For nearly two decades, residents in one of San Jose’s oldest neighborhoods have pushed for historical recognition. And now a new book just might help their chances.

“Schiele Subdivision and Alameda Park” by Krista Van Laan and Kay Gutknecht is an in-depth look at the homes in 23-acre tract east of downtown San Jose — some were built in the late 1800s but most came after the creation of the Alameda Park residential park in 1922. And, Saturday, neighbors held a block party to celebrate the publication of the book.

Ken Yeager, who represented the area when he served on the San Jose City Council, wrote the book’s foreward.

“It’s the first of its kind in San Jose — a neighborhood history that builds awareness and understanding of the neighborhood’s historical and architectural significance while providing guidance for maintaining and enhancing the character of the homes and the neighborhood overall,” he wrote.

Yeager also recalled when Gutknecht — who lives on Schiele Avenue — first approached him in 2004. At the time, Gutknecht was with a group of neighbors who wanted to make the neighborhood and its collection of Queen Anne, Tudor and Spanish Revival homes into a historic Conservation Area.

It would be more than 15 years until the hundreds of pages of documentation required to start the process would be delivered to the city’s historical preservation officer (and years after Yeager left both the City Council and the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors). Dev Davis — the third council member to work on the plan — is hopeful things can get back on track after being stalled in 2021 when it was discovered that the original Alameda Park tract in 1922 prohibited non-whites from living there. (This appears to be a relic of the 1920s, the book points out, as the adjacent Schiele Subdivision from 1888 and older residential developments like Naglee Park had no such restrictions.)

The publication of the book even had some last-minute drama of its own. Gutknecht had known for decades that historic photographs of houses were taken by the Santa Clara County Assessor’s office and had tried for months to secure them, only to be told they couldn’t be found.

As the book was ready to go to print, Santa Clara County Deputy Assessor Autumn Young called her to say a huge batch of photos from 1960 had just been delivered to her. Gutknecht and Van Laan pulled the book back from publication and inserted six pages of thumbnail photos. During Saturday’s block party, homeowners signed up to get a copy of their photograph, that is, if it still exists.

LEVITT GAINS STEAM: Last Sunday’s concert in the Levitt Pavilion Music Series — featuring San Jose native Jackie Gage as the opener and Jose James as the headliner — drew its biggest crowd yet, with about 400 people in lawn chairs and blankets watching the show and enjoying Camino Brewery suds in the beer garden at St. James Park.

That audience got a great show, and if you missed James on Sunday, you can catch him at Yoshi’s in December. Of course, tickets for that show start at $34 and Sunday’s performance was free.

Organizers are pleased with the way the series has attracted a bigger audience and hope to continue that trend for the last two Sunday shows — Oct. 23 and Oct. 30 (get more information at www.levittsanjose.org). The goal of the series, which will likely be repeated in the spring, is to give people an idea of what the concert experience could be like with a permanent stage and at least 50 free shows a year. So far, it seems like a great idea.

ART FOR ARTISTS’ SAKE: San Jose Playhouse is bringing “Sunday in the Park With George,” the Stephen Sondheim musical inspired by George Seurat’s famous pointillist painting, to 3Below Theaters in San Jose next month and is taking the opportunity to advance the work of Silicon Valley artists.

The goal is to spotlight a different artist — specializing in painting, drawing, sculpture or architecture — for each of the 18 performances between Nov. 17 and Dec. 11. There’ll be opportunities for the artists to show their work, as well as to raise money for their own work or other arts institutions. The first step is filling those spots, though, so head to sanjoseplayhouse.org/nominate to submit an artist.