CITY OF SAN MATEO
RESOLUTION NO. ____ (2026)
A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL TO ADOPT A CITYWIDE HISTORIC CONTEXT STATEMENT
WHEREAS, San Mateo’s General Plan 2040 includes a goal to support preservation of historic and culturally important resources to maintain San Mateo’s special identity and continuity with the past, and policies and actions to implement this goal; and
WHEREAS, a historic context statement provides a comprehensive framework for understanding the City’s history and identifies important themes, subthemes, events, and patterns of development, and serves as a foundation for identifying and evaluating historic resources; and WHEREAS, the preparation of a historic context statement is consistent with guidance from the National Park Service and supports best practices in historic resource surveys and evaluations; and WHEREAS, the historic context statement for the City of San Mateo identifies major themes in the City’s development, including residential, commercial, civic and institutional, transportation infrastructure, industrial, cultural and ethnic groups, and establishes registration requirements and integrity thresholds for evaluating significance.
NOW, THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED, THAT THE PLANNING COMMISSION OF THE CITY OF SAN MATEO, CALIFORNIA HEREBY finds and determines that, based on substantial evidence in the record, that:
1. The foregoing recitals are true and correct and are incorporated by reference into this action.
2. The Citywide Historic Context Statement was reviewed for conformance with the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) and are found to be exempt pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15306 (Information Collection) because it is an informational document that highlights trends and patterns of development and their relationship to significant elements of San Mateo history, and functions as a policy document to help guide the evaluation of specific historic resources. Therefore, the project meets the intent of CEQA Guidelines Section 15306 and, pursuant to th is exemption, it can be seen with certainty that there is no possibility that the activity in question may have a significant effect on the environment and is exempt from CEQA review.
3. The Citywide Historic Context Statement is consistent with Goal CD-5 of the Strive San Mateo General Plan 2040 that was adopted on March 18, 2024 , and implement s the following General Plan policy and action:
a. Policy CD 5.1 - Comprehensive Approach to Historic Preservation. Implement a comprehensive approach to historic preservation based on community input and best practices from State and federal agencies, to find an appropriate balance between preservation with other important priorities, such as affordable housing production and supporting local businesses. b. Action CD 5.9 - Historic Resources Context Statement. Prepare a citywide historic context statement to guide future historic resource survey efforts to identify individually eligible resources and historic districts. If a neighborhood is identified as a historic district, prepare a more detailed historic context statement for that individual neighborhood.
4. The Citywide Historic Context Statement, attached hereto as Exhibit A and incorporated by reference, is approved. It is intended to provide a comprehensive narrative of the City’s history, events, and patterns of development and will need to be maintained and updated over time to ensure accuracy.
This document may be adminis tratively amended and updated as necessary to incorporate new historical information as it becomes available. Records of these administrative updates shall be logged to ensure awareness and understanding of how this document has grown and changed over time.
Significant amendments, such as identification of a new theme or period of significance, cannot be added administratively and shall require approval by the City Council.
San Mateo Historic Context Statement i
Table of Contents
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Table of Contents ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..... i Introduction ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ............ 1 Project Description ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 1 Project Team ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ... 1 Methodology................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ........... 3 Study Area ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....... 3 Research Methodology ................................ ................................ ................................ ................... 3 Public Outreach and Engagement ................................ ................................ ................................ ... 5 Historic Context Statement ................................ ................................ ................................ ............. 5 How to Use this Document ................................ ................................ ................................ ............. 6 Previous Surveys and Studies ................................ ................................ ................................ .................. 8 Previous Surveys ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................. 8 1989 Survey and Historic Building Survey Final Report ................................ ....................... 8 City of San Mateo Historic Preservation Ordinance ................................ ............................ 8 City of San Mateo General Plan ................................ ................................ ........................... 8 NRHP- and CRHR-Listed Resources................................ ................................ ...................... 9 California Historical Resources Information Center Search ................................ ............................ 9 Significant Periods, Themes, and Property Types ................................ ................................ .................12 Chronological Periods ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................12 Significant Themes ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................ 12 Residential Development ................................ ................................ ................................ ..13 Commercial Development ................................ ................................ ................................ .13 Civic and Institutional Development................................ ................................ ..................13 Transportation Infrastructure................................ ................................ ............................ 13 Industrial Development ................................ ................................ ................................ .....13 Cultural and Ethnic Groups ................................ ................................ ................................ 13 Associated Property Types ................................ ................................ ................................ ............13 Residential Properties ................................ ................................ ................................ .......14 Commercial Properties ................................ ................................ ................................ ......14 Civic and Institutional Properties ................................ ................................ ....................... 14 Transportation Infrastructure................................ ................................ ............................ 14 Industrial Properties ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........14 Cultural and Ethnic Group Properties ................................ ................................ ................14 Precontact History of San Mateo ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........16 Precontact History................................ ................................ ................................ ......................... 16 Ethnohistoric Context ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................17 Spanish and Mexican Period ................................ ................................ ................................ .................20 San Mateo Historic Context Statement ii
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Spanish Period (1769–1822) ................................ ................................ ................................ .........20 Mexican Period (1822–1848) ................................ ................................ ................................ ........23 Early Settlement (1849–1893) ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............26 Residential Development ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............26 Commercial Development ................................ ................................ ................................ ............31 Civic and Institutional Development ................................ ................................ ............................. 35 Schools ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 37 Churches ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 42 Cemeteries ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................ 45 Transportation Infrastructure ................................ ................................ ................................ .......45 Industrial Development ................................ ................................ ................................ .................47 Cultural and Ethnic Groups ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........47 Irish ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 47 Chinese ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 48 African Americans ................................ ................................ ................................ .............49 Incorporation and Suburban Growth (1894–1940) ................................ ................................ ..............50 Residential Development ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............50 Commercial Development ................................ ................................ ................................ ............65 Civic and Institutional Development ................................ ................................ ............................. 71 Transportation Infrastructure ................................ ................................ ................................ .......77 Industrial Development ................................ ................................ ................................ .................79 Cultural and Ethnic Groups ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........80 Chinese ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 80 African Americans ................................ ................................ ................................ .............81 Japanese ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 84 Filipino ................................ ................................ ................................ .......................... 89 World War II and Post-War Development (1941–1979) ................................ ................................ .......92 Residential Development ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............93 Commercial Development ................................ ................................ ................................ ............96 Civic and Institutional Development ................................ ................................ ........................... 108 Medical ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................ 109 Schools ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................ 110 Library ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................ 111 Fraternal ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................ 111 Churches ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................ 111 Transportation Infrastructure ................................ ................................ ................................ .....115 Industrial Development ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............117 Cultural and Ethnic Groups ................................ ................................ ................................ .........118 African Americans ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........118 Chinese ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................ 119 Japanese ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................ 121 San Mateo Historic Context Statement iii
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Filipino ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................ 125 Tongan ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................ 126 Latino ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................ 126 Modern San Mateo (1980–2026)................................ ................................ ................................ ........128 Residential Development ................................ ................................ ................................ ............128 Commercial Development ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........129 Civic and Institutional Development ................................ ................................ ........................... 130 Transportation Infrastructure ................................ ................................ ................................ .....131 Industrial Development ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............132 Cultural and Ethnic Groups ................................ ................................ ................................ .........132 Architectural Styles ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................. 134 Gothic Revival (Carpenter’s Gothic) ................................ ................................ ............................ 134 Folk National ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................... 136 Folk Victorian ................................ ................................ ................................ .............................. 137 Italianate Style ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................. 138 Queen Anne ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ 140 American Colonial Revival ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........142 Classical Revival ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................... 144 Mission Revival ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................ 145 Craftsman ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....147 Twentieth Century Commercial ................................ ................................ ................................ ..149 Spanish Colonial Revival ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............151 Tudor Revival ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................... 153 French Eclectic ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................ 155 Asian Eclectic ................................ ................................ ................................ ............................... 156 Art Deco ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ......157 Streamline Moderne ................................ ................................ ................................ ...................159 Minimal Traditional ................................ ................................ ................................ .....................161 Ranch Style ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..162 Mid-Century Modern ................................ ................................ ................................ ..................164 Corporate Modern ................................ ................................ ................................ ......................166 New Formalism ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................... 167 Postmodern ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ .168 Bay Tradition Regional Styles ................................ ................................ ................................ ......169 Architects, Landscape Architects, Developers, and Builders ................................ ............................... 172 Architects ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....172 Armet & Davis ................................ ................................ ................................ .................172 John Knox Ballantine, Jr. ................................ ................................ ................................ ..172 Campbell & Wong ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........173 Ernest Coxhead ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............173 Herbert E. Goodpastor ................................ ................................ ................................ ....173 San Mateo Historic Context Statement iv
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Grimes and Schoening ................................ ................................ ................................ .....174 Leonard Michaels and Associates ................................ ................................ ....................174 Lewis P. Hobart ................................ ................................ ................................ ................174 Miller & Steiner ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............174 Ernest Norberg ................................ ................................ ................................ ................175 Willis Polk ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................ 175 Powers, Daly & DeRosa ................................ ................................ ................................ ...176 Robert M. Sherman ................................ ................................ ................................ .........176 William Toepke ................................ ................................ ................................ ................176 William Henry Weeks ................................ ................................ ................................ ......177 Welton Becket & Associates ................................ ................................ ............................ 177 Wurster Bernardi & Emmons ................................ ................................ .......................... 177 Landscape Architects ................................ ................................ ................................ ..................178 Nagao Sakurai ................................ ................................ ................................ ..................178 Builder and Developers ................................ ................................ ................................ ...............179 David D. Bohannon ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........179 Conway & Culligan/Culligan Development Company ................................ ......................179 Joseph Eichler ................................ ................................ ................................ ..................180 L.C. Smith ................................ ................................ ................................ ........................ 180 G.W. Williams Co. ................................ ................................ ................................ ............181 Guidance for Assessing Significance ................................ ................................ ................................ ...182 Designation Criteria ................................ ................................ ................................ .....................182 National Register of Historic Places ................................ ................................ .................182 California Register of Historical Resources ................................ ................................ ......183 San Mateo Historic Preservation Ordinance ................................ ................................ ...184 Property Types and Designation Criteria ................................ ................................ .....................184 Precontact (Before 1769) ................................ ................................ ................................ 184 Spanish and Mexican Period (1769–1848) ................................ ................................ ......184 Early Settlement (1849–1893) ................................ ................................ ......................... 185 Incorporation and Suburban Growth (1894–1940) ................................ ......................... 192 World War II and Post-War Development (1941-1979) ................................ ..................203 Modern San Mateo (1980–2026) ................................ ................................ ....................214 References ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........216 Tables
Table 1 San Mateo Properties Listed in the NRHP and CRHR ................................ ........................... 9 Table 2 San Francisco Bay Archaeological Region Prehistory Chronology ................................ .....16 Table 3 Significance Requirements for Residential Properties from the Early Settlement Period ................................ ................................ ................................ .............................. 186 Table 4 Significance Requirements for Commercial Properties from the Early Settlement Period ................................ ................................ ................................ .............................. 188 San Mateo Historic Context Statement v
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Table 5 Significance Requirements for Civic and Institutional Properties from the Early Settlement Period ................................ ................................ ................................ ...........190 Table 6 Significance Requirements for Cultural and Ethnic Properties from the Early Settlement Period ................................ ................................ ................................ .............................. 192 Table 7 Significance Requirements for Residential Properties from the Incorporation and Suburban Growth Period ................................ ................................ ................................ .194 Table 8 Significance Requirements for Commercial Properties from the Incorporation and Suburban Growth Period ................................ ................................ ................................ .197 Table 9 Significance Requirements for Civic and Institutional Properties from the Incorporation and Suburban Growth Period ................................ ................................ .......................... 199 Table 10 Significance Requirements for Transportation Properties from the Incorporation and Suburban Growth Period ................................ ................................ ................................ .201 Table 11 Significance Requirements for Cultural and Ethnic Group Properties from the Incorporation and Suburban Growth Period ................................ ................................ ...202 Table 12 Significance Requirements for Residential Properties from the World War II and Post- World War II Period ................................ ................................ ................................ .........204 Table 13 Significance Requirements for Commercial Properties from the World War II and Post- World War II Period ................................ ................................ ................................ .........207 Table 14 Significance Requirements for Civic and Institutional Properties from the World War II and Post-World War II Period ................................ ................................ .......................... 209 Table 15 Significance Requirements for Transportation Properties from the World War II and Post-World War II Period ................................ ................................ ................................ .211 Table 16 Significance Requirements for Industrial Properties from the World War II and Post- World War II Period ................................ ................................ ................................ .........212 Table 17 Significance Requirements for Cultural and Ethnic Properties from the World War II and Post-World War II Period ................................ ................................ .......................... 213 Figures
Figure 1 Map of Study Area ................................ ................................ ................................ ............... 4 Figure 2 Map of Shellmounds in Vicinity of San Mateo Creek ................................ ......................... 21 Figure 3 1850 Drawing of San Mateo Hospice ................................ ................................ ................23 Figure 4 W.M.D. Howard’s Estate, El Cerrito ................................ ................................ ...................27 Figure 5 1862 Map of San Mateo Prepared for Charles Pohlemus ................................ .................28 Figure 6 Parrott House, c. 1868 ................................ ................................ ................................ .......29 Figure 7 Example of Early Residences in San Mateo’s Central Neighborhood, 45 South Delaware (L) and 809 Lawrence Road (R) ................................ ................................ .......................... 30 Figure 8 1888 Parcel Map of San Mateo ................................ ................................ ......................... 31 Figure 9 1875 Image of San Mateo House ................................ ................................ ......................32 Figure 10 ca.1883 View of B Street ................................ ................................ ................................ ...34 Figure 11 Wisnom Carpenter and Builder Shop, 1880s ................................ ................................ .....35 San Mateo Historic Context Statement vi
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Figure 12 Library Hall in 1906 after the Earthquake ................................ ................................ ..........37 Figure 13 Stereograph of Laurel Hall School, c. 1880 ................................ ................................ ........38 Figure 14 1877 Advertisement for Laurel Hall School ................................ ................................ .......39 Figure 15 1888 Advertisement for Gamble’s Laurel Hall College ................................ ......................39 Figure 16 Undated Postcard of St. Matthews Hall ................................ ................................ ............41 Figure 17 Undated Photo of San Mateo School ................................ ................................ ................41 Figure 18 Undated Photo of Central School ................................ ................................ ......................42 Figure 19 Cornerstone Laying at St. Matthew’s Catholic Church in 1889 ................................ .........43 Figure 20 1891 Sanborn Depicting Catholic Church ................................ ................................ ..........43 Figure 21 Image of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church on Howard Estate ................................ ............44 Figure 22 Congregational Church of San Mateo, 1869 ................................ ................................ ......45 Figure 23 Stagecoach at San Mateo Rail Station ................................ ................................ ...............47 Figure 24 1891 Map of San Mateo Showing Cluster of Chinese Businesses ................................ .....49 Figure 25 2 South Delaware Street, Current View ................................ ................................ .............51 Figure 26 37 East Santa Inez Avenue, Current View ................................ ................................ ..........51 Figure 27 Advertisement for San Mateo Heights ................................ ................................ ..............52 Figure 28 Bromfield Family at San Mateo Park House on Occidental Avenue, 1914; Davenport Bromfield, far right ................................ ................................ ................................ ............53 Figure 29 1924 Advertisement for House in San Mateo Park ................................ ........................... 54 Figure 30 1934 Advertisement for House in San Mateo Park ................................ ........................... 54 Figure 31 1907 Advertisement for Hayward Park Subdivision ................................ .......................... 55 Figure 32 1912 Map of San Mateo’s Subdivisions ................................ ................................ .............56 Figure 33 1929 Aerial of Hayward Park ................................ ................................ ............................. 57 Figure 34 1920 Sanborn (left) and 1929 aerial (right) of San Mateo City Homestead Development 59 Figure 35 1929 Advertisement for Baywood Neighborhood ................................ ............................. 60 Figure 36 1931 View of Third Avenue and El Camino Real ................................ ................................ 61 Figure 37 1939 View of Beresford Area, Facing East toward Bay Meadows ................................ .....62 Figure 38 1937 Image of Aragon Tract House ................................ ................................ ...................63 Figure 39 Sketch of Sunnybrae House ................................ ................................ ............................... 64 Figure 40 Damage to San Mateo Stable Building at 1st Avenue and B Street, 1906 ......................... 66 Figure 41 Levy Bros Store at Wisnom Block c. 1905 ................................ ................................ ..........68 Figure 42 Levy Bros Third Avenue Building under Construction, 1931 ................................ .............68 Figure 43 c. 1910 Image of Wisnom-Bonner Hardware at 2nd and Ellsworth with Dodge Dealership Sign ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ....69 Figure 44 San Mateo Theater, 1925 ................................ ................................ ................................ ..70 Figure 45 San Mateo Police Headquarters 1939 ................................ ................................ ...............73 Figure 46 College of San Mateo Students at Kohl Mansion Location, c. 1925 ................................ ..74 San Mateo Historic Context Statement vii
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Figure 47 The First Methodist Church, c. 1905 ................................ ................................ .................76 Figure 48 Current View of the First Methodist Church ................................ ................................ ....77 Figure 49 Bayshore Highway to Coyote Point, 1928 ................................ ................................ .........78 Figure 50 San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, 1929 ................................ ................................ .....................79 Figure 51 1920 Map Showing San Mateo’s Chinese and Japanese Businesses ................................ .81 Figure 52 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Dinner at Noah’s Ark, c. 1925 ................................ ................................ ................................ ................................ ..83 Figure 53 Nagaya at 112 North F Street (now Fremont Street) on 1920 Sanborn Map ...................85 Figure 54 Mr. Yamanouchi at Imperial Laundry, 1909 ................................ ................................ ......86 Figure 55 Takahashi Market 221 South Claremont ................................ ................................ ...........86 Figure 56 Buddhist Church Members, 1936 ................................ ................................ ......................88 Figure 57 Pace Setter House #3, 1950 ................................ ................................ .............................. 94 Figure 58 1967 View of Woodlake Apartments................................ ................................ .................96 Figure 59 View of San Mateo’s Downtown Commercial District, 1952 ................................ .............96 Figure 60 Hillsdale Shopping Center c. 1950s ................................ ................................ ...................97 Figure 61 Shopping District along West 25th Avenue with a mix of pre- and post-World War II Commercial Architecture ................................ ................................ ................................ ..98 Figure 62 Shopping Center at 42nd and Olympic Avenues ................................ ............................... 99 Figure 63 Commercial-Retail within the Villa Apartments at 4000 South El Camino Real .................99 Figure 64 Villa Hotel, 1957 ................................ ................................ ................................ ..............100 Figure 65 Bel Mateo Bowl, 1958 ................................ ................................ ................................ .....101 Figure 66 Wells Fargo Bank (Originally American Trust Co.) at 100 East 4th Avenue, 1981 ...........102 Figure 67 Bank of America’s A.P. Giannini Memorial Branch at 300 South El Camino Real ............103 Figure 68 Former Joseph I. Magnin Store at 88 East 4th Street ................................ ......................104 Figure 69 Borel Place ................................ ................................ ................................ ....................... 105 Figure 70 Commercial-Office Building at 2555 Flores Avenue ................................ ........................ 106 Figure 71 Former Crocker Bank Building, 1982 ................................ ................................ ...............107 Figure 72 Baywood Medical Building at 1 Baywood Avenue ................................ ........................... 109 Figure 73 101 North San Mateo Drive ................................ ................................ ............................. 110 Figure 74 Japanese Buddhist Temple at 2 South Claremont Street ................................ ................112 Figure 75 Sturge Presbyterian Church ................................ ................................ ............................. 113 Figure 76 Community Baptist Church................................ ................................ .............................. 113 Figure 77 Former First Presbyterian Church (Waypoint Church) ................................ ....................114 Figure 78 Hope Evangelical Lutheran Church ................................ ................................ ..................115 Figure 79 Downtown San Mateo 1979 ................................ ................................ ............................ 117 Figure 80 San Mateo Lumber ................................ ................................ ................................ ..........118 Figure 81 1950 Sanborn Map Depicting Area of Former Chinese and Japanese Stores ..................120 San Mateo Historic Context Statement viii
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Figure 82 1942 “San Mateo Land Occupied by Japanese” ................................ .............................. 122 Figure 83 Mrs. Saiki Yamaguchi and Susan Yamaguchi at the Tanaka House, 38 Eldorado, 1945 ...123 Figure 84 San Mateo Gardner’s Association Building at 503 East 5th Avenue ................................ .125
Introduction
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 1
INTRODUCTION
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
The Historic Context Statement was undertaken by the City of San Mateo’s (City) Planning Division to enhance and streamline the City’s historic preservation program and meet the goals of the Strive San Mateo General Plan 2040. Historic context statements are written planning documents that help distill a community’s collective knowledge about its historic places into a concise and practical format by providing a narrative history of the development patterns, periods of development, typical architectural styles of a period and key features to illustrate the style. It provides a framework offering greater clarity and consistency that reduces the burden of original research for property owners and applicants, and will help streamline future designation decisions, as appropriate.
This document presents the history of San Mateo’s built environment from prehistory to present, and identifies important themes, subthemes, events, and patterns of development. It also describes different property types, architectural styles, architects and builders associated with these important themes. This document also presents guidance for evaluating significance and integrity specific to resources in the city of San Mateo.
PROJECT TEAM
This report was written and researched by Rincon Senior Architectural Historian JulieAnn Murphy, MSHP. Rincon Architectural Historians Josh Bevan, AICP, MSHP, and Antonette Hrycyk, assisted with research. Cultural Resources Principal Margo Nayyar provided senior oversight and quality control.
Each member of Rincon’s team meets the Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualifications Standards for history and architectural history (36 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 61).
Introduction
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 2
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Methodology
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 3
METHODOLOGY
STUDY AREA
The study area for the Historic Context Statement includes the entire city of San Mateo (Figure 1).
San Mateo is located on the San Francisco Peninsula, approximately 20 miles south of San Francisco.
Located in San Mateo County, it is the county’s most populous city. It borders the city of Burlingame to the north, the town of Hillsborough to the west, and the city of Belmont to the south. The city’s eastern boundary is defined by the San Francisco Bay at the northeast corner, and the city of Foster City at the southeast corner.
RESEARCH METHODOLOGY
Rincon completed background and archival research in support of this study throughout January and September 2025. Primary and secondary source materials consulted included, but were not limited to, historical maps, aerial photographs, and written histories of the area. The following sources and repositories were used to develop an understanding of the city’s context:
• San Mateo County Assessor’s Office
• City Planning Division
• San Mateo Local History Collection, San Mateo Public Library • California Collection, San Mateo Public Library
• San Mateo County Historical Association Archives
• Online Archive of California
• Calisphere
• Historical aerial photographs accessed via Nationwide Environmental Title Research, LLC Online
• Historical aerial photographs accessed via University of California, Santa Barbara Library FrameFinder
• Sanborn Fire Insurance Company Maps accessed through the San Francisco County Public Library
• Historical United States Geological Survey topographic maps • Historical maps on file with the Library of Congress
• Historical maps on file with the David Rumsey Map Collection • Historical newspaper clippings obtained from Newspapers.com and the California Digital Newspaper Collection
• Various historical records via Ancestry.com
• Various historical records and secondary sources via Internet Archive Methodology
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 4
Figure 1 Map of Study Area
Methodology
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 5
PUBLIC OUTREACH AND ENGAGEMENT
The project scope, schedule, and budget were presented to City Council on January 21, 2025. Rincon developed a robust outreach and engagement strategy to elicit community participation and feedback, which was finalized and published on a project-specific webpage on the City’s website in May 2025. The document was revised and re-uploaded in August 2025. Other information on the webpage included upcoming events and participation opportunities, and access to an interactive digital time capsule for community members to share memories, photos, and stories of San Mateo.
