First Stop Light

In its early years, Morgan Hill was a small agricultural town with minimal traffic. Roads such as Monterey Highway were mainly used by horse-drawn wagons, bicycles, and a limited number of automobiles. Intersections were informal, and there was little need for structured traffic control.

All that would begin to change in the 1940s with the war beginning, the economy booming, and the proliferation of automobiles. It was determined that what was once a rural road that ran straight through downtown was inadequate for increased traffic and would need to be widened. It was estimated that as many as 40,000 cars passed through Morgan Hill everyday with no traffic lights along Monterey Highway, and accidents were common.

It wasn’t until Mayor John Telfer was hit by a car and killed in 1946 at the busy intersection at Monterey and Second Street that the state took action. Finally, in 1948 the first traffic light was installed there.

This marked a significant milestone in the town’s development, as it introduced a new level of organization and safety to daily transportation. The addition of the stoplight helped regulate the increasing flow of vehicles along the main highway and improved pedestrian crossings, as Morgan Hill adapted to changing times.