Historical Driving Tour, San Mateo County, California, from Menlo Park to Belmont

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The oldest building still standing in Menlo Park, this redwood-covered building originally served as the gatehouse to a large estate. The Gate Lodge was constructed in 1864 for William Eustace Barron, whose 280-acre estate extended from Ravenswood Avenue to San Francisquito Creek. The estate went through several wealthy owners, including former Governor and U.S. Senator Milton S. Latham and Mrs. Mark Hopkins. The Hopkins family established a commercial seed and plant nursery on the estate grounds by the 1890s; they more than doubled the size of the Gate Lodge by 1897 and 1906 additions to the north side. The remaining buildings on the estate, recently acquired by Stanford University after the death of the Hopkins owners, were demolished in 1942 or disassembled and sold for movie sets, except for the Gate Lodge. The City of Menlo Park purchased the Gate Lodge in 1968 and partially renovated it. In 1986, Barron-Latham-Hopkins Gate Lodge became a National Register of Historic Places listing; it is thought to be the last gatehouse of its era, surviving unchanged in all of California. The Junior League of Palo Alto, Mid-Peninsula, a tenant of part of the building since 1970, renovated the Gate Lodge with the city in 1996. The Junio League offers the building for rentals for special occasions.

2. Menlo Park Railroad Station

The railroad connecting San Francisco to San Jose was completed in January 1864, leading to a rapid increase in the population. As San Francisco grew in the late 19th century, wealthy city residents established country estates along the rail route, where they and their families could escape from city life on the weekends or in the summertime. Railroad stations were established at a number of stops along the route, including Menlo Park. The railroad station at Menlo Park dates to 1867 and was embellished with Stick-style Victorian elements in 1897. The Menlo Park Railroad Station, the oldest in continuous use in the state, was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1974 and became a California Historical Landmark in 1983. The wood-frame, one-story building's roof and exterior were renovated in 2024. Part of the depot building has been leased to house the Menlo Park Chamber of Commerce offices since 1960.

3. Watkins-Cartan House

The house that now stands behind the green hedge at 98 Alejandra Ave. has stood in three locations. It was constructed around 1866 for Commodore James Watkins and his wife on their 19-acre farm which they called Fair Oaks. Unfortunately, Commodore Watkins died in a shipboard accident off the coast of Japan in November 1867. In 1868, Watkins' widow sold their San Francisco town house and lived at Fair Oaks until its sale in 1890. John J. Moore, a purchaser of part of the neighboring Atherton family estate, purchased the Watkins House and moved it to 25 Isabella Avenue in 1903. The house was owned by the Cartan family after 1945. The Watkins-Cartan House was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1978 and was moved to its third location, on Alejandra Ave., in 1998. The private home is not open to the public.

4. Holbrook-Palmer Estate

Also known as Elmwood, the Holbrook-Palmer Estate became the summer home of San Francisco resident and hardware magnate Charles C. Holbrook after 1882. His daughter, Olive, inherited the estate in 1926 and used it as her summer home. She bequeathed the estate to the Town of Atherton with the proviso that it be transferred after the death of her husband, Silas H. Palmer, and used as a public park. Not long after Olive's death in 1958, the circa 1875 house on the estate burned down. Mr. Palmer had a modern house constructed in its place in 1959, and he passed away in 1963. The town acquired the property in 1964. The Holbrook-Palmer Estate, now Holbrook Palmer Park, became a National Register of Historic Places listing in 2016, with two contributing historic structures: a three-story water tower built around 1883 and a carriage house constructed in 1897.

5. Union Cemetery, Redwood City

This historic cemetery was established in Redwood City in 1859 by the Union Cemetery Association and covers over six acres in a triangular lot west of Woodside Road, south of El Camino Real. The cemetery was fenced in during the summer of 1859, and family plots and individual gravesites were offered for sale. The Grand Army of the Republic, an organization of Union veterans of the Civil War, purchased a section of the cemetery, as did other fraternal organizations. The last interment in the cemetery was in 1963 and approximately two thousand souls have been laid to rest here. Union Cemetery became a California Historical Landmark in 1966 and a National Register of Historic Places listing in 1983.

6. New Sequoia Theater Building (Fox Theater)

On January 2nd, 1929, the New Sequoia Theater opened in Redwood City to show movies and offer live performances. The exterior of the new building was Late Gothic Revival in style while the interior was Moorish, styled to resemble a Spanish courtyard. In just a few months, the theater was purchased by the Fox West Coast Chain and became the Sequoia Fox Theatre Redwood City. The theater continued to show movies for decades until it was closed for several months in 1950 for renovations. When it reopened in September 1950, the theater became a venue for live performances. The New Sequoia Theater building was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1994 for its architecture. The theater continues to successfully host musical performances and shows for the public each year, as well as private event rentals for thousands of patrons.