Rincon targeted several focus groups with keen interest in the history of San Mateo, historic preservation, development, and economic health. Focus groups with residents interested in historic preservation occurred on July 9 and July 16, 2025. Additional focus groups with community business leaders were held on December 11, 2025, community youth on February 20, 2026, and underrepresented communities on March 2, 2026. A virtual community workshop held on July 29, 2025, provided a high-level overview of historic preservation and its history, a review of common historic preservation regulations, and interactive activities to understand community attitudes and priorities for the City’s historic preservation efforts.
To gather critical feedback on the purpose and goals of the project and publicize the ongoing public engagement, Rincon and City staff held several pop-up events. Events included September Nights on B Street on September 18, 2025, Chavez Supermarket on September 23, 2025, and the Hacienda Farmer’s Market on October 7, 2025. City staff also attended the September 19, 2025, Movies in the Park event to distribute project information and contact information regarding upcoming and ongoing outreach events.
In addition to active engagement, the City installed handouts and information boards in four static locations throughout the city including City Hall, the Main Library, the Martin Luther King, Jr.
Community Center, and the Senior Center. Informational flyers and postcards were distributed at the Central Recreation Center.
HISTORIC CONTEXT STATEMENT
The Historic Context Statement is arranged in chronological chapters relating to the city’s major development periods from prehistory to present. The content and format of this document follow guidance and industry best practices, as provided by the National Park Service and California Office of Historic Preservation (OHP). Guidance documents consulted included the following:
• National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation1 • National Register Bulletin 16A: How to Complete the National Register Registration Form2 • National Register Bulletin 16B How to Complete the National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form3
1 National Park Service, National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation (U.S. Department of the Interior, 1997a): https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/NRB-15_web508.pdf. 2 National Park Service, National Register Bulletin 16A: How to Complete the National Register Registration Form (U.S. Department of the Interior, 1997b): https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/NRB16A-Complete.pdf. 3 National Park Service, National Register Bulletin 16B How to Complete the National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form (U.S.
Department of the Interior, 1999): https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/NRB16B-Complete.pdf.
Methodology
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 6
• Instructions for Recording Historical Resources4
• “Writing Historic Contexts”5
• “OHP Preferred Format for Historic Context Statements”6 Rincon staff conducted a “windshield” survey of San Mateo to understand the city’s built environment resources and the general patterns of development, including property types, architectural styles, and age of construction. All photographs in this Historic Context Statement were taken by Rincon in December 2025, unless otherwise noted.
The Historic Context Statement is divided into six chronological periods, each of which is further divided into thematic subsections reflecting the significant themes identified in San Mateo. Following the discussion of San Mateo’s historic development is a summary of various property types and architectural styles associated with each period of development followed by guidance for assessing historical significance and integrity.
HOW TO USE THIS DOCUMENT
The Historic Context Statement presents a citywide context of important themes and patterns of development, property types, architectural styles, and registration requirements. This document was designed to function as a tool for use by the City, its residents, and property owners to better understand, interpret, evaluate, and protect San Mateo’s historical resources. This document is organized into the following major sections:
• Previous Surveys and Studies – This section summarizes previously conducted historic resource surveys, inventories, and evaluations completed in San Mateo, including results of a California Historical Resources Information System records search. • Significant Periods, Themes, and Property Types – This section includes a framework for future property evaluations by providing a summary of significant themes and property types associated with major periods of development.
• Historic Context – The historic context includes six chapters, divided into chronological periods of development supported by important themes and patterns of development. • Architectural Styles – This portion of the document provides an overview of predominant architectural styles in San Mateo. This section includes a representative photograph of each style (organized by property type), the style’s associated period of significance in San Mateo, and a list of major character-defining features of the style. • Architects, Landscape Architects, Developers, and Builders – This chapter includes an overview of architects and builders associated with major periods of development in San Mateo.
• Guidance for Assessing Significance – This section of the document presents a discussion of the national, state, and local designation criteria. It also has an overview of the integrity
4 Office of Historic Preservation, Instructions for Recording Historical Resources (California Department of Parks and Recreation, 1995):
https://ohp.parks.ca.gov/pages/1054/files/manual95.pdf. 5 Marie Nelson, “Writing Historic Contexts” (California Office of Historic Preservation, n.d.):
https://ohp.parks.ca.gov/pages/1072/files/WritingHistoricContexts.pdf. 6 Office of Historic Preservation, “OHP Preferred Format for Historic Context Statements” (California Department of Parks and Recreation, n.d.): https://ohp.parks.ca.gov/pages/1072/files/Format-for-Historic-Context-Statements.pdf.
Methodology
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 7
requirements and identifies associated property types, architectural styles, and guidance for assessing historical significance of in San Mateo.
• References – This chapter is a complete list of references for the footnotes referenced in the document.
Previous Surveys and Studies
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 8
PREVIOUS SURVEYS AND STUDIES
PREVIOUS SURVEYS
1989 Survey and Historic Building Survey Final Report
In 1988–1989, the San Mateo County Historical Association undertook a historic resources survey in partnership with the OHP and with the help of professionals and volunteers. The 1989 survey generally focused on the east side of El Camino Real, where the bulk of the City’s pre-1940 buildings exist.7 Buildings were evaluated for eligibility for listing in the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) and were assigned a rating of 1–6, corresponding with its potential eligibility according to OHP’s Survey Workbook.8
As a result of the survey and evaluations, as outlined in the 1989 City of San Mateo Historic Building Survey Final Report, several buildings were recommended NRHP-eligible for individual listing, potentially NRHP-eligible pending further research, or eligible for local listing, and some were recommended ineligible for the NRHP and local listing. Additionally, two historic districts were documented and recommended eligible for listing in the NRHP, the Central Business District and the Glazenwood Residential District.9
City of San Mateo Historic Preservation Ordinance
At the time of the 1989 survey, the City did not have a historic preservation ordinance. In 1990, the City adopted the Revised General Plan, thereby identifying all individually eligible and contributor historic buildings based on the survey report. The City adopted a historic preservation ordinance in 1993.
In November 1993, the City passed a resolution establishing the Downtown Historic District, the City’s only locally designated historic district.10 The ordinance was subsequently updated in 1995 to expand its applicability to properties throughout the city and not only properties in the Downtown Area Specific Plan and Downtown Historic District.11
City of San Mateo General Plan
As part of the General Plan 2030, the City’s historic preservation ordinance was updated in 2010 to expand its applicability to buildings meeting the criteria for listing in the NRHP and California Register of Historical Resources (CRHR).
In 2024, the City adopted Strive San Mateo General Plan 2040, which replaced the prior General Plan 2030. The General Plan addressed historic preservation as part of the Community Design and Historic Resources Element. Within this element, the Historic Resources section includes a goal for historic preservation (Goal CD-5), to “preserve historic and culturally important resources to maintain San
7 City of San Mateo, City of San Mateo Historic Building Survey Final Report (City of San Mateo, 1989), https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/DocumentCenter/View/47850/Historic-Building-Survey-1989. 8 Today, these are known as the California Historical Resource Status Codes and were last updated in 2020 to include more detailed information.
9 City of San Mateo, City of San Mateo Historic Building Survey Final Report. 10 City of San Mateo, Establishing the Downtown Historic District, Ordinance Number 124, 1993. 11 City of San Mateo, Amending Chapter 27.66 Regarding Historic Preservation, Ordinance Number 1995-13, 1995.
Previous Surveys and Studies
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 9
Mateo’s special identity and continuity with the past.”12 The General Plan included corresponding policies and actions, including Action CD 5.8 (Historic Preservation Ordinance), which has been updated in conjunction with the preparation of this Historic Context Statement, and Action CD 5.9 (Historic Resource Context Statements), the impetus for this report which states:
Prepare a citywide historic context statement to guide future historic resource survey efforts to identify individually eligible resources and historic districts. If a neighborhood is identified as a historic district, prepare a more detailed historic context statement for that individual neighborhood.
NRHP- and CRHR-Listed Resources
Based on review of the NRHP and OHP’s Built Environment Resource Directory, San Mateo has several NRHP- and CRHR-listed resources, as outlined in Table 1 below.
Table 1 San Mateo Properties Listed in the NRHP and CRHR Property Name Property Address NRHP-Listed CRHR-Listed
Baywood Elementary School 600 Alameda de las Pulgas No Yes Coxhead House 37 East Santa Inez Avenue Yes (NR #00000322) Yes De Sabla Teahouse 70 De Sabla Avenue Yes (NR #92000965) Yes National Bank of San Mateo 164 South B Street Yes (NR #97000331) Yes U.S. Main Post Office 210 South Ellsworth Street Yes (NR #88000443) Yes Amelia Vollers House 353 North Claremont Street Yes (NR #14001205) Yes X-100 1586 Lexington Avenue Yes (NR #16000381) Yes
Hotel St. Matthew 215 2nd Avenue Yes (NR #97001663) Yes Yoshiko Yamanouchi House 1007 East 5th Avenue Yes (NR #100009653) Yes 220 East 3rd Avenue t 220 East 3rd Avenue No Yes
First Watch Building 201 2nd Avenue No Yes
College of San Mateo Performing
Arts Building 1700 West Hillside Drive No Yes
Dennis Brown Family House 5 North Delaware Street No Yes CRHR = California Register of Historical Resources; NRHP = National Register of Historic Places
CALIFORNIA HISTORICAL RESOURCES
INFORMATION CENTER SEARCH
On May 5, 2025, California Historical Resources Information System staff from the Northwest Information Center, located at Sonoma State University, conducted a records search (24-1587) for
12 City of San Mateo, San Mateo General Plan 2040, (City of San Mateo, 2024): https://strivesanmateo.org/wp- content/uploads/2024/07/Community-Design_5-31-24.pdf.
Previous Surveys and Studies
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 10
the study area (Appendix A). The Northwest Information Center is the official state repository for cultural resources records and reports for San Mateo County. The purpose of the records search was to identify previously prepared surveys, known significant resource types, resource locations, and report efforts and written histories. Results of the records search have been incorporated herein, as appropriate.
Previous Surveys and Studies
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 11
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Significant Periods, Themes, and Property Types
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 12
SIGNIFICANT PERIODS, THEMES,
AND PROPERTY TYPES
This section provides an overview of the major chronological periods discussed in the Historic Context Statement and a summary of the significant themes and property types associated with these major periods of development.
CHRONOLOGICAL PERIODS
The Historic Context Statement divides the prehistory and history of San Mateo into chronological periods of development, which are further divided into overarching themes:
• Precontact
• Spanish and Mexican Period (1768–1848)
• Early Settlement (1849–1893)
• Incorporation and Suburban Growth (1894–1940)
• World War II and Post-War Development (1941–1979)
• Modern San Mateo (1980–2026)
SIGNIFICANT THEMES
A significant theme is a “means of organizing properties into coherent patterns based on elements such as environment, social/ethnic groups, transportation networks, technology, or political developments of an area during one or more periods of prehistory or history.”13 This Historic Context Statement concentrates on six themes:
• Residential development
• Commercial development
• Civic and institutional development
• Cultural and ethnic groups
• Transportation infrastructure
• Industrial development
Themes related to architectural significance are addressed in Architectural Styles (Chapter 11) and Architects, Landscape Architects, Developers, and Builders (Chapter 12).
Each chronological chapter contains a summary of events, persons, and developments of each period in San Mateo. It then includes an in-depth analysis of themes associated with the chronological period. The following describes the themes that are analyzed in each chronological chapter.
13 National Park Service, National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation (U.S. Department of the Interior, 1997a), 8: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/NRB-15_web508.pdf.
Significant Periods, Themes, and Property Types
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 13
Residential Development
This section discusses important residential development in San Mateo within a given time period. It includes a presentation of important settlement patterns, population growth trends and changes, architectural styles, and property types. It also includes information on important people or architects, as appropriate.
Commercial Development
This section presents major businesses and important figures in the development of commercial enterprise in San Mateo during a given period. It includes a discussion of events or circumstances influential in creating or altering new or existing commercial development. It also describes the architecture of the city’s commercial development during a given period.
Civic and Institutional Development
This section discusses the growth of San Mateo’s government and significant persons and institutions such as schools, churches, fraternal organizations and women’s clubs, charitable organizations, and civic groups. It features a review of their associated property types.
Transportation Infrastructure
This section includes major transportation themes for a given period. This includes the arrival of the railroad and its influence on San Mateo, major transportation routes, trolley service, bridges, highways, and airfields that connect San Mateo to the region and beyond.
Industrial Development
This section discusses major industrial developments and important figures in the development of the city’s industrial activities during a given period. It also includes a discussion of events or circumstances that influenced how and when industries developed.
Cultural and Ethnic Groups
This section examines the contributions of cultural and ethnic groups to San Mateo for a given period. It includes a discussion of the cultural, ethnic, and immigrant community’s influences on the city’s physical, cultural, architectural, and commercial development.
ASSOCIATED PROPERTY TYPES
Each significant theme includes a discussion of illustrative examples of associated property types. A property type may relate to one or more historic context themes. Property types are based on historic use and common physical or associative characteristics. Physical attributes include style, structural type, size, scale, proportions, design, architectural details, method of construction, orientation, spatial arrangement or plan, materials, workmanship, artistry, and environmental relationships.14 The discussion of each property types includes relevant architectural styles and
14 National Park Service, National Register Bulletin 16B: How to Complete the National Register Multiple Property Documentation Form (U.S.
Department of the Interior, 1999), 14: https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/NRB16B-Complete.pdf.
Significant Periods, Themes, and Property Types
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 14
building types prevalent in San Mateo during the identified period of development. The following property types were identified in San Mateo.
Residential Properties
Residential properties are primarily intended for personal use. They include single-family residences, townhouses, duplexes, and condominium and apartment complexes.
Commercial Properties
Commercial properties cater to business activities. They include retail stores, shopping malls/centers, motels and hotels, and restaurants. They also include auto-centered businesses, such as gas stations, services centers, car washes, and drive-in restaurants. Retail stores may include mixed-use buildings with combined residential and commercial uses.
Civic and Institutional Properties
Institutional buildings include public or civic buildings. While often City-owned or publicly owned, institutional buildings may be privately owned (like community centers), but usually have a public use, accessible for congregation. They include libraries, social halls, schools, police and fire stations, churches, community centers, post offices, and hospitals. They may also include public art, recreational properties, and designed landscapes, such as parks and plazas.
Transportation Infrastructure
Transportation properties are associated with depots, rail lines, terminals, marinas, stations, roads, highways, trails, bridges, and road-related infrastructure, such as light posts and signposts.
Industrial Properties
Industrial properties are where goods are made, stored, repaired, or processed. Industrial properties could include mills/factories, dairies, nurseries, canneries, warehouses, lumberyards, and light- industrial properties.
Cultural and Ethnic Group Properties
Properties associated with cultural and ethnic groups could be represented by any property type. For example, they could include residences in ethnic enclave neighborhoods, commercial properties associated with a business that catered to or typified a specific ethnic or cultural group, community- serving religious properties, or institutional properties associated with a specific ethnic or cultural group.
Significant Periods, Themes, and Property Types
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 15
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Precontact History of San Mateo
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 16
PRECONTACT HISTORY OF SAN
MATEO
PRECONTACT HISTORY
The precontact history of indigenous groups living in San Mateo County follows general patterns identified within the archaeological record of the San Francisco Bay archaeological region. The San Francisco Bay archaeological region is generally divided into five pre-contact chronology periods:
Early Holocene, Early Period, Lower Middle Period, Upper Middle Period, and Late Period.15 It is presumed that early Paleoindian groups lived in the area prior to 8000 before common era (BCE) due to evidence in Alta California and the Channel Islands.16 However, no evidence for this period has been discovered in the San Francisco Bay Area.17 Sites dating to this period may be submerged or deeply buried as a result of rising sea levels and widespread sediment deposition that has occurred since the Terminal Pleistocene.18 For this reason, the Terminal Pleistocene Period (c 11,700 to 8000 BCE) is not discussed here.
The earliest intensive study of archaeology of the San Francisco Bay Area began with N. C. Nelson of the University of California, Berkeley, between 1906 and 1908. Nelson documented over 400 shell mounds throughout the area and was the first to identify the Bay Area as a discrete archaeological region.19
Table 2 San Francisco Bay Archaeological Region Prehistory Chronology Temporal
Period Date Artifact Assemblage Example Sites
The Early
Holocene
8000 to 3500
BCE
Characterized by a mobile forager pattern and the presence of millingslabs, handstones, and a variety of leaf-shaped projectile points.
CA-CCO-696; CA-
CCO-637
Early Period 3500 to 500
BCE
Increased sedentism with the introduction of new ground stone technologies like mortar and pestle replaced
millingslabs and handstones, indicating a greater reliance on processing nuts, especially acorns. Faunal evidence from various sites during this period indicates a diverse faunal exploitation pattern based on the presence of mussels and other shellfish, marine mammals, terrestrial mammals, and birds within sites dating to this period. The earliest cut bead horizon is also associated with this period.
CA-CCO-637; CA-
SCL-832; CA-ALA-
307
15 R.T. Milliken et al., “Punctuated Cultural Change in the San Francsico Bay Area,” in California Prehistory: Colonization, Culture, and Complexity, ed. by Terry L. Jones and Kathryn A. Klar (Alta Mira Press, 2007): 99–124. 16 Duncan McClaren et al., “Late Pleistocene Archaeological Discovery Models on the Pacific Coast of North America,” PaleoAmerica 6 (2019): 43–63.
17 Milliken, R.T. et al., “Punctuated Cultural Change in the San Francsico Bay Area,” 99–124. 18 Brian Byrd et al., “San Francisco Bay-Delta Regional Context and Research Design for Native American Archaeological Resources, Caltrans District 4” (Caltrans, 2017): 3–21.
19 Michael J. Moratto, California Archaeology (Academic Press, Inc., 1984), 217.
Precontact History of San Mateo
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 17
Table 2 San Francisco Bay Archaeological Region Prehistory Chronology Temporal
Period Date Artifact Assemblage Example Sites
Lower Middle
Period
500 BCE to 430
CE
The presence of chipped stone points and bone tools became typical during this period. Rectangular shell beads, common during the Early Period, disappear completely and are
replaced by split-beveled and saucer Olivella beads. Haliotis spp. ornaments, bone tools and ornaments, and basketry
awls also became typical, indicating the development of coiled basketry technology. Mortars and pestles continued to be the dominant grinding tool.
CA-ALA-309; CA-
CCO-295
Upper Middle
Period
430 to 1050 CE Around 430 CE, Olivella saucer bead trade networks established during earlier periods collapsed and over half of known sites occupied during the Lower Middle Period were abandoned. Olivella saucer beads were replaced with Olivella saddle beads. New types of material culture appear within these sites, including elaborate, decorative blades, fishtail charmstones, new Haliotis spp. ornament forms, and mica ornaments. Sea otter bones became more abundant, while
salmon and other fish became less so, suggesting changes in faunal exploitation patterns from earlier periods. San
Francisco Bay Area individuals shifted from hunting higher trophic-level foods in the Early Period to gathering foods like plants and shellfish in the Middle and Upper periods.
CA-ALA-309
Late Period 1050 CE to
contact
The Late Period saw an increase in social complexity,
indicated by differences in burials and an increased level of sedentism relative to preceding periods. An increase in imported Napa Valley obsidian occurred during this time for the production of smaller points, preforms and simple flake tools. Small, finely worked projectile points of the Stockton Serrated series associated with bow and arrow technology appear around 1250 CE. Olivella shell beads disappeared and were replaced with Olivella-lipped and spire-lopped beads in the south bay and clamshell disk beads in the north bay.
Thicker and larger beads indicated higher affluence. The toggle harpoon, hopper mortar, and magnesite tube beads also appeared during this period.
SMA-1; SMA-4-5;
SMA-7; SMA-29;
SMA-33; SMA-68;
SMA-104; SMA-
106; SMA-108;
SMA-120; SMA-
122-123; SMA-
232-233; SMA-
309; SMA-311;
SMA-313-315;
SMA-411; SMA-
419-421; SMA-
428
BCE = before common era; CE common era
ETHNOHISTORIC CONTEXT
San Mateo is in the traditional territory of the Ohlone (or Costanoan) people. According to early ethnographers, Ohlone territory extends along the California coast from the point where the San Joaquin and Sacramento rivers merge into the San Francisco Bay to Point Sur. Their inland boundary was limited to the interior Coast Ranges. The Ohlone language belongs to the Penutian family, with several distinct dialects throughout the region.20 Ethnographers divided it into eight regional dialects:
Karkin, Chochenyo, Ramaytush, Awaswas, Taymen, Mutsun, Rumsen, and Chalon.21
20 Alfred J. Kroeber, Handbook of the Indians of California, Bulletin 78 (US Government Printing Office, 1925), 347. 21 Milliken, R.T. et al., “Punctuated Cultural Change in the San Francsico Bay Area,” 99–124.
Precontact History of San Mateo
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 18
The pre-contact Ohlone were semi-sedentary with a settlement system characterized by base camps and seasonal reserve camps composed of tule reed houses with thatched roofs made of matted grass.22 Just outside base camps, large sweat houses were built into the ground near stream banks used for spiritual ceremonies and possibly hygiene.23 Villages were divided into small polities, each of which was governed by a chief responsible for settling disputes, acting as a war leader during times of conflict, and supervising economic and ceremonial activities.24 Social organization appeared flexible to ethnographers, and any sort of social hierarchy was not apparent to mission priests.25 Archaeological investigations and ethnographic evidence helped inform understanding of Ohlone mortuary rituals. Cemeteries were set away from villages and visited during the annual Mourning Anniversary.26 Ceremonial human grave offerings might include Olivella beads, as well as tools like drills, mortars, pestles, hammerstones, bone awls, and used flakes.27 Ohlone mythology includes animal characterization and animism, which was the basis for several creation narratives. Ritually burying animals, such as a wolf, squirrel, deer, mountain lion, gray fox, elk, badger, grizzly bear, blue goose, and bat ray, was commonly practiced. Similar to human burials, ceremonial offerings were added to ritual animal graves like shell beads, ornaments, and exotic goods.28 Ohlone food sources were based on hunting, gathering, and fishing.29 Larger animals, like bears, might be avoided, but smaller game was hunted and snared on a regular basis.30 The acorn was an important staple and was prepared by leaching acorn meal in openwork baskets and in holes dug into the sand.31 The Ohlone also practiced controlled burning to facilitate plant growth.32 During specific seasons or in times of drought, the reserve camps would be used for gathering seasonal food and accessing food storage.33 The Ohlone fished from tule reed canoes using nets and gorge hooks.34 Mussels were a particularly important food resource. Sea mammals, such as sea lions and seals, were hunted, and beached whales were consumed.35
Seven Franciscan missions were built in Ohlone territory in the late 1700s, and all members of the Ohlone group were eventually forced into the mission system.36 The missions, a method of Spanish imperialism, separated missionized people from their indigenous and ceremonial practices, as well as
22 Grant W. Schick, “The Ohlone and the Oak Woodlands: Cultural adaptation in the Santa Clara Valley, Research Manuscript No. 4” (Master’s Thesis, Santa Clara University, 1994), 12.
23 Barbara L. Jones, “Mythic Implications of Faunal Assemblages from Three Ohlone Sites” (Master’s Thesis, San Francisco State University, 2010), 27.
24 Russell K. Skowronek, “Sifting the Evidence: Perceptions of Life at the Ohlone (Costanoan) Missions of Alta California,” Ethnohistory Vol
45., No. 4 (1998): 675–708.
