San Jose was one of Jacksonville’s earliest suburbs to be designed with the automobile in mind.

The San Jose Company was founded in 1914 with Claude Nolan as its president. Nolan, owner of Claude Nolan Cadillac, backed this project because he believed that the automobile would foster the growth of outlying suburban communities.

Interest in San Jose would come alive again during the 1920’s. San Jose Estates planned a major community that would include two hotels, a golf and country club, a 100′ wide esplanade along the river, a yacht club, parks, schools, a retail center and hundreds of houses. The community’s theme would be “a bit of Old Spain in the new world”.
Today, the original remnants of the Spanish Mediterranean-style project has been mixed in with modern development. Now known as The Bolles School, this building was constructed as the 125 room San Jose Hotel, the centerpiece of San Jose Estate’s commercial district.