The Campbell Historical Museum and Ainsley House

Campbell (Ca) (Images of America) The Campbell Historical Museum and Ainsley House

The charming city of Campbell sits amid bustling urban neighbors in California's "Silicon Valley." For many years known as the "Orchard City," Campbell is still very much a small town clinging fiercely to its identity. Benjamin Campbell founded a hay and grain farm on what is now downtown Campbell in 1851. Shrewdly selling off one of his acres for $5 for a railroad depot, Campbell soon subdivided his farm. The resulting town evolved into a rail center for shipping fruit across the continent and around the globe. Campbell Fruit Growers' Union, a large co-operative, sent apricots and prunes to dry yards that were at one time the largest in the world, and canneries like the J. C. Ainsley Packing Company and Geo. E. Hyde & Company became local giants.