Mountain View, CA

Mountain View, CA, began in the late 1800’s as a stagecoach stop (near Grant Road and El Camino Real.) between San Francisco and San Jose. Originally part of a land grant from Mexico to Francisco Estrada and his wife, Inez Castro, later, the land changed hands from Estrada, to Mariano Castro, who then sold part of it to Martin Murphy, Jr., a founder of Sunnyvale, and a member of the party that rescued the Donner Party. The major use of the land in and around Mountain View was for agriculture until the 1930’s. With its direct access to the San Francisco Bay, early settlers built docks, wharves, and warehouses along the bay to ship the region’s hay, grains, and produce, until the San Francisco - San Jose railroad was completed in 1888. Shipping over the San Francisco Bay quickly gave way to the more favorable rail transportation. In 1923 an attempt was made to revive the port by dredging the slough at Jagels Landing (at the end of Whisman Road). The project included ferry and freight service to San Francisco, a saltwater swimming pool, and an amusement park, but the project failed, and the owners declared bankruptcy in 1927.

In 1931, the US government bought part of the land for the NAS Moffett Field, originally called Airbase Sunnyvale CAL. Naming the Airbase after the town of Mountain View was discouraged; officials feared the name would create images of airships colliding with the mountain sides. After World War II, Mountain View transformed from agriculture to semiconductor manufacturing, with many large and small companies establishing their headquarters, offices, and production facilities in the city. The top employers in Mountain View are Google, Symantec, El Camino Hospital, and Microsoft. Other notable companies in Mountain View, include, Intuit, Synopsys, LinkedIn, and many others.