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

It sits in the Santa Clara Valley at the southern end of San Francisco Bay and covers about 180 square miles.

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

It was the first civilian town in the Californias, founded by José Joaquín Moraga on November 29; Los Angeles followed in 1781.

Q 03/05

The name San Jose honours which biblical figure?

A) Jerome

B) Joseph

C) James

D) John

Answer · why

B) Joseph

The full name meant "the Town of Saint Joseph of Guadalupe"; the original pueblo stood near today's Plaza de César Chávez.

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

Legislators met there from 1849 to 1851 before decamping to Vallejo; the site of the first capitol is now Plaza de César Chávez.

Q 05/05

California's first 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

Unhappy with the lack of suitable buildings, the legislators accepted Mariano Vallejo's offer of land for a new capital at Benicia.