7. San Mateo County History Museum

This regional history museum is located in the historic former county courthouse. Constructed from 1906 to 1910, this courthouse replaced a previous structure built in 1882. A new courthouse was newly constructed in 1906 when most of it was destroyed by the San Francisco earthquake. This building served as San Mateo County's courthouse until the 1990s, and the museum opened in the vacated building in 1998. Highlights of the museum include exhibits that preserve and share the history of Native Peoples and early pioneers of European descent, exhibits dedicated to the history of this section of California during times of war, and exhibits that center on the lives of ordinary residents and leaders of government and industry. The museum is also home to a local history archive and hosts events throughout the year.

8. Lathrop House

The Victorian house now standing at 701 Hamilton St. on the southeast corner with Marshall was moved to this spot in 2019 to make room for construction of the new County Office Building across Marshall Street. The Steamboat Gothic style, wood frame house was built in 1863 for Benjamin G. and Mary C. Lathrop and originally stood at 2215 Broadway. The house became the property of the local school district in the 1890s and was sold in 1905; the new owner moved the house to 627 Hamilton St. around 1907. San Mateo County acquired the Lathrop House in 1968 and has turned it into an historic house museum. In 1977, the Lathrop House was added to the National Register of Historic Places. The house is now just feet away from the San Mateo County Historical Society Museum in the former courthouse. There is an informational sign on the lawn in front of the porch.

9. Hiller Aviation Museum

Founded by Stanley Hiller in 1998, the Hiller Aviation Museum chronicles over 100 years of aviation history and examines its future as well. Through its display of over 45 aviation related vehicles and interactive displays, the museum traces the development of the industry from its early beginnings in the late 19th century. It specializes in Northern California aircraft and helicopter history and is a part of the Smithsonian Institution Affiliations Program.

10. Southern Pacific Depot, San Carlos

This stone building by the railroad tracks was built in 1888 as a railroad depot and town building for the speculative development of San Carlos. The depot served passengers at a new stop along the 1860s-era route of the Southern Pacific Railway. The building included a baggage room and the waiting area which were connected by a breezeway. Its Richardsonian Romanesque architectural style was common for railroad stations in the Eastern U.S. but was rarely found in California, and this was the only train depot on the peninsula south of San Francisco built of stone. After 1967, the building was no longer a train depot. With declining passenger traffic, the building was converted to hold the offices of the Chamber of Commerce, then a real estate firm, and later a restaurant. The California Department of Transportation purchased the depot in 1982. The depot building was listed in the National Register of Historic Places in 1984 and was then rehabilitated. For decades, it was the location of the Depot Cafe, serving breakfast and lunch until it closed in 2018. San Carlos is still a stop on the Caltrain line but is not a ticketing location.

11. Nathaniel Brittan House

Nathaniel Brittan, a San Francisco capitalist, had this two-and-a-half-story redwood house constructed as a country clubhouse or lodge for the Bohemian Club of San Francisco around 1892. The lodge was about a half mile away from Brittan's country home, a manor house (40 Pine Ave.) built on his portion of the family ranch in the 1880s. The clubhouse became a National Register of Historic Places listing in 1994; it is one of only a few remaining Victorian structures in the region with an octagonal shape. The wood-frame building closer to the entrance is a garage built around 1926; the house is further uphill, behind mature trees; the private residence is not open to the public.

12. Ralston Hall on NDNU campus

Ralston Hall was built in 1868 for William Chapman Ralston, a wealthy San Francisco banker who used the redwood mansion as a summer home. After his death while swimming in the Bay in 1875, the mansion became the property of a business partner, Senator William Sharon. The building housed a mental hospital, the Gardner Sanitarium, beginning in 1901. Since 1923, Ralston Hall has been part of a women's college/high school campus after the Sisters of Notre Dame de Namur purchased the property. The mansion was used to house the Roman Catholic nuns and as dormitory space for the college. In 1966, Ralston Hall was listed in the National Register of Historic Places; it is also a California Historical Landmark. The opulent mansion, formerly open for docent-led tours, was closed in 2019 due to structural concerns. While the 80-room mansion remains closed, the grounds are rented out by the university for special events. Notre Dame de Namur University (NDNU) now focuses on graduate education and the secondary school is Notre Dame High School, Belmont.

This Tour is a Driving or Biking Tour.

Historical Driving Tour, San Mateo County, California, from Menlo Park to Belmont

Created by Laurie Paonessa on September 17th 2024, 10:48:32 pm.

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Description

Sample the historical sites in southeastern San Mateo County, starting in Menlo Park and heading northwest to Atherton, Redwood City, San Carlos, and ending in Belmont. You'll see the outside of historic homes or outbuildings dating from the 1850s to the early 1900s. Two history museums are on this driving tour, one on the county and one on aviation, plus two railroad stations, a theater, and a cemetery that was established in 1859.

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Historical Driving Tour, San Mateo County, California, from Menlo Park to Belmont

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