Soon after the Mexican–American War, the city was surveyed first by Thomas Campbell in 1847 and later by Chester Lyman, in 1848, following the standard grid street pattern utilizing traditional Spanish pathways.

This was a group of buildings designed by the finest local architects and built by the leading citizens of the time: James D. Phelan, F. Sourisseau, C. T. Ryland, Martin Murphy's descendants and the Auzerais family.

Following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, Edwardian and Neoclassical commercial buildings replaced the damaged Victorian and Romanesque businesses.

New growth patterns to the west and south of the center of the city changed the commercial desirability of the downtown core area of San Jose.

New construction was virtually nonexistent until the government sponsored redevelopment programs of the 1960s began razing of entire center city blocks for planned new development.