Skip to content

Glossary · Places

Market Street

The pueblo-era street along the west side of the plaza, once the city’s main business street and home of its 19th-century Chinatown.

In the 1870s and early 1880s the heart of downtown business ran along Market Street to Santa Clara Street, before First and Santa Clara took over. The first State House stood on Market Plaza, and the light tower straddled Market and Santa Clara.

Sources

Questions people ask

Why is it called Market Street?

It ran along Market Plaza, the old pueblo square.

What stood at Market and Santa Clara streets?

The electric light tower, from 1881 to 1915.

Related terms

  • 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.
  • Electric light towerThe iron tower that straddled Santa Clara and Market streets from 1881 to 1915, built to light downtown with arc lamps.
  • 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.

← The whole glossary · The directory · History

The Plaza & Circle of Palms

San Pedro Square

St. James Park

SoFA District

The Paseo & Historic Core

San José State & City Hall

Little Italy, SAP Center & Diridon

Locations

Vibe

About

Stories

Puzzles

© 2026 Made in Downtown San Jose · a Good Neighbor × Made In city guide · photo credits on the About page

Privacy · Terms

Made local

Good Neighbor × Made In

Powered by Bossreach

Puzzles × Bossfeed