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71-632: Milpitas (Spanish for ' little milpas ' or little cornfield) is a city in Santa Clara County, California , United States, in Silicon Valley . As of the 2020 census , the city population was 80,273. The city's origins lie in Rancho Milpitas , granted to Californio ranchero José María Alviso in 1835. Milpitas incorporated in 1954 and has become home to numerous high tech companies, as part of Silicon Valley. Milpitas

142-600: A ceramic tower in Hillcrest Park, a sundial in Augustine Park, and a historical memorial in Murphy Park. The Celebrate Milpitas Festival is held annually every August, featuring vendors of crafts-type merchandise and providing local talent with a performance venue while selling visitors samplings of exotics like garlic fries or lumpia and even offerings from one or two Californian wineries. The suburb offers

213-508: A dozen crops at once including maize , avocados , multiple varieties of squash and bean , melon , tomatoes , chilis , sweet potato , jícama , amaranth , and mucuna  ... Milpa crops are nutritionally and environmentally complementary. Maize lacks the amino acids lysine and tryptophan , which the body needs to make proteins and niacin ; ... Beans have both lysine and tryptophan ... Squashes, for their part, provide an array of vitamins ; avocados , fats . The milpa, in

284-467: A female householder with no husband present, and 18.3% are nonfamilies. 11.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 2.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.47, and the average family size was 3.72. In the city, the population was spread out, with 24.6% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 38.0% from 25 to 44, 20.9% from 45 to 64, and 7.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age

355-687: A rich variety of food options, including sit-down restaurants and fast food. The Santa Clara County Library system operates the Milpitas public library. Milpitas is home to the largest Bay Area enclosed shopping mall (in terms of land area), the Great Mall of the Bay Area . The Great Mall is a part of the Simon Property Group and is the biggest mall/outlet shopping center in northern California. There are approximately 200 stores in

426-468: A saloon that served beer and wine to thirsty travelers for a century before becoming a restaurant in 2001. Around this central core, grocery and dry goods stores, blacksmithies, service stations, and, in the 1920s, one of America's earliest "fast food" chain restaurants, "The Fat Boy", opened nearby. Another of Milpitas's most popular restaurants was the "Kozy Kitchen", established in 1940 by the Carlo family in

497-456: A segregated neighborhood of San Jose, or enduring lengthy commutes between North Richmond and Milpitas. In 1961, Ben F. Gross , a civil rights activist, became Milpitas's first black city councilman with the backing of the UAW. This election was recognized nationally and received attention from Look and Life magazines. In 1966, Ben F. Gross became California's first black mayor when he was elected by

568-528: A supermarket. The so-called "Midtown" area, the oldest part of Milpitas, has few remaining historic residences and was the only commercial district that existed before 1945. Midtown is situated in the region where Main and Abel Streets run parallel to each other bordered by Montague Expressway in the south and Weller Street at the north end. A USPS post office, Saint John the Baptist Catholic Church, Elementary & Junior High Catholic School,

639-510: Is 19 feet (5.8 m). At Piedmont Road , Evans Road, and North Park Victoria Drive, the elevation is generally about 100 feet (30 m), while the western area is almost at sea level . The highest point in Milpitas is a 1,289-foot (393 m) peak in the southeastern foothills. To the east of Milpitas is a range of high foothills and mountains, part of the Diablo Range which runs along the east side of San Francisco Bay. Monument Peak

710-560: Is a prominent summit in the eastern Milpitas hills, and is the location of antenna broadcasting television stations KICU and KQEH to the San Francisco Bay Area . There are also many creeks in Milpitas, most of which are part of the Berryessa Creek watershed . Calera Creek , Arroyo de los Coches , Penitencia Creek and Piedmont Creek are some of the creeks that flow from the Milpitas hills and empty into

781-751: Is also home to one of Santa Clara County's two correctional facilities, the Elmwood Correctional Facility, which houses over 3,000 inmates. According to the city's 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are: Milpitas residents enjoy various visual and performing arts. The Milpitas Alliance for the Arts, founded in 1997, is an organization which promotes and funds murals , plays , sculptures , and many other forms of art. The "Art in Your Park" project has put many sculptures in local Milpitas parks, including

