Morgan Hill – More than 100 residents gathered on Friday to mark the 100th anniversary of Morgan Hill’s incorporation with the unveiling of the Centennial History Trail, a cobblestone path depicting moments in local history that was designed by volunteers to preserve the city’s heritage.
“This is living history – it’s not like reading it out of a text book,” said retired teacher Elena Moreno, 84, a Morgan Hill resident for more than 50 years who was married to longtime Police Chief John Moreno, who is honored on the trail. “It’s a string of history beads.”
Covering a small patch of land on the southwest corner of the city-namesake Hiram Morgan Hill’s former estate on Monterey Road, the spiraling trail, when finished, will be lined with more than 90 plaques commemorating local history – starting with the settlement of Ohlone Indians hundreds of years ago.
“It’s a wonderful gift to our city,” said Morgan Hill Mayor Dennis Kennedy. “As I travel to other cities throughout the United States and other countries, I’m always interested in going to a place to learn about the history of that city. We now have a place here in Morgan Hill where visitors will be able to go to learn all about Morgan Hill and it’s history.”
Builders say the project will be finished in spring. The unveiling was held Friday to correspond with the city’s actual 100th birthday.
“I think it’s time for us to reflect on the past and see all of our accomplishments … and it also gives a chance to look forward to the next hundred years,” said Marilyn Liebrers, treasurer of the Morgan Hill Centennial Committee, the group that spawned the idea for a permanent history project two years ago after the city council established the committee and later granted $50,000 in seed money.
Original ideas included a town clock and an arch over Monterey Road.
Centennial volunteers plan to bury a time capsule in the center of the trail. Gifts for future historians include: a stapler, a cell phone, a consumer spending patterns report, school district policy guides, issues of Time and People magazines, city documents and a copy of an multimedia project by fifth and sixth graders on the history and ecosystem of Coyote Valley.
Morgan Hill Unified School Board trustee Kathy Sullivan envisions the trail having educational value for students.
“We wanted to give something to the city that would honor our history,” Sullivan said. “The idea is, as people travel around the trail, they’ll have something more in depth to look at.”
Jennifer Tate, chair of the centennial committee, expects the project to last until the city’s bicentennial in 2106.
“And it will be just as special in a hundred years from now as it is today,” Tate said.
The centennial committee, which had nonprofit status under the Morgan Hill Community Foundation, raised more than $80,000 for events including the New Year’s Eve Club 1906 party and the Centennial Days Barbecue in August.
Tony Burchyns covers Morgan Hill for The Times. Reach him at (408) 779-4106 ext. 201 or tburchyns@morganhilltimes.