25 Skowronek, “Sifting the Evidence: Perceptions of Life at the Ohlone (Costanoan) Missions of Alta California,” 675–708. 26 Alan Leventhal and Diane DiGiuseppe, “Analysis of the Stone, Bone and Shell Artifacts from CA-SCL-869,” in Final Report on the Burial and Archaeological Data Recovery Program Conducted on a Portion of a Middle Period Ohlone Indian Cemetery, Katwáš Ketneyma Waréeptak (The Four Matriarchs Site) CA-SCL-869, Located at 5912 Cahalan Avenue, Fire Station # 12 San José, Santa Clara County, California (2009). 27 Leventhal and DiGiuseppe, “Analysis of the Stone, Bone and Shell Artifacts from CA-SCL-869” 3–1. 28 Kroeber Handbook of the Indians of California, Bulletin 78, 347; Les W. Field and Alan Leventhal, “What Must It Have Been Like!: Critical Considerations of Precontact Ohlone Cosmology as Interpreted through Central California Ethnohistory,” Wicazo SA Review 18(2) (2003):
95–126.; Jones, “Mythic Implications of Faunal Assemblages from Three Ohlone Sites,” 41. 29 Kroeber Handbook of the Indians of California, Bulletin 78, 347.; Skowronek, “Sifting the Evidence: Perceptions of Life at the Ohlone (Costanoan) Missions of Alta California,” 675–708.
30 Schick, “The Ohlone and the Oak Woodlands: Cultural adaptation in the Santa Clara Valley, Research Manuscript No. 4,” 12. 31 Kroeber, Handbook of the Indians of California, Bulletin 78, 347.; Richard Levy, “Costanoan.” In Handbook of North American Indians, Vol. 8, California, edited by R. F. Heizer (Smithsonian Institution, 1978): 485–495. 32 Kroeber, Handbook of the Indians of California, Bulletin 78, 467.; Skowronek, “Sifting the Evidence: Perceptions of Life at the Ohlone (Costanoan) Missions of Alta California,” 675–708.
33 Schick, “The Ohlone and the Oak Woodlands: Cultural adaptation in the Santa Clara Valley, Research Manuscript No. 4,” 12. 34 Schick, “The Ohlone and the Oak Woodlands: Cultural adaptation in the Santa Clara Valley, Research Manuscript No. 4,” 16–-17. 35 Kroeber, Handbook of the Indians of California, Bulletin 78, 84. 36 Kroeber, Handbook of the Indians of California, Bulletin 78, 465.; Skowronek, “Sifting the Evidence: Perceptions of Life at the Ohlone (Costanoan) Missions of Alta California,” 675–708.; Milliken, R.T. et al., “Punctuated Cultural Change in the San Francsico Bay Area,” 99– 124.
Precontact History of San Mateo
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 19
the seasonal rhythm of their own food production practices. After the establishment of the missions, Ohlone population dwindled from roughly 10,000 people in 1770 to 1,300 by 1814.37 In 1973, the population of people with Ohlone descent was estimated at fewer than 300. The descendants of the Ohlone united in 1971 and have since arranged political and cultural organizations to revitalize aspects of their culture.38 Today, the descendant communities of the Ohlone can be found in multiple tribes throughout Northern and Central California.
37 Skowronek, “Sifting the Evidence: Perceptions of Life at the Ohlone (Costanoan) Missions of Alta California,” 675–708. 38 Skowronek, “Sifting the Evidence: Perceptions of Life at the Ohlone (Costanoan) Missions of Alta California,” 675–708.
Spanish and Mexican Period
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 20
SPANISH AND MEXICAN PERIOD
SPANISH PERIOD (1769–1822)
Although Spanish, Russian, and British explorers visited the area for brief periods between 1529 and 1769, the Spanish Period in California begins with the establishment of a settlement at San Diego in 1769 and the founding of Mission San Diego de Alcalá by Franciscan Father Junípero Serra, the first of 21 missions constructed between 1769 and 1823.39 Juan Rodriguez Cabrillo led the first European expedition to observe what was known by the Spanish as Alta (upper) California in 1542. For more than 200 years, Cabrillo and other Spanish, Portuguese, British, and Russian explorers sailed the Alta California coast and made limited inland expeditions, but they did not establish permanent settlements.40 The Spanish crown laid claim to Alta California based on the surveys conducted by Cabríllo in 1542 and later survey by Sebastian Vizcaíno in 1602.41 The 1769 overland expedition by Captain Gaspár de Portolá marks the beginning of California’s Historic period, occurring just after the King of Spain installed the Franciscan Order to direct religious and colonization matters in assigned territories of the Americas.42 Portola’s 1769 expedition is credited with the discovery of the San Francisco Bay from the hills west of present-day Millbrae, though members of the expedition did not appear to regard the discovery of the bay as anything but an obstacle at the time because they were searching for the smaller, previously mapped Monterey Bay.43 In 1775, San Mateo’s bay line was surveyed by Juan Bautista Aguirre and finally in 1776, Spanish arrived in San Mateo and camped. By this time, the Spanish decided that San Francisco should serve as the site of the presidio and mission in the region.44 Lieutenant Colonel Juan Bautista de Anza settled a colony of families at the northern tip of the Peninsula and establish the site for the mission and presidio. On March 26, 1776, the group crossed San Francisquito Creek and continued north where party member Padre Pedro Font reported they “came to a good-sized village situated on the banks of the Arroyo of San Matheo. It has many laurels and ash trees on its banks.”45 The area was inhabited by Ohlone and Font commented that, “they appear to be gentle Indians, and it would seem possible to form of them a good and large mission”46 (Figure 2). Anza began his return trip on March 29, 1776 and sent his group back to “Arroyo San Matheo” the way they had come, roughly following today’s El Camino Real.47 It is not known why Padre Font bestowed the creek the name San Matheo, after Saint Matthew.
39 Walton E. Bean, California: An Interpretive History (McGraw-Hill Book Company, 1968), 50. 40 Bean, California: An Interpretive History, 16–18.
41 Hubert Howe Bancroft, History of California (A.I. Bancroft & Company, 1885), 3.; Bean, California: An Interpretive History, 18. 42 Bean, California: An Interpretive History, 34.
43 Bean, California: An Interpretive History, 39.
44 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 4.
45 Herbert Eugene Bolton, Anza’s California Expeditions: Volume IV (University of California Press, 1930), 328. 46 Bolton, Anza’s California Expeditions, 329.
47 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 4.
Spanish and Mexican Period
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 21
Figure 2 Map of Shellmounds in Vicinity of San Mateo Creek
Source: San Mateo County Historical Association (SMCHA_0000-001) The colonization of the San Francsico Peninsula began on June 17, 1776. A party commanded by Lieutenant José Moraga camped at San Mateo Creek on June 24 for three days before continuing to San Francisco to begin work on creating the Mission San Francisco de Asis and the San Francisco Presidio.48 The requirements for a good mission site were well-known and required: good access to native populations, good grazing land, and good soil and climate for crops.49 The decision to build the Mission San Francisco de Asis at Dolores Creek was recognized as a mistake early on.50 Anza reluctantly located the mission (the arm of the church) close to the presidio (an instrument of the government) in order to protect the missionaries and to enforce discipline, as persuaded by Padre Font and Junipero Serra. Several things were wrong with the site. There was not enough rainfall or freshwater to support crops, the sandy soil was not conducive for farming, and the native population in the vicinity was not as large as the padres originally believed.51 Though the circumstances saddled the mission with a permanent handicap, it also created circumstances unique to the mission. The Presidio, the mission, and the existing Ohlone population
48 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 6.
49 Frank Stanger, South from San Francisco: The Life Story of San Mateo County (San Mateo County Historical Association, 1963), 17. 50 Alan Hynding, From Frontier to Suburb: The Story of The San Mateo Peninsula (Star Publishing Company, 1982), 19. 51 Hynding, From Frontier to Suburb: The Story of The San Mateo Peninsula, 19.
Spanish and Mexican Period
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 22
were isolated on a narrow peninsula where they had to interact. From the outset, Spanish attitudes toward the native population made their forced assimilation into Spanish colonial culture impossible, while also extinguishing the possibility to gain true understanding of native traditions or experience.
Spanish conquistadors systemically destroyed the existing knowledge of the area.52 Relations between the Spanish and Ohlone tribes near the mission began when the Spanish offered token gifts and food to attract interest. On August 12, 1776, however, a rival tribe from San Mateo Creek attacked a village near the mission site, frightening its residents who fled to the opposite shore.
Unimpressed with the Spaniards’ offer to defend them, contact was retracted.53 In Spring 1777, contact was renewed, and three days before the first anniversary of their arrival, the mission baptized its first Bay Area Native Americans.54
Slowly, other populations of Ohlone were brought to the mission. The mission listed 135 baptisms of Native Americans from the San Mateo area in 1780 and 1786.55 By 1793, virtually all native populations of the San Francsico Peninsula were baptized. Less than half of the original Peninsula Ohlone survived by that time, having succumbed to deadly diseases like smallpox, whooping cough, venereal diseases, influenza, and mumps introduced by the Spanish.56 It was common practice for California missions to establish agricultural outposts, or asistencias or hospices, to grow food to sustain the mission. No mission was more dependent on such outposts as Mission San Francisco de Asis due to its environmental challenges. In approximately 1793, the padres established an outpost at San Mateo Creek. The San Mateo location proved a successful settlement due to good climate and soil, an optimal location between the San Francisco and Santa Clara missions, fresh water, and a more dense native population.57 The San Mateo outpost’s function was three-fold: the rites of the church would be practiced; it would function as a base of operations for neophytes tending cattle and sheep; and it would provide storage for agricultural products.58
52 Stanger, South from San Francisco: The Life Story of San Mateo County, 19. 53 Stanger, South from San Francisco: The Life Story of San Mateo County, 19. 54 Hynding, From Frontier to Suburb, 20.
55 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 6.
56 Hynding, From Frontier to Suburb, 22.
57 Hynding, From Frontier to Suburb, 22.
58 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 9.
Spanish and Mexican Period
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 23
Figure 3 1850 Drawing of San Mateo Hospice
Source: San Mateo County Historical Association (SMCHA_0000-482-018) The outpost was constructed near the Moraga campsite. Mission records describe the first building in San Mateo as a three-room structure with a tile roof.59 By 1800, the San Mateo outpost was the center of food production on the Peninsula.60 Thirty mission-trained Native Americans lived at the outpost by this time. In 1810, the adobe was destroyed by earthquake and subsequently rebuilt larger (Figure 3). Even as Mexico achieved independence from Spain, life at the outpost carried on as usual. Official mission documents reveal that by 1822 at least two buildings in San Mateo served as granaries.61
MEXICAN PERIOD (1822–1848)
After more than a decade of intermittent rebellion and warfare, Mexico won independence from Spain in 1821. In San Mateo, change was slow. By 1822, support for the missions was cut, while the Mexican constitution removed the Spanish monopoly on free trade, allowing California ports to open to foreign merchants.62
The secularization of the missions following Mexico’s independence from Spain did not begin until 1834 under Governor Jose Figueroa. In the meantime, merchants from around the world were interested in California products such as hides and tallow. The new business created demand for land from Spanish soldiers, government officials, and pioneers. Former mission lands were subdivided for large land grant ranchos. Commonly, former soldiers and well-connected Mexican families were the recipients of these land grants, which now included the title to the land and often included mission Native Americans who became laborers in a feudal system.63
59 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 9.
60 Hynding, From Frontier to Suburb, 23.
61 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 10.
62 S.F. Dallas, “The Hide and Tallow Trade in Alto California 1822-1848,” (PhD diss., Indiana University), 1955, 14. 63 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 13.
Spanish and Mexican Period
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 24
In San Mateo, there were reportedly about 30 native Californians at the time of secularization. San Mateo was claimed by the José Argüello family, who asserted that Spanish Governor Diego Borcia awarded José Argüello 69,000 acres of land south of Rancho Buri Buri in 1795. The land, Rancho de las Pulgas, ultimately comprised of 35,000 acres was not awarded until November 1835 to the widow of Argüello’s son, Dona Maria and their children.64 During this period San Mateo remained largely unchanged. In fact, the population south of San Francisco declined during the interlude of Mexican rule and did not exceed 500 persons.65
The rancheros were land rich, but cash poor and vulnerable to squatters and predatory money lenders and lawyers. As a result, after becoming entangled in years of litigation, many rancho heirs lost vast portions of their holdings. The Argüello’s, whose holdings spanned from present-day Mills Hospital to the Santa Clara County line, hired a Spanish lawyer, Simón Mezes in exchange for a generous share of Rancho de las Pulgas. By 1838, the rancho contained 4,000 cattle and 2,000 horses. Squatters, who populated the rancho, believed the Land Commission would not approve the title to the land and ownership would default to the government, thereby presenting an opportunity for ownership.66 In 1856, however, the Argüello’s were successful at defending their full title.67 Despite secularization, the area north of San Mateo Creek, known as Rancho San Mateo, was reserved for Native Californians and the activities of the asistencia. An embarcadero, perhaps the same used during mission times, continued with grain from the outpost.68 In 1839, the entire San Francisco mission Ohlone population was moved to San Mateo by Mexican administrator W.E.P.
Hartnell, bringing the population to 89 or 90.69 By 1840, the Ohlone population was endangered. In 1846, Mexican governor Pio Pico awarded the 6,000-acre Rancho San Mateo to Cayetano Arenas of Los Angeles for his work in the governor’s office. His land occupied the area between Rancho Buri Buri to the north and Rancho de las Pulgas to the south and included the area of the former outpost.70 Arenas, however, never occupied the land and sold it to San Francisco merchants William D.M. Howard and Henry Mellus in 1846, perhaps assuming the land would be taken away by American troops who occupied the Bay Area by that time. William D.M. Howard arrived in San Francisco in about 1838 from New England. He opened a San Francisco store and acted as an agent for several New England firms. He formed a partnership with Mellus in 1845, and they purchased stock of the Hudson Bay Company’s failing business, just before the Gold Rush.71 The United States declared war with Mexico in April 1846. The war ended in 1848 with the signing of the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo just days before the announcement of the gold discovery at Sutter’s Mill, ushering California into its American period.72
64 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 14.
65 Hynding, From Frontier to Suburb, 31.
66 Stanger, South from San Francisco, 49.
67 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 15.
68 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 15.
69 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 15.
70 Philip Alexander and Charles P. Hamm, History of San Mateo County (Burlingame Publishing Company, 1916), 32. 71 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 15.
72 Postel, San Mateo County: A Sesquicentennial History, 84.
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Early Settlement (1849–1893)
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EARLY SETTLEMENT (1849–1893)
Because the Peninsula was close to the epicenter of the Gold Rush, it experienced change sooner and more dramatically than other parts of the state. San Francisco’s ballooning population demanded food and lumber, and bought, leased, or squatted on land to begin producing. The net result was the transformation of cattle lands into community farms.73 During the following years in San Mateo, formerly undeveloped land transformed to support a burgeoning population.
RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT
San Mateo’s earliest residential development began with the establishment of country homes or estates of wealthy businessmen who largely made their fortunes in the early days of the Gold Rush.
For many years, the Rancho San Mateo land purchased by Howard and Mellus remained vacant.
Howard subsequently made a fortune selling real estate and retired from his partnership with Mellus in 1850.
In 1849, Howard moved to the former ranch, drove out the remaining Ohlone population, and built a small villa not far from San Mateo Creek and El Camino. He began importing cattle, becoming the first Peninsula resident to convert a rancho into a country estate.74 One component of Howard’s business was purchasing prefabricated houses from the eastern United States in the 1850s. He constructed a village of modest cottages in Happy Valley, along Market Street in San Francisco. For his own country estate in San Mateo, called El Cerrito for the small hill it sat on, it appears he purchased several prefabricated houses and combined them for a grand building on what is now De Sabla Road of El Camino Real (Figure 4). Howard died in 1856, leaving the southern portion of the rancho to his widow, Agnes Poett. He left the northern portion (much of present-day Hillsborough) to his father-in- law, Dr. Joseph Henry Poett, who in turn gave the western portion to his other daughter Julia Redington. Agnes married W.M.D. Howard’s brother, George and they went on to have four children they raised in El Cerrito. After his death 1878, she married Henry Bowie in 1879.75 As a result, the Howard, Poett, Reddington families controlled most of Rancho San Mateo for decades, establishing many of the Peninsula’s great estates.76 El Cerrito became known as the Bowie Estate and was moved to Roehampton Road in 1910 and served as Hillsborough’s first town hall before being demolished in the 1930s.77
73 Stanger, South from San Francisco, 61.
74 Hynding, From Frontier to Suburb, 35.
75 Mitchell P. Postel, San Mateo County: A Sesquicentennial History (Stuart Publishing, 2007), 203. 76 Postel, San Mateo County: A Sesquicentennial History, 203. 77 John Levy, “Hillsborough’s former City Hall a reminder of the past,” The Daily Journal, January 15, 2007.
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Figure 4 W.M.D. Howard’s Estate, El Cerrito
Source: San Mateo County Historical Association (SMCHA_1973-086-002) Other early pioneers to San Mateo, included Captain Frederick Macondray who established an estate, Brookside, on the south side of the creek, facing the Howard estate on present-day El Camino Real.
More arrived in the area to work for the Howard family and established their own houses, while few others began to sparsely populate the area, including Stephen Whipple who established a horse farm and ranch in the 1850s, no longer extant, at the present-day location of St. Matthew’s Catholic School, at El Camino Real and Aragon Boulevard. David McLellan bought 300 acres from the Argüello holdings, where he set up his country home, in the Bay Meadows land, later replaced by a racetrack and eventual residential development. Lemuel T. Murray built a dairy ranch on much of the land in the current Hillsdale neighborhood.78
With the promise and eventual arrival of the railroad in 1863, other wealthy San Franciscans moved to San Mateo, including Charles Pohlemus, a director of the railroad, who bought most of the future downtown from the creek southward and east of El Camino. He laid out town lots during the 1860s, reserving some for houses and some for commercial uses. The rest of the land remained undeveloped for many years (Figure 5). Alvinza Hayward, an ex-lawyer from New York who made a fortune mining in Amador County, similarly purchased a several hundred-acre tract south and east of Pohlemus’s tract in the early 1860s. Hayward gradually subdivided the property for development and constructed his own estate, at the present-day corner of 9th and Palm avenues. It was a three-story, stick-style mansion (non-extant) surrounded by an extravagant private park called Hayward Park.79
78 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 34–35.
79 Hynding, From Frontier to Suburb, 92.
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Figure 5 1862 Map of San Mateo Prepared for Charles Pohlemus
Source: San Mateo County Historical Association (SMCHA_0000-062) In 1860, John Parrott, a San Francsico banker, purchased Macondray’s Brookside estate, on the west side of El Camino north of 5th Avenue, to serve as his summer home. Parrott updated Macondray’s house into a Second Empire-style mansion on the property in 1868 and named it Baywood (non- extant) for the property’s many trees (Figure 6).80 Parrott’s son and six daughters married into other wealthy families, like the Donahues, Paysons, Borels, and DeGuignes. The Parrotts and the other estate holders of this era became a social oligarchy, whose vast houses encircled the growing downtown.81
80 Stanger, South from San Francisco, 106.
81 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 45.
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Figure 6 Parrott House, c. 1868
Source: Getty Research Institute
For many years, San Mateo’s growth, including its residential expansion was only possible when large landholders subdivided their holdings for sale. Polhemus sold his San Mateo property to Peter Donahue in 1866 before it eventually passed to William H. Kohl in 1874. Kohl, an engineer and sea captain built his estate (no longer extant) in present-day Central Park, whose gates date to Kohl’s mansion.82 The city’s first residential subdivision was on the east side of Railroad Avenue, extending from San Mateo Creek southward to 5th Avenue, and eastward to present-day Eldorado Street. Early settlers like James Byrnes (713 1st Avenue—extant) and John Maynard (809 Lawrence Road—extant) built Italianate houses along San Mateo Creek. Local histories suggest William Sands built his residence at 45 South Delaware in the early 1860s. In 1865, John Quincy Adams Tilton bought 25
82 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 49.
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acres of land from the Howards, north of the Polhemus town site, and constructed a residence (36 N.
Tilton Avenue—extant), but early residential development was otherwise sparse.83 In 1888, the Howard family, capitalizing on the considerable activity brought to San Mateo from the nearby construction of the Crystal Springs Dam, subdivided land north of San Mateo Creek to Poplar Avenue and from the railroad tracks to Delaware for the Western Addition subdivision.84 The Borel family subdivided the area south of Monte Diablo Avenue, east of Eldorado Street to San Mateo Creek. Though more landholders like Howard and Borel began to parcel land for sale in the late 1880s, during the 1890s, the city limits extended just a few blocks beyond Polhemus’s 1862 plat (Figure 8). These earliest residential subdivisions occurred in what is known today as San Mateo’s Central neighborhood and Western Addition. Although land was subdivided, it was slow to develop.
Examples from this period of residential development typically included wood-frame one- and two- story buildings on several blocks of Claremont and Delaware streets, and a handful of examples from this period are still present (Figure 7). The city’s south end, however, was generally occupied by stock farms and grain fields that did not become residential areas until the twentieth century, while the bayside was tideflats.
Figure 7 Example of Early Residences in San Mateo’s Central Neighborhood, 45 South Delaware (L) and 809 Lawrence Road (R)
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
83 City of San Mateo, City of San Mateo Historic Building Survey Final Report (City of San Mateo, 1989), 25:
https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/DocumentCenter/View/47850/Historic-Building-Survey-1989. 84 Hynding, From Frontier to Suburb, 76.
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Figure 8 1888 Parcel Map of San Mateo
Source: San Mateo County Historical Association (SMCHA_FICA-2025)
COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT
San Mateo’s early commercial development began with the establishment of a stagecoach stop along the old mission trail between San Francisco and San José in 1849. As a result, a few commercial structures were established in the area. Recognizing the business opportunity of the stagecoach traffic, Nicholas de Peyster, a New York merchandiser, moved into the old outpost in San Mateo with a partner and sold liquor and other merchandise he thought travelers would want.85 He operated the location for a year before purchasing a portion of Rancho de las Pulgas, in San Mateo’s present downtown, and constructed the San Mateo House.86 In 1856, David S. Cook bought San Mateo House from de Peyster by which time it was enlarged with a prefabricated building from the east coast.87 In 1857, San Mateo House was sold to a partnership of Stockton and Shafter, and it was used as a
85 Stanger, South from San Francisco, 65.
86 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 26.
87 David Fredricks, “Life of the San Mateo House,” The Daily Journal, March 3, 2014.
Early Settlement (1849–1893)
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stagecoach stop for the Butterfield Stage, which traveled between Missouri to San Francisco.88 The house was sold to Tony Oakes in 1863 and Captain Edward Taylor in 1863 who moved it away from the road for his residence and added to the house a second time (Figure 9). Located at the present- day location of Mills Hospital at El Camino Real and 2nd Avenue, it was demolished in 1964 for a parking lot.
Figure 9 1875 Image of San Mateo House
Source: Carleton Watkins, The Sun Sketches of San Mateo Album, University of California, Berkeley Bancroft Library By 1860, there was stagecoach service between San Mateo and the coast. San Mateo’s advantageous location at the east end of the Peninsula’s main road to the coast supported limited commercial development, and during this period San Mateo had a grain and feed store, a livery stable, a blacksmith, and two saloons.89 But, without a strong industry or commercial force, there was not enough activity to stimulate significant growth, trade, or development.90 Commercial development emerged significantly in the years after the railroad was constructed in 1864.91 With the arrival of the railroad, the sparse development that began along the old mission trail shifted east toward the location of the tracks. San Mateo’s commercial downtown began to radiate from the rail station, beginning along Main Street and Railroad Avenue. B Street, one block west of the railroad station, eventually developed as a major thoroughfare. During the 1880s, however, the
88 Fredricks, “Life of the San Mateo House.”
89 Hynding, From Frontier to Suburb, 94.
90 Hynding, From Frontier to Suburb, 92.
91 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 39.
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city’s downtown was plagued by a series of fires in 1880, 1883, and 1887 that destroyed early commercial buildings and their businesses.92
By 1888, the first Sanborn fire insurance map depicts commercial development along Railroad Avenue including the Union Hotel (1883), a grocer, dry good stores, and a saloon (non-extant).
Development along A and B Street between 2nd and 5th avenues included a mix of residential and commercial uses like general stores, boarding houses, a restaurant, and a saloon concentrated along B Street.93 It also included the first service storefronts or workshops, like the plumber/carpenter at the corner of 4th Avenue and B Street and Robert Wisnom’s lumberyard at B Street and 2nd Street.