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852-593: Is dated February 14, 1856. It is Juana Galindo Alviso, widow of Jose Maria Alviso, to Michael and Ellen Hughes for 800 acres (3.2 km) of land, today the Main Street area south of Carlo Street, although the deed gives the name of the Rancho as Rancho San Miguel , rather than as Milpitas . Milpitas lies in the northeastern corner of the Santa Clara Valley , which is south of San Francisco . Milpitas

923-606: Is derived from the Nahuatl words milli , meaning "agricultural field," and pan , meaning "on." The name Milpitas , perhaps used by Jose Maria Alviso to name his land grant, Rancho de las Milpitas , may have meant that there had been small Native American gardens nearby because of the rich alluvial soils of the area. The first deed of property sale in Milpitas is found in the Santa Clara County Records General Index 1850–1856 (K-143) and

994-544: Is generally considered to be a San Jose suburb in the South Bay , a term used to denote the southern part of the San Francisco Bay Area . According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 13.6 sq mi (35.3 km). 13.6 sq mi (35.2 km) of it is land and 0.050 sq mi (0.13 km) of it (0.36%) is water. The median elevation of Milpitas

1065-398: Is marked by the award or declaration of a municipal charter . A city charter or town charter or municipal charter is a legal document establishing a municipality, such as a city or town . In Bangladesh , There are 330 such municipal corporations in eight divisions of Bangladesh. In Canada, charters are granted by provincial authorities . The Greater Chennai Corporation

1136-644: Is the central, most sacred act, one which binds together the family, the community, the universe ... [it] forms the core institution of Indian society in Mesoamerica and its religious and social importance often appear to exceed its nutritional and economic importance." Milpitas, California , derives its name from the Nahuatl term "milpa" followed by the Spanish feminine diminutive plural suffix "-itas". Municipal corporation Municipal corporation

1207-435: Is the legal term for a local governing body , including (but not necessarily limited to) cities , counties , towns , townships , charter townships , villages , and boroughs . The term can also be used to describe municipally owned corporations . Municipal incorporation occurs when such municipalities become self-governing entities under the laws of the state or province in which they are located. Often, this event

1278-650: Is the oldest municipal corporation in the world outside the United Kingdom. The title "corporation" was used in boroughs from soon after the Norman conquest until the Local Government Act 2001 . Under the 2001 act, county boroughs were renamed "cities" and their corporations became "city councils"; other borough corporations were renamed "borough councils". After the Partition of Ireland ,

1349-669: The Milpitas Public Library (which incorporates the old Milpitas Grammar School building), the Smith/DeVries mansion, the Senior Center, and Elmwood Correctional Facility are all in the Midtown section of Milpitas. The Milpitas Civic Center, which includes City Hall, is not located in Midtown, but stands at the intersection of Milpitas and Calaveras Boulevards . The Civic Center is separated from Midtown by

1420-642: The Newby Island landfill , from the anaerobic digestion facility at Zero Waste Energy Development Company, and from the San Jose sewage treatment plant's percolation ponds. Most malodorous during the autumn, it is especially pungent west of Interstate 880 because of its close location to the San Francisco Bay and the direction of the prevailing winds out of the north-northwest. The City of Milpitas would like to remedy this air quality problem to

1491-575: The San Francisco Bay . ( See Berryessa Creek ) Milpitas is divided into three sections by Interstates 680 and 880 . To the west of I-880 is a largely industrial and commercial area. Between I-880 and its eastern counterpart freeway, I-680, is an industrial zone in the south and residential neighborhoods in the north. Other residential neighborhoods and undeveloped mountains lie east of I-680. In reality, Milpitas has no concentrated downtown "center," but instead has several small retail centers generally located near residential developments and anchored by

