Beginning in the 1840s, the dock at Alviso served as Santa Clara County's access to the San Francisco Bay. From this port, passengers boarded steamboats loaded with goods and produce bound for San Francisco and points beyond. In the early days of the California gold rush San Jose provided hay, lumber and large amounts of food through this port.
During the height of its shipping activity, Alviso experienced a devastating maritime disaster. On the eleventh of April in 1852, the steamer Jenny Lind left Alviso bound for San Francisco. Midway through the voyage, steam trapped by a torn boiler pipe exploded outward through the ship's furnace, scalding those who were in its path. Residents of San Jose were stunned, as many of those killed had been leaders in their community, and the incident is still remembered as a major tragedy.
Soon after, business at the Port of Alviso began to suffer. The completion of the San Francisco - San Jose Railroad in 1864 diverted most of the passenger traffic from Alviso and hastened the port's decline. Although Alviso's commercial prominence faded, its past is forever linked to the history of the ill-fated steamer, Jenny Lind.
The following are known to have perished in the Jenny Lind disaster
A Baudichon, age 35 · Athalie Baudichon, age 32 · Blanche Baudichon, age 1 · Charlers Baudichon, age 5 · Adolf Behn, age 5 · CE Adolf Bahn, age 39 · William Bell, age 24 · Franklin W Bosworth, age 26 · John S Bradbury, age 29 · John Brady, age 25 · Mr. Capentier, age 46 · SF Drake, age 29 · Rosilla Emerson, age 32 · Thomas Godden, age 26 · Jonas Hawkins, age 30 · Jacob D Hoppe, age 37 · Thomas J Kell, age 23 · Francis H Macabee, age 27 · Bernard Murphy, age 35· Mrs. Sarah Ann Paige, age 34 · Sarah Anna Paige, age 8 · Annie F Ripley, age 6 Charles E Ripley, age 8 · Mary Burtios Turk Ripley, age 30 · Noah Ripley, age 50 · Sarah F Ripley, age 9 · Christopher A. Shelton, age 27 · Jeremiah Van Buren, age 26 · Jane B Winlack, age 15 · Caleb Winsor, age 30 · Charles White, age 45 · Roswell A Wyman, age 36
and others whose names shall never be known.
They were lost to the tragedy, may they never be lost to history.
Dedicated in 2013 on the one hundred and sixtieth anniversary of the disaster by
Mountain Charlie Chapter 1850, E Clampus Vitus · South Bay Yacht Club · California Pioneers of Santa Clara County · Native Daughters of the Golden West, Vendome Parlor No. 100 · Free and Accepted Masons, San Jose Lodge No. 10 · Argonauts Historical Society · Native Sons of the Golden West, Observatory Parlor No. 177 · Yerba Buena Chapter 1, E Clampus Vitus
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