Q 01/05

San Jose is the county seat of which California county?

A) Santa Cruz

B) San Mateo

C) Santa Clara

D) Alameda

Answer · why

C) Santa Clara

San Jose is the seat of Santa Clara County; it sits in the Santa Clara Valley at the southern end of San Francisco Bay and covers about 180 square mil...

Q 02/05

In which year was San Jose founded as the Pueblo de San José de Guadalupe?

A) 1777

B) 1771

C) 1775

D) 1769

Answer · why

A) 1777

Founded on 29 November 1777 by José Joaquín Moraga, the pueblo was Alta California's first civilian settlement; Los Angeles followed in 1781.

Q 03/05

San Jose's pueblo was founded to grow food for which two Spanish presidios?

A) San Francisco and Monterey

B) San Diego and Santa Barbara

C) Monterey and San Diego

D) San Francisco and Santa Barbara

Answer · why

A) San Francisco and Monterey

The pueblo was established to supply the presidios of San Francisco and Monterey with crops, ending their dependence on supply ships from Mexico.

Q 04/05

What distinction did San Jose hold when California joined the Union in 1850?

A) It was the only seaport

B) It was the first capital

C) It had the only university

D) It was the largest city

Answer · why

B) It was the first capital

It was the first capital of the new state: legislators met in San Jose from December 1849 to 1851 before decamping to Vallejo; a marker on Plaza de Cé...

Q 05/05

California's legislative sessions held in San Jose in 1850 and 1851 earned what boozy nickname?

A) The Saloon Senate of San Jose

B) Legislature of a Thousand Drinks

C) Legislature of Broken Bottles

D) The Whiskey Assembly of 1850

Answer · why

B) Legislature of a Thousand Drinks

The 'Legislature of a Thousand Drinks' took its name from senator Thomas Jefferson Green's habit of adjourning with a call for a drink; poor buildings...