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1562-881: The U.S. Virgin Islands has districts , and American Samoa has districts and unorganized atolls . Each Indian Reservation is subdivided in various ways. For example, the Navajo Nation is subdivided into agencies and Chapter houses , while the Blackfeet Nation is subdivided into Communities . According to one definition of the term, municipal corporations are "organisations with independent corporate status, managed by an executive board appointed primarily by local government officials, and with majority public ownership". Some such corporations rely on revenue from user fees, distinguishing them from agencies and special districts funded through taxation, although this

1633-689: The burghs of Scotland were similar in origin and were reformed or replaced in the nineteenth century before being abolished by the Local Government (Scotland) Act 1973 . The Irish borough corporations within what is now Northern Ireland were reformed by the Municipal Corporations (Ireland) Act 1840 and Local Government (Ireland) Act 1898 and replaced by the Local Government Act (Northern Ireland) 1972 . Most U.S. states and territories have at least two tiers of local government: counties and municipalities . Louisiana uses

1704-601: The "Midtown" district. Yet another influx of immigration came in the 1870s and 1880s as Portuguese sharecroppers from the Azores came to farm the Milpitas hillsides. Many of the Azoreans had such locally well-known surnames as Coelho, Covo, Mattos, Nunes, Spangler, Serpa, and Silva. There is a local legend that in 1857, when the U.S. Postal Service wanted to locate a Post Office in Frederick Creighton's store near

1775-578: The "Milpitas Minutemen" were quickly organized to oppose annexation and keep Milpitas independent. An overwhelming majority of Milpitas registered voters voted "No" to annexation in the 1961 election as a result of a vigorous anti-annexation campaign. Following the election, the anti-annexation committee, who had compared themselves to the Revolutionary War Minutemen who fought the British on Lexington Green—a role filled in this case by

1846-500: The 1960s and 1970s, extensive residential and retail development took place. Hayfields in Milpitas rapidly disappeared as industries and residential housing developments spread. Soon, the once rural town of Milpitas found itself a San Jose suburb. The population jumped from about 800 in 1950 to 62,698 in 2000. Several local farmers and businessmen who had chipped in from $ 2 to $ 50 to file for incorporation, had become millionaires within ten years. Most of them then moved away. According to

1917-677: The Borough of Galway", but referred to as "the Corporation". The New Zealand Constitution Act 1852 allowed municipal corporations to be established within the new Provinces of New Zealand . The term fell out of favour following the abolition of the Provinces in 1876. The ancient boroughs of England and Wales were typically incorporated by a royal charter , though some were boroughs by prescription . The Municipal Corporations Act 1835 and Municipal Corporations Act 1882 abolished

1988-529: The Calaveras overpass. The boundaries that divide major Milpitas neighborhoods and districts include Calaveras Boulevard running from east to west and the Union Pacific railroad, which runs from north to south. The newest retail centers are west of Interstate 880. Berryessa Creek flows through Milpitas. Milpitas occasionally experiences odorous air traveling downwind from bay salt marshes , from

2059-661: The City Square. In the past, Milpitas had a very different culture from that of its modern suburban state. As late as the 1950s, Milpitas was an unincorporated rural town with the Midtown district on Main Street as its main center of business and social activities. Many old businesses include Main Street Gas (operated by the Azorean Spangler brothers), Smith's Corner Saloon, and Kozy Kitchen. The Cracolice Building

2130-527: The Elmwood Correctional Facility in 1993 revealed a rich trade with other tribes from Sacramento to Monterey. During the Spanish expeditions of the late 18th century, several missions were founded in the San Francisco Bay Area. During the mission period, Milpitas served as a crossroads between Mission San José de Guadalupe in present-day Fremont and Mission Santa Clara de Asis in present-day Santa Clara . The land of modern-day Milpitas

2201-458: The Spanish word Penitencia might be confused with the English word "penitentiary." Instead of choosing Penitencia, he suggested another popular name for the area, Milpitas, after the name of Alviso's property, Rancho Milpitas . Thus was born "Milpitas Township." For over a century, Milpitas served as a popular rest stop for travelers on the old Oakland−San Jose Highway. At the north side of

