San Jose was first settled as a Hispanic farming community in the mid-1800s but transitioned to a working-class urban neighborhood after the arrival of the railroad in 1880.

It was originally a Hispanic farming village whose residents grew corn, fruit, and alfalfa on narrow plots perpendicular to the ditch.

After the railroad reached Albuquerque in 1880, the community shifted toward more urban and industrial land use, with many residents employed by the Santa Fe Railway Shops.

The existing farmland was subdivided into residential lots, resulting in a somewhat chaotic street pattern similar to other older neighborhoods in the city.

The large number of active and former industrial sites in San Jose and the adjacent Mountain View area also posed public health issues including groundwater contamination.