By Mike Monroe
Circa 1892
Villa Mira Monte Photo By Susan Brazelton • Sketch Provided By Morgan Hill Historical Society
One of my favorite depictions of Villa Mira Monte in Morgan Hill is a sketch from an August 1892 edition of the San Jose Mercury News . The drawing by an unknown artist is featured in a book by Beth Wyman entitled “ Hiram Morgan Hill .” The orientation of the sketch views the backside of the ranch property looking southwest from the railroad tracks with El Toro Mountain prominently , and accurately , portrayed in the backround . It certainly was and still is a pretty view .
There is much to enjoy in this drawing - the orchard trees in neat rows , the majestic oak trees on either side of the home , and the tall windmill adjacent to the delightfully designed water tank house . Hiram Morgan Hill and his bride Diana Murphy Hill built their country home between 1884 and 1886 after their marriage in 1882 . The scene reminds me of how abundant the underground water basins were at the time . Sink a shallow well , employ the steady southerly breezes to spin the blades of the windmill , hold the water in a redwood tank and quench the property with a gravity fed water supply . I can still hear the windmill turn and zephyrs rustling through the trees .
Historians have given significant credit to the windmill in the development of the American West along with the invention of barbed wire . Daniel Halladay of Connecticut in 1854 designed what is more accurately described as a wind engine or pump . Windmills had been around for centuries with the purpose of grinding grains but it was Halladay who engineered a gear box and crankshaft that converted the rotary motion of the blades into reciprocating strokes that drove a pump cylinder . The tower featured a large number of blades so that the rate of spin was slow , which allowed considerable torque to be generated in low wind conditions . A self-regulating gear controlled the rotation in times of high winds . And the tower would automatically pivot to face changing wind directions .
In early California , the windmill was an integral part of the
domestic water system for many farm and ranch operations . The wells were initially hand-dug so they were not too deep , and in the Santa Clara Valley artesian wells were commonplace because of the high water table that existed at the time . During the late 1800 ’ s , steel blades and towers replaced the early redwood construction . At their peak in the 1930 ’ s , it is estimated that several hundred thousand windmills were in use in California . The windmill was an important tool that improved the quality of life for farm families . Not only did a steady source of good water become available but the tiring work of pumping water by hand was done away with and gains in farm productivity were realized .
The sketch of Villa Mira Monte includes a three-level water storage building next to the windmill with the ground level portion completely enclosed with redwood siding . Oftentimes tank houses were designed to provide additional living quarters for ranch hands or storage for tools and equipment . During the discussions about restoring the the Morgan Hill House in 1988 , the idea of re-constructing the windmill and tank house surfaced but did not make the final budget cut . The Morgan Hill Historical Society is currently developing an enhancement plan to landscape and build out upon the rear field that once saw trees full of ripening prunes , apricots and peaches .
Looking from their double back porches you can imagine the beauty of a 5,000-acre oak savanna extending eastward across the valley floor . The springtime wildflowers and grasses with cattle grazing lazily across the ranch is sure a pleasant picture . The front of the home has a wrap around veranda which greets visitors to this day traveling on the San Jose Road or the El Camino Real , which we now call Monterey Road . From their front yard , we still gaze up at El Toro or Murphy ’ s Peak and recall Martin Murphy , Sr . riding his horse for the first time to the top of the peak in 1845 .
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