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2272-643: The US Census Bureau's data collected in 2012, there were 89,004 local government units in the United States. This data shows a decline from 89,476 units since the last census of local governments performed in 2007. Each of the five permanently inhabited U.S. territories is also subdivided into smaller entities. Puerto Rico has 78 municipalities , and the Northern Mariana Islands has four municipalities. Guam has villages ,

2343-459: The book The Color of Law by Richard Rothstein (2017), when the Ford plant moved from Richmond to Milpitas in 1953, the town incorporated in order to pass laws that would exclude African American workers from residing there. "Union leaders met with Ford Executives and negotiated an agreement permitting all 1400 Richmond plant workers, including the approximately 250 African Americans, to transfer to

2414-712: The city acquiring the Alviso Adobe in 1995, it was the oldest continuously occupied adobe house in California dating from the Mexican period and today is still gradually being restored and undergoing seismic upgrades by the City of Milpitas. In the 1850s, large numbers of Americans of English , German , and Irish descent arrived to farm the fertile lands of Milpitas. The Burnett, Rose, Dempsey, Jacklin, Trimble, Ayer, Parks, Wool, Weller, Minnis, and Evans families are among

2485-410: The city was $ 27,823. About 3.3% of families and 5.0% of the population were below the poverty line , including 5.5% of those under age 18 and 6.4% of those age 65 or over. Milpitas has a relatively large percent of residents employed in the computer and electronic products industry. 34.1% of men and 26.9% of women are employed in this industry. While over 75% of people who live in Milpitas work out of

2556-405: The city was 51.81% Asian , 30.87% White , 3.66% African American , 0.62% Native American , 0.63% Pacific Islander , 7.48% from other races , and 4.94% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 16.61% of the population. There were 17,132 households, out of which 43.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 65.1% were married couples living together, 10.9% had

2627-432: The city's residents and "the only black mayor of a predominantly white town in California". Mayor Gross was reelected in 1968 and continued fighting against Milpitas's annexation by San Jose. The Ford San Jose Assembly Plant closed in 1984, later being converted into a shopping mall, known as the Great Mall of the Bay Area , which opened in 1994. In the early 21st century, the Milpitas light rail transit system station

2698-836: The city; the daytime population of Milpitas actually increases by nearly 20% as there are more people living in other cities who work in Milpitas than people living in Milpitas who work in other cities. This results in heavy traffic commutes along key arterial roads twice each day. Milpitas is home to the headquarters of Adaptec , Aerohive Networks , FireEye , Intersil , SonicWall , IXYS Corporation , Viavi Solutions and Lumentum Holdings (formerly JDSU ), KLA-Tencor , Linear Technology , LTX-Credence , SCA , Sigma Designs , and Flex . Many other companies have corporate offices in Milpitas including Hewlett Packard Enterprise , Western Digital , Cisco Systems , Renesas , Infineon Technologies , Varian Medical Systems , Teledyne , Quantum , LifeScan and International Microsystems Inc . Milpitas

2769-510: The construction was completed. Though the result was that local residents could now drive over the train tracks without waiting for a slow freight to pass, it resulted in the loss of the historical residential area. Here houses owned by city leaders had to be purchased by the city at full market value and either moved or demolished. Starting in 1955, with the construction of the Ford Motor Assembly Plant, and accelerating in

2840-519: The corporations in the Irish Free State were Dublin, Cork , Limerick and Waterford (county boroughs) and Drogheda , Kilkenny , Sligo , Clonmel , and Wexford (non-county boroughs). Dún Laoghaire gained borough status in 1930 as "The Corporation of Dun Laoghaire". Galway 's borough status, lost in 1840, was restored in 1937; it was formally styled "the Mayor, Aldermen and Burgesses of

2911-457: The corporations of rotten boroughs and other small rural areas. The Local Government Act 1888 aligned the powers of the remaining borough corporations with those of the new urban district councils . All borough corporations were replaced under the Local Government Act 1972 with councils not designated as "corporations", with the exception of the City of London Corporation . The corporations of