Additional commercial uses located on the east side Railroad Avenue, between 2nd and 5th avenues, were less dense and included lodgings, saloons, and livery stables. Individual buildings generally occupied only a portion of the parcel, and more permanent brick buildings began replacing wood structures during this period (Figure 10). The Spring Valley Water Company, who was amid constructing the Crystal Springs Dam west of the present city limits to provide drinking water to San Francsico and the Peninsula, had a warehouse just south of the San Mateo Creek, along a block of rail line. The warehouse appears to have been removed shortly following completion of the dam in 1889.94 During this period, streets were unpaved and sidewalks were made of wood.95 Because of the town’s railroad stop and stage station, San Mateo was popular for estate residents to do business before going back to their estates, tourists to stop on their way to the coast, or coastal dwellers to stop on their way to do business in Redwood City or San Francisco. As such, businesses were generally limited to those that met basic needs and lodging for overnight trips. Despite having a railroad stop and a stage station, there was little to hold a visitor in town for long.
92 Donald P. Ringler, San Mateo, USA: The Golden Years (City of San Mateo Bicentennial Committee, 1975), 17. 93 Sanborn Map Company, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from San Mateo, San Mateo County, California, 1888. 94 Sanborn Map Company, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from San Mateo, San Mateo County, California, 1891. 95 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 39.
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Figure 10 ca.1883 View of B Street
Source: San Mateo Public Library, San Mateo Local History Collection Though San Mateo experienced somewhat slow commercial growth in the decades after the arrival of the railroad in 1864, several important emerging local businesses were established during this period. Robert Wisnom, born in Northern Ireland, arrived in San Mateo in 1868 to work as a carpenter at the Parrott estate. Wisnom subsequently settled in San Mateo and became the area’s best-known builder, responsible for the construction of Union Hall (1874; non-extant) and many early residences (56 North Claremont, non-extant, and 707 1st Avenue, extant). He also opened a successful lumber business downtown and the city block outlined by B Street, Ellsworth Street, 2nd Avenue, and 1st Avenue was known as the Wisnom Block (non-extant). (Figure 11).96 In 1889, Richard Jury and Charles Kirkbride founded the town’s first newspaper, San Mateo Leader. In 1914 it consolidated with another local paper as a countywide paper before merging with the San Mateo Times in 1926.97 In 1892, the San Mateo Gas Light Company was incorporated by early San Mateo residents James Byrnes, E.A. Husing, Julius Wiesnder, William Nolden, and John P. Weller, and became part of Pacific Gas and Electric in 1905.98
96 “Robert J. “Big Bob” Wisnom,” Find a Grave, accessed October 1, 2025, https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/87334134/robert_j- wisnom.
97 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 100.
98 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 100.
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Figure 11 Wisnom Carpenter and Builder Shop, 1880s
Source: San Mateo Public Library, San Mateo Local History Collection
CIVIC AND INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Before San Mateo’s incorporation in 1894, its development evolved from a collection of estates to a small village, with a nascent population with growing practical governance and community needs.
Before 1887, the city lacked a fire department and the series of fires in the commercial core in the 1880s highlighted the need for an organized fire service. The initial attempt to organize a local fire department began in 1885 by a group of local men that included A.T. Bartlett, J.H. Bickford, John Moore, W.J. Price, and H.F. Barrows. Barrows was elected the foreman and took the charge to gather equipment, which originally consisted of a small hand pump donated by Captain Kohl and three fire
Early Settlement (1849–1893)
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hydrants donated by Howard. Though the hydrant locations, concentrated along 3rd Avenue and A and B streets, were convenient, the lack of fire hoses made their widespread use impossible and the first attempt at a department was short-lived.99
In 1881, an order of the Ancient Order of United Workman organized. It was followed a few months later by a lodge of the Amerion Legion of Honor. In December 1883, a parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West was created with county-wide representation. In 1882, the women of St. Matthew’s Guild established a reading room and library. They organized that same year, welcomed all denominations, and became the social and cultural center of San Mateo. The building replaced an earlier structure, Wisnom Hall, which served as the de facto community hall until it burned in 1883.
The Library Hall building, constructed through donations including Antoine Borel’s donation of the lot on B Street, was a long, brick building with rooms to host local organizations and a library.100 In 1887, a second attempt to establish a fire department proved more successful. Five local men, drugstore owner Charles M. Moore; blacksmith William H. Brown, saddlery shop owner George A.
Bartlett, Fisher Hotel owner Charles J. Hatch, and William Babcock Lawrence of the Spring Valley Water Company met in Library Hall and decided to call for a public meeting to create an official fire department. The day the meeting was meant to happen, April 6, a fire broke out at Library Hall destroying the newly constructed community building.101 The blaze was extinguished with the help of the Redwood City fire department. Though the citizens were exhausted from the day’s events, the meeting occurred and the community agreed a fire department was needed. On May 7, 1887, the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors appointed a fire commission consisting of William Price, E.A.
Husing, and James Byrnes. Shortly thereafter the commission raised money to buy equipment and establish a volunteer department. 102
Library Hall was rebuilt through donations from the community and Robert Wisnom constructed a new, two-story building containing the fire station and livery on the ground floor with a public hall and library upstairs.103 Library Hall was later destroyed in the 1906 Earthquake (Figure 12).
99 Jeff Brile ed., San Mateo Fire Department 1887-1990, (San Mateo Fire Department, 1990), 10. 100 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 87.
101 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 91.
102 Jeff Brile, San Mateo Fire Department 1887-1990, 10. 103 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 95.
Early Settlement (1849–1893)
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Figure 12 Library Hall in 1906 after the Earthquake
Source: University of Southern California, California Historical Society Collection, 1860-1960 Schools
By the 1860s, San Mateo had two private schools—Laurel Hall for girls and St. Matthew’s Hall for boys. Laurel Hall was founded by educator Miss L.A. Buckmaster. A native of New York, she arrived in California in 1856 and worked in the Sacramento area before moving to Oakland in 1861, following a flood that closed her school. Buckmaster met Charles Polhemus in 1862, and he told her of the railroad that would soon connect San Mateo to San Francisco. Believing it sounded like a good opportunity to establish a new institution, she bought 27 acres from San Mateo pioneer David S.
Cook in 1863.104 Architect S.C. Bugbee designed a Second Empire building for the school, whose first trustees included many members of San Francisco and Peninsula society like George H. Howard, Alvinza Hayward, A.H. Houston, Frederick Billings, Benjamin Lathrop, Thomas Shelby, F.F. Low, James Bolton, D.O Mills, R.B. Sneath, and E.A. Easton (Figure 13).105 The school (non-extant), located on present-day Alameda de Las Pulgas, east of the Peninsula Gold and Country Club, opened in 1864 with 11 students and grew to be a prestigious institution by the 1870s. An advertisement for the school from 1877, lauds the geographical and educational benefits of the school (Figure 14).106 In 1875, Buckmaster returned east to publicize her efforts. The school, run by Reverend George Herbert
104 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 61.
105 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 61.
106 Advertisement, “Laurel Hall, San Mateo, Cal.,” The Churchman, August 11, 1877.
Early Settlement (1849–1893)
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Watson in her absence, flourished for several years. Buckmaster returned in 1878 but fell ill thereafter. Despite efforts by alumni to save the school, it closed in 1887. 107 The property was subsequently rented to Professor John Gamble, who operated a private school for boys, known as Laurel Hall College (Figure 15).108 The property was acquired by the Episcopal Bishop of San Francisco for the operation of the Armitage Orphanage until it closed in 1912.109 Figure 13 Stereograph of Laurel Hall School, c. 1880
Source: Carleton Watkins, Laurel Hall, San Mateo, California State Library
107 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 61.
108 “Laurel Hill College,” San Francisco Call Bulletin, May 29, 1891, https://www.newspapers.com/image/92948661/?match=1&terms=%22gamble%22%20%22laurel%20hall%22%20%22san%20mateo%22. 109 “Bishop Armitage Orphanage,” San Mateo County Genealogy, accessed October 8, 2025, https://legacy.sfgenealogy.org/sanmateo/history/smorphan.htm.
Early Settlement (1849–1893)
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Figure 14 1877 Advertisement for Laurel Hall School
Source: The Churchman, August 11, 1877.
Figure 15 1888 Advertisement for Gamble’s Laurel Hall College
Source: Pacific Rural Press, September 29, 1888.
In 1866, Episcopal Reverend A.L. Brewer founded St. Matthew’s Hall (non-extant), a boys military academy. Originally located on South Ellsworth, a new three-story school was constructed in 1872 on Baldwin Avenue, east of San Mateo Episcopal Church (Figure 16). By the 1880s, the school reputation was well-known, even outside the United States. In 1881, the King of the Sandwich Islands visited San Mateo and toured the school, which required students to be in full military dress.110 Soon after, sons from the most influential Hawaiian families came to San Mateo. Princes David La‘amea Kawānanakoa, Abel Edward Keliʻiahonui, and Jonah Kūhiō Kalanianaʻole were among Pacific Islanders who attended
110 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 65.
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the school. During their time in the area, they apparently introduced surfing to the mainland, at the mouth of the San Lorenzo River in nearby Santa Cruz.111 The school subsequently moved to Hillsborough. The buildings were reused for St. Margaret’s School for girls, which shuttered in 1892.112
In addition to private schools that drew student populations from the area’s wealthy families and beyond, the growing community had an established school district and one-room school building on County Road, present-day Notre Dame Avenue and El Camino Real, by the mid-1860s. By 1871, 75 students attended San Mateo School, and the residents realized the need for a more adequate school (Figure 17). In September 1871, a bond measure passed to construct a new school building with two classrooms, with expansion plans for two more. The old school was moved away from the road, and the new school was constructed in front of it. The school building burned in about 1891. Following the fire, the school operated from several locations, and planning for a new school began immediately. 113
In 1892, a strategy was adopted to construct two new schools—one at the center of town and one in the outskirts. The school at the center of town was constructed on a 3-acre site at today’s 2nd Avenue and Baldwin Avenue, between San Mateo Drive and B Street. Fittingly named Central School (non-extant), it was a two-story wooden building with two classrooms (Figure 18). The school opened in 1893 with Etta Tilton serving as Principal.114 The same year, the Homestead School (non-extant) was constructed at today’s Gum Street, near the Borel Estate. Intended to accommodate more rural students, it was primitive and nearly obsolete when it opened. It closed in 1914, while Central School continued to operate until 1922.115
111 Chloe Veltman, “How 3 Hawaiian Teen Princes Brought Surfing to the Mainland,” National Public Radio, August 31, 2025, https://www.kucb.org/2025-08-31/how-3-hawaiian-teen-princes-brought-surfing-to-the-mainland. 112 Architectural Resources Group, Saint Matthew’s Episcopal Church Historic Resource Evaluation, 2010. 113 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 67.
114 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 122.
115 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 123.
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Figure 16 Undated Postcard of St. Matthews Hall
Source: San Mateo Public Library, San Mateo Local History Collection
Figure 17 Undated Photo of San Mateo School
Source: San Mateo Public Library, San Mateo Local History Collection
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Figure 18 Undated Photo of Central School
Source: San Mateo County Historical Association (SMCHA_1965-046A-009) Churches
San Mateo’s first church was St. Matthew’s Catholic Church. Irish priest Father Dennis F. Dempsey established a parish in San Mateo in 1863. He served his apprenticeship at St. Mary’s Cathedral in San Francisco and worked in Sacramento and Auburn before his assignment to San Mateo County and portions of Santa Clara County in 1862.116 The first St. Matthew’s Catholic Church (non-extant) was constructed on land donated by Polhemus at the southwest corner of 3rd Avenue and Ellsworth Avenue. The small wood-frame Gothic Revival building opened in February 1864.117 It was replaced by a more permanent brick building in 1889 (non-extant) (Figure 19). The Sanborn map from 1891 depicts the church on the corner, with a small school room building to its west (Figure 20).
The same year, Episcopal Reverend G.A. Easton arrived in San Mateo, and held services in the San Mateo Young Ladies Institute. On his recommendation, Revered A. L. Brewer from Detroit proceeded him in 1865. The Episcopal Board of Mission sent Brewer to take control of the San Mateo and Redwood City congregations. In June 1865, George Howard held a meeting at his residence where he pledged a portion of his property to construct a church. Other members of the community raised money for its construction and Albert H. Jordan donated the building’s design for what became St.
Matthew’s Episcopal Church (extant). Jordan, who along with Howard and Edward Taylor, served as church leadership. The building, completed and consecrated on May 23, 1866, was constructed with
116 Ringler, San Mateo, USA: The Golden Years, 15.
117 “History,” St. Matthew Catholic Church, accessed October 3, 2025, https://www.stmatthew-parish.org/about/history.
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stones quarried from the Howard estate, apparently becoming the first stone church in California.
The building measured 40 feet by 70 feet with seating for 200. The ceiling was of varnished wood and the windows had geometric tracery (Figure 21). The glass for the chancel window was made in Belgium, and the window frame was made in New York. The northern end of the church had a mortuary chapel with a massive monument to the memory of Howard’s father, William Davis Merry Howard, and his widow Agnes Poett Howard. 118
Figure 19 Cornerstone Laying at St. Matthew’s Catholic Church in 1889
Source: San Mateo Public Library, San Mateo Local History Collection
Figure 20 1891 Sanborn Depicting Catholic Church
Source: Sanborn Map Company, 1891
118 The Reverend Robert Louis Semes, Of These Stones: An Historical Sketch of the Church of Saint Matthew San Mateo, California 1865- 1990 (Church of Saint Matthew, 1990), 1-2.
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Figure 21 Image of St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church on Howard Estate
Source: The Episcopal Church of Saint Matthew
In 1862, San Mateo’s Congregationalists began meeting after a visit from Redwood City’s acting pastor J.S. Zelia. A month later Reverend J.H. Warren conducted the first service in the schoolhouse.
In 1864, 10 members decided to incorporate as the Congregational Church of San Mateo. George Howard also gifted the land for construction of the Congregational Church, at the corner of Tilton Avenue and North Ellsworth (Figure 22).119 The land included the construction of a parsonage for Reverend J.H. Warren, the congregation’s first pastor, in 1864. In 1869, a simple wood church was constructed (non-extant).120The Congregational Church was the smallest of the local churches. In its first five years, it had four different ministers. By 1884, the church had just 15 members.121
119 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 60.
120 “A Little Background,” Congregational Church of San Mateo, accessed October 2025, https://ccsm-ucc.org/welcome/#background. 121 “A Little Background,” Congregational Church of San Mateo, accessed October 2025, https://ccsm-ucc.org/welcome/#background.
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Figure 22 Congregational Church of San Mateo, 1869
Source: Congregational Church of San Mateo
Cemeteries
The first cemetery was established in 1877 by Agnes Tilton. She founded a 20-acre cemetery near her house at present-day 36 North Claremont Street (extant). She named the cemetery Evergreen, and it served the community for about eight years, before being moved up the hill to St. John’s Cemetery.122 Founded in 1885 with land donated by Abby M. Parrott to the Roman Catholic Church, the cemetery was named St. John’s to honor her late husband, John Parrott. When founded, the cemetery had sections for Catholics, Protestants, and paupers.123
TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE
The County Road, now known as El Camino Real, was the earliest regional connection. A string of roadhouses or mile houses developed along El Camino Real to serve stagecoaches. The first stagecoach service was founded shortly after the Gold Rush. Later that year, John W. Whistman started the first service to connect San Francisco to San José. The service was uncomfortable and
122 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 51.
123Samantha Weigel, “Uncovering history in San Mateo: St. John’s Cemetery has lineage of caretakers, formative family,” The Daily Journal, October 31, 2014.
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consisted of a wagon with benches pulled by mules. In San Mateo, Nicholas de Peyster’s Half Way House, so named for being the half-way point between the journey from San Francsico to San José, was a resting stop for travelers.124
The most important transportation development during this period was the arrival of the railroad in 1864. Charles B. Polhemus, the director of the San Francisco-San José Railroad, formed the company with Timothy G. Phelps in 1859. Following approval from the California State Legislature, construction began to connect San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties. Anticipating growth of the railroad, Polhemus purchased several parcels of land in San Mateo, and as previously described, laid out the plan for today’s downtown. The railroad faced construction challenges because of the Civil War; materials were often delayed, and there were labor shortages.125 Despite delays, by 1864, the rail line had two passenger trains and one freight train daily. It included four stops in Santa Clara County and seven in San Mateo County, including in San Mateo. The success of the line led to its purchase by the Big Four, the name given to the railroad tycoons who funded the Central Pacific Railroad, in 1870, as part of their consolidation of railroads after the completion of the transcontinental railroad in 1869.126 The line eventually became part of the Southern Pacific Railroad.
Despite the connection of the railroad, San Mateo County, including San Mateo did not immediately boom with increased development. In the nineteenth century, San Mateo County was the slowest growing county in the Bay Area.127 This was largely because the land was held by a few affluent estate owners who retained land along the rail route. Their ownership contained development that typically encouraged economic activity. In San Mateo, the Howard, Poett, Redington families held tight control of their property. Generally, estate owners did not begin to parcel out their land until the late 1880s.
Even with the arrival of the railroad, stagecoaches continued to furnish important freight, mail, and passenger service. The railroad was slow to expand, and only one line served the Peninsula. As coast side and bayside communities grew, stagecoaches over the mountains became more important.
During this period, three toll roads were constructed to connect the coast to the bayside, and stagecoach services connected passengers arriving by rail to San Mateo from San Francisco to Pescadero (Figure 23).128
124 Postel, San Mateo County: A Sesquicentennial History, 109. 125 Postel, San Mateo County: A Sesquicentennial History, 112. 126 The Big Four included Leland Stanford (1824-1893), Collis Potter Huntington (1821-1900), Mark Hopkins Jr. (1813-1878), and Charles Crocker (1822-1888).
127 Postel, San Mateo County: A Sesquicentennial History, 116. 128 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 56.
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Figure 23 Stagecoach at San Mateo Rail Station
Source: San Mateo County Historical Association (SHMCHA_0000-339-023)
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT
During this period, San Mateo saw little industrial development. Construction projects like the railroad in 1864 and Crystal Springs Dam in 1887 brought support services to the area for the duration of the projects, but San Mateo did not have a main economic driver like neighboring communities, such as whaling and fishing on the coast, and logging in Redwood City and Woodside.
CULTURAL AND ETHNIC GROUPS
Irish
The largest single ethnic group to reside in San Mateo County during this period were Irish immigrants.129 Though there were Irish immigrants in the region in the years before the Gold Rush, their population flourished after 1849. Drawn by the promise of success and escaping the Great Famine (1845–1852), waves of Irish immigrants arrived in the United States during this period.
Compared to Irish who emigrated to the East Coast; however, Irish on the West Coast were able to take advantage of the state’s nascent status and were moved ahead economically, socially, and politically with more ease.130
In San Mateo, Robert Wisnom from County Antrim, arrived in 1868. He worked for the Parrott family, building their mansion. In his first year, however, he purchased a plot of land on B Street and 4th
129 Postel, San Mateo County: A Sesquicentennial History, 144. 130 Hynding, From Frontier to Suburb, 163.
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Avenue. As previously described, he established several businesses and constructed many of San Mateo’s early residences. He later went on to become a prominent San Mateo resident.131 The big work projects in the area—the railroad and the Crystal Springs Dam construction—drew Irish immigrant laborers, many of whom stayed in the area and settled. In the 1860s and 1870s, the Fenians, a political organization for Irish causes, held fundraising picnics throughout San Mateo County. In 1866, the Fenian picnic in San Mateo drew 15,000 people.132 Chinese
The second largest ethnic population in San Mateo during this era was the Chinese. Similar to the Irish, their presence in the area before the Gold Rush was nominal. By 1880, however, there were 600 Chinese residents in San Mateo County. Faced with labor issues to construct the railroad during the Civil War, Chinese immigrants were employed to construct the San Francisco–San José Railroad.
The success of their labor was noticed by the Big Four, and they were hired to build the western section of the transcontinental railroad. After the railroad was completed in 1869, however, thousands of Chinese laborers were released from their jobs.133 Many came back to San Mateo County. Some worked successfully in shrimp and oyster harvesting in the bay. As shrimp harvesters, they set up shrimp camps along the bay often referred to as “China camps.”134 At the industry’s peak in 1892, the bay off San Mateo County near present-day Coyote Point was the leading producer of shrimp on the west coast.135 Prior to the 1880s, Chinese provided most of the cheap labor in the region. The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882, which barred further immigration from China, reflected anti-Asian sentiment spreading countrywide. In San Mateo, however, racial tensions were less explosive than in other parts of the state and country. The absence of industrial working conditions and urban congestion may have been a factor, as immigrant labor was not a threat to livelihood. Most Chinese on the Peninsula were men from South China and worked on the great estates as laborers, cooks, and domestic servants. Alvinza Hayward hired many Chinese laborers to reclaim marshlands, dig ditches, and lay pipes to carry water from the hills to bayside farms.136 The Sanborn map from 1891 depicts several Chinese businesses in San Mateo during this period. They included a wash house and grocer on 2nd Avenue and B Street, a second wash house on B Street and 2nd Avenue, and a third wash house on B Street and 3rd Avenue (Figure 24). Though the Chinese enjoyed some community acceptance and involvement, they were deprived of political liberty and endured segregation while their position steadily improved.137
131 “Robert J. “‘Big Bob’ Wisnom,” Find a Grave, accessed October 1, 2025, at https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/87334134/robert_j- wisnom.
132 Postel, San Mateo County: A Sesquicentennial History, 148. 133 Postel, San Mateo County: A Sesquicentennial History, 150. 134 Joan Levy, “Chinese fish camps once lined the Bay,” The Daily Journal, July 10, 2019. 135 Hynding, From Frontier to Suburb, 85.
136 Hynding, From Frontier to Suburb, 166.
137 Sanborn Map Company, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from San Mateo, San Mateo County, California, 1891.
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Figure 24 1891 Map of San Mateo Showing Cluster of Chinese Businesses
Source: Sanborn Map Company, 1891
African Americans
Before the incorporation of San Mateo in 1894, it had a small population of African Americans. After the establishment of the railroad in 1864, some African American families settled in San Mateo. Tom Ricks operated a restaurant in one of the early hotels, the Railroad House. By the end of the 1870s, the town’s only barber shop was run by J. J. Adams, who also served on a Grand Jury. The African American population remained small in the following years and increased with the city’s suburban growth in the succeeding decades.138
138 Postel, San Mateo County: A Sesquicentennial History, 77.
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INCORPORATION AND SUBURBAN
GROWTH (1894–1940)
The City incorporated in 1894. The trustees were made up of the following group of prominent local figures: Captain Payson, husband of Abby Parrott; businessman and builder Robert Wisnom; Marine architect George W. Dickie; storeowner Charles Herbst; hotel and saloon proprietor Harry Hatch.139 The decades following incorporation and into the twentieth century marked a new phase of growth and development for the city as the city began to follow a typical pattern of suburbanization. At the beginning of this period of development, San Mateo’s population was under 2,000 residents.140 The city’s immense growth during this period was spurred dramatically following the 1906 Earthquake and fire on April 18, 1906. Though San Mateo sustained damage, it was not as equally ravaged as San Francisco. In the days after the earthquake, refugees filtered into San Mateo, some arriving on foot, carrying their remaining possessions and some arriving via railroad.141 Following the earthquake, thousands of San Franciscans moved to the suburbs permanently and rapid suburbanization followed, including new residential developments, new commercial enterprises, improved and more robust transportation, and the arrival of more ethnic communities. By the end of this period, San Mateo’s population reached nearly 20,000 residents, marking a significant period of population and physical growth for the city.142
RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT
During this period, the scant residential subdivision that began in the late 1880s by Howard and Borel ballooned. By the late nineteenth century, the possibility of living outside cities was within reach of many more people. The increased availability of land and the improved ability to travel with ease encouraged more residential development in San Mateo.143 Subdivisions began radiating from San Mateo’s business district, and many resulted from the subdivision of the formerly large estates. The subdivisions, previously platted by Howard and Borel, making up San Mateo’s central neighborhood were more densely developed. Sanborn maps from 1897 depict, following incorporation, increasing residential development on the east and west sides of Railroad Avenue, from Tilton Avenue to 5th Avenue.144 Typical development included one-to-two story wood frame single-family residences.145 Examples of houses during this period include those constructed by Robert Wisnom for William H.
