North Willow Glen History Part 4 of 15: The 1900s

Developers buy up 5- and 10-acre parcels, and subdivide them into city lots. Once land is affordable, houses begin to appear in North Willow Glen. A sprinkle of buildings appear along Delmas and Fuller Avenue - mostly modest two-bedroom bungalows in the Neoclassical style, along with a few Victorians (for a guide to vintage home styles, go here). West Hull and Atlanta, however, are apparently a cherry orchard.

To own a home, people first buy the lot and then pay to have a home built. One of the lots on Fuller Avenue is sold in a raffle, and the winner is a young girl, Bernice Van Gundy, only 8 or 10 years of age. An elegant home, perhaps designed by the noted architect Wolfe of Wolfe and MacKenzie, sits proudly on the corner of Fuller and Delmas (unfortunately, it will burn while being renovated in the 1980s). Below is a map showing what San Jose looked like in 1901.

Milestones
1900: San Jose's population is around 20,000.
1909: Gardner Academy appears on city maps.

Leading up to the September 21st Willow Glen Founders Day Parade on Lincoln Avenue, NWGNA is providing readers with history about the evolution of our neighborhood, largely excerpted from Ken Ecklund's North Willow Glen Neighborhood Association Page.

We view this as our history and encourage you to share. Stories and photos of North Willow Glen are very welcome and with your permission and credit we would like to archive this information to improve our understanding of life in our neighborhood throughout the years. Please post here or reach us via e-mail at board@nwgna.org.