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2982-824: The county in which they would otherwise be a part. In some states, particularly in New England, towns form the primary unit of local government below the state level, in some cases eliminating the need for county government entirely. Many rural areas and even some suburban areas of many states have no municipal government below the county level. In addition to counties and municipalities, states often create special purpose authorities, such as school districts and districts for fire protection, sanitary sewer service, public transportation , public libraries , public parks or forests, water resource management, and conservation districts . Such special purpose districts may encompass areas in multiple municipalities or counties. According to

3053-544: The early settlers of Milpitas. (Today many schools, streets, and parks have been named in honor of these families.) These early settlers farmed the land that was once the ranchos. Some set up businesses on what was then called Mission Road (now called Main Street) between Calaveras Road (now called Carlo Street) and the Alviso-Milpitas Road (now called Serra Way). By the late 20th century this area became known as

3124-575: The estimation of H. Garrison Wilkes, a maize researcher at the University of Massachusetts in Boston, "is one of the most successful human inventions ever created." The concept of milpa is a sociocultural construct rather than simply a system of agriculture. It involves complex interactions and relationships between farmers, as well as distinct personal relationships with both the crops and land. For example, it has been noted that "the making of milpa

3195-408: The extent it can and encourages its residents to file odor complaints. Local creeks and the nearby San Francisco Bay suffer somewhat from water pollution originating from street water runoff and industrial wastes. The creeks in Milpitas, especially Calera , Scott, and Berryessa Creeks , used to be prime fishing spots for native steelhead until pollutants from urban development and industry killed

3266-417: The fish starting in the 1950s. While small populations of steelhead and even salmon still may be seen in area streams these cannot legally be fished and consumption of legal catches is limited by mercury contamination . The I-880 corridor has experienced relatively elevated levels of air pollution from freeway traffic. For example, eight-hour standards for carbon monoxide have been near to maximum levels for

3337-498: The former "Central Market" building. Kozy Kitchen was demolished soon after Jimmy Carlo sold the restaurant in 1999. Even in the early 1950s, Milpitas served a farming community of 800 people who walked a mere one or two blocks to work. On January 26, 1954, faced with getting swallowed up by a rapidly expanding San Jose, Milpitas residents incorporated as a city that included the recently built Ford Auto Assembly plant. When San Jose attempted to annex Milpitas barely seven years later,

3408-432: The gentle rains gradually dwindle. In summer, the grasslands on the hillsides dehydrate rapidly and form bright, golden sheets on the mountains set off by stands of oak. Summer is dry and warm but not hot like in other parts the Bay Area. Temperatures infrequently reach over 100 °F (38 °C), with most days in the low 80s to the mid 80s. From June to September, Milpitas experiences little rain, and as autumn approaches,

3479-486: The intersection of Mission Road and Alviso-Milpitas Road to serve the newly created Township, there was some support for naming it Penitencia, after the small Roman Catholic confessional building that had served local Indians and ranchers and had once stood several miles south of the village near Penitencia Creek which ran just west of the Mission Road. A local farmer and first Assistant Postmaster, Joseph Weller, felt

3550-475: The intersection of that road with the Milpitas-Alviso Road, for many years stood "French's Hotel" that had been originally built by Alex Anderson prior to 1859, when Alfred French bought it from Austin M. Thompson. South of the site of French's Hotel, was a saloon dating from at least 1856 when Agustus Rathbone purchased the land and "improvements" from Richard Greenham. The first murder in Milpitas

3621-475: The last two decades. Set within a warm Mediterranean climate zone in Santa Clara County , Milpitas enjoys warm, sunny weather with few extreme temperatures. Rainfall is confined mostly to the winter months. During winter, temperatures are relatively cold, at an average of 41 to 59 °F (5 to 15 °C). Showers and cloudy days come and go during this season, dropping most of the city's annual 15 inches (380 mm) of precipitation, and as spring approaches,

