Campbell was settled by the Ohlones

over 1000 years ago. On 1/12/1777,
the first Mass was said at the new
Mission de Santa Clara de Asis. In
1797, the Spanish built
Mission San Jose in Fremont.

Few were successful at gold mining, and many of the emigrants
came to this valley to grow wheat to feed the growing population.
By the 1880s, however, midwestern states had begun to produce
cereals in mass quantities, and the era of the fruit-growing
industry in the Santa Clara Valley was beginning to blossom.

With completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869, Santa Clara Valley farmers were able
to open up the agricultural market to hungry consumers back East. Fruit orchards and small family
farms became a way of life in the valley as the economy and population began to blossom around
the food-growing industry.

In 1877, Benjamin Campbell signed an agreement with the South Pacific Coast Railroad Company,
granting right-of-way through his property. By the end of the year, a rail line had been
completed from San Jose to Los Gatos.

With the excitement of the train coming through town, the Campbells knew a road through their
property would be necessary to provide access to the tracks. In 1886, the railroad built the
depot known as Campbell's Station after Benjamin sold them 1.15 acres for a five-dollar gold
coin. The town of was on its way.

The Town of Campbell

Vast improvements in commercial canning methods occurred in the 1890s, led by pioneers such as
John Colpitts Ainsley of Campbell. The town was becoming renowned for its fruit products, and
some of the finest canneries in California developed here.

By 1900, it was home to various entrepreneurs and businesses that reinforced Campbell's claim
to the title of Orchard City. Technical innovations soon became the hallmark of these early
industry pioneers, not only in Campbell canneries, but also in fruit growing and drying
techniques.

By the 1920s, the fruit-growing industry in California was an extremely successful enterprise.
Major canning companies were financing the planting of hundreds of acres of trees in the Santa
Clara Valley. The canneries eventually provided work for hundreds of people, creating an economy
that helped the tiny town grow into what it has become today. At the peak of the season in 1929,
the JC Ainsley Packing Company employed about 750 people.

George Hyde, realizing that most of his employees were women, installed a day nursery to care
for the worker's children. He also built a cafeteria for his work crew and made it available to
others in the community.

As in other communities throughout America, WWII exacted a heavy toll on the town of Campbell.

The City of Campbell

Fearing increased taxes, Campbell townspeople voted against incorporation by San Jose as early
as 1906. But facing annexation by both San Jose and Santa Clara, citizens voted in 1952 to
become the City of Campbell.

Information from Campbell Historial Museum