Santa Clara Valley

<p>The Santa Clara Valley  is a <a href="/facts/Geologic_trough/KupDxlG3">geologic trough</a> in <a href="/facts/Northern_California/bje9e8ou">Northern California</a> that extends 90 miles (140 km) south–southeast from <a href="/facts/San_Francisco/cb9l7hbC">San Francisco</a> to <a href="/facts/Hollister%2c_California/pXPFo5xt">Hollister</a>. The <a href="/facts/Longitudinal_valley/HfyCReB6">longitudinal valley</a> is bordered on the west by the <a href="/facts/Santa_Cruz_Mountains/NfPuQTHN">Santa Cruz Mountains</a> and on the east by the <a href="/facts/Diablo_Range/zaxjRxR7">Diablo Range</a>; the two coastal ranges meet south of Hollister. The <a href="/facts/San_Francisco_Bay/gupuMeaU">San Francisco Bay</a> borders the valley to the north, and fills much of the northern third of the valley. The valley floor is an <a href="/facts/Alluvial_plain/YWX4BlV3">alluvial plain</a> that formed in the <a href="/facts/Graben/K0LSSFrg">graben</a> (tectonic depression) between the <a href="/facts/San_Andreas_Fault/cxcmWKfc">San Andreas Fault</a> to the west and the <a href="/facts/Hayward_Fault_Zone/MFg4IQhq">Hayward</a> and <a href="/facts/Calaveras_Fault/mXpbIgWw">Calaveras</a> faults to the east.
Within the valley and surrounding the bay on three sides are the urban communities of <a href="/facts/San_Mateo_County%2c_California/1DgAauME">San Mateo County</a>, <a href="/facts/Santa_Clara_County%2c_California/0807EbzH">Santa Clara County</a>, and <a href="/facts/Alameda_County%2c_California/BL7wyMIr">Alameda County</a>, while the narrow southern reaches of the valley extend into rural <a href="/facts/San_Benito_County%2c_California/gv22AEKE">San Benito County</a> to Hollister. In practical terms, the central portion of the Santa Clara Valley is often considered by itself, contained entirely within Santa Clara County.
</p><p>The valley, named after the Spanish <a href="/facts/Mission_Santa_Clara/hmewV0be">Mission Santa Clara</a>, was for a time known as the Valley of Heart's Delight for its high concentration of orchards, flowering trees, and plants. Until the 1960s it was the largest fruit-producing and packing region in the world, with 39 <a href="/facts/Canning/3v7LsDuY">canneries</a>. The growing high-tech industry in the 1960s transformed the area from farmland to densely populated cities, and it became referred to as the <a href="/facts/Silicon_Valley/gdot9J7e">Silicon Valley</a>.
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Santa Clara Valley open-in-new

Santa Clara Valley