TOP: Hecker Pass dedication ceremony,
May 27, 1928.
ABOVE: Photograph of Highway
152 Monument dedication to Henry
Hecker (dark-suited man with arm on
Monument,1928. Others in photo include
Alfred Rae, Louis Cupich, Arnie Cox, Tracy
Leonard, Alex Sturla, Watt Moore, Henry
Hecker. Seated - Joe Bordenave, Louis
Sturla, Nick Bordenave. LEFT: Photograph
of Henry Hecker, January 10, 1932, on
Hecker Pass near Mt. Madonna after an
overnight snow storm.
BELOW: Pacheco Pass Bridge.
detouring to connect with Chittenden
Pass before heading west.
Thanks to Santa Clara County
Supervisor Henry Hecker, the final
connection in the Yosemite-to-the Sea
highway soon became a reality. Headed
west of Gilroy through the old Bodfish
Road, the new highway, named in
Hecker’s honor, was completed and
inaugurated in May, 1928. For drivers,
the long motor trip from Merced County
to the coast was now shortened to a
mere six hours.
With the completion of the Yosemite-
to-the Sea highway, Gilroy enjoyed an
influx of summer tourists, their wallets
filled with vacation dollars. The route
passed directly through town before
heading over Mount Madonna and then
to the seashore resorts.
Yet more progress in making Gilroy
a crossroads was on the way. Beginning
in the early 1930s, and for several
decades, Monterey Street was part of
the north-south state highway system,
beginning as State Route Number 2,
later becoming part of US Highway
101. With motorists coming through
town from four compass points, Gilroy’s
designation as a crossroads was by then
firmly established.