Thomas Fallon
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Thomas Fallon (1825 - 1885) was an Irish-born, Canadian-raised American capitalist and politician, the tenth Mayor of San Jose, California.
Fallon's family moved to Canada when he was a child. When he was 18, he moved to Texas, where he joined the expedition of John C. Frémont to Alta California. In 1844 Fallon left Frémont's force and moved to Santa Cruz. In June 1846 he joined the Bear Flag Revolt, raised a group of 22 volunteers in Santa Cruz, and appointed himself captain. The force crossed the Santa Cruz Mountains to capture the pueblo (town) of San Jose without bloodshed, on July 11. On July 14, 1846 he received an American Flag from Commodore John D. Sloat, which he raised over the juzgado of San Jose, the pueblo's administrative building.
Fallon became rich early in the California Gold Rush, married Carmel (Carmelita) Castro Lodge (1827-1923), daughter of local landowner Martina Cota Castro (1807-1890), who owned Rancho Soquel, now part of Soquel, California. Martina's brother José Castro (1808-1860) was governor of Alta California from 1835 to 1836.
Thomas and Carmel moved to Santa Cruz, then after a short time, they moved their family to Texas. Following the death of several of their children, they returned to San Jose. In San Jose, Fallon began buying land in the area and built the Fallon House (1855) in Downtown San Jose. The house is preserved as a museum, across from the Peralta Adobe.
In 1856, Fallon was elected to the San Jose Common Council. In 1857, he was elected to the city's Board of Trustees (which had replaced the Common Council) for one year. He was elected Mayor of San Jose in 1859, and served a single one-year term.
In 1876, after 26 years of marriage, Carmel found Thomas and the family maid in a compromising position, and filed for divorce. Carmel used the divorce settlement to build several hotels and other buildings, including the Carmel Fallon Building (1894) at 1800 Market Street in San Francisco, now part of the San Francisco LGBT Community Center. Thomas Fallon died in San Francisco in 1885.
In the 1980s, San Jose Mayor Tom McEnery had the city commission a statue of Fallon raising the U.S. flag in San Jose at a cost of over $800,000. The statue was completed in 1988, and was scheduled to be located in the City Park Plaza (now known as Plaza de César Chávez) near the site of the flag raising. However local groups, including Hispanic Americans, protested that Fallon represented American imperialism and repression of the Mexican population. The statue was stored until 2002, when it was finally displayed in a small park northwest of the original proposed location, near Julian and St. James Streets.
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| Preceded by Peter O. Minor |
Mayor of San Jose 1859–1860 |
Succeeded by Richard B. Buckner |
