George Edes House

This modest Victorian cottage, built in 1896, was the home of George A. Edes, a pioneer in Morgan Hill’s newspaper industry. Edes arrived in the village in 1892 with the goal of establishing a local newspaper. With the support of local land developers, he published the first issue of the Morgan Hill Sun in April 1894, creating a newspaper that quickly became the voice of the growing community.

Soon afterward, his wife, Nettie, and their sons, Vertie and Clyde, joined him in Morgan Hill from South Dakota. In addition to publishing the Sun, Edes operated a printing business, continuing a family trade.

A few years later, President William McKinley appointed Edes as Morgan Hill’s postmaster. When a larger rival newspaper, the Morgan Hill Times, began publication in 1899, Edes sold the Sun to the competing paper in 1901 and devoted his attention to his postal duties. After retiring, he moved to Oakland, where he died in 1909.

Tracing its origins to the Morgan Hill Sun, the Morgan Hill Times remains the longest-operating business in Morgan Hill.