Brown and Dennis Brown at 2 and 5 South Delaware Street (extant) (Figure 25).146 In 1895, 62 acres of the former Howard/Bowie estate was subdivided for San Mateo Heights, located east of El Camino Real and north of Bellevue Avenue, extending to North Delaware Street to the east and State Street to the north (Figure 27).147 Suburbanization began, and the city’s proximity to San
139 Ringler, San Mateo, USA: The Golden Years, 21.
140 “San Mateo, Decennial Census Data,” Bay Area Census, accessed October 9, 2025, at https://census.bayareametro.gov/historical- data/1860-1940/san_mateo.
141 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 133.
142 “San Mateo, Decennial Census Data,” Bay Area Census, accessed October 9, 2025, at https://census.bayareametro.gov/historical- data/1860-1940/san_mateo.
143 City of San Mateo, City of San Mateo Historic Building Survey Final Report (City of San Mateo, 1989), 14. 144 Sanborn Map Company, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from San Mateo, San Mateo County, California, 1897. 145 Sanborn Map Company, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from San Mateo, San Mateo County, California, 1897. 146 Jeff Cintel, “Downtown San Mateo Historical Tour,” April 1991, 11. 147 City of San Mateo, City of San Mateo Historic Building Survey Final Report (City of San Mateo, 1989), at https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/DocumentCenter/View/47850/Historic-Building-Survey-1989.
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Francisco made commuting possible for residents who worked in the city but preferred a “country” environment. A newspaper article of the time noted that the “the town of San Mateo and its environments have advantages which other suburbs do not possess, the most prominent being its accessibility to San Francisco without water transportation.”148 The neighborhood began with “cottages and villas” with both year-round and seasonal residents.149 Architect Ernest Coxhead built and designed numerous residences and churches in the Bay Area. He constructed his own summer residence in San Mateo at 37 East Santa Inez Avenue (extant) in approximately 1893 (Figure 26).150 Built in the First Bay Tradition, it was soon joined by other houses.
Sanborn maps from 1897 and 1901 show that the burgeoning community spread north along North Ellsworth, Catalpa, Tilton Avenues, and San Mateo Drive.151 Early residents of the neighborhood were from the professional class and held positions such as lawyers, doctors, architects, and entrepreneurs. Houses were built in popular revival styles of the period and included Colonial Revival, Renaissance Revival, and Shingle Style.152 In the first decades of the twentieth century, the neighborhood continued growing with more modest houses, especially following the 1906 Earthquake. Houses included examples of Neo-classical and California bungalows, Shingle-style cottages, and later period revival houses.153
Figure 25 2 South Delaware Street,
Current View
Figure 26 37 East Santa Inez Avenue,
Current View
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025 Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
148 “Miscellaneous Items,” The San Francisco Call Bulletin, July 22, 1895, at https://www.newspapers.com/image/80996139/?match=1&terms=%22water%20transportation%22. 149 “Miscellaneous Items,” The San Francisco Call Bulletin, July 22, 1895, at https://www.newspapers.com/image/80996139/?match=1&terms=%22water%20transportation%22. 150 Patricia Osborn, “Coxhead House, San Mateo County, California,” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form (Washington, DC:
U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 2000). 151 Sanborn Map Company, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from San Mateo, San Mateo County, California, 1897 and 1901. 152 City of San Mateo, City of San Mateo Historic Building Survey Final Report, 28. 153 City of San Mateo, City of San Mateo Historic Building Survey Final Report, 29.
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Figure 27 Advertisement for San Mateo Heights
Source: San Francisco Call Bulletin, July 21, 1895
The next subdivisions established during this period were San Mateo Park and Haywood Park. San Mateo Park was established when real estate developers Baldwin and Howell, comprised of Archibald S. Baldwin (1858–1924) and Josiah R. Howell (1868–1916), purchased 400 acres northwest of town on property previously owned by Stephen B. Whipple.154 Whipple ran a successful horse ranch on the property before it transformed to an estate and eventually sold to Charles Clark in the 1890s.155 In 1902, the firm hired Australian Civil Engineer Davenport Bromfield (1862–1954) to survey the land and design the subdivision layout.156 Bromfield’s plan retained the former estate’s country atmosphere by designing the roads to follow the undulating landscape. Bounded by El Camino Real on the east, Occidental Avenue to the west, Poplar Avenue to the south, and Barroilhet Avenue to the north, Bromfield reinforced the country atmosphere by planting shrubs and trees. In 1904, Bromfield purchased a lot on Occidental Avenue to construct his own house, 537 Occidental Avenue (extant) (Figure 28).157 In the following years, San Mateo Park continued developing with houses built in the popular revival styles as well as emerging styles such as the Bay Tradition. Examples include the
154 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 126.
155 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 45.
156 “County Law Makers,” Redwood City Standard, June 5, 1902, at https://www.newspapers.com/image- view/999934451/?match=1&terms=%22county%20law%20makers%22 157 1910 United States Census, San Mateo, San Mateo County, digital image s.v. “Davenport Bromfield,” Ancestry.com, at https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/7884/records/1766328?tid=&pid=&queryId=34e7576d-f186-42c3-877b- fc436f074db8&_phsrc=vRp61&_phstart=successSource
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house at 626 Occidental Avenue (extant), designed by notable architect Julia Morgan in 1924 and 425 Edgewood Road (extant), designed by architect Herbert Goodpastor (Figure 29 and Figure 30).158 Figure 28 Bromfield Family at San Mateo Park House on Occidental Avenue, 1914; Davenport Bromfield, far right
Source: SonyMann, Ancestry.com
158 Pacific Coast Architect, Vol 25 No. 1, 1924, 18, at https://www.usmodernist.org/PCA/PCA-25-26.pdf; California Arts & Architecture, December 1934, 34, at https://www.usmodernist.org/AA/CAA-1934-12.pdf.
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Figure 29 1924 Advertisement for House in San Mateo Park
Source: Pacific Coast Architect, Vol 25 No. 1, 1924
Figure 30 1934 Advertisement for House in San Mateo Park
Source: California Arts and Architecture, December 1934
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Alvinza Hayward died in 1904 and his estate subsequently sold his vast property as part of the Hayward Park subdivision. Baldwin and Howell were agents for the residential sales and for the sale of the former mansion, later transformed into the Peninsula Hotel. The Hayward Park subdivision was laid out in square blocks from the railroad tracks to El Camino between 9th and 16th Avenues.159 The Peninsula Hotel (non-extant), at the corner of 9th Avenue and Palm Avenue, was promoted as the social center of the neighborhood. Early advertisements for the subdivision extolled the speed that building a house on the lots would be with easy connections to sewer, gas, and electricity services (Figure 31).160 First constructed outside the city’s boundaries, San Mateo Park and Hayward Park were annexed in 1909 and 1910, respectively (Figure 32).161 The early development of Hayward Park included many California bungalows, a popular housing type of the time. In the following years, the community continued developing with more examples of period revival style houses in more modest proportions than in San Mateo Heights and San Mateo Park.162 An available historical aerial image from 1929 shows the southern portion of the neighborhood as substantially developed by this time, with few remaining undeveloped lots (Figure 33).163
Figure 31 1907 Advertisement for Hayward Park Subdivision
Source: Advertisement. The Bulletin, September 21, 1907.
159 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 127.
160 Advertisement, “Hayward Park,” San Francisco Call Bulletin, September 28, 1907, at https://www.newspapers.com/image- view/994896969/?match=1&terms=hayward%20park
161 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 146.
162 City of San Mateo, City of San Mateo Historic Building Survey Final Report, 31. 163 University of California, Santa Barbara, San Mateo [aerial photograph], Flight C-674, Frame 2, October 1, 1929.
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Figure 32 1912 Map of San Mateo’s Subdivisions
Source: Historic Maps of Bay Area, University of California, Berkeley
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Figure 33 1929 Aerial of Hayward Park
Source: UCSB San Mateo [aerial photograph], Flight C-674, 1929, Annotation by Rincon Consultants, Inc.
The Peninsula Hotel burned in a fire in June 1920.164 The land was subsequently sold by Baldwin and Howell and subdivided for additional residential development, becoming the Glazenwood neighborhood within Hayward Park. Unlike the typical grid subdivision and rectangular lot development in Hayward Park, Glazenwood was subdivided with a U-shaped design with two curving streets, Laurel Avenue and Rosewood Drive, creating a horseshoe entry into the neighborhood from 9th Avenue. Its design was apparently derived from the country lanes of England. Founded by the San Mateo Improvement Company, the community was planned for Spanish Colonial Revival houses,
164 “Peninsula Hotel Burns Down When Water Fails,” San Francisco Examiner, June 26, 1920, at https://www.newspapers.com/image/457919047/?match=1&terms=%22peninsula%20hotel%20burns%20down%22.
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somewhat larger than those in Hayward Park. The neighborhood was developed between 1922 and 1925.165 A. Born Building Company constructed the houses, many speculatively, besides those built for Jones and Nelson.166 After several successful sales, Born purchased the remaining undeveloped lots from Baldwin and Howell to continue to develop and sell directly.167 The community was planned as a restricted residential tract. S. Born described that “there is no other tract on the peninsula which is protected to the same extent with restrictions that Glazenwood is.”168 The neighborhood’s status as a restricted residential tract was a selling point, and meant to signal a planned, exclusive, and economically harmonious neighborhood. Such neighborhoods often included racial covenants that explicitly excluded people from racial and religious groups by deed restriction.
According to available census records, the early residents were from the professional class and included investment bankers, lawyers, salesmen, and engineers and many households included live-in service staff.169
Residential growth continued throughout the 1920s. San Mateo approved three annexation measures in the late 1920s. In January 1927, the city annexed an area west of El Camino and south of Hobart Avenue known as San Mateo City Homestead.170 The 345-acre subdivision was first surveyed and approved in 1870.171 Its early development, however, appears to have been slow and supported some small farms. By 1898, many lots remained undeveloped with unused streets.172 Development appears to have increased in the first decades of the twentieth century, likely attributed, in part, to the influx of residents following the 1906 Earthquake. Nonetheless, by 1920, development in the San Mateo City Homestead area was less dense than those subdivisions closer to the city center . A 1920 Sanborn map depicts limited residential development on lots closest to El Camino Real, along present-day Hobart Avenue (formerly 1st Avenue), Madison Avenue (formerly Middle Avenue), Barneson Avenue (formerly 2nd Avenue) as well as along Maple Street and Nadina Street (former Nut Avenue), while the lots to the south of Barneson Avenue were undeveloped.173 Though infill development occurred in the following years, the southern lots remained undeveloped up to 1929, according to available historic aerials (Figure 34).174
165 City of San Mateo, City of San Mateo Historic Building Survey Final Report, 32. 166 “Suburban Tract Building Active,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 28, 1922, at https://www.newspapers.com/image/1235198032/?match=1&terms=%22suburban%20tract%20building%20active%22. 167 “Glazenwood to Have Many New Modern Homes,” The Bulletin, August 4, 1923, at https://www.newspapers.com/image/996126290/?match=1&terms=Glazenwood%20to%20Have%20Many%20New%20Modern%20Home s.
168 “Suburban Tract Building Active,” San Francisco Chronicle, January 28, 1922, at https://www.newspapers.com/image/1235198032/?match=1&terms=%22suburban%20tract%20building%20active%22. 169 United States Census Bureau, Fifteenth Census of the United States: 1930, California, San Mateo Precinct 24/25. 170 City of San Mateo, “History of San Mateo Ballot Measures 1921-1930,” accessed October 9, 2025, at https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/DocumentCenter/View/92532/History-of-San-Mateo-Ballot-Measures-1921-1930. 171 San Mateo City Homestead Association, Surveyed by George H. Goddard, January 1870, Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection, at san mateo / Place created: San Francisco - Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection - Spotlight Exhibits Search Results. 172 “Board of Supervisors,” Redwood City Standard, December 22, 1898, at https://www.newspapers.com/image/999956693/?match=1&terms=homestead. 173 Sanborn Map Company, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from San Mateo, San Mateo County, California, 1920. 174 University of California, Santa Barbara, San Mateo [aerial photograph], Flight C-674, Frame 1, October 1, 1929.
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Figure 34 1920 Sanborn (left) and 1929 aerial (right) of San Mateo City Homestead Development
Source: Sanborn Map Company, 1920
Source: UCSB San Mateo [aerial photograph], Flight C-674, 1929.
In April 1927, the City voted to annex the former Parrott Estate located at the northwest corner of the city and bounded by the town of Hillsborough to the north.175 The estate passed to John Parrott’s widow, Abby Parrott after his death in 1884. She continued living on the estate until her death in 1917.176 Due to the vast amount of land owned by the Parrott family throughout San Francisco and the Peninsula, the heirs established the Parrott Estate Company.177 In 1927, the former Parrott Estate was subdivided by the Dunn-Williams Company. The Baywood Park Company was created the same year to sell the lots. Similar to the San Mateo Park subdivision, streets were designed following the natural topography and landscape. J.A. Williams of the Baywood Park Company described that, “we have instructed our engineers in planning streets to avoid sacrificing trees,” 178 he continued, with this thought in mind, they have worked out a magnificent plan, particularly for Baywood Drive. This broad artery, which will have no equal anywhere, will in reality be a triple avenue. The center section, which will be lined on both sides by magnificent oaks, eucalyptus and other fine trees, will be about 20 feet wide.179
175 City of San Mateo, “History of San Mateo Ballot Measures 1921-1930,” accessed October 9, 2025, at https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/DocumentCenter/View/92532/History-of-San-Mateo-Ballot-Measures-1921-1930. 176 “Abby Parrott’s Estate Exceeds Five Millions,” San Francisco Chronicle, October 18, 1917, https://www.newspapers.com/image/1235165103/?match=1&terms=Abby%20Parrott%E2%80%99s%20Estate%20Exceeds%20Five%20Mil lions.
177 “Parrott Estate Distribution in Part is Sought,” Redwood City Tribune, January 27, 1925, https://www.newspapers.com/image/841853146/?match=1&terms=Parrott%20Estate%20Distribution%20in%20Part%20is%20Sought. 178 Seymour H. Pierson, “San Mateo Home Site Near Ready,” San Francisco Bulletin, March 26, 1927, https://www.newspapers.com/image/996434983/?match=1&terms=San%20Mateo%20Home%20Site%20Near%20Ready. 179 Seymour H. Pierson, “San Mateo Home Site Near Ready,” San Francisco Bulletin, March 26, 1927, https://www.newspapers.com/image/996434983/?match=1&terms=San%20Mateo%20Home%20Site%20Near%20Ready.
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By late 1927, roads and a dozen houses were constructed , many along Cornell Avenue.180 Similar to Glazenwood, Baywood Park Company established the neighborhood as restricted, though appear to have been less explicit about the restrictions in advertising the blossoming community (Figure 35).
Figure 35 1929 Advertisement for Baywood Neighborhood
Source: San Francsico Bulletin, June 28, 1929
Over the next several years, the neighborhood continued constructing single-family houses built in the popular revival styles of the period. In 1930, the San Francsico Chronicle sponsored a model home in the neighborhood. Built especially for display purposes, “The Californian,” was designed by the architecture firm Grimes and Schoening in the Monterey Colonial Revival style at 639 Fordham Road (extant) and staged with furniture and appliances from O’Connor, Moffatt, a luxury department store. The open house attracted over 30,000 visitors and served as a boost to draw more residents to the neighborhood, marketed as a charming neighborhood at a moderate cost.181 Though Baywood initially only included single-family houses by design, in 1929 builder Irma B. Downing oversaw the construction of the Casa Baywood Apartments (extant) at the corner of El Camino Real at the entrance to the neighborhood.182 Casa Baywood Apartments were designed by local architect Ernest L. Norberg, who designed another apartment building, Del Cerrito at 212 Eaton Road (extant) for owner Gordon C. Hess.183 Other apartment buildings from this period included Sequoia at 146 West
180 “Sales at Baywood Park Have Passed Million Dollar Mark,” The San Francisco Examiner, September 24, 1927, https://www.newspapers.com/image/457932529/?match=1&terms=Sales%20at%20Baywood%20Park%20Have%20Passed%20Million%20 Dollar%20Mark.
181 “Visitors Will Have Final Opportunity to See Model Home This Week,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 24, 1930, https://www.newspapers.com/image/1237358000/?match=1&terms=%22san%20mateo%22. 182 “Casa Baywood to be Ready Mar. 20,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 2, 1929, https://www.newspapers.com/image/1237302385/?match=1&terms=Casa%20Baywood%20to%20be%20Ready%20Mar.%2020%2C%E2%8 0%9D%20.
183 “Del Cerrito, Latest Word in Apartments, Opens Today,” San Francisco Chronicle, May 10, 1930, https://www.newspapers.com/image/1237350449/?match=1&terms=Del%20Cerrito%2C%20Latest%20Word%20in%20Apartments%2C%2 0Opens%20Today.
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3rd Avenue and Casa Hermosa Apartments at 106 West 3rd Avenue (extant) (Figure 36). These larger suburban-style apartment buildings were built in the same popular revival styles of the period. As a building type, they became more popular during this period, though multifamily housing existed in downtown San Mateo by the early twentieth century. These examples, however, differed because they often had street level retail similar to urban areas, like Jefferson Court Apartments at 138 South B Street (extant).184
Figure 36 1931 View of 3rd Avenue and El Camino Real
Source: San Mateo County History
San Mateo’s physical expansion continued in 1929, when the city annexed the area formally known as the Beresford District. The Beresford District was subdivided outside the city in 1884 and included the area south of 15th Avenue.185 A 1910 survey map of the county illustrates Beresford Park located on the west side of El Camino Real and subdivided into 21 large lots.186 A 1927 map of San Mateo County depicts further subdivision spanning from approximately present-day 20th to 31st avenues. It was bound by the Beresford Country Club (the present-day location of the Peninsula Golf and Country Club) to the west, while the area between the Baywood neighborhood to the north and Beresford Park still included several large unsubdivided tracts of land.187 Additionally, a portion of Beresford east of El Camino, known as the Town as Beresford, bound by McLellan Avenue to the
184 “Instruments on File,” Redwood City Tribune, November 15, 1923.; Sanborn Map Company, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from San Mateo, San Mateo County, California, 1920.
185 “Fire Protection Needed,” San Mateo Times, March 27, 1931; Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 98. 186 Map of the County of San Mateo California, Surveyed by Davenport Bromfield, 1910, Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection. Map of the County of San Mateo California Compiled From The County Records By Davenport Bromfield, Civil Engineer Ex-County Surveyor 1910 - Barry Lawrence Ruderman Map Collection - Spotlight Exhibits. 187 George A. Kneese, Official Map of San Mateo County 1927, 1927, David Rumsey Map Collection, https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~330400~90098928:Official-Map-of-San-Mateo-County-Ca.
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north and Poinsettia Avenue to the south, was served by its own rail station. The maps indicate Beresford Park and Beresford Town were sparsely populated with 200 residents.188 The annexation two years later added 600-700 new residents to San Mateo and increased the size of the city by approximately one-third.189 In the following years, the community continued to grow as residential development increased (Figure 37).
Figure 37 1939 View of Beresford Area, Facing East toward Bay Meadows
Source: San Mateo Public Library, San Mateo Local History Collection In 1929 work began on the Aragon Tract, a 10-block subdivision south of Baywood and north of the San Mateo Homestead Tract. The Aragon Tract is located on approximately 100 acres of land from the former Tobin Clark Estate (extant in neighboring Hillsborough).190 Developed by Meyer Brothers, houses were open for display beginning in summer 1929.191 Display houses were assigned names like “the Cordova,” “the Kenmore,” and “the York” and reflected their architectural stylings—Spanish Colonial Revival in the Cordova and Tudor Revival in the Kenmore and the York.192 Development continued in 1933 when Meyers Brothers transferred approximately 82 acres of the tract to the Aragon Company, a syndicate of prominent San Mateo residents that included W.S. Leadley, Louis
188 Sanborn Map Company, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from Beresford, San Mateo County, California, 1927. 189 “Beresford Votes Union to San Mateo by Big Majority,” San Mateo Times, August 28, 1929, https://www.newspapers.com/image/51674915/?match=1&terms=Beresford%20Votes%20Union%20to%20San%20Mateo%20by%20Big% 20Majority.
190 “New Aragon Tract Starts Paving Today,” San Mateo Times, June 19, 1929, https://www.newspapers.com/image/51671120/?match=1&terms=New%20Aragon%20Tract%20Starts%20Paving%20Today. 191 “Aragon Tract Will Open to Public Sunday,” San Mateo Times, August 24, 1929, https://www.newspapers.com/image- view/51674797/?match=1&terms=Aragon%20Tract%20Will%20Open%20to%20Public%20Sunday%2C%E2%80%9D%20. 192 “Many Visitors See Homes in Aragon Tract,” San Mateo Times, September 21, 1929, https://www.newspapers.com/image/51676370/?match=1&terms=Many%20Visitors%20See%20Homes%20in%20Aragon%20Tract.
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Lengfeld, F.W. Loewe, Emil Zwierlan, and Fred P. Calleson.193 Advertisements for the second phase of development for the Aragon Tract depicted curving roads and Revival style houses, describing the neighborhood as “the Peninsula’s choiciest homesites.”194 Sales continued for the next several years.
Unlike Meyers Brothers, the Aragon Company was not a developer/builder, and houses were built by a number of different local construction companies and included more examples of emerging architectural styles like Streamline Moderne (Figure 38). The model house was built by G.W. Williams Company, who constructed several other houses in the tract. Other houses were built by local builders like Leadley and Wiseman, Roy Allen, and Wallace Waterhouse.195 Figure 38 1937 Image of Aragon Tract House
Source: Fang Family San Francisco Examiner Photograph Archive © The Regents of the University of California, The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley
193 “Work on New Aragon Tract Starts Today,” San Mateo Times, August 9, 1933, https://www.newspapers.com/image/38861688/?match=1&terms=Work%20on%20New%20Aragon%20Tract%20Starts%20Today%2C%E2 %80%9D%20.
194 Advertisement for Aragon Tract, San Mateo Times, September 9, 1933, https://www.newspapers.com/image/38862312/?match=1&terms=aragon%20tract. 195 “Aragon Enjoys Active Month,” San Mateo Times, September 14, 1935, https://www.newspapers.com/image/51681539/?match=1&terms=Aragon%20Enjoys%20Active%20Month.
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The new and annexed subdivisions helped the city’s overall population grow from 5,979 residents in 1920 to 13,444 in 1930, a nearly 125 percent increase.196 The city continued growing over the next decade due to subdivision development.
In 1938, the Sunnybrae subdivision was approved and construction began shortly thereafter.197 Located south of 10th Avenue from South Delaware Street to Bayshore Highway, the tract was built by the G.W. Williams Company and developed by American Homes, Inc. The neighborhood, as envisioned, included 700 houses and community amenities like parks, schools, and shopping centers and was planned with the help of the Federal Housing Administration (FHA).198 Unlike the strict grid in the city’s first residential neighborhoods and the curving roads of the subdivisions carved from the former estates, Sunnybrae was laid out with long blocks and weaving streets designed to slow traffic and minimize accidents, and appears to have adopted many of the principles established by the FHA by this period as published in their guidance Planning Neighborhoods for Small Houses. The neighborhood included other features typical of FHA-encouraged designs like use of the “suburban curb,” a curved curb that continued to the gutter and did not require new curb cuts for driveways for each house built. The neighborhood’s main artery, Sunnybrae Boulevard, continues diagonally through the neighborhood providing convenient access to principal centers, as also recommended by FHA guidance.199 The first houses were designed by architect John Knox Ballantine, Jr. The first phase of building included 11 houses; five were wood frame and six were “Unibilt” steel frame houses. All the houses were designed to meet the demand for modern, low-cost housing and unlike earlier development in this period were not revival style, but were built in California Ranch and Minimal Traditional styles (Figure 39). 200
Figure 39 Sketch of Sunnybrae House
Source: “The Golden Gate Exposition Model Homes,” Pencil Points, May 1939.
