Circle of Palms Plaza

When California became part of the USA in 1850, San Jose was the oldest civilian settlement dating back to its establishment in 1777, and selected the first official state capital of California.[1][2] A two-story adobe hotel built around 1830 became the first state capitol and hosted the first legislative sessions in 1850 and 1851.[3] The capitol site is designated as California Historical Marker 461. From 1866 to 1887, the Market Street Chinatown occupied the entire block. The settlement was the center of Chinese-American life in the Santa Clara Valley, until it was destroyed by arson. The site was redeveloped into a plaza in the 1980s.

The Circle of Palms Plaza is a ring of palm trees encircling a California State Seal, located between the Fairmont San Jose Hotel, the KQED building (Silicon Valley Financial Center) and the San Jose Museum of Art.[4][5] The concrete around the state seal contains quotes from the 1849 state constitutional convention in Monetery where San Jose was chosen as the capital.

Each Winter, the San Jose Downtown Association sets up an outdoor ice rink called "San Jose Downtown Ice" at the Circle of Palms.[6]

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  Circle of Palms Plaza
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  The ice rink at the plaza in the Winter
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  State seal at center of the Circle of Palms
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  Night view of the Circle of Palms Plaza and the San Jose Museum of Art
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  San Jose Museum of Art and Circle of Palms
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  Circle of Palms Plaza and Fairmont at Night
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  Circle of Palms and San Jose Museum of Art

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Circle of Palms Plaza.

• History of San Jose, California
• List of California Historical Landmarks

• Scenes of San Jose: Circle of Palms, photo by Dana Grover
• View of the Plaza from above

37.33343°N 121.889627°W / 37.33343; -121.889627