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Glossary · History & People

Valley of Heart’s Delight

The old name for the orchard-covered Santa Clara Valley before Silicon Valley, when Mountain View shipped prunes, apricots and cherries.

The Mountain View Historical Association and the public library both use the name for the farming era between the pioneer years and the tech boom.

In 1904 the Board of Trade counted prunes as the town’s leading crop, followed by apricots, peaches, pears and cherries, all dried in the open sun on wooden trays.

Sources

Questions people ask

Why was the Santa Clara Valley called the Valley of Heart’s Delight?

It was the name for its orchard years, when fruit trees covered the valley floor.

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