. Retrieved March 6, 2019.
  6. Jennifer Wadsworth (April 10, 2017). "San Jose May Revise Urban Village Policy to Advance Affordable Housing Projects". San Jose Inside.
  7. Mistely, Catherine (May 2013). How Is the Past Preserved in a Pluralistic Society? A Case Study of the Portuguese in East San José as a Model for Interpreting Immigrant Landscapes (PDF). Anthropology (MA thesis). San Jose State University. pp. 95–110.
  8. "Five Wounds Church: Appraisal - Community". Who Owns the Past (blog). May 13, 2011.
  9. Rogers, p. 105.
  10. Jennifer Wadsworth (October 20, 2015). "VTA Offers Cash to Businesses Hurt by BRT Construction Delays". San Jose Inside.
  11. Meg Rogers; Portuguese Historical Museum (2007). The Portuguese in San Jose. Charleston, South Carolina: Arcadia. p. 108. ISBN 9780738547817.
  12. Andrew X. Pham (August 29, 1996). "Sweet Sousa". Metroactive.com. Metro Silicon Valley.
  13. Rogers, p. 106.
  14. Portuguese Heritage Publications of California
  15. Ngoc Ngo (March 16, 2016). "Little Portugal's Dining Takes Big Step forward with Adega". San Jose.com.
  16. Linda Zavoral (October 27, 2016) [October 25, 2016]. "San Jose's first Michelin star: Adega in Little Portugal". San Jose Mercury News.
  17. Jennifer Wadsworth (August 19, 2015). "Little Portugal Residents Fume over Stalled Road Work". San Jose Inside.
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