Gilroy's 150th Anniversary

For nearly a century, the two blocks of Monterey Street south of 7th Street in Gilroy were home to two thriving groups of immigrant business owners—first Chinese and then Mexicans. It was a vibrant part of the small city where racial segregation forced a concentration...

Nine years after Gilroy was incorporated as a city, most of its landowners didn’t know the exact boundaries of their properties. But when the so-called “Cattle King” Henry Miller came into town and began purchasing property in the 26,000-acre Las Animas Rancho, where Gilroy was...

Much of the life of Gilroy’s namesake is unknown to many people, said Phill Laursen of the Gilroy Historical Society. As the city’s sesquicentennial wraps up, Gilroyans now have the chance to learn more about John Gilroy and how he arrived in Rancho San Ysidro,...

Gilroy’s 150th anniversary celebration never came to be as planned, despite being months in the making. It was, as organizers describe it, “the best darn party that Gilroy never saw.” But, a year-and-a-half later on Sept. 13, it got a small send-off during the Gilroy...

Gilroy’s sesquicentennial was one for the history books. But not in the way anyone had imagined going into 2020. A once-in-a-century pandemic transformed daily life for not only Gilroyans, but the world. As a result, various sesquicentennial events planned throughout 2020 were canceled. However, Gilroy’s 150th...

The Gilroy Museum was preparing to open its new exhibit celebrating Gilroy’s 150th anniversary when the Covid-19 pandemic hit and forced it to close in March 2020. More than a year later, the museum is open to the public. The museum’s new exhibit shows the...