Santa Clara, city, Santa Clara county, west-central California, U.S. It lies along the Guadalupe River in the Santa Clara Valley, about 48 miles (77 km) southeast of San Francisco and immediately adjacent to San Jose on the southeast. The original settlement grew around the Mission Santa Clara de Asís, which was founded in 1777 and was the eighth in the California chain of 21 missions. The Spanish historical influence is evident in the city’s place-names, architecture, and restored mission. The city developed as a processing centre for the prunes, apricots, and other fruits and vegetables grown in the rich Santa Clara Valley. By the 1940s, however, manufacturing had surpassed agriculture in importance, and since then Santa Clara’s growth has reflected a mixed economy with a growing service sector. Its economy is closely aligned with that of Silicon Valley, of which it is part.

Paramount’s Great America, a 200-acre (80-hectare) amusement park, is an important economic asset. Santa Clara University, which is the oldest institution of higher learning in California, was founded as a college by Jesuits in 1851 and became a university in 1855; the de Saisset Museum, on the university’s campus, contains displays of African, American, Asian, and European art. The mission was damaged by earthquakes in 1812 and 1818; the mission building on the university campus is a restoration of the third mission, built in 1822. Santa Clara suffered moderate damage in an earthquake that struck central California on October 17, 1989. Popular local attractions include the Triton Museum of Art, with an extensive American Indian and American art collection, and the Harris-Lass Historic Museum, originally built in 1865, considered the last farm site in Santa Clara. Inc. 1852. Pop. (2010) 116,468; San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara Metro Area, 1,836,911; (2020) 127,647; San Jose–Sunnyvale–Santa Clara Metro Area, 2,000,468.