We had a rare Saturday with no family responsibilities, so we took a drive down to San Jose to visit the History Park at Kelley Park. It was very hot out and there were not many visitors. We were happy to learn that some of the buildings are climate controlled.
We rode Fresno Traction Company Birney Safety Car 143, built in 1922 by the Saint Louis Car Company. We visited the Trolley Barn and saw Central Railroad 7, an 1863 San Francisco horse car built in New York by John Stephenson and shipped around the Horn. I had a nice chat with the docent about its operation.
The gallery in the Pasetta House had an exhibit of photos by Shirlie Montgomery, a San Jose photographer who worked as a stringer for the Mercury News and the Examiner, and took many wrestling photos.
We visited the Portuguese History Museum, which had many interesting items. I did not know that most of the Portuguese in California came from the Azores or Madeira.
We went to the Pacific Hotel and had ice cream and sodas at O'Brien's Ice Cream Parlor. I explained about the operation of the light tower.
Then we went to see a new exhibit which opened the night before, "Silicon Valley Bikes! Passion, Innovation & Politics Since 1880." Here is the Lefebvre Velocipede, built around 1842 by French immigrant Alexandre Lefebvre. It is considered to be one of the first bicycles with pedals. He brought it to San Francisco in 1861, and his family donated it to History San Jose about 60 years ago. Exhibits go all the way up to the present.
We walked around the grounds. I took some photos of the firehouse, Empire Number One.
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