In the beginning of the millennium, Britney + boy bands dominated the charts, the Toby Maguire “Spider-Man” films ruled the box office, and everyone had a LiveJournal (even if we didn’t want to admit it) — but what was going on in San Jose?
We’re back with another decade of San Jose’s history, and this time, we’re traveling back to the 2000s.
📈 Population: 894,943
🗳️ Mayors: Ron Gonzales (1999-2007), Chuck Reed (2007-2015)
2000 — The Burbank Cinema on South Bascom Avenue was shut down. Downtown’s Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library hosted its groundbreaking ceremony.
2001 — The Improv Comedy Club signed a 10-year lease for the Jose Theatre, the oldest in San Jose, and opened a year later.
2002 — Symphony Silicon Valley was founded. An 8-alarm fire ripped through Santana Row during construction — considered the largest fire in San Jose’s history.
2003 — The Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Library opened as largest joint university + city library west of the Mississippi. Local popular bar The Wagon Wheel was demolished.
2004 — The historic California Theatre reopened. After closing in 2002, Alma Bowl was torn down for a residential development.
2005 — The current San Jose City Hall Rotunda was built. Downtown San Jose hosted its inaugural Grand Prix of the 2005 Champ Car World Series and attracted 62,000+ fans.
San Jose’s Norman Y. Mineta served as the U.S. Secretary of Transportation from 2001-2006.
Photo by Shealah Craighead
2006 — San Josean Norman Y. Mineta received the Presidential Medal of Freedom. The A Slice of New York pizzeria opened.
2007 — A 4-alarm fire destroyed the historic, 126-year-old Donner-Houghton House. The SJSU Spartans rivalry game against Stanford was renamed “The Bill Walsh Legacy Game,” after his death earlier that year.
2008 — The 88-residential apartment building was constructed, and at the time, was the tallest building in San Jose.
2009 — Legendary SJ tattoo artist Yun Bing Kwan, aka Pinky, retired. Pruneyard’s Camera 7 movie theater (now Pruneyard Cinemas) converted its auditoriums to Sony 4K digital projection, becoming the only theater in the South Bay with that capability at the time.
