Place and Time

In addition to being one of Santa Clara County’s most significant early residents, John Balbach was also an inventor and responsible for a novel improvement to the chassis used in horse-drawn wagons. The patent for this improvment has been preserved and is shown in its entirety below. John is also credited with having built the very first plow on the west coast and overseeing the construction of the Balbach Mansion, one of the first large houses in the city of San Jose.