The history of Sunnyvale starts with the Ohlone Indian nation. These were the first inhabitants of what would eventually become Santa Clara County. The Spanish arrived in this area in the late 1700’s and, when the American Colonists were busy fighting the British, the Spanish established the Mission Santa Clara, the building itself being constructed by members of the Ohlone Indian tribe who had become converts to Christianity.

Throughout most of the following centuries, Sunnyvale history would be a story of agriculture and labor. The Chinese began to arrive in the area in the late 1800’s and provided most of the labor that worked Sunnyvale’s vast farmlands. A part of Silicon Valley history that is particularly painful involves the organized and legal efforts to drive the Chinese out of the area which eventually resulted in the Chinese Exclusion Act. This significantly reduced the population of Chinese immigrants. More immigrants flooded into the area from other parts of the world, however, and eventually this community began to take on the very diverse mix of cultures and ethnicities that is a source of community pride in the modern era. Silicon Valley history began when one of the worst conflicts in history consumed the entire globe.

When World War II started, Sunnyvale began to evolve into the technological and manufacturing center it is today. The agricultural industry was displaced by factories that manufactured weaponry for the Navy and the defense industry began to establish itself in Silicon Valley. The influx of technicians and engineers during this era planted the seeds for the community’s growth as a technological hub. Today, Silicon Valley history and Sunnyvale history is principally written by the workers in these industries who continue to provide the economic muscle behind this community’s’ constant and consistent growth.