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Circle of Palms

A ring of palm trees around the California state seal beside the plaza, marking the site of California’s first state capitol, 1849-1851.

The Circle of Palms Plaza sits between the Signia hotel, the San José Museum of Art and the Silicon Valley Financial Center. It is California Historical Landmark No. 461, designated in 1950, and quotes from the 1849 constitutional convention are set into the paving around the seal.

The same block held the Market Street Chinatown from 1866 to 1887. Each winter an outdoor ice rink, now called Skate Under the Palms, is set up inside the ring.

Sources

Questions people ask

What does the Circle of Palms commemorate?

The site of the first State Capitol, where California’s first Legislature met in December 1849.

Can you skate at the Circle of Palms?

Yes, in winter. The rink has been a downtown tradition since 1994.

Related terms

  • First state capitolThe two-story adobe on Market Plaza where California’s first Legislature met from December 1849; San Jose was the seat of government until 1851.
  • Market Street ChinatownSan Jose’s 19th-century Chinatown beside the plaza, home to about 1,400 people before it was destroyed by arson in 1887.
  • Skate Under the PalmsThe winter ice rink at the Circle of Palms, a downtown tradition since 1994, formerly called Downtown Ice.
  • The plaza (Plaza de César Chávez)The two-acre park on South Market Street, laid out in 1797 as the pueblo’s main square and called the oldest public open space in Northern California. In 2026 the city began choosing a new name for it.

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