Sunnyvale Historical Society
and Museum Association, Inc.  
Sunnyvale Heritage Park Museum
 
 

Welcome to the
Sunnyvale Heritage Park Museum
570 East Remington Drive
Sunnyvale, CA 94087
(408) 749-0220

Sunnyvale Historical Society and
Museum Association

Museum and Gift Shop Hours:
SUN/TUE/THU 12:00 to 4:00 pm
EVENT RENTALS:  The Museum is available for special event rentals for up to 100 people. Overlooking a beautiful apricot orchard and a huge courtyard, the museum provides a magnificent facility for weddings, anniversaries, birthdays, meetings and all special occasions. —— For more information please contact:
Barbara Johnson at (408) 738-2707
Please click here for (Facility Photo)

Please check our Museum Calendar frequently to find out about upcoming events. (Calendar)

Latest News:

    • The next Sunnyvale Historical Society Garage Sale is coming on Saturday, Saturday, June 1st, from 8:00 AM to 2:00 PM at 795 South Wolfe Road (near the corner of Wolfe & Iris).  Many treasures will be available for your purchases at bargain prices.  So come early and bring lots of money to help stimulate our local economy.
    • We are accepting donations in the building next door to the Museum. Pricing will be done on May 26 and 27 so appreciate delivery before that date. Give us a call 408-749-0220 to arrange for delivery during the museum operating hours (Tuesday, Thursday and Sunday from 12-4). If you have things that are already priced they can be delivered on the day of the sale. (Garage Sale Info)

    ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING!

    • The next general meeting will be held on Monday, June 10, 2013 starting at 7:30 pm in the upstairs meeting room of the Heritage Park Museum. The Annual Membership Meeting will feature a free talk by Attorney Brian Liddicoat entitled "The Lost Railroad Tunnels of the Santa Cruz Mountains."
    • This meeting will also cover some updates to the Society By-Laws [Here are the ByLaws from (May 2005), and the proposed By-Laws (June 2013, Proposed)to be approved at the meeting] and election the new officers of the Historical Society.

    JUNE GENERAL MEETING SPEAKER: BRIAN LIDDICOAT

    • Attorney Brian Liddicoat will entertain us with a photographic history of the South Pacific Coast railroad line that once ran through the Santa Cruz Mountains from Los Gatos to Santa Cruz via Felton. Having hiked and uncovered the entire right-of-way (with the poison oak and dogbites to prove it), Brian will take us through the line’s amazing construction in the 1870s and show us what remains of it now, including photographs of the great tunnels that still lie under Highway 17 and the Summit Road.

    EARLY MILESTONES OF MOFFETT FIELD, Exhibit opened March 10th!

    • Moffett Field's early years were filled with more zeppelins, dirigibles and blimps than planes.  Do you know the difference between the airships?  Our newest exhibit features models and vintage photos of them along with a rare collection of Commemorative Stamp Covers.  These covers range in age from the dream of opening Moffett in 1930 to the last dirrigible in 1935 and the follow-up commemorative anniversaries.  Featuring such milestones as: the Akron's first flight, Macon's first flight, the Macon's crash, first day of Airmail carried by the dirigibles, the Macons Welcome Home and when Moffett passed on to the War Dept. in 1935.  Each envelope also records the history of postage stamps including the one half-cent stamps of 1931.
    • This exhibit opened March 10th and remain until the fall of 2013. The exhibit is open free of charge during regular museum hours.  Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays, 12 noon to 4:00 pm.

    LOOKING FOR ALL SUNNYVALE AUTHORS!
    Sunnyvale Author’s Day at the Heritage Park Museum


    • Are you an author, live in Sunnyvale and have written a book on any subject – fiction, nonfiction, poetry, technical, gardening, medical, children’s stories or even a cookbook? If so, you are eligible to participate in our Author’s Day. The Heritage Park Museum is hosting Sunnyvale Author’s Day on Sunday, July 14 from 12 noon to 4 p.m.
    • If you live outside of Sunnyvale and have written a book on any Sunnyvale related topic, we invite you to participate as well.
    • All registered authors are invited to sell their books from assigned tables and will be granted an interview about their writing. The afternoon will include speakers on writing, book demonstrations, a children’s corner with story readings and vintage cookbooks from our archives.
    • Please call the museum at 1-408-749-0220 to register, send an email to info@heritageparkmuseum.org or fill in the form below. We look forward to hearing from you and learning your ideas. We will highlight every author participating, no matter what topic you have chosen to write about. Come join us – it will be great fun! (Author Registration Form)

    WELCOME HOME!

    •Here is a photograph of our 163 year old Martin Murphy, Jr. Piano being returned from a complete cleaning, restoration, and tuning on April 2, 2013.
    •It looks and plays GREAT! Come by the museum in order to see this wonderfully restored artifact.

    CENTENNIAL CELEBRATION Update

    • WOW! What a Celebration! Martin Murphy was surely smiling down on us the weekend of August 25th and 26th. Not only was the weather absolutely perfect, but the two days from beginning to end were truly a celebration of a lifetime. Sunnyvale has probably not seen anything so grand since 1881 when Martin and Mary Murphy celebrated their 50th wedding anniversary held at their Bay View home. Between 4,000 and 5,000 people attended their celebration and for our Centennial Celebration we calculated more than 6,000 people attended over the course of the two-day weekend. Everyone had a grand time.
    • The festivities began with a rousing parade, the likes of which has not been seen since the city-wide parade to Celebrate 2000. There were marching bands, antique cars, costumes, but most exciting of all unbridled enthusiasm and joy for our city... For more information. (Special Centennial Celebration Newsletter)


    Sunnyvale, the latest book in the Arcadia "Images of America" series, has been released. It encompasses all of Sunnyvales' rich history, with never before seen vintage photographs and outstanding text written by Sunnyvale natives Ben Koning and Anneke Metz.
    Books are available at the museum gift shop.


Latest Exhibits:
Latest Photos:   Please click here for (Older photos)
Click on thumbnail for larger photo. Click anywhere on large photo to close.

                                                           

The Sunnyvale Historical Society and Museum Association has raised funds and constructed a regional historical museum for the public benefit. One primary mission is to expand the education program offered by the society for third and fourth graders studying local and California history. This program is the only hands on learning program in the area and is beyond capacity and demand from local schools. Our intent is to expand the program to educate 3000 area students per year.

Rendering of Heritage
House Museum
Artwork modified with Photoshop by Edward Chuck 2009.