Robert L. Burrill, Milpitas filmmaker and photography teacher
for more than 35 years, has combed the archives of the Milpitas
Historical Society, private local collections, and his own works
to find more than 200 vintage photographs chronicling the heritage,
enterprise, and wit of Milpitas from the 1700s to the present
day.
Little Cornfields Available
Hardcover editions of Milpitas
: The Century of Little Cornfields 1852 - 1952
by Patricia Loomis
Available by making a donation of $18 (or more) to
the Milpitas Historical Society. Paperback edition is available
for $8.
Contact longtime resident and Historical
Society Vice President Mabel Mattos at 408-262-0290 to make your
donation today and receive one of these fine books. You are also
invited to attend one of the meetings any 2nd Wednesday of each
month in the Library at 7p when this book will also be available.
Milpitas Monster
Starring: Doug Hagdahl, Paul Frees
Director: Robert L. Burrill
A monster created from the local garbage dump; local pollution terrorizes 1970's Milpitas, CA.
In 1933, a couple of losers kidnapped and killed the son
of a department store owner in San Jose, California. Little did
they know of the fury they would unleash. The men were captured,
and then, just hours after the victim's body was found, a mob
stormed the city jail and held "a necktie party" (lynching)
in a nearby park. Harry Farrell is a superb writer who researched
this case so thoroughly that he has the details to produce an
unnerving degree of suspense.
Milpitas History
A brief overview of city history from the City of Milpitas website.
The Milpitas Monster was
filmed in 1975 and 1976 and
released to market in 1980, 80 Minutes, Color, Rated PG. Starring:
Douglas A. Hagdohl, John "Pop" Kennedy, Scot A. Henderson,
Daniel G. Birkhead, Scott Parker, Priscilla House, and William
C. Guest. Screenplay by David E. Boston. Music by Robert
R. Berry, Jr. Produced and Directed by Robert L. Burrill. Based
on a story by David R. Kottas and Robert L. Burrill. Watch the trailer:
River's Edge
In 1981 a Milpitas High School student killed his girlfriend,
then brought his buddies to see the body. No one told the cops.
We'd prefer to forget this crime, but it was made into a movie
in 1987. Our "river" here being but a small creek,
the film was made up on the American River.
River's
Edge - About the Actor
Daniel Roebuck used flash to try to win the role, dike the flow
of ''ridiculous sitcom 'fat guy' parts,'' and scrub away the
taint of ''Cave Girl.'' He entered the audition room with a Tollette-like
getup - fatigue jacket, slicked hair, beer can in hand. He downed
a brew in his character's style: full gulp, nerveless, apathetic.
Site includes comments about the film versus what really happened.
Bernal-Gulnac-Joice
Ranch
A visit to the Bernal-Gulnac-Joice Ranch in the Santa Teresa
County Park Historic Area immerses you in the realities of living
and working on a family ranch more than 100 years ago. A self-guided
walk around the park takes you back in time, through a historic
ranch house, gardens and barn, all restored and equipped with
furnishings and tools typical of California farm life in the
early 1900's.
Brooke Hart
In November 1933, Brooke Hart was abducted in broad daylight just yards away from his father's store. The escape route of the kidnappers went along Piedmont and Evans Road in Milpitas. (Remember, the big freeways hadn't been built yet.)
Campbell
Historical Museum and Ainsley House
The Ainsley House is the 1926 home of canning pioneer John Colpitts
Ainsley. It showcases life in Santa Clara Valley during the 1920's
and 1930's.
Fabulous Fifties
Photographic views of various Silicon Valley landmarks in the
50's, when this was a very rural area.
Frontier Village
This here website is dedicated to the memory of a mighty fine
little family amusement park that existed from 1961 to 1980.
Palo
Alto: The First 100 Years
A special project of the Palo Alto Weekly, an official sponsor
of Palo Alto Centennial 1994.
Valley of the Heart's Delight
Asks new questions about San Jose's crime of the century - and whether a lynch mob murdered two innocent men in St. James Park. Hart's abandoned Studebaker was found in Milpitas.
Velma Lucille
Bernal Mendoza
An obit with lots of history both of the 1900's and earlier eras.
Born in San Jose, California on December 13, 1901, she is a direct
descendant of Juan Francisco Bernal who came to Northern California
with the de Anza expedition of 1776.
The October
17, 1989, Loma Prieta, California, Earthquake-Selected Photographs
This publication contains 103 digitized color 35-mm images from
Open-File Report 90-547 (Nakata and others, 1990). Our photographic
coverage reflects the time and resources available immediately
after the event and is not intended to portray the full extent
of earthquake damage. USGS photos.
Neal Cassady
'The bus came by and I got on, that's when it all began; There
was Cowboy Neal at the wheel of the bus to Nevereverland' -Cassady,
the genius behind the Beat Generation, settled in Los Gatos.
Story
of an Eyewitness
Collier's, May 5, 1906. Jack London went to the scene of the
San Francisco Fire & Earthquake and wrote the following dramatic
description of the tragic events he witnessed in the burning
city.
Who's Who
of the Haight-Ashbury Era
This is a list of short (thumbnail size) biographies of people
who were somehow involved with this event.
