2014 is the year that marks Milpitas’s 60th birthday! A year of events and special programs for the community are planned beginning with the Milpitas 60th Anniversary Gala on Saturday, Jan. 25 at the Barbara Lee Senior Center.
Milpitas Cultural Timeline:
1954–present (City of Milpitas)
Milpitas Celebrates 60th Anniversary in 2014
The “Milpitas Minute Man” unveiledThis is followed by the unveiling of a 16-foot bronze statue of the “Minute Man” on the front lawn of Milpitas City Hall. The idea for the statue was taken from the city’s official seal; the “Minute Man” was chosen to be on the city’s seal after a small group of Milpitas citizens calling themselves “The Minute Men” fought off annexation attempts from San Jose in the early 1960s.
Milpitas Town Seal
The Milpitas Town Seal was the idea of member Betty McDermott’s husband John, who came up with the idea for a seal of the Minuteman from one of his son’s history books. He designed the seal and took it to Arnie’s Signs and had 4,000 decals made.
Joe Brown, a local painter, painted the original for free. It is believed that Mr. Brown may have been hired to repaint the statues in the old St. John’s Church. Mr. Brown lived on the Henry Strickroth/Murphy Ranch.
June 10, 2009 by mhs
The following day, Sunday, January 26, 2014 a Family Day will be held from 1 to 4 pm at the Civic Center. City commissions and various city departments and organizations, including the Milpitas Historical Society, will be sponsoring booths and local entertainment to contribute to this family-fun event.
One of the features to be provided will be the historic jailhouse or “hoosegow” that used to be in the Frontier Days parades that Milpitas had in the 60’s and 70’s. People will be able to have their pictures taken with the jail, and perhaps make contributions to the Society.
Milpitas Historical Society President Roger Skuse with the old Frontier Days jail