Paintsites Blog: Alviso Marina County Park Thursday July 13, 2017

Sunday, July 16, 2017

Alviso Marina County Park Thursday July 13, 2017

From the 1840's (before the California Gold Rush) until a train connected San Jose to San Francisco in 1864, Alviso was a prominent shipping port for transporting both people and goods between these cities. There are very old historical buildings still standing in Alviso including the "Union Warehouse and Docks", circa 1850, and the Bayside Canning Co, whose peak was from the early 1900's until 1936. At first it was used to can tomatoes, but when the owners developed the technique to can asparagus, it became the 3rd largest cannery in the U.S. The Union Warehouse was first a warehouse for shipping, but then was used as storage for the cannery. As a painting site, the Alviso area has great diversity because the County Park has the Alviso Slough that leads to the Bay, salt ponds, marshlands, and expansive views of the surrounding hills.

Liz led the paintsite while all the other co-coordinators were away. She did a wonderful job, not only giving maps of historical buildings to all artists, but also providing chocolate cookies which were a big hit. She reports that the weather was beautiful, not too hot or cold or windy, and everyone had a good time.

Alviso Marina County Park
About Alviso