196 “San Mateo, Decennial Census Data,” Bay Area Census, accessed October 9, 2025, at https://census.bayareametro.gov/historical- data/1860-1940/san_mateo.
197 “School Bond Bid Rejected,” Redwood City Tribune, September 21, 1938, https://www.newspapers.com/image/841854346/?match=1&terms=School%20Bond%20Bid%20Rejected. 198 “In Sunnybrae Small Homes New Attraction,” San Francisco Chronicle, June 3, 1939, https://www.newspapers.com/image/1237702704/?match=1&terms=In%20Sunnybrae%20Small%20Homes%20New%20Attraction. 199 Federal Housing Administration, Technical Bulletin No. 5: Planning Neighborhoods for Small Houses, (Federal Housing Administration, 1936), 12.
200 “Tree Planting Starts in Sunnybrae Tract,” San Mateo Times, March 18, 1939, https://www.newspapers.com/image/38660966/?match=1&terms=Tree%20Planting%20Starts%20in%20Sunnybrae%20Tract. ; “About Sunnybrae,” G.W. Williams Co., accessed October 14, 2025, https://www.gwwilliams.com/timeline-history/sunnybrae/.
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Toward the end of this period, residential development of formerly semi-rural land began. Laurel Creek Farm, located south of Beresford Park at the city’s southern limit at present-day 31st to 42nd Avenues, was first subdivided in 1889. By 1927, it was further subdivided but remained sparsely developed.201 Further subdivision and development began in spring 1940, beginning on Arbor and Briar Lanes as part of David D. Bohannon’s Hillsdale development, however it remained largely undeveloped by the early 1940s.202
After starting his firm in 1928, and surviving the stock market crash in 1929, David D. Bohannon of the David D. Bohannon Organization, purchased the St. Cyr Estate, formerly the Howard property. He built the El Cerrito Manor development, a 10-acre portion of the former St. Cyr estate. His work in San Mateo continued in 1937, when he purchased 848 acres of the Beresford area. The development of the first 241 acres of what is now known as Hillsdale was completed in April 1940. Unlike El Cerrito Manor, which largely resembled the city’s other suburban development, Hillsdale called for the construction of 5,000 inexpensive, well-built houses that came to represent post-World War II housing.203
COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT
Commercial development following San Mateo’s incorporation was characterized by rapid expansion and growth to respond to San Mateo’s increasing population. Sanborn insurance maps show that by 1897 wood-frame commercial buildings typical of the previous period were replaced by more permanent brick and stone frame buildings along San Mateo’s commercial corridor, particularly along B Street and Railroad Avenue.204 The city’s commercial district experienced significant damage from the 1906 Earthquake, which was a contributing factor to the commercial core’s rebuilding and subsequent expansion (Figure 40). In the following decades, commercial businesses extended along B Street from Baldwin to 4th Avenue and radiated to side streets. 2nd Avenue opened through the former Taylor property and connected to El Camino Real, where a number of important commercial businesses were also located. In addition to the connection to El Camino Real, a bridge was built across San Mateo Creek, connecting San Mateo Drive and 2nd Avenue.205
201 George A. Kneese, Official Map of San Mateo County 1927, 1927, David Rumsey Map Collection, https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~330400~90098928:Official-Map-of-San-Mateo-County-Ca. 202 “Legal Notice,” San Mateo Times, May 23, 1940,
https://www.newspapers.com/image/38860990/?match=1&terms=%22legal%20notice%22. 203 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 211.
204 Sanborn Map Company, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from San Mateo, San Mateo County, California, 1897. 205 Frank Stanger, Levy Bros: A Centennial History, 1872-1972, (Stanger, 1972), 22.
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Figure 40 Damage to San Mateo Stable Building at 1st Avenue and B Street, 1906
Source: San Mateo Public Library, San Mateo Local History Collection Many of San Mateo’s first hallmark businesses were founded during this period. In 1894, San Mateo’s first bank was organized by Philip Roedel along with San Mateo’s existing business leaders. In 1896, the Bank of San Mateo building (non-extant) was erected on Main Street. The same year, he helped establish the San Mateo Mutual Building and Loan Association. Roedel built a grand Tudor Revival house, called Seven Oaks at 20 El Cerrito Avenue (extant) in 1905. After his death in 1905, both the bank and house were purchased by A.P. Giannini. 206
Giannini retained the bank’s name and officers, which included Robert Wisnom as Vice President. The bank’s location was moved to the corner of B Street and 3rd Avenue by 1905 and was renamed the National Bank of San Mateo in 1909. In 1918, Giannini changed the name of the bank at 3rd Avenue
206 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 102.
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and B Street to Bank of Italy (present-day Bank of America). The original bank building was demolished in the 1930s. In 1923, the Bank of San Mateo’s original directors spilt from Giannini and revived the Bank of San Mateo name with a new building at 164 South B Street (extant). Designed by architect William Henry Weeks (1866–1936), the Beaux Arts building, was a monumental addition to downtown San Mateo.207
During this period, the Levy brothers established a store in San Mateo, Levy Bros. The brothers arrived from France in 1869 and first established stores on the San Mateo County coast side and purchased the stage line to San Mateo before establishing a store in downtown San Mateo in 1898.
The brothers—Joseph, Fernand, Adrien, and Armand—operated from the Wisnom Block on B Street, occupying most of the buildings by 1906 (Figure 41).208 The store catered to all of the community’s needs and included four connected stores—hardware, grocery, dry goods, and men’s furnishings. In addition to the store, they also offered door-to-door sales and delivery from San Bruno to Belmont.
By 1917, Levy Bros looked to expand in San Mateo and, with the opening of the former Parrott estate lands for development, arranged to build a new building at Ellsworth and 2nd Avenues (non-extant).
Despite difficulty during the Great Depression, the business survived.
During this period, San Mateo’s business district began shifting away from Railroad Avenue and B Street toward El Camino Real. In 1923, Chistian de Guigne’s heirs agreed to sell their property, which occupied most of the land between Ellsworth and El Camino on the south side of 3rd Avenue. The sale of the property, organized by D.A. Raybould, helped him realize his vision to connect El Camino Real with the railroad, via a wide commercial thoroughfare. In 1924, 3rd Avenue was developed to be 80 feet wide, allowing for diagonal parking and becoming the widest business district in the Peninsula.209 Lots development began on the south side of 3rd Avenue, beginning with the Caldwell building at 149 3rd Avenue (non-extant) and continuing in the following years with Noah’s Ark restaurant (non-extant), the San Mateo Theater (1925, extant, but altered), and Benjamin Franklin Hotel (1927, extant). In an effort to improve business, Levy Bros decided to move to the new commercial core. In 1931, they moved into a new store, designed by the San Franciso firm Hyman and Appleton with a 150-foot frontage, on the north side of 3rd Avenue (extant) (Figure 42).210 The gamble to build a new store in the midst of the Great Depression did not immediately help the business, but they were able to survive in San Mateo for many more decades, finally closing in 1986.
207 Patrick McGrew, “Bank of San Mateo, San Mateo County, California” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form (Washington, D.C: US Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1997). 208 Stanger, Levy Bros: A Centennial History, 1872-1972, 16. 209 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 170.
210 Stanger, Levy Bros: A Centennial History, 1872-1972, 31.
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Figure 41 Levy Bros Store at Wisnom Block c. 1905
Source: San Mateo Public Library, San Mateo Local History Collection
Figure 42 Levy Bros 3rd Avenue Building under Construction, 1931
Source: San Mateo Public Library, San Mateo Local History Collection
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The introduction and popularity of automobile travel during the early twentieth century influenced San Mateo’s commercial growth. In addition to the city’s commercial expansion shifting toward El Camino Real, an auto-oriented commercial corridor began forming as the early decades of the twentieth century passed. Buildings related to servicing and repair of automobiles began appearing along major roadways and downtown streets. By 1920, garages and machine shops were built in the vicinity of 4th Avneue and B Street, along with the California Garage at 146 2nd Avenue (non-extant), and at least two additional garages just beyond the incorporated city in nearby Homestead, including the former Homestead Garage at 10 Madison Avenue (extant, but altered).211 Gas stations, too, appeared by 1920, and were increasingly common by the end of this period.
Between 1920 and 1950, four gas stations were developed fronting El Camino Real, between East 3rd and East 4th avenues, framing one gateway into the downtown.212 One such gas station was a Spanish Colonial Revival service station at the corner of Palm Avenue and South Bend Boulevard (extant, 1641 Palm Avenue).
The city’s most popular commercial businesses, Wisnom’s Hardware and Levy Bros were also early adopters of the automobile business. Edmond Levy, son of Fernand Levy, traveled to Detroit by train in 1916 and drove cross-country back to San Mateo to prove the durability of new Buicks. Levy Bros then purchased the first rail shipment of Buicks and were agents until 1927.213 The Wisnom family, also a multigenerational San Mateo business, continued Robert Wisnom’s legacy in 1905 when Robert J., his brother William, and Robert Bonner opened Wisnom-Bonner Hardware at 2nd and Ellsworth Avenues (201 2nd Avenue, extant).214 The Wisnom-Bonner Hardware store was a Dodge dealership, and also provided service for Dodge automobiles (Figure 43).
Figure 43 c. 1910 Image of Wisnom-Bonner Hardware at 2nd and Ellsworth with Dodge Dealership Sign
Source: San Mateo Public Library, San Mateo Local History Collection
211 Sanborn Map Company, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from San Mateo, San Mateo County, California, 1920. 212 Sanborn Map Company, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from San Mateo, San Mateo County, California, 1920, revised 1950. 213 Stanger, Levy Bros: A Centennial History, 1872-1972, 28. 214 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 125.
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Beyond meeting the city’s growing population’s necessities, the commercial development during this period began to include enterprises related to entertainment and recreation. The San Mateo Theater opened on 3rd Avenue in 1925. Designed by architects William I. Garren and Irving F. Marrow, the 1200-seat theater had a popular Neo-Classical design with Art Deco elements (Figure 44).215 A second movie theater was added to downtown in 1931 when Baywood Theater was built (159 B Street, non- extant). Designed by Simeon Charles Lee, it featured an Art Deco design.216 Other entertainment venues during this period included other businesses along B Street and 3rd Avenue, like billiards halls.
Figure 44 San Mateo Theater, 1925
Source: Los Angeles Public Library, Library Legacy Collection Other entertainment businesses began appearing outside of the downtown area. Before the city’s incorporation, Coyote Point was beyond the city limits. First inhabited by Native Americans, it was eventually sold to the Mellus & Howard shipping firm in 1850, who connected the once-island to the mainland. In the 1880s, it had a swimming tank and bath houses popular with weekenders from San Francisco.217 Still owned by the Howard Estate Company in 1922, its manager David Stollery saw an opportunity for an entertainment business. A group of investors formed the Pacific City Corporation and purchased nearly 350 acres, 250 of which was submerged land, to create a theme park to rival New York’s Coney Island. By late Spring 1922, Pacific City included landscaping, ferris wheel, rides, bath house, band stand, pier, and playground in addition to the beach. A success in its first year, it did not last, due in part of contamination from the growing bayside communities of San Mateo and
215 “San Mateo Theater,” Los Angeles Public Library, accessed October 1, 2025, at https://tessa2.lapl.org/digital/collection/photos/id/111652. 216 “Baywood Theater,” Cinema Treasures, accessed October 10, 2025, at https://cinematreasures.org/theaters/9547. 217 “A History of Coyote Point,” CuriOdyssey at Coyote Point, accessed October 10, 2025, at https://curiodyssey.org/wp- content/uploads/2017/03/History.pdf.
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Burlingame into the bay that restricted swimming.218 It closed in 1925 and the Howard Estate Company purchased the land back, eventually selling it to the city in 1940.219 In 1934, William P. Kyne (1887–1957) opened Bay Meadows racetrack on a portion of Dave McLellan’s former Beresford ranch. A powerhouse in the racing industry, Kyne was responsible for introducing pari-mutuel betting, the daily double, night racing, and quarter horse racing to California.
Bay Meadows (non-extant) became one of the busiest racetracks in the country and hosted many of the most famous horses, including Seabiscuit.220 Bay Meadows was the only racetrack on the West Coast operating during World War II. As part of its agreement for continued operation, over 90 percent of the track’s profits were leveraged to support the war effort, with over $4 million donated to war relief and service organizations.221
CIVIC AND INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The need for expanded services was stark in the aftermath of the 1906 Earthquake. Elisabeth Mills Reid, daughter of Darius Ogden Mills and Jane Templeton Mills, was visiting her family from New York in 1906 and saw a need for an adequate hospital. Up to this point, the city’s medical needs were met by doctors making house calls.
In 1905 the San Mateo Medical Society was formed by a group of 16 doctors, but there were no hospitals or emergency facilities between Palo Alto and San Francisco. Reid, having organized the New York chapter of the Red Cross in 1881, recruited Dr. W.C. Chidester to develop an emergency care facility. The effort was supported by Neptune Blood William Gallwey, rector at the Episcopal Church of St. Matthew. Between 1906 and 1907, a corner of the church property was set aside for a modest building to house the parish nurse and a patient’s room for emergencies. Reid, back in New York by this time, lead the search for a head nurse, and hired Miss Beatrice H. “Woody” Woodard.222 Woody arrived in 1907 to a high demand for services. By 1908, the six-bed facility operated as the first private hospital in San Mateo County. First called the Church of St. Matthew Red Cross Guild, it had no connection to the Red Coss and, though on church property, served everyone. At the hospital’s dedication in 1908, the Bishop stated that it was “to meet the needs of suffering humanity, irrespective of religious or racial affiliations.”223
Immediately popular, the facilities were expanded. In 1909, Reid and her cousin Henry H. Taylor purchased the old San Mateo Hotel for a nurses’ residence. In 1910 Reid purchased the Taylor estate land at El Camino Real to construct a facility to accommodate 50 patients.224 Architect Lewis Hobart designed the new building, which was completed in 1914 in a French Gothic style (extant, northwest portion of hospital).225 The hospital was expanded in 1928, with a Hobart-designed addition, increasing capacity to 147 beds.226 Renamed the Church of St. Matthew Mills Memorial Hospital, it continued to expand in the following decades, with notable growth after World War II.
218 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 187.
219 “A History of Coyote Point,” CuriOdyssey at Coyote Point, accessed October 10, 2025, at https://curiodyssey.org/wp- content/uploads/2017/03/History.pdf.
220 Ringler, San Mateo, USA: The Golden Years, 35.
221 Herb Phipps, Bill Kyne of Bay Meadows: The Man Who Brought Horse Racing Back to California (A.S Barnes and Co, 1978), 82-101 referenced in Mitchell P. Postel, “Armed Forces Presence in San Mateo County During World War II,” La Peninsula, Vol. xliv, No. 2, 13. 222 M. Morrison, The Hospital Elisabeth Built, (Mills Memorial Hospital, n.d), 6. 223 Morrison, The Hospital Elisabeth Built, 8.
224 Morrison, The Hospital Elisabeth Built, 20.
225 Morrison, The Hospital Elisabeth Built, 22.
226 Morrison, The Hospital Elisabeth Built, 23.
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The city’s medical services further expanded when the San Mateo County Community hospital was planned in 1919. Land for the hospital was purchased by the County, and architect William Toepke designed the building (non-extant) which opened in 1923 to serve patients with communicable diseases.227 It was expanded in 1929 with a tuberculosis unit and expanded again in 1934 with a 51- bed third unit. It was extensively updated following World War II.228 In addition to medical services, the City’s municipal services expanded significantly after incorporation and during the period of exponential growth after the 1906 Earthquake. In 1910, following a campaign lead by the San Mateo Women’s Club, the City received $10,000 from the Carnegie Foundation for the construction of a library at San Mateo Drive and 2nd Avenue (non- extant).229 In 1914, a City Hall building was constructed at 215 South B Street (extant, altered). Built by Caldwell & Wisnom, it served as City Hall until 1961.230 The City’s police department was established in 1917 when Thomas F. Burke was hired as the first Marshal and then Police Chief in 1922.231 Burke, who also served as Fire Chief, professionalized both bodies. First operating out of City Hall, by 1939, the Police Department headquarters was in a one-story building at 11 South B Street (extant) (Figure 45). The Fire Department headquarters was at 2nd Avenue and Main Street in the City Hall building before being moved to a new Spanish Colonial Revival-style station at 120 South Ellsworth (extant) in 1939.232
227 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 181.
228 Darold Fredericks, “Evolution of the County Hospital,” April 1, 2025, at https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/evolution-of-the- county-hospital/article_8d14e9f2-28a8-541b-a249-46d2d6021a00.html. 229 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 144.
230 “San Mateo City Hall Contracts Awarded,” The Bulletin, February 17, 1914, https://www.newspapers.com/image/994878855/?match=1&terms=%22san%20mateo%20city%20hall%22; City of San Mateo Planning Division, Downtown San Mateo Historic Self-Guided Walking Tour, 9, April 2019, online, https://dsma.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/DT- Historic-Tour-Final.pdf.
231 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 148.
232 “City Hall is Nearly Empty,” San Mateo Times, August 16, 1940, https://www.newspapers.com/image/38862185/?match=1&terms=san%20mateo%20fire%20department%20headquarters.
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Figure 45 San Mateo Police Headquarters 1939
Source: San Mateo Public Library, San Mateo Local History Collection San Mateo High School District was established in 1902, and the high school moved to the former St.
Margaret’s School for Girls campus on Baldwin Avenue in 1903 until a new building was constructed in 1911.233 The new, three-story concrete reinforced building at San Mateo Drive and Baldwin Avenue (non-extant) had 25 classrooms, lab space, and an assembly hall and was designed by Havens & Toepke architects.234 In 1926, to accommodate a growing student population, a new San Mateo High School was built on Delaware Street (extant; reconstructed in 2005).235 Designed by architects and brothers Col. E.L. Norberg and John Norberg, it was meant to resemble England’s Hampton Court.236 Elementary education facilities also expanded significantly during this period. In 1914, the city’s first Parent Teacher Association was established.237 They established the city’s first kindergarten. During this period, several neighborhood schools were founded including Borel School in 1929 (extant as a middle school) and Baywood Elementary School (extant) in 1939.238 San Mateo also established higher education institutions during this period with the founding of San Mateo Junior College in
233 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 124, 120.
234 “New $100,000 San Mateo High School Completed Opening Exercises Friday May 5” Peninsula Times Tribune, April 27, 1911, https://www.newspapers.com/image/838227866/?match=1&terms=san%20mateo%20high%20school%20. 235 “San Mateo Union High School District,” The Daily Journal, September 6, 2025, https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/san-mateo- union-high-school-district/article_8157473e-b8bc-4864-8a63-2895d2d658e4.html. 236 “E.L. Norberg is Architect for New High School Plan,” San Mateo Times, March 5, 1926, https://www.newspapers.com/image/51637841/?match=1&terms=%22norberg%22%20%22san%20mateo%20high%22. 237 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 144.
238 Heather Murtagh, “Baywood Celebrates Historic Status,” The Daily Journal, June 12, 2017, https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/baywood-celebrates-historic-status/article_dbc45706-26c2-57d4-82bb-ca25aaedd29d.html.
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1922. First housed in the San Mateo High School building downtown, it moved to William H. Kohl’s former mansion (non-extant) in 1923 for four years before returning to the former San Mateo High School building after it relocated to its new campus (Figure 46). In 1939, a new campus opened at North Delaware and Peninsula Avenues, but development was curtailed by World War II. It moved to its current campus following the war in 1963.239
Figure 46 College of San Mateo Students at Kohl Mansion Location, c. 1925
Source: College of San Mateo PHLIP Project
During this period, the fraternal and society groups that emerged in the previous period grew and expanded, and many catered to the city’s elite. In 1906, Edward Howard founded the San Mateo Polo Club, which used several private estate lands for matches.240 The club’s first clubhouse is in present- day Hillsborough (Hillsborough Racquet Club – extant). In 1926, the Borel family sold a portion of their estate to the San Mateo Polo Club for fields and grandstands, but the city’s new sanitation orders in 1931 made horse ownership more difficult and the land was subdivided for residential development.241 In 1911, wealthy Jewish residents founded the Beresford Country Club (present-day Peninsula Golf and Country) in response to restrictive membership policies at Burlingame Country Club. By 1914, the land south of San Mateo included a Tudor Revival clubhouse and an 18-hole golf course. 242
Several other civic groups and institutions flourished during this period, including the San Mateo’s Women’s Club, established in 1903, who were instrumental in constructing the library. Other civic
239 “History of the San Mateo Community College District,” College of San Mateo, accessed October 13, 2025, https://collegeofsanmateo.edu/generalinformation/history_smcccd.asp. 240 Philip Alexander and Charles P. Hamm, History of San Mateo County (Burlingame Publishing Company, 1916), 181. 241 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 160.
242 Mitchell Postel, Historic Resource Study for Golden Gate National Recreation Area in San Mateo County (Washington, DC: US Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 2010), at https://npshistory.com/publications/goga/hrs-san-mateo.pdf/.
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grounds were dedicated to improvements like roads and beautification, like the Civic Club and the Auxiliary Civic Club.243 The City’s first municipal park, San Mateo Central Park, was established when the City purchased the former Kohl estate in 1922. Early improvements included a baseball field and grandstands for the City’s amateur baseball club, the San Mateo Blue.244 By the 1920s, San Mateo had an Elks Lodge, Masonic Lodge, and a Rotary Lodge. The Masonic Lodge built a temple at 303 Tilton Avenue (extant), while the Elks Lodge owned 336 B Street (non-extant).
As seen in the previous period, communities organized places of worship. Many of the churches were damaged in the 1906 Earthquake. The Congregation Church of San Mateo’s steeple collapsed, but avoided more significant damage and was expanded with a new building in 1931.245 St. Matthew’s Catholic Church was damaged and had to be dismantled and rebuilt.246 The roof of Episcopal Church of St. Matthew was extensively damaged in the quake, and the church decided to rebuild the church rather than repair or restore it. The new Gothic-style church building, designed by architect Willis Polk, was consecrated on May 15, 1910.247
As the city’s population became more diverse, more faiths also established churches in San Mateo.
The First Methodist Church opened at 300 East Santa Inez in 1905 and is purported to be the oldest continuously used church building in San Mateo (extant, now the Unitarian Universalists of San Mateo) (Figure 47, Figure 48).248 The First Church of Christ, Scientist began in San Mateo when two residents opened their house at the corner of Tilton Avenue and Elm Street for Christian Science services in 1897. By 1907, the congregation grew and the church was incorporated. The small group first met at Froebel Hall on Ellsworth Avenue before moving to the newly erected Masonic Lodge in 1910. The church purchased a lot at the corner of El Camino Real and Monte Diablo Avenue in 1919 and construction of the new church began in May 1928, and it was dedicated on October 20, 1935.249
243 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 118–119.
244 “100 Years of Central Park,” The San Mateo Arboretum Society, accessed October 19, 2025, at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1HJPSrdkZ4NrNX3pE8jNfz_o5AmvEYE2E/view. 245 Samson So, “Finding a Family: Congregational Church of San Mateo Celebrates 150 Years,” May 24, 2014, at https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/finding-a-family-congregational-church-of-san-mateo-celebrates-150-years/article_46267c25- c0dc-5056-b545-ed8549479893.html.