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3692-639: The mall, with a total of 1,357,000 square feet (126,100 m) of retail area. Milpitas is also home to the first and largest power center in Santa Clara County, McCarthy Ranch Marketplace, which was built in 1994. A large outdoor shopping center called Milpitas Square is west of Interstate 880. Another shopping center in Milpitas is The Seasons Marketplace. Other Milpitas shopping centers and plazas include Ulferts Center, Milpitas Town Center, Jacklin Square, Parktown Plaza, Beresford Square, and

3763-513: The milpa is two years of cultivation and eight years of laying fallow. In the Mexican states of Jalisco and Michoacán and in central Mexico as well as Guanacaste Province Costa Rica, as an agricultural term milpa denotes a single corn plant; in El Salvador and Guatemala, milpa specifically refers to harvested crop of maize and the field for cultivation. A milpa is a field, usually but not always recently cleared, in which farmers plant

3834-532: The neighboring city of San Jose—adopted the image of Daniel Chester French's Minuteman statue, that stands near the site of the Old North Bridge in Concord, MA, as part of the official city seal. In the 1960s, the city approved the construction of the Calaveras overpass. Formerly at a junction with the Union Pacific railroad, Calaveras Boulevard had a bridge passing over six sets of railroad tracks after

3905-403: The new facility. Once Ford's plans became known, Milpitas residents incorporated the town and passed an emergency ordinance permitting the newly installed city council to ban apartment construction and allow only single family homes. ... The Federal Housing Administration approved subdivision plans that met their specifications in Milpitas and guaranteed mortgages to qualified buyers ... One of

3976-651: The oldest structures in Milpitas. The seriously eroded walls of the Jose Higuera Adobe, now in Higuera Adobe Park, are encapsulated in a brick shell built c. 1970 by Marian Weller, a descendant of pioneer Joseph Weller. The Alviso Adobe can be seen mostly in its original form, with one kitchen addition made by the Cuciz family after they purchased the adobe from the Gleason family in 1922. Prior to

4047-651: The population) lived in households, 104 (0.2%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 2,594 (3.9%) were institutionalized. There were 19,184 households, out of which 8,616 (44.9%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 12,231 (63.8%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 2,279 (11.9%) had a female householder with no husband present, 1,105 (5.8%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 760 (4.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships , and 100 (0.5%) same-sex married couples or partnerships . 2,470 households (12.9%) were made up of individuals, and 742 (3.9%) had someone living alone who

4118-421: The population) lived in owner-occupied dwelling units and 21,591 people (32.3%) lived in rental housing units. As of the census of 2000, there were 62,698 people, 17,132 households, and 13,996 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,785.2 people/km (4,624 people/sq mi). There were 17,364 housing units at an average density of 494.4 units/km (1,280 units/sq mi). The racial makeup of

4189-448: The specifications for mortgages insured in Milpitas (as in the rest of the country at that time) was an openly stated prohibition on sales to African Americans. Because Milpitas had no apartments, and houses in the area were off-limits to black workers-though their incomes and economic circumstances were like those of whites on the assembly line-African Americans had to choose between giving up the good industrial jobs, moving to apartments in

4260-564: The state, local governments may operate under their own charters or under general law, or a state may have a mix of chartered and general-law local governments. Generally, in a state having both chartered and general-law local governments, the chartered local governments have more local autonomy and home rule. Municipalities are typically subordinate to a county government, with some exceptions. Certain cities, for example, have consolidated with their county government as consolidated city-counties . In Virginia , cities are completely independent from

4331-653: The term parish and Alaska uses the term borough for what the U.S. Census Bureau terms county equivalents in those states. Civil townships or towns are used as subdivisions of a county in 20 states, mostly in the Northeast and Midwest. Population centers may be organized into incorporated municipalities of several types, including the city , town , borough , and village . The types and nature of these municipal entities vary from state to state. In addition to these general-purpose local governments, states may also create special-purpose local governments. Depending on

