Sunnyvale Travel Guide

The area first began to be developed when the stagecoach lines between San Jose and San Francisco were begun in the mid-1800's. One of the very first settlers became a prominent man of the area, Martin Murphy, Jr. He came as a boy when his father traveled to the gold country. Later he purchased land from the Castro family and is said to have planted the first orchards in this area. In 1898, a builder, W.E. Crossman, platted the settlement which he named Encinal which means "a place where oak trees grow." They later learned there was already another town in the east bay with the same name. Unsure of what to name his new town, Crossman looked out over all the fields on a very sunny day and said, "Let's call it Sunnyvale." The name was accepted and by 1912 Sunnyvale was incorporated. It's first motto showed its hope for the future: "City of Destiny."
The founding of Sunnyvale: 1912