246 “History: Early Days,” Saint Matthew Catholic Church, accessed October 1, 2025, at https://www.stmatthew-parish.org/page.cfm?p=778. 247 The Reverend Robert Louis Semes, Of These Stones, 8. 248 “First Methodist Church, San Mateo, California,” accessed October 7, 2025, at https://californiarevealed.org/do/4e8d03c8-9127-453a- 8084-9bc051073373.
249 “About Our Church,” First Church of Christ, Scientist, accessed October 7, 2025, at http://www.cschurchsanmateo.org/about-our- church/.
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Figure 47 The First Methodist Church, c. 1905
Source: San Mateo Public Library, San Mateo Local History Collection
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Figure 48 Current View of the First Methodist Church
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE
San Mateo’s suburbanization during this period was possible by its evolving transportation options and favorable location near San Francisco and surrounding communities. The improved transportation connections supported an emerging middle class. In 1896, transportation options increased with the arrival of the newly organized San Francisco and San Mateo Electric Railway.250 As the region’s first electric railroad, it was granted franchise into San Mateo to serve as its terminus, in 1900. Sold to United Railroads of San Francsico in 1902, construction on the San Mateo line, or interurban, began in October of that year. By 1910, 54 cars left San Mateo each weekday, traveling a similar route to the current Caltrain alignment, before continuing along San Mateo Drive to B Street and returning north via Ellsworth Avenue.251 It boosted San Mateo’s residential development, similar to many of the streetcar suburbs that emerged throughout the country during this time. By 1915, however, the Peninsula Rapid Transit Company began running a bus line. Unlike the streetcar, it did not have to pay for the franchise. The No. 40 streetcar line continued to run into the 1940s, when it was supplanted in 1949 by the popularization and increased accessibility of the automobile.252 The availability of the personal automobile in the 1920s lead to El Camino Real being established as the first highway in San Mateo. By the early 1920s, however, as the only connection between San Francisco and San José, traffic became intolerable to drivers. In 1924, the first section of the San
250 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 125.
251 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 126.
252 “Meet Me in San Mateo on the #40 Line,” The Daily Journal, April 2, 2025, https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/meet-me-in-san- mateo-on-the-40-line/article_935cab68-4572-53a6-a0f1-5143ac452322.html.
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Mateo County section of the highway was planned to span from South San Fransico to San Mateo.253 In October 1929, Bayshore Highway opened, and relieved some of the pressure on El Camino Real.
Built to the highest standard of the time, the highway included two lanes of traffic in each direction and by the 1940s was 100 feet wide with three lanes in each direction (Figure 49). It did not, however, have a center median and drivers commonly traveled above the posted speed limit, making it one of the most dangerous roads in the county. By 1940, traffic congestion and growing fatalities lead to the establishment of the Bayshore Freeway from San Francisco to Palo Alto. It was a separate high-speed roadway with on-ramps.254
Figure 49 Bayshore Highway to Coyote Point, 1928
Source: San Mateo Public Library, San Mateo Local History Collection During this period, trans-bay automobile travel also became possible when the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge (also called the San Francisco Bay Toll Bridge) opened in 1929.255 The 7-mile bridge was comprised of 1,278 25-foot spans resting on concrete and wood composite piles across the shallow bay. The bridge was designed by Raymond Concrete Pile Co. and was planned to take approximately 18 months to construct.256 Bogged down by several delays, when completed in 1929, it was the longest continual vertical lift highway bridge in the world.257 Despite the popularity of the personal automobile, the bridge was not heavily used during its first years of operation and suffered low usage and low toll fares during the Great Depression (Figure 50).258
253 “Contract Award to Smash Peninsula Chinese Wall,” San Francisco Chronicle, August 10, 1924, https://www.newspapers.com/image/1235459138/?match=1&terms=State%20Action%20On%20New%20Road%20Cause%20Of%20Joy. 254 Jacquiline Kious, “Bayshore Highway,” accessed October 10, 2025, at https://www.ssf.net/files/assets/public/v/1/our- city/documents/bayshore-highway_.pdf.
255 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 178.
256 Redwood City Tribune, “San Mateo Bridge Due to Be Ready Before July, 1929; Here are Facts, Figures, January 4, 1928, https://www.newspapers.com/image-view/841934976/?match=1&terms=san%20mateo%20hayward%20bridge. 257 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 187.
258 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 191.
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Figure 50 San Mateo-Hayward Bridge, 1929
Source: U.S. National Archives and Records Administration
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT
From the turn of the twentieth century to the years immediately preceding World War II, industrial development in San Mateo consisted of salt refining and harvesting along the bay shore, agriculture, and lumber milling and storage, and blacksmithing.259 By 1897, locally prominent builder, Robert Wisnom, maintained a lumber yard on the west side of B Street, just north of 2nd Avenue. By 1920, Wisnom Lumber Co. developed a larger complex with a mill and cabinet shop with a spur connecting to the Southern Pacific Railroad at 4th Avenue and South Railroad Avenue. The San Mateo Planing Mill Co. developed its own facility at 5th Avenue an C Street, immediately east of the railroad.260 In 1903, C.E. Whitney, who worked in the dredging business for August H. Schilling, acquired 200 acres of land east of the railroad tracks in San Mateo where he established a salt harvesting operation known first as C.E. Whitney Company and later the Leslie Salt Refining Company. Whitney employed many Japanese laborers at his San Mateo plant, which was located just north of the present-day Highway 92 overpass; a site that provided extensive marshland and was close to the railroad. In 1907, the Leslie Salt Company was formed through the merger and consolidation of Whitney’s company with the businesses of other industrialists. The plant continued to operate until 1931, when C.E. Whitney’s successor Arthur Whitney died.261
259 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 125.
260 Sanborn Map Company, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from San Mateo, San Mateo County, California, 1920, revised 1950. 261 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 155-116.
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Excluding the salt works, San Mateo did not factor in significantly to other major industries such as logging or agriculture, beyond a concentration of flower farms that emerged during the twentieth century. Many of the flower farms relied heavily on Japanese labor, as the Leslie Salt Company had.262 For a short period, San Mateo sought to be a new center for the film industry following an aggressive booster campaign that began after World War I. Pacific Studios was constructed in 1920 at a 103-acre parcel east of the railroad and south of Peninsula Avenue by architects Roy Purnel and Harold Stoner.
The studio included plans for sets, labs, cutting rooms, and offices. Only one stage set and an administration building (extant, 430 Peninsula Avenue) was completed, however.263 Open from 1920 until 1927, only one feature length film, White Hands (1921), was shot at the studio. Work on several unfinished films continued for several years, but the arrival of talking movies made the set obsolete and the property was sold.264
CULTURAL AND ETHNIC GROUPS
As San Mateo grew significantly during this period, so did the diversity of its ethnic makeup. In 1935– 1940, an agency of the federal government, the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation, graded the residential security of neighborhoods across the United States. The practice, which came to be known as redlining, assigned a risk level to neighborhoods that was used by banks and mortgage lenders to decide on what neighborhoods to invest. The practice included declaring neighborhoods with high concentrations, or “infiltrations,” of African Americans, immigrants, and Jewish people as hazardous.265 Though the Home Owners’ Loan Corporation map was not published for San Mateo County, a related practice to redlining—the use of restrictive covenants—was common. The use of restrictive covenants excluded minority access to several of the city’s neighborhoods and promoted a Whites only policy.266 During this period, immigration bans like the Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 was still in place; alien land laws banned those ineligible for U.S. citizenship from owning property, and anti-miscegenation laws barred interracial marriage.267 Despite all of the challenges faced by non- White and immigrant populations during this period, several cultural and ethnic communities emerged in San Mateo.
Chinese
The Chinese Exclusion Act of 1882 significantly limited Chinese immigration to the United States. The anti-Chinese laws were so severe that the Chinese population in California declined by 40 percent from 1880 to 1900.268 During this period, however, San Mateo’s Chinese population changed very little and there was a small Chinatown around 1st Avenue. By 1897, Chinese businesses included laundries and a grocer along blocks nearby the Southern Pacific Depot in San Mateo.269 A 1920 Sanborn map describes several buildings as having Chinese uses, while the neighboring block of buildings was designated as Japanese (Figure 51). This concentration demonstrates a statewide trend
262 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 125.
263 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 183.
264 Joan Levy, “We Could Have Been a Contender at the Oscars,” The Daily Journal, October 2, 2006, at https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/we-could-have-been-a-contender-at-the-oscars/article_88ef319a-1224-5a7d-b60c- c2ab9d2314f4.html. .
265 “Mapping Inequality,” University of Richmond, accessed October 10, 2025, at https://dsl.richmond.edu/panorama/redlining/. 266 Larry W. Ellis, “In Search of Home: A Case Study on the Housing Inequities in San Mateo County, California,” (PhD diss., Union University & Institute, 221), 14.
267 Albert A. Acena, “Chinese Americans in San Mateo County,” La Peninsula Vol. XLIII, No. 2, 2015, 4. 268 Michael Chang, “150 Years of Chinese Lives in the Santa Clara Valley,” (Cupertino Historical Society, 1997), 12. 269Sanborn Map Company, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from San Mateo, San Mateo County, California, 1897.
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during this period where distinct Chinatowns, Japantowns, and Filipinotowns developed in towns and cities. They often developed close to each other and other ethnic communities in the less desirable areas where minorities were relegated by law.”270
The Leong family migrated to San Mateo during this period, having first arrived from China to Oakland in 1913. Sam Shun Leong bought a successful fruit and vegetable route in San Mateo in 1931. His son, Gordon, who was delivering flowers, borrowed $150 from him in 1933 to open a flower shop, named Ah Sam in honor of his father. The shop, eventually located on El Camino Real and 28th Avenue, soon included Gordon’s siblings, children, and extended family. The store, still operating today, is in its third generation of Leong ownership.271 Figure 51 1920 Map Showing San Mateo’s Chinese and Japanese Businesses
Source: Sanborn Map Company, 1920
African Americans
At the turn of the century, many African American laborers worked as Pullman porters on the railroad. The city’s African American population grew as the city suburbanized. Noah Williams, a
270 Page & Turnbull, “Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders In California, 1850-1995” National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form (Washington D.C.: US Department of Interior, National Park Service, 2024), 12. 271 “A San Mateo Institution,” Ah Sam Floral Co., accessed October 7, 2025, at https://www.ahsam.com/about/our- history/?srsltid=AfmBOopRiH0t5hG3EjBQ93X5-eXai6crhL3LwqBs1gAoQwwgURRwXPZC.
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famous railroad chef, opened a restaurant, Noah’s Cafeteria, at 139 South B Street in 1920.272 Following up his success at his restaurant in San Francisco’s renowned Palace Hotel, Noah’s was instantly popular. In 1923, he moved the restaurant to 3rd Avenue and renamed it Noah’s Ark. The restaurant was noted for its fried chicken and baked ham, as well as its impressive décor including large format paintings of jungle scenes. The paintings are on display at the San Mateo County Historical Association Museum.273 During this period, Williams also appears to have owned a grocery store with his wife, Mabel, who worked as a cashier. They lived at 114 South Delaware Street (extant).
Their neighbor at 112 South Delaware Street, Harry Cox, was also African American and worked as a clerk for a cafeteria, potentially Williams’.274 In addition to neighbors, Williams also employed several family members. The restaurant served primarily Whites as Noah’s wife worked the front of house area and could pass as White, while Noah worked in the kitchen. Noah “closed” the restaurant on Mondays for the exclusive use of Black customers. The National Association for the Advancement of Colored People held meetings at Noah’s Ark, but the restaurant closed in 1931 due to the Great Depression (Figure 52).275 Noah’s family, however, remained in San Mateo. Noah’s son, Les, became a well-known dancer in the 1930s. During World War II, Les went on to become one of the 996 African American airmen known as the Tuskegee Airmen.276 Les attended Standford University on the G.I. Bill after the war and opened a dance studio on San Mateo Drive.277 After City Council approved his permit for the dance school by a vote of 3 to 2, a woman threw her purse at him in anger. Other San Mateans, however, sent him unsolicited checks and enrolled their children in his classes in support.278
272 Joan Levy, “Noted African-Americans in Early County History,” The Daily Journal, February 9, 2004, https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/noted-african-americans-in-early-county-history/article_63ee461e-8ed9-11e9-89b2- 0759222fabe1.html.
273 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 168.
274 Eve Simister, “The African American Great Migration and San Mateo County,” La Peninsula, Vol. XLIV, No. 1, 4; U.S. Federal Census 1930, at https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224/records/92975710. 275 Simister, “The African American Great Migration and San Mateo County,” 14; U.S. Federal Census 1930, at https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224/records/92975710. 276 “Les Williams CSM Class of 1939,” College of San Mateo, accessed October 20, 2025, at https://www.collegeofsanmateo.edu/100/cf_leswilliams.php. 277 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 169.
278 “Les Williams CSM Class of 1939,” College of San Mateo, accessed October 20, 2025, at https://www.collegeofsanmateo.edu/100/cf_leswilliams.php.
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Figure 52 National Association for the Advancement of Colored People Dinner at Noah’s Ark, c. 1925
Source: San Mateo County Historical Association (SMCHA_1971-154A-006) During this period, San Mateo’s African American population was concentrated in the North Central neighborhood, along Monte Diablo Avenue, North Fremont Street, and Cypress Avenue. According to available census records, families who lived in the neighborhood worked as cafeteria workers, barbers, cooks, and were employees at the salt works.279 By 1919, the community organized a church. Community leaders like Robert Holmes, Jesse Selby, Anita Miles, Robert Williams, Kelly Mack, Rose Jones, William Pinkstone, Mary J. Boutee, E.M. Brown, Mamie Davis, and Harry Cox, lead the effort with the help of Reverend J.B. Holmes from Oakland.280 The church, African M.E. Zion Church of San Mateo, grew out of temporary quarters within the Congregational Church at Tilton Avenue and San Mateo Drive and in 1927 the congregation constructed a new building at 803 Monte Diablo Avenue, named St. James African Episcopal (now African Methodist Episcopal [A.M.E.]) Zion Church.
In 1938, the church moved to 825 Monte Diablo Avenue (extant, altered).281 The Pilgrim Baptists faced opposition during planning to construct a church in 1935. The congregation wanted to exchange a lot they owned on Cypress Avenue for a City-owned corner lot at Monte Diablo Avenue and North Grant Street. In November 1935, Revered Sample went to City Council for permission to construct the church. City Council expressed concern, questioning if a dance hall was included in the plans. Sample replied, “dancing feet and bended knees don’t go together.”282 Just as council was to approve the exchange and permission to construct the church in January 1936, 21 neighboring property owners filed a protest requesting Council to reconsider the matter, apparently
279 U.S. Federal Census 1930, accessed October 2025, at https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224/records/92975710. 280 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 167.
281 “Our History,” St James A.M.E. Zion Church, 2024, at https://www.stjamessanmateo.org/about/#history. 282 “Council Hears Arguments for Church on Cypress Street,” San Mateo Times, November 5, 1935, https://www.newspapers.com/image/51685586/?match=1&terms=%22pilgrim%20baptist%22.
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concerned that two African American churches on the same block would somehow damage the neighborhood.283 At the February 1936 City Council meeting, a one-hour debate occurred, but the Council were united in their support of the project.284 After the Council hearing, Revered Sample penned a Letter to the Editor of the San Mateo Times outlining the need for the church stating:
we feel that it is not generally understood by the majority of people that this is the only Negro Baptist church between San Francisco and San Jose consequentially we serve the spiritual needs of five to six hundred people in San Mateo and the surrounding communities.285
Upon project approval, Sample thanked the Council saying, “you have been very kind to us, and we have been very patient with you.”286 One City Councilman, Aylett Cotton, who went on to become a Superior Court judge, supported the cause early on and was invited to speak at the church when it opened in 1937 (extant, altered).287
Japanese
By the turn of the twentieth century, Japanese were settled in San Mateo, having arrived during the 1890s. Similar to San Mateo’s Chinese and African American communities during this period, may Japanese immigrants worked as support staff such as gardeners, maids, and cooks at the many area estates. Like California’s Chinese communities of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, Japanese communities were predominantly home to single men who emigrated from Japan and provided agricultural labor. The 1907–1908 Gentleman’s Agreement between the United States and Japan resulted in an increase in female immigration.288 In San Mateo, many domestic workers worked short hours in private houses to attend language classes. Some became permanent, full-time workers. When domestic workers married, it was common for husband and wife to work in the same household.289
As San Mateo welcomed more commerce and industry in the early 1900s, many Japanese found work outside domestic labor. In 1901, a notable number of Japanese people immigrated to San Mateo County to work at the salt works, West Shore Company and Leslie Salt Works.290 By 1910, a Japanese employment agency, helped match newly arrived Japanese to local work opportunities.291 Workers at Leslie Salt Works were single men who typically worked 12-hour days, six days a week.
Sahioue Kawakita tended the boiler at the plant from 1910 until 1930 and witnessed hazardous working conditions that often caused injury to workers.292 In addition to the working conditions, the associated labor camps (non-extant) for worker housing were often crude, unsafe, and spread
283 “Tree Planting for Homestead,” San Mateo Times, January 21, 1936, https://www.newspapers.com/image/51682020/?match=1&terms=%22pilgrim%20baptist%22. 284 “S.M. Council Calls Tri-City Water Meet,” San Mateo Times, February 4, 1936, https://www.newspapers.com/image/51683123/?match=1&terms=%22pilgrim%20baptist%22. 285 “Letters to the Editor,” San Mateo Times, February 8, 1936, https://www.newspapers.com/image/51683216/?match=1&terms=%22pilgrim%20baptist%22. 286 “Widening of Aves. Ordered,” San Mateo Times, January 7, 1936. 287 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 168.
288 Page & Turnbull, “Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders In California, 1850-1995,” 35. 289 San Mateo Chapter JACL, 1872-1942: A Community Story, (San Mateo Chapter JACL, 1981), 17. 290 San Mateo Chapter JACL, 1872-1942: A Community Story, 19. 291 San Mateo Chapter JACL, 1872-1942: A Community Story, 17. 292 San Mateo Chapter JACL, 1872-1942: A Community Story, 19.
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communicable diseases like tuberculosis. Despite the hardship, workers saved money to send to family or to purchase their own property.293
Tomisuke Ito, among the earliest known Japanese residents of San Mateo, worked for the Mitsui Company in Japan and immigrated to the United States in the 1880s, where he found work as a domestic servant.294 In 1903, he became the first Japanese to purchase land in San Mateo County and built a one-story apartment building, nicknamed nagaya or “long house” on a three-lot property at 112 North Fremont Street (non-extant). The nagaya “was a way station for many Japanese families who stayed until they found other housing.”295 The property also hosted meetings, parties, and included a teahouse and bathhouse.296
Figure 53 Nagaya at 112 North F Street (now Fremont Street) on 1920 Sanborn Map
Source: Sanborn Map Company, 1920.
Additionally, Japanese who saved money and/or obtained loans from fellow community members through rotating credit, tanomoshi, established businesses that served the Japanese community.
These included the Yokohama Laundry at Tilton Avenue and North Eldorado Street, established as the city’s first Japanese laundry in 1900 by S. Sato and K. Katoaka; Tetsuo Yamanouchi’s Imperial Laundry at 214 1st Avenue; Konosuke Ito’s Depot Hand Laundry at 247 Railroad Avenue; and Kyusuke Yamaguchi’s Sunrise Cleaners at 151 B Street, which were established between 1908 and 1912 (all non-extant) (Figure 54). Into the Great Depression years of the 1930s, there were nine Japanese- operated cleaning or laundry businesses in San Mateo, in addition to informal operations based in homes.297
293 San Mateo Chapter JACL, 1872-1942: A Community Story, 21. 294 Gayle K. Yamada and Dianne Fukami, Building and Community: The Story of Japanese Americans in San Mateo County, edited by Diane Yen-Mei Wong, (San Mateo Chapter JACL 2003), 5.
295 Yamada and Dianne Fukami, Building and Community: The Story of Japanese Americans in San Mateo County, 5–7. 296 Yamada and Dianne Fukami, Building and Community: The Story of Japanese Americans in San Mateo County, 5–7. 297 Yamada and Dianne Fukami, Building and Community: The Story of Japanese Americans in San Mateo County, 18–20.
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Figure 54 Mr. Yamanouchi at Imperial Laundry, 1909
Source: Watanuki Family Collection
In addition to cleaning and laundry, Japanese proprietors worked as tailors, grocers, and in the floral industry. Businesses included the Hata Merchant Tailor Shop (non-extant) at 122 B Street, opened in 1901, and Tokutaro Takahashi’s Oriental grocery and merchandise store, originally located on B Street, and relocated several times under multi-generational ownership, and most recently to 221 South Claremont Street by 2003 (Figure 55).298
Figure 55 Takahashi Market 221 South Claremont
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
298 Yamada and Dianne Fukami, Building and Community: The Story of Japanese Americans in San Mateo County, 22–25.
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The floral industry, primarily chrysanthemums, emerged on the Peninsula after the 1906 Earthquake.
San Mateo became known as the “Floral City” beginning the in early 1900s, because growers sought the advantageous climate offered in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties while maintaining access to markets in San Francisco.299 The floral industry in San Mateo County grew significantly between 1910 and 1925 due to the physical expansion of farms and production of roses, carnations, gardenias, and lilies, in addition to chrysanthemums.300
Fields in the Beresford and Homestead areas were leased for flower cultivation. Renting land was the only choice for people after the passage of the Henry-Webb Alien Land Law in 1913 that prohibited non-citizens from owning land.301 Into the mid-1920s, the present-day Hillsdale area was among the chrysanthemum-growing locations in San Mateo, with San Mateo-based nursery proprietors including Seishiro Mayeda, Tokujiro Tanaka, and Saikichi Yamada.302 In 1935, San Mateo’s Bay Meadows racetrack hosted the San Mateo County Products and Floral Fiesta, where it was noted that “Japanese gardeners sent a pyramid of yellow chrysanthemums.”303 The Floral Fiesta was the precursor to the San Mateo County Fair. By 1939, 38 percent of Northern California’s Japanese flower growers were in San Mateo County.304
Japanese settlements grew with the establishment of cultural institutions such as Buddhist temples, Christian churches, Japanese language schools (gakuen) and other businesses that served Japanese residents.305 San Mateo’s Japanese built community through religious associations and organized local Buddhist and Christian churches. Imperial Laundry owner Tetsuo Yamanouchi served as the Buddhist church’s founding spiritual leader, and his wife Yoshiko organized the church’s Sunday School and Women’s Auxiliary. In 1910, the San Mateo’s Buddhist church was established through affiliation with the San Francisco Buddhist Church and began operating independently with 60 members in 1925. Services were first held in the Yamanouchi home at 1st Avenue and Ellsworth Street, then they relocated to an adjacent store before moving to the Japanese Language School at 504 2nd Avenue (Figure 56). Property was acquired at 504 2nd Avenue in 1940 to construct a temple, however, World War II halted construction until after the war.306
299 Yamada and Dianne Fukami, Building and Community: The Story of Japanese Americans in San Mateo County, 29. 300 San Mateo Chapter JACL, 1872-1942: A Community Story, 53. 301 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 142.
302 Yamada and Dianne Fukami, Building and Community: The Story of Japanese Americans in San Mateo County, 29. 303 “Peninsula’s Big Floral Fiesta Opens,” The San Francisco Examiner, October 12, 1935, https://www.newspapers.com/image/457996476/?match=1&terms=%22floral%20fiesta%22%20%22japanese%22. 304 San Mateo Chapter JACL, 1872-1942: A Community Story, 55. 305 Page & Turnbull, “Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders In California, 1850-1995,” 35. 306 Yamada and Dianne Fukami, Building and Community: The Story of Japanese Americans in San Mateo County, 38–40.