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4402-777: The weather gradually cools down. Many temperate-climate trees drop their leaves during fall in the South Bay but the winter temperature is warm enough for evergreens like palm trees to thrive. The 2010 United States Census reported that Milpitas had a population of 66,790. The population density was 4,896.5 inhabitants per square mile (1,890.5/km). The racial makeup of Milpitas was 13,725 (20.5%) White , 1,969 (2.9%) African American , 309 (0.5%) Native American , 41,536 (62.2%) Asian , 346 (0.5%) Pacific Islander , 5,811 (8.7%) from other races , and 3,094 (4.6%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11,240 persons (16.8%). The Census reported that 64,092 people (96.0% of

4473-408: Was 33 years. For every 100 females, there are 110.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 111.4 males. The median income for a household in the city was $ 84,429, and the median income for a family was $ 84,827 (these figures had risen to $ 85,186 and $ 91,232 respectively as of a 2007 estimate). Males had a median income of $ 51,316 versus $ 36,681 for females. The per capita income for

4544-405: Was 36.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 104.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 104.6 males. There were 19,806 dwelling units at an average density of 1,452.0 per square mile (560.6/km), of which 12,825 (66.9%) were owner-occupied, and 6,359 (33.1%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.2%; the rental vacancy rate was 3.1%. 42,501 people (63.6% of

4615-420: Was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.34. There were 15,615 families (81.4% of all households); the average family size was 3.61. The population was spread out, with 15,303 people (22.9%) under the age of 18, 5,887 people (8.8%) aged 18 to 24, 21,827 people (32.7%) aged 25 to 44, 17,434 people (26.1%) aged 45 to 64, and 6,339 people (9.5%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age

4686-463: Was added, making it the northeastern most light rail destination in the region. On January 26, 2004, the city celebrated the 50th anniversary of its incorporation and issued the book Milpitas: Five Dynamic Decades to commemorate 50 years of Milpitas's history as a busy, exciting crossroads community. The name Milpitas is the plural diminutive of milpa , Mexican Spanish for "cornfield." The name means "Place of little cornfields." The word milpa

4757-422: Was committed in the early 1860s in "Rathbone's Saloon" (alas, the murderer escaped). Later the saloon was replaced by a hotel that is shown on the 1893 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map as "Goodwin's Hotel" (perhaps the same Henry K. Goodwin who, in 1890, loaned money to prominent local rancher Marshall Pomeroy). Presumably, this hotel burned down and "Smith's Corner," which still stands, was built in 1895, by John Smith, as

4828-411: Was divided between the 6,353-acre (25.71 km) Rancho Rincon de Los Esteros (Spanish for "corner of the wetlands") granted to Ignacio Alviso ; the 4,457.8-acre (18.040 km) Rancho Milpitas (Spanish for "little corn fields") granted to José María Alviso ; and the 4,394.35-acre (17.7833 km) Rancho Los Tularcitos (Spanish for "little tule marshes") granted to José Higuera. Jose Maria Alviso

4899-632: Was first inhabited by Tamien people , a subgroup of the Ohlone people who had resided in the San Francisco Bay Area for thousands of years. The Ohlone Indians lived a traditional life based on everyday hunting and gathering. Some of the Ohlone lived in various villages within what is now Milpitas, including sites underneath what are now the Calvary Assembly of God Church and Higuera Adobe Park. Archaeological evidence gathered from Ohlone graves at

4970-487: Was one of the oldest commercial buildings in Milpitas and was the site of many political conventions and meetings. "As Milpitas Goes, So Goes the State" used to be a popular slogan around the town. Most of the land now within modern-day Milpitas's boundaries was used for strawberry , asparagus , apricot , and potato cultivation until the postwar boom during the 1950s and 1960s. Milpa The land-conservation cycle of

5041-722: Was the son of Francisco Xavier Alviso and Maria Bojorquez, both of whom arrived in San Francisco as children with the de Anza Expedition . José María Alviso is considered to be the founder of Milpitas. Due to Jose Maria Alviso's descendants' difficulty securing his claims to the Rancho Milpitas property, portions of his land were either swindled from the Alviso family or were sold to American settlers to pay for legal fees. Both landowners had built prominent adobe homes on their properties. Today, both adobes still exist and are

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