Special Feature :
The Garrett Hammell Collection
Garrett Hammell loved Mountain View history . As the creator and moderator of the popular Facebook page ,“ Lost Mountain View ” he shared his extensive and ever-growing collection of local history memorabilia with thousands of people daily . Sadly , Garrett passed away on April 9 , 2020 at the age of 56 .
After Garrett ’ s passing , the MVHA was contacted by his family , who wanted to honor Garrett ’ s wish of seeing his collection donated to our organization . Unfortunately , the pandemic has delayed our of�icial acceptance of the collection due to the on-going closure of the Mountain View Public Library and our archives at the Mountain View History Center .
As an interim step , MVHA Past President Nick Perry and Ways
Garrett Hammell
& Means Committee Chair Mark Perry spent a full-day sorting through and organizing the collection , currently housed in a storage facility rented by the Hammell family . Due to limited space in our archives , the MVHA cannot accept the entire collection , so Nick and Mark removed the Mountain View-related items from storage and are in the process of sorting through them for eventual incorporation into our archives . They are also working to help connect the Hammell family with the historical associations
Below : The collection includes tokens commemorating businesses , schools , or special events , like this Bicentennial coin from 1976 and this button for Whisman School .
Below : Menus from long-gone Mountain View restaurants like this 1937 menu from the Junction Inn on El Camino Real offer a glimpse of the food ( and prices ) enjoyed by past generations .
Above & Left : An extensive collection of matchbook covers serve as small mementos of numerous long-gone but fondly remembered Mountain View
Below : The collection also includes some very rare items , including a family photo album from 1906 with snapshots that show the destruction the great earthquake infl icted on Downtown Mountain View .
Left : The collection includes game programs , yearbooks , and other local school memorabilia , like the JV block “ A ” from Awalt High School and this Foothill College football game program from when the college was still located in Mountain View .
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