County Office of Planning Photographs

The County Office of Planning Photograph, Slide and Film Collection consists of 1,264 photographs, approximately 3,600 slides and two films. The contents of the collection visually document Santa Clara County from 1906 to 1980, with the bulk of the collection ranging from 1950 to 1970. The collection contains aerial views of the County, commercial development, housing, historical landmarks, industries, parks, public facilities, transportation, agriculture, and people. The collection concentrates on the development of the county, such as new housing developments, commercial developments, and park and recreation development. The purpose of this collection may have been to collect visuals for brochures and presentations. Currently only the photographs have been cataloged.

For additional information about the collection, please see the description in the Online Archives of California (http://www.oac.cdlib.org).

You may search the collection holdings for pictures of specific subjects, locations, or date by using the index below. Generally, it is preferable to use the singular rather than the plural for a subject in a search (for example, "airport" rather than "airports"). The photographs are available for viewing at the County Archives.

The following search terms are prominent in the collection and can serve as a beginning point for exploring the collection.

Aerial, Agriculture, Air Pollution, Airplanes, Apartments, Areas of the County, Churches, Civic Center, Commercial, County Parks, Display Models, Earthquakes and Floods, Erosion and Benching, Farming Activities, Garbage Dumps, Gas Stations, Hillside Development, Historical Landmarks, Industrial, Industry, Local Streets and Highways, Offices, Orchards, Parks and Recreation, People, Public Facilities, Recreational Activities, Residential, Santa Clara County Fair, Schools and Colleges, Shopping Centers, Single Stores, Skyline, Special Problems, Subdivisions, Traffic, Trails and Pathways, Transportation, Utilities.