Photograph on left by Mike Monroe, right is a rendering by KTGY Architecture |
edition in 1893. His family joined him in 1894 and they built a home at the corner of Del Monte Avenue and First Street in 1896. In 1902 Edes sold the newspaper to his competitors at the Morgan Hill Times. Mr. Edes also served as Morgan Hill’ s postmaster from 1897 until his retirement in 1905. A large portrait of Verti Edes delivering the mail with his horse-drawn mail carrier buggy still hangs in the offices of Union Bank on Tennant Avenue.
George’ s sons, Verti and Clyde, decided to strike out on their own in 1916 by taking over the 2nd and Monterey building from the Stone family and forming the Edes Brothers partnership as“ Dealers in Choice and Staple Groceries with Prices Right.” The Edes Bros. name soon adorned the Second Street wall of the building, along with a new ad for flapjack mix. They expanded into a general merchandise store until 1923, when they dissolved their partnership and changed career paths. Clyde Edes served as Mayor of Morgan Hill from 1920 to 1928. Edes family members still residing in South County suggest that the brothers were experiencing some cash flow problems caused by an overly generous credit policy. That same year, the family purchased the property with their mother, Nettie, as owner. It’ s my opinion that the family probably rented out their business or installed a manager for about 10 years, keeping the Edes Bros. name on the building until at least 1933, when Monterey Road was widened. In 1920, the Estes family sold the property to J. Y. Jones, who transferred the property deed to Nettie Edes three years later.
Nettie leased out the retail property to three successive businesses, beginning in 1924 with Steeles Cash & Carry Grocery, in 1927 to Tremeroux Meats, and in 1931 to Rainbow Grocery. Even so, the Edes Bros. name remained emblazoned on the original building until 1938 when it was remodeled and downsized to accommodate the widening of Monterey Road. All businesses on the west side of the street had to adjust their property line by 17 feet to handle the expansion
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of Monterey Road as a State Highway. Property records show the Edes family re-financed the property through Ester Camfield. After the reconstruction, John Telfer became the new tenant, opening Telfer’ s Market at the busy corner.
After World War II, the Edes family returned to their corner property. Verti had established an insurance business( later to become Pacific Diversified) and Clyde had worked at the Farmer’ s Union until his son George’ s return from the Navy. Clyde and George gave John Telfer a year’ s notice to vacate their building, after which they opened it as Edes Hardware. John opened Morgan Hill’ s first supermarket on Monterey Road, where the Goodwill store stands today. He also served as Morgan Hill’ s mayor from 1931 to 1946. Tragically, he was killed in an automobile accident in 1948 as he was crossing the street at Monterey and Second. Shortly thereafter, the first traffic signals were installed in Morgan Hill.
In 1960, the Edes family sold the hardware business to the Squeri Brothers, who operated there until 1968. After owning the building nearly 45 years, the Edes family sold it to new owners with a new business plan. Alfonse“ Al”( 1920-2008) and Charlotte( 1930-2005) Statti opened
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Statti’ s“ Corner Drug” as a combination pharmacy, soda fountain and gift shop. The fountain had 16 stools and served sandwiches, sodas, and ice cream treats.“ Corner Drug” was a great place to meet downtown especially for Live Oak High School students. It was open 7 days a week and Al was everyone’ s friendly local pharmacist. When the Statti’ s retired in 1988, the Gibault family assumed ownership, moving from their commercial space in the Skeels Building to take over the Edes property. Charles and Darlene Gibault were in the medical profession and Charles was an avid cyclist. In the 1980s they became the proprietors of South Valley Bikes. A long-time employee of the Gibault’ s, Mark Silva, briefly owned the bike shop from 2005 to 2008.
In 2017, we look forward to a new chapter in the storied life of Morgan Hill’ s southwest corner at 2nd and Monterey; this one to be composed by Dan McCranie, a respected long-time business and community leader in Morgan Hill. Dan was inspired to preserve a bit of Morgan Hill history in his new downtown project and so, along with other design elements, the Edes Bros. name will once again adorn the southwest corner of 2nd and Monterey. Stay tuned.
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