California Theater & Jacaranda Tree
First St, San Jose, CA
The California Theater opened as a vaudeville theater in 1927. The theater was renovated in 2004 after being closed for 30 years. Home to Opera San Jose and Symphony Silicon Valley.
Jacaranda Tree originated in South America in Brazil, Argentina, and Bolivia. Made popular in California in the early 20th century by the horticulturist Kate Sessions.
Sessions was born in San Francisco. In her early childhood, her family moved near Lake Merritt in Oakland, CA. In 1870, would be designated as the country’s first official wildlife refuge.
In 1892, San Diego, CA, contracted her to plant 100 trees a year for ten years. She left her business in Coronado and moved to the mainland, where she was given 30 acres for a nursery at the time, City Park, later renamed Balboa Park.
Sessions introduced the jacaranda, poinsettia, orchid tree, bougainvillea, bird of paradise, and many other exotic plants now common in local gardens and streets in California.
Photograph: July 13, 2023
Explore San Jose • David C. Hill Photographer
