Local History Files

File collections of interest to local history researchers:

  • Santa Clara City Clipping Files - Index
  • Santa Clara County Clipping Files - Index
  • Santa Clara City & County Biography Clipping Files - partial index - P, Q R
  • Santa Clara Library Historic Photographs Collection - Index

Information in these collections pertains to all aspects of life in the City of Santa Clara. There are file folders on businesses, churches, schools, restaurants, historic buildings, ethnic communities, sports teams, and more. The majority of the material in file consists of newspaper clippings, magazine articles, and secondary source material; sometimes they also include ephemera and primary source material such as maps, annual reports, proclamations, and oral history transcripts.

Access: The files cabinets are in a storage area on the second floor of the Santa Clara Central Park Library that is accessible to authorized library staff and SCCHGS volunteer consultants who can pull files or scan them for researchers and library patrons. For larger projects you may wish to contact the Santa Clara City History and Genealogy Librarian [that's a mail link - next year?].

Indexes: The clipping files have been indexed. These indexes are available on this website and in binders atop the file cabinets. The indexes were last verified in 2019.

Clippings: Clipping collections have been maintained from the early 1960s with a few earlier items. The primary periodical sources were the Santa Clara news, Santa Clara Journal, Santa Clara Sun, Santa Clara American, Santa Clara Valley Weekly, Santa Clara Weekly, Inside Santa Clara, San Jose News and San Jose Mercury News, plus a few from the San Francisco Chronicle.

Photo collections:

  • Alice Hare Collection
  • Frank Sapena Collection
  • Clyde Arbuckle Collection
  • SVHO Photo Archives
  • Santa Clara Schools Collection
  • Santa Clara City Library Staff and Library Event Historic Photographs
  • Santa Clara City Library Informal Staff Photographs
  • Central Park library Construction Photographs
  • Library Proclamations and Framed Photographs


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