Joseph Olcott McKee was a prominent member of this community and was the first Commodore of the South Bay Yacht Club in Alviso, CA, when it was incorporated in 1896. The club was founded, however, in 1888 and he was active in the starting of the club. Hanging in the South Bay Yacht Club’s historic clubhouse which was built in 1903 in Alviso is a photo taken of him when he was probably in his late 60’s at the wheel of his sailing vessel, Comrado. The photo is very much that of a sea captain with a long white beard and captain’s clothing. From other documentation we learn that he was only 5 feet 6 ½ inches tall, but from the photo he appears to be a very tall man.

Joseph Olcott McKee was a successful ships captain, architect, builder, farmer and orchardist. He had a farm near what is today McKee Road and a portion of his farm later became the site of San Jose High School. The home he built there was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and Joseph died in 1907 so he did not build another home on that site. However, one of the homes he did design and build was for his daughter, Isabella McKee Lundy. It still stands at 592 North 17th Street between Jackson and Empire Streets. The mantel from the destroyed home was preserved in the McKee-Lundy home.

Joseph Olcott McKee was born on 7 May 1831 in Cromwell, CT, to Henry and Sarah (Sage) McKee. Joseph’s ancestors immigrated to this country from Scotland around 1765. Henry, as well as his brother William were ship captains and sailed from the East Coast ports to the West Indies and beyond. Henry had aanother brother in California also named Joseph who was a merchant and not a sea captain like his brothers. By age 17 Joseph Olcott McKee, Henry and Sarah’s son, was an able bodied seaman also sailing on various ships. At age 19, in 1850, he came to San Francisco around South America’s Cape Horn with his uncle Captain William McKee on his uncle’s sailing vessel. The voyage in those days took about 6 months. Joseph’s father, Henry, came to San Francisco soon after William.