The Sunnyvale Sun

Community

Museum gets ready to make history

ByCody Kraatz

The two-story Sunnyvale Heritage Museum is beginning to look a lot more like the Murphy House, the 1850s home of Sunnyvale founder Martin Murphy Jr., which was torn down in the early 1960s to make way for the Central Expressway.

Construction of the $2.9 million museum, designed as a replica of that part of the city's history, is expected to be completed next May. Its opening is tentatively scheduled for September 2008.

"We probably have far more (exhibits) than what we have room to display, so some of it will rotate," said Laura Babcock, chairwoman of the Sunnyvale Historical Society and Museum Association.

Foremost among the exhibits at the grand opening will be the telling of the entire Murphy story, including his immigration from Ireland, his successful wagon trek across the Sierra Nevada, building a home in Sunnyvale and founding the city.

The museum will also illustrate the agricultural history of Sunnyvale with artifacts and photos of the landscape as it changed from ranches and orchards to houses and businesses. There will be an exhibit with an Echophone radio, designed and built in Sunnyvale in 1918 and used in the 13th radio station licensed in the United States.

"Sunnyvale was high-tech before the word high-tech was invented. We were on the biting edge of high-tech before we even knew what it was," said Babcock.

The exhibit design consultant is putting together cases that will be interchangeable, with stands, lighting, false backs, shelves and wheels that allow a wide variety of displays and can be moved throughout the museum.

On the fundraising end, the museum is in good shape, but still has some work to do. The association is only two tiles short of raising $100,000 from selling bricks and tiles, which can be purchased with custom engraving until early next year.

"We have the money to finish the entire building. We are still raising funds for the exhibits, and that involves a bill of a little over $500,000," said Babcock. The association has $314,000 of that so far and continues to write grant applications and will hold a fundraiser before the end of the year.

The engraved bricks and tiles sell for $150 and $500, respectively. Visit www.heritageparkmuseum.org or call Harold Svensen at 408.732.0511 to buy one or learn more.