The story
Read it all →How San Jose came to be
From Wikipedia’s history of San Jose.
San Jose was platted in 1858. The village was incorporated in 1876.
Text from Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0.
–Not graded
History · San Jose
San Jose’s post office opened in 1858, and 49% of its homes were built before 1940
Below: maps from 1942 on and the census since 1880.
1858first post office
0on the National Register
49%homes built before 1940
Quick answers
How San Jose began
When was San Jose founded?
1858
The San Jose post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name.
First census: 285 in 18802020 census: 479168 years
Founding year: the first San Jose post office (Blevins & Helbock, CC0).The full story ↓
What stands out about San Jose’s past
Read from the archive, the National Register and the record. The page puts what stands out first.
★ What stands out · Help out
Start San Jose’s collection
The first neighbors to add old photos shape how San Jose’s history is told.
Decades since 1900 with photos
00s10s20s30s40s50s60s70s80s90s
0 of 10 decades. The empty ones are waiting for someone’s album.People over time
San Jose, census by census
Peaked at 784 in 1980; 479 people lived here in 2020.
15 censuses, 1880–2020.
U.S. Census Bureau decennial counts, from the census table on San Jose’s Wikipedia page.
Timeline
San Jose, 1858 to 1980
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
- 19th century
- 1858Post officeThe San Jose post office opens
- 20th century
- 1942
On the mapFirst mapped by the U.S. Geological Survey - 1980CensusPopulation peaks at 784
By decade
San Jose, decade by decade
2020
2020
2020
2020On the map
San Jose on the map, 1942 to 1980
Every edition of the U.S. Geological Survey’s map of San Jose. Tap a year, or press play to watch the town change.
1942Delavan sheet · 1:62,500U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (public domain), via Esri’s collection of the scans. The red ring marks the center of San Jose.
Famous people
See all →Famous people close to San Jose
Nobody well known was born in San Jose itself, so here are the best known from just nearby.
Questions about San Jose’s history
What year was San Jose founded?
The San Jose post office opened in 1858, the earliest record of the town by name (U.S. post office records).
Memory lane
What the archives can’t tell you, neighbors can.
Start a conversation
Sources
Where this page comes from
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (4), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, U.S. Census counts (via Wikipedia), the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock) and the USGS Geographic Names Information System. Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.