Alviso is named for Ignacio Alviso, son of a corporal on the Anza expedition, who moved onto his Rancho Rincón de los Esteros in 1840. It became a town in 1852 as the port of San José, and steamboats ran between here and San Francisco until the railroad passed it by in 1864. In 1906 Sai Yin Chew opened the Bayside Canning Company here; under his son Thomas Foon Chew it became the third-largest cannery in the country.
Alviso voted 189 to 180 to consolidate with San Jose in 1968. Its lowest ground sits about 13 feet below sea level, the lowest point in the Bay Area, and floods in the early 1980s hit it hard. The Alviso Historic District is on the National Register, the Postal Service still recognizes the name, and residents pick up their mail at the post office.