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Figure 56 Buddhist Church Members, 1936
Source: Watanuki Family Collection
In 1924, the Japanese Christian Church was founded and held services at the home of Hidematsu Tamura on Grant Street, before relocating to worship space in the Congregational Church on Tilton Avenue. In 1927, the congregation, led by physician Dr. Ernest Adolphus Sturge, became the Japanese Independent Union Church of San Mateo. The congregation acquired property at 25 South Humboldt Street in 1930 and received funds from Dr. Sturge’s estate supporting construction of the Sturge Memorial Cottage in 1938. Like the San Mateo Buddhist Temple, World War II impacted the full development of the Sturge Memorial Cottage property.307 Japanese and Japanese-Americans participated in social organizations. The Japanese Association of America was founded in 1900 and San Mateo’s chapter organized in 1906. Its first meeting included 50 people, led by President Sekko Shimada. The organization sponsored social events like annual picnics and Sumo tournaments. Shimada arrived from Japan in 1902 as a guest of prominent San Matean Henry Bowie, who studied art in Kyoto.308 During this period, Bowie, then considered a leading expert in Japan, designed a Japanese tea garden at his San Mateo residence. A portion of Bowie’s estate, including a portion of the Japanese tea garden, was sold to Eugene Henry de Sabla in 1906. de Sabla constructed his own estate house on the property and expanded the “Shin” style gardens with the assistance of Japanese master designer Makoto Hagiwara (1854–1925), who also
307 Yamada and Dianne Fukami, Building and Community: The Story of Japanese Americans in San Mateo County, 40–41. 308 San Mateo Chapter JACL, 1872-1942: A Community Story, 35.
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designed the Japanese Tea Garden in Golden Gate Park. Japanese gardener Naoharu Aihara (1870– 1940) may have also been involved in de Sabla’s garden design, which is extant.309 Between 1904 and 1942, 589 children were born to Issei, or first generation Japanese immigrants.310 Many Issei wanted to return to Japan and wanted their children to be fluent in reading and writing Japanese. To address the need, several Japanese Language Schools opened in San Mateo County during this period. A Japanese Language School (gakuen) opened in San Mateo in 1916 at the corner of South Delaware Street and 2nd Avenue. The schools also taught Japanese music, literature, art, and social customs and traditions.311 In addition to Japanese school, second generation Japanese, or Nisei, participated in other children’s activities like athletic leagues or judo and kendo clubs.312 Nisei in San Mateo County organized around issues surrounding their community, such as civil rights.
In 1930 the Japanese American Citizens League (JACL) became a national organization. The San Mateo chapter was founded in May 1935. Aside from organizing around issues like citizenship and employment opportunities, JACL was also a social group that hosted dances and meetings.313 Many Nisei in JACL emerged as leaders during World War II.
Filipino
The first recorded entry of Filipinos to the Americas (and land within present-day California) occurred in 1587 at Morro Bay during a Spanish expedition. Filipinos also settled in the United States in the late 1700s as crewmembers or escapees from Spanish galleons. The Spanish-American War in the late 1890s and subsequent Philippine-American War resulted in the formation of an American colonial regime in the Philippines that lasted into the 1930s. The Americanization of Filipinos was integral to the American colonization process. In particular, the Pensionado Act of 1903 allowed for sponsorship of Filipino students at higher education institutions in the United States. These students, known as pensionados, were expected to return to the Philippines and share and spread their American influence; however, some stayed in the United States.314 Agricultural labor was another primary factor of Filipino immigration during the first half of the twentieth century. The Gentleman’s Agreement of 1907–1908 between the United States and Japan was aimed at restricting immigration of Japanese laborers and opened pathways to agricultural labor in Hawaii and California for many Filipino men.315 Filipinos were considered nationals, rather than aliens, meaning they were not subject to the same immigration quotas imposed on other Asian nations during the early twentieth century. Many entrants passed through San Francisco where they found an emerging Manilatown community established alongside Chinatown. Filipino immigrants typically labored in agricultural areas of California seasonally, based on harvest cycles. During off seasons, Filipinos often worked in restaurants, hotels, and as domestic servants in population centers including San Francisco and Stockton. San Mateo was home to several Filipinos, including students at San Mateo Junior College.316
309 Cherilyn Widell, “de Sabla Tea House and Tea Garden, San Mateo County, California,” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form (Washington D.C: US Department of Interior, National Park Service, 1997). 310 San Mateo Chapter JACL, 1872-1942: A Community Story, 63. 311 San Mateo Chapter JACL, 1872-1942: A Community Story, 36. 312 San Mateo Chapter JACL, 1872-1942: A Community Story, 63. 313 San Mateo Chapter JACL, 1872-1942: A Community Story, 67. 314 Page & Turnbull, “Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in California, 1850-1995” National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form (Washington D.C.: US Department of Interior, National Park Service, 2024), 58. 315 Page & Turnbull, “Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in California, 1850-1995,” 58–61. 316 Page & Turnbull, “Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in California, 1850-1995,” 58–61.
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In 1920, approximately 2,700 Filipinos resided in California, and by 1930, that number rose to over 30,000. During this period of increased immigration and settlement, several Filipino students formed a Filipino Club at San Mateo Junior College.317 Despite increased settlement during the 1920s, immigration slowed in the 1930s as the Great Depression hit. Furthermore, anti-Filipino sentiment in California rose and influenced federal policy related to controlling Filipino immigration. The Tydings- McDuffie Act (also known as the Philippine Independence Act of 1934) provided for Philippine Independence on July 4, 1946, following a transitional period of Commonwealth Government.
However, the Act also resulted in changing Filipinos’ status as nationals to aliens with a quota of 50 immigrants per year, effectively ending Filipino immigration for the foreseeable future.318
317 Albert A. Acena, “’Invisible Minority’ No More: Filipinos in San Mateo County,” La Peninsula, Volume XXXVII, No 1 (Summer 2008), 8. 318 “Tydings-McDuffie Act of 1934,” Immigration History, accessed October 1, 2025, at https://immigrationhistory.org/item/tydings- mcduffie-act/.
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WORLD WAR II AND POST-WAR
DEVELOPMENT (1941–1979)
During World War II, the San Francisco Bay Area played a major role in coastal defense, military training and transport, and wartime industries, including shipbuilding.319 After the Japanese bombing of Hawaii’s Pearl Harbor on December 7, 1941, the United States declared war on Japan and joined World War II soon after. The impact of the attack brought immediate and heightened security along the Pacific coast and included expansion or rapid construction of defense installations throughout the Peninsula.320 In 1942, the United States Merchant Marine Cadet Basic Training School was constructed at the former Pacific City park at Coyote Point.321 The war created 17 million jobs nationwide and pulled the country out of the Great Depression.
However, beyond impacts to military and industry, the war created lasting social impact through racist policies. San Mateo, like many communities along the West Coast, witnessed the forced relocation of residents of Japanese descent to assembly centers, including Tanforan Racetrack in nearby San Bruno. Federal relocation policy also affected residents of German, Italian, Hungarian, Romanian, and Bulgarian descent, but was particularly impactful to the city’s Japanese community.322 In the immediate post-World War II decades, San Mateo’s population growth and suburbanization mirrored broader regional and national trends.323 New neighborhoods emerged from the subdivision of former estates. The downtown transformed with new architectural styles and buildings including mid-twentieth century-style bank branches and City Hall, Modern-era corporate office towers, and contemporary streetscaping. Some buildings in the central business district represented completely new construction, while others were remodeled with on-trend exteriors.
The bulk of the city’s residential, commercial, transportation infrastructure, and civic and community buildings extant today were constructed in the two and a half decades following World War II.324 This period also brought significant transitions in cultural and institutional development, as well as in transportation systems that served the city, Peninsula, and in some cases the greater Bay Area.
Several new congregations joined in contributing to the city’s diversity of religious institutions, while the College of San Mateo (formerly San Mateo Junior College) consolidated from three campuses to one. The San Mateo-Hayward Bridge and the Interstate 280/Highway 92 Interchange, as well as
319 National Park Service, “World War II Harbor Defenses,” accessed October 1, 2025, at https://www.nps.gov/goga/learn/historyculture/world-war-ii-harbor-defenses.htm; National Park Service; “Places of World War II in the San Francisco Bay Area,” accessed October 1, 225, at https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/places-of-world-war-ii-in-the-san-francisco-bay- area.htm#:~:text=The%20San%20Francisco%20Bay%20Area's,the%20SS%20Red%20Oak%20Victory; National Park Service, “World War II Shipbuilding in the San Francisco Bay Area,” accessed October 1, 2025, at https://www.nps.gov/articles/000/world-war-ii-shipbuilding-in- the-san-francisco-bay-area.htm.
320 “Lend-Lease and Military Aid to the Allies in the Early Years of World War II,” United States Department of State, Office of the Historian, accessed September 25, 2025, at https://history.state.gov/milestones/1937-1945/lend-lease#:~:text=the%20full%20notice.- ,Lend%2DLease%20and%20Military%20Aid%20to%20the%20Allies%20in%20the,the%20war%20until%20December%201941; Mitchell P.
Postel, “Armed Forces Presence in San Mateo County During World War II,” La Peninsula, Vol. xliv, No. 2, 3. 321 James O. Clifford, Sr., “San Mateo County: A Training Ground in World War II,” La Peninsula, Vol. xliv, No. 2, 14-15; “Coyote Point Regional Park Dream Coming True,” The Times, August 7, 1973, https://www.newspapers.com/image/52113917/?match=1&clipping_id=180287725. 322 “World War II,” Library of Congress, accessed September 25, 2025, at https://www.loc.gov/classroom-materials/united-states-history- primary-source-timeline/great-depression-and-world-war-ii-1929-1945/world-war-ii/. 323 Mary Brown, San Francisco Modern Architecture and Landscape Design, 1935-1970 Historic Context Statement, (San Francisco Planning Department, October 2011), 23–26; California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), Tract Housing in California, 1945-1973: A Context for National Register Evaluation, (Caltrans, 2011), 9–18. 324 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 259.
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emergent Caltrain and San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) systems influenced the spread of commerce and industry beyond the downtown.
RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT
The post-World War II building boom expanded San Mateo’s suburban character beyond its earlier developed residential neighborhoods. The city’s population grew from just under 20,000 in 1940 to over 77,000 in 1980.325 The geographic boundary of the city also expanded with annexation of newly subdivided areas. Post-World War II housing was largely characterized by tract developments— houses constructed in large numbers and marketed to prospective buyers. Merchant builders like David Bohannon of the Bohannon Development Corporation subdivided land and constructed homes on a massive scale. Bohannon’s company developed over 10,000 houses throughout the Bay Area, including in San Mateo’s Hillsdale neighborhood. Marking for new suburban neighborhoods included newspaper advertisements describing related amenities, such as parks, churches, and access to modern shopping centers. While the newspaper adverts showcased alluring amenities, new housing in post-World War II neighborhoods often came with restrictions and exclusionary lending and sales practices targeted at non-White minorities.
Construction of Bohannon’s Hillsdale neighborhood began in 1939, suspended in 1941 with the onset of World War II, and continued in the late 1940s. Located on 800 acres in the southern extent of the city, Hillsdale was developed immediately west of El Camino Real and adjacent to Laurel Creek. The neighborhood included single-family houses, Hillsdale Garden Apartments, and sites for churches, schools, and parks. It also included Hillsdale Center, the Peninsula’s first mid-century shopping mall.
Like many post-World War II suburban developments, Hillsdale was among San Mateo neighborhoods that restricted residency to Whites. Deed restrictions for new houses contained exclusionary clauses such as “No persons other than members of the Caucasian or White race shall be permitted to occupy any portion of said property, other than as domestics in the employ of the occupants of the premises.”326 The architecture of the houses and apartment buildings in Hillsdale included one-story, Minimal Traditional and Post-War Minimal style single-family houses.
Occasionally the exteriors featured applied minimalist ornamentation. In 1946 House Beautiful’s Editor, Elizabeth Gordon launched the Pace Setter House Program, an annual series of exhibition houses that showcased modern architecture in post-war America. In 1950, one of Bohannon’s Hillsdale houses was included in the program, showcasing its design described as a “cautious” pace- setter (Figure 57). The Hillsdale Branch Library at 205 West Hillsdale Boulevard leans more into the Contemporary style, which typically featured post-and-beam construction elements.
The Hillsdale Garden Apartments was sold to prominent investor Albert G. McCarthy in 1953 after recognition as an innovative example of family-friendly garden apartments with playgrounds and a nine-hole putting course for adults.327
325 San Mateo, Decennial Census Data,” Bay Area Census, accessed October 9, 2025, at https://census.bayareametro.gov/historical- data/1980/san_mateo.
326 Sustainable San Mateo, “Historical Background,” Sustainable San Mateo, online, 2022, at https://sustainablesanmateo.org/about/. 327 “705-unit Hillsdale Apartments Sold,” San Francisco Call-Bulletin, October 3, 1953, https://www.newspapers.com/image/1232684436/?match=1&clipping_id=181201068.
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Figure 57 Pace Setter House #3, 1950
Source: House Beautiful 1950, Photo: Maynard L. Parker
In addition to Bohannon, developer L.C. Smith became synonymous with post-World War II-era housing in the region. He also emerged as one of the Peninsula’s most prolific contractors for sidewalk, street, and highway development.328 In 1955, Smith’s Concord Ranch Enterprises acquired land along 19th Avenue from the Leslie Salt Company and contracted with Moorepark Company to develop 19th Avenue Park. The Moorepark Company was owned by renowned tract house developer Joseph Eichler. In addition to 19th Avenue Park, Eichler constructed housing in The Highlands, located just outside San Mateo’s western municipal boundary. Overall, roughly two-thirds of the 11,000 houses Eichler built in California were located in San Mateo and Santa Clara counties.329 Additionally, Eichler’s housing was not racially restricted allowing 19th Avenue Park to develop as a relatively diverse neighborhood. Eichler’s houses featured Contemporary style post-and-beam architecture, and were built from several architect-designed models, often with a central atrium or courtyard and clerestory glazing above street facing exteriors or garage bays.
Between 1964 and 1965, Smith developed Lauriedale, a community of garden apartments and single- family houses built southeast downtown San Mateo. Lauriedale was annexed to the City in 1966.330 Smith hired San Francisco-based Modernist architects Campbell & Wong to design apartment buildings in the community.331 The apartment buildings exhibit Second and Third Bay Tradition-style
328 Mitchell P. Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 236. 329 Caltrans, Tract Housing in California, 1945-1973, 116. 330 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 236.
331 “Look to Lauriedale for a Completely New Living Idea,” The Times, October 29, 1964, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times- the-times-1964-lauriedale-ad/180827468/.
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architecture notable for their wood shingle cladding and multiple stories. The single-family residential areas of the development feature Ranch and Minimal Traditional-style architecture with one to two stories, hipped roofs, stucco exteriors, and brick or stone veneer accents.
Fiesta Gardens, located south of 19th Avenue and north of Borel Creek and the Bay Meadows racetrack, was developed by the Culligan Development Company during the 1950s. In addition to single-family residences and apartment buildings with swimming pools, Fiesta Gardens featured Fiesta Center (built 1955), a moderately sized Ranch-style shopping center at the northeast corner of Bermuda Drive and Ginnever Street.332 One advertisement for the subdivision noted builder- developer Thomas J. Culligan constructed 5,000 houses on the Peninsula by 1955.333 Initially developed during the interwar years between 1918 and 1939, additional single-family developments were constructed in Beresford Park during the 1940s and 1950s. San Mateo Knolls, developed by San Mateo Investment Company between the early 1940s and mid-1950s, included single-family houses constructed east of Alameda de Las Pulgas and in the vicinity of 42nd Avenue.
Buyers chose between three different Ranch-style house models within blocks of San Mateo Knolls Grammar School, P.J. Abbot School, Hillsdale High School, and St. Gregory’s Parochial School.334 Additionally, a shopping center at the intersection of 42nd Avenue and El Camino Real was integrated into the neighborhood’s development. Subsequent residential development occurred west of Alameda de Las Pulgas in the 1960s and 1970s.
While much new construction occurred west of the Bayshore Freeway between the 1940s and early 1960s, construction east of the freeway included additional tract housing in the Lakeshore and Los Prados neighborhoods during the 1960s. Los Prados opened around 1960, with waterfront living, parks, a playground, schools, and single-family and duplex residences.335 In 1965, the Los Prados Shopping Center at Hillsdale Boulevard and Bayshore Highway marked the completion of its first phase of construction. This shopping center has since been redeveloped from its mid-century form.336 Joseph Greenbach of the Newbridge and Belle Haven Realty Companies began development on Shoreview, just south of Coyote Point, in 1945. Development continued into the late 1940s and included construction of 1,200 residences in 1949 alone. By 1952, Shoreview housed 3,000 San Mateo families in houses typically representative of the Minimal Tradition, Post-war Minimal, and the generally modest aesthetic common to post-World War II tract housing developments.337 In 1966, Woodlake Apartments, a large complex of nearly 1,000 apartments with central courtyards and an outdoor recreation area with lake, opened immediately north of San Mateo High School’s campus (Figure 58). The prominent architecture firm, Wurster Bernardi & Emmons, was contracted by developer Gerson Bakar to design the apartment buildings.338 In 1979, Woodlake tenants were
332 Advertisement for Fiesta Gardens Swimming Pools and Recreation Center, The Times, October 8, 1955. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-the-times-1955-fiesta-garden/180888993/. 333 “Wouldn’t You Rather Live In…Fiesta Gardens…in Sunny San Mateo,” Redwood City Tribune, August 3, 1955, https://www.newspapers.com/article/redwood-city-tribune-redwood-city-tribun/180890440/. 334 “Southward the Course of Progress Makes Its Way,” The Times, August 16, 1940, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-the- times-1940-san-mateo-kno/180894262/; Advertisement for San Mateo Knolls, The Times, March 5, 1954, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-the-times-san-mateo-knolls/180894093/. 335 “See This Exciting Sneak Preview Showing Los Prados,” The Times, March 19, 1960, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-the- times-1960-los-prados-ad/180892789/.
336 “Center Opens at Los Prados,” The Times, December 4, 1965, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-the-times-1965-los- prados-sh/180892864/.
337 “Official Opening Expands Shoreview Shopping Center,” The Times, December 18, 1952, https://www.newspapers.com/image- view/38975670/?match=1&terms=Official%20Opening%20Expands%20Shoreview%20Shopping%20Center. 338 “Woodlake Captures ‘The Good Life’,” The Times, July 30, 1966, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-the-times-1966- woodlake-apts/180947811/.
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given the option to purchase their apartments, and 400 of the 990 tenants did so resulting in the conversion to condominium units. Two hundred units were reserved for seniors.339 Figure 58 1967 View of Woodlake Apartments
Source: Architecture/West, Vol 73, Number 9, September 1967
COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT
In the immediate years after World War II, new commercial developments included neighborhood and regional shopping centers, modern bank branches in the central business district, neighborhoods adjacent to commercial corridors, and several commercial office towers that supported growing professional sectors (Figure 59).
Figure 59 View of San Mateo’s Downtown Commercial District, 1952
Source: Nirenstein's National Realty Map Company, 1952 via David Rumsey Map Collection, Stanford University
339 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 236.
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Hillsdale Shopping Center, among the most prominent projects in post-World War II San Mateo, was developed by the Bohannon Development Corporation. Hillsdale Center was planned as a 42-acre shopping center on part of the acreage Bohannon acquired from the Burleigh H. Murray Ranch in 1939.340 By 1941, Bohannon’s development included housing in the Hillsdale and Park Western neighborhoods, as well as the Andrew Williams Stores grocery (rebranded Mayfair Market in 1951) at Hillsdale Boulevard and El Camino Real.341 Planning began in the early 1940s, but construction for Hillsdale Center commenced in the early 1950s. The shopping center was master planned by the noted architecture firm Welton Becket & Associates who concurrently planned San Francisco’s Stonestown shopping center.342 Consistent with the typical features of post-World War II regional shopping centers, Hillsdale Shopping Center included anchor department stores, smaller retail shops, adjacent office buildings, and ample parking with capacity for 10,000 vehicles.343 Hillsdale Shopping Center’s Macy’s store was designed by architect John Bolles, with 5 acres of floor space, making it Macy’s largest suburban store at the time.344 The center also featured a three-story Sears-Roebuck department store that opened in 1951. In 1954, the completed shopping center was formally dedicated, with over 50 stores.345 Between the mid-1950s and 1970s, an Emporium department store, cinema, and additional shops were added, and Macy’s and Sears expanded.346 Originally, the Hillsdale Shopping Center was designed as an outdoor shopping center with wide integrated pedestrian pathways and storefronts set beneath broad canopies. It was expanded and redesigned as an enclosed shopping mall at the end of the post-World War II period, a nationwide trend (Figure 60).
Figure 60 Hillsdale Shopping Center c. 1950s
Source: San Mateo Public Library, San Mateo Local History Collection
340 “Hillsdale Center,” Mall of Fame, accessed September 15, 2025, at https://mall-hall-of-fame.blogspot.com/2009/09/hillsdale-center- south-el-camino-real.html.
341 “History of Hillsdale,” Hillsdale Reimagined, accessed September 20, 2025, at https://hillsdalereimagined.com/history-of-hillsdale/. 342 Mary Brown, Modern Architecture and Landscape Design, 1935-1970 Historic Context Statement, (San Francisco Planning Department, October 2011).
343 “Western Shopping Center,” House & Home (June 1952), https://www.usmodernist.org/HH/HH-1952-06.pdf. 344 “Western Shopping Center,” House & Home (June 1952), https://www.usmodernist.org/HH/HH-1952-06.pdf. 345 “Hillsdale Center,” Mall of Fame, accessed September 15, 2025, at https://mall-hall-of-fame.blogspot.com/2009/09/hillsdale-center- south-el-camino-real.html.
346 “Hillsdale Center,” Mall of Fame, accessed September 15, 2025, at https://mall-hall-of-fame.blogspot.com/2009/09/hillsdale-center- south-el-camino-real.html.
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Hillsdale Shopping Center served as a regional market while smaller shopping centers and strip malls embedded in neighborhoods or anchored alongside commercial corridors served a more localized customer base. In 1949, West 25th Avenue, west of El Camino Real to Hacienda Street was widened for an improved neighborhood commercial district to serve the Hacienda, Beresford, and Hillsdale neighborhood. By that time, it included Manor Theater and Tudor Revival-style shops and a parking tract at the corner of Mary Lou Lane and Flores Street.347 Subsequent development introduced mid- twentieth century commercial buildings alongside those from the pre-World War II period, and eventual development of the parking tract for residential use(Figure 61).348 During the same period, a residential shopping center was developed on 42nd and Olympic avenues adjacent to the growing San Mateo Knolls neighborhood. This commercial zone featured two strips of preexisting Tudor Revival-style shops similar to the pre-World War II commercial fabric along West 25th Avenue and newer central parking lot and clusters of surrounding shops (Figure 62).349 The Villa Hotel (now The Villa at San Mateo Apartments), a large property with integrated retail and restaurant uses, was built on an L-shaped site spanning from 4000 South El Camino Real to 41st Avenue in 1955-1956. Designed by Robert M. Sherman, the hotel, which incorporated a Googie architectural design, was built next door to the Villa Cartier restaurant (non-extant), which opened in 1925 and the Lanai Tiki Bar (non-extant), established in 1950. Together, the businesses operated as the Villa Square. In 1965, a restaurant was added. Designed by Armet & Davis, it first housed the Villa Coffee Shop (extant, Maverick Jacks; Figure 63 and Figure 64).350 Figure 61 Shopping District along West 25th Avenue with a mix of pre- and post-World War II Commercial Architecture
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
347 “South S.M. Meeting Maps Improvement,” The Times, May 17, 1949, https://www.newspapers.com/image/38905645/?match=1&clipping_id=182596869. 348 Sanborn Map Company, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from San Mateo, San Mateo County, California, 1950. 349 “New Multi-Million Dollar Villa Hotel Opens Today,” The Times, August 13, 1956, 1-2A, https://www.newspapers.com/image- view/38885328/?match=1&terms=New%20Multi-Million%20Dollar%20Villa%20Hotel