Sunnyvale Historical Society and Museum, February 9, 2017

This was another first for the paintsite group.  Instead of cancelling on a very rainy day, we sketched inside a treasure of a collection, The Sunnyvale Heritage Park Museum.  We had painted the apricot orchard outside this museum many times over the years, but this is the first time we went inside the museum.  We were delighted with the artifacts inside that depicted the history of Sunnyvale from the time of the Ohlone Indians through the advent of technology, with emphasis on the pioneer Murphy Family.  The museum is housed in a replica of the Murphy family's Bay View House which was built in Maine, dismantled, shipped to California via Cape Horn, and reassembled in the area which is now Sunnyvale.  The Murphy family's wagon train was the first to scale the summit of the Sierra Nevada Mountains, opening the California trail to thousands of immigrants.  This was in 1844, two years before the Donner Party set out in 1846.  http://heritageparkmuseum.org/

Sunnyvale Historical Society and Museum Association Director,
Laura Babcock, our wonderful hostess

Jane sketching in the kitchen

Jane's kitchen sketch

Jenny sketching in the kitchen

Jenny's sketch of an antique doll and pram

 Jenny's sketch of Bernard D. Murphy, born 1841

Jenny's sketch of a 1921 gas pump

Kaaren sketching in the kitchen

Kaaren's pen and ink sketch of kitchen utensils

Kaaren's pencil sketch of antique kitchen utensils

Anu's sketch of a 1921 Gilbert and Barker gasoline pump, installed on street corners,
one gallon per pump.

Anu's sketch of the Airship Macon stationed in Sunnyvale 1933-1935

Anu's sketch of the guest bedroom

Elizabeth Yuba Murphy by Caroline

Elizabeth Murphy was the first recorded white baby born in California. As a baby, she fell off a horse into the Yuba River and received her middle name. She married at 18, was given a ranch for her wedding gift in Los Altos Hills, and produced five children.

Joy's sketch of a stove and bell

Lisha's sketch of downtown Sunnyvale with train from an Ali Pearson mural

Lisha's sketch of downtown Sunnyvale with auto, horse, and buggy

Lisha's sketch from an Ali Pearson mural of the Libby-McNeill et.al. building,
an early Sunnyvale business

Marilyn's sketch of an 1890's John Church pump Organ

  

The artists admiring their work in front of the Technology Timeline exhibit