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Inaugral Sesquicentennial Event Held
 
El Camino Real Bell Dedicated by Woman's Club

On March 9, 2002, the Santa Clara Woman's Club, headquartered at the Pena Adobe at 3260 The Alameda, dedicated a new El Camino Real Bell in front of the adobe. Mayor, Council Members, other City officials and staff, residents and business representatives, attended the festivities, which marked the first Sesquicentennial event in Santa Clara's year-long celebrations of its 150th anniversary (1852-2002).

 
El Camino Real Bells originally marked the trail taken by Spanish padres as they established 21 missions from San Diego to Sonoma in the 1700s. Mission Santa Clara, the 8th of these missions, was established January 12, 1777. The Santa Clara Woman's Club Adobe dates back to the third site of Mission Santa Clara de Asis, about 1790.
 
The memory of the early 'road' traveled by the Spanish padres was almost lost until a number of California Women's Clubs came to the rescue to preserve the historic route called "the King's Highway."
In the early 1900s, the California Women's Clubs and the Native Daughters of the Golden West began marking mission sites and the El Camino Real with bell markers. The first bell in Santa Clara was dedicated July 12, 1996 and marks one of the earliest sites of Mission Santa Clara, near the current entrance to Santa Clara University. A second bell is located on El Camino Real near Scott Blvd. (adjacent to the Bank of Santa Clara). The third bell is the one dedicated at the Pena Adobe.
 
In the photo above, to the left; (L to R) Mayor Judy Nadler was a keynote speaker at the El Camino Real Bell Dedication, along with Santa Clara Woman's Club President Char Blake, California Federation of Women's Clubs State President Carol Lopez, and California State Bell Chairman Maureen Everett. They are holding a State Assembly Resolution obtained by Assembly Member Elaine Alquist in honor of the occasion, and recognizing the City's Sesquicentennial.

In the bottom photo at right; (L to R) Community residents, Council Members, officials and others listen to Mayor Nadler speak about the significance of the City's 150th anniversary, 1852-2002, and the importance of the El Camino Real Bell Dedication as the first of many Sesquicentennial events being held this year.

 
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Sesquicentennial