Marker Logo HMdb.org THE HISTORICAL
MARKER DATABASE
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
“Bite-Size Bits of Local, National, and Global History”
Morgan Hill in Santa Clara County, California — The American West (Pacific Coastal)
 

The Granary

Our History

 
 
The Granary Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, August 9, 2011
1. The Granary Marker
[Photo captions:]
Far left:
A Granary in Kashan, Iran; The Henninger Tower, built by Henninger Brewers to hold its barley is the tallest silo in the world at 384 ft.

Lower left:
[The recipes for Mineral Mix and Calf Mix.]

Right center:
105 tons of steel recycled off site; 50 cubic yards of concrete recycled on site.
Inscription.
Background
What is a Granary?
A granary is a storage facility for grains. Granaries have been built from ancient times, with the oldest granaries dating back to 9500BC! Originally, they were carved into the ground or rock, or made of clay. Modern granaries were invented in the late 19th century with the invention of the silo. Today, the world’s tallest silos are almost 400 feet tall!

The Isaacson Granary
The Isaacson Granary provided feed to the many cattle ranchers and dairies around the area. Here, they made special mixes of cattle and calf feed, such as calf mix, steer mix, and dairy mix. Below are two of the many unique recipes that were commonly mixed here. You can see the grain scale where the ingredients were measured by the rest rooms.

Who We Are
Weston Miles Architects
Founded by Charles Weston and Lesley Miles, Weston Miles Architects has contributed their considerable expertise to numerous civic projects, residential projects, educational facilities, and historic renovations in the Bay Area. Committed to sustainability and to the community, WMA designed the first LEED certified school in California and has been an active member of the Morgan Hill community for 22 years, WMA acted as designer and developer
Paid Advertisement
Click on the ad for more information.
Please report objectionable advertising to the Editor.
Click or scan to see
this page online
in the renovation of the Granary.

Visit the Granary website at www.wmarchitects.com to learn more about sustainable building

Renovation
Designing for Sustainability
Sandwiched between the railroad tracks and Downtown, the old Isaacson Granary was the most prominent reminder of the area’s once preeminent agri-business. As populations grew and Santa Clara Valley evolved into Silicon Valley, the industrial businesses based around the Granary and the railroad tracks slid into non-use and decay, and the Granary became a derelict monument to a bygone era.

The Granary redevelopment preserves this piece of the City’s agricultural past, while providing a “gateway” project at the northeast entry to the downtown. Adjacent to the train depot the building is now home to Weston Miles Architects, a community space, a restaurant, and additional offices. The redevelopment focused on sustainable design, a core tenet of WMA.

Renovating the granary involved more than simple redesign. Great care was taken to preserve the building's integrity and character while developing it into an integrated structure that met a number of goals; historic building reuse, a sustainable building and site, and adherence to a very limited budget of $2 million dollars.

These goals were achieved by designing
The Granary Marker image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, August 9, 2011
2. The Granary Marker
an adaptive reuse of the existing building, retaining the Granary’s form, structure and foundation. The project transformed a drafty, dark industrial building into an efficient, bright structure using Savings by Design and LEED criteria in addition to traditional design practices. The project received Designer and Owner incentives from the Savings by Design program and is LEED Gold Certified.

Today
The Granary is a LEED Gold Certified adaptive reuse project designed by Weston Miles Architects. This award winning building showcased Morgan Hill’s agricultural tradition while demonstrating the principles of sustainable design.

Logo: U.S. Green Building Council – USBGC, LEED Gold
 
Topics. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: AgricultureIndustry & Commerce.
 
Location. 37° 7.823′ N, 121° 39.119′ W. Marker is in Morgan Hill, California, in Santa Clara County. Marker is on Depot Street south of 1st Street, on the right when traveling south. The building complex is located at the intersection of Depot Street and 1st Street. Touch for map. Marker is at or near this postal address: 17500 Depot Street, Morgan Hill CA 95037, United States of America. Touch for directions.
 
Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Our History (here, next to this marker); Site of Skeels Hotel (about 400 feet away, measured in
The Granary image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, August 9, 2011
3. The Granary
a direct line); Veterans Memorial Square (about 600 feet away); Votaw Building (about 600 feet away); Waiting For The Train (about 700 feet away); Oak Trees of Morgan Hill (approx. 0.2 miles away); Murphy's Majestic Oak (approx. 0.2 miles away); Morgan Hill United Methodist Church (approx. ¼ mile away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Morgan Hill.
 
The Granary image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, August 9, 2011
4. The Granary
The Granary Scale Where Feed Mixes Were Weighted image. Click for full size.
Photographed By Barry Swackhamer, August 9, 2011
5. The Granary Scale Where Feed Mixes Were Weighted
Recipes as noted on far left side of the marker:
Mineral Mix
Rice - 1370 Lbs • Bran - 130 Lbs • Urea Limestone - 270 Lbs • Mineral - 35 Lbs • Decal - 80 Lbs • Baking Soda - 105 Lbs • Magnesium Oxide - 10 Lbs

Calf Mix
Beet Pulp - 200 Lbs • Rice - 200 Lbs • Bran - 300 Lbs • Millrun - 200 Lbs • Ground Grains -600 Lbs • Cottonseed Meal - 100 Lbs • Bentonite - 30 Lbs • Limestone - 30 Lbs • Salt Mineral - 6 Lbs • Molasses - 2 Gallons • Rolled Barley - 2300 Lbs • Rolled Corn - 200 Lbs
 
 
Credits. This page was last revised on June 16, 2016. It was originally submitted on September 1, 2011, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. This page has been viewed 854 times since then and 20 times this year. Photos:   1, 2, 3, 4, 5. submitted on September 1, 2011, by Barry Swackhamer of Brentwood, California. • Syd Whittle was the editor who published this page.

Share this page.  
Share on Tumblr
m=46725

CeraNet Cloud Computing sponsors the Historical Marker Database.
This website earns income from purchases you make after using our links to Amazon.com. We appreciate your support.
Paid Advertisements
Mar. 28, 2024