The
Santa Clara Valley runs south-southeast from the southern end of
San Francisco Bay in
Northern California in the
United States. The northern, urbanized end of the valley is part of a region locally known as the "South Bay" and also part of the electronics research and manufacturing area known as
Silicon Valley. Most of the Santa Clara Valley is in
Santa Clara County, including its county seat,
San Jose. The valley, named after the Spanish
Mission Santa Clara, was for a time known as
the Valley of Heart’s Delight for its high concentration of orchards, flowering trees, and plants. Until the 1960s it was the largest fruit production and packing region in the world with 39 canneries.