Silicon Valley is generally considered the center of the tech universe today.
But before Google, Facebook, LinkedIn, and a host of other major tech companies set up shop there, the Santa Clara Valley was the center of a different industry altogether.
Rather than office buildings and parking lots, the Valley was covered in orchards and farmland. It was one of the largest suppliers of produce in the United States, and continues to be an agricultural hub today.
History San José, a Silicon Valley-based historical organization, shared some photos from their archives that show how much the region has changed since its beginnings.
Before it was Silicon Valley, the Santa Clara Valley was a land of orchards and farmland. This photo, taken from the top of Mount Hamilton in 1914, shows the wide expanse of the valley.
Known by many as the "Valley of Heart's Delight," early 20th-century farms in the Santa Clara Valley supplied one-third of the world's prunes, in addition to huge quantities of tomatoes, grains, onions, carrots, cherries, and walnuts.
Source: Los Angeles Times
A group of men posed with a trenching machine made by the Knapp Plow Company. The manufacturers were an important part of the region's development into an agricultural hub, as the plows they created made it possible to farm the valley's hillsides.
Source: History San José
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