Because Milpitas had no apartments, and houses in the area were off-limits to black workers-though their incomes and economic circumstances were like those of whites on the assembly line-African Americans had to choose between giving up the good industrial jobs, moving to apartments in a segregated neighborhood of San Jose, or enduring lengthy commutes between North Richmond and Milpitas. In 1961, Ben F. Gross, a civil rights activist, became Milpitas' first black city councilman with the backing of the UAW. This election was recognized nationally and received attention from Look and Life magazines. In 1966, Ben F. Gross became California's first black mayor when he was elected by the city's residents and "the only black mayor of a predominantly white town in California". Mayor Gross was reelected in 1968 and continued fighting against Milpitas' annexation by San Jose. The Ford San Jose Assembly Plant closed in 1984, later being converted into a shopping mall, known as The Great Mall of the Bay Area, which opened in 1994. In the early 21st century, the Milpitas light rail transit system station was added, making it the northeasternmost light rail destination in the region. On January 26, 2004, the city celebrated the 50th anniversary of its incorporation and issued the book "Milpitas: Five Dynamic Decades" to commemorate 50 years of Milpitas' history as a busy, exciting crossroads community. The name "Milpitas" is the plural diminutive of "milpa," Mexican Spanish for "cornfield." The name means "Place of little cornfields." The word "milpa" is derived from the Nahuatl words "milli", meaning "agricultural field," and "pan", meaning "on." The name "Milpitas", perhaps used by Jose Maria Alviso to name his land grant, "Rancho de las Milpitas", may have meant that there had been small Native American gardens nearby because of the rich alluvial soils of the area. The first deed of property sale in Milpitas is found in the Santa Clara County Records General Index 1850–1856 (K-143) and is dated February 14, 1856. It is Juana Galindo Alviso, widow of Jose Maria Alviso, to Michael and Ellen Hughes for 800 acres of land, today the Main Street area south of Carlo Street, although the deed gives the name of the Rancho as "Rancho San Miguel", rather than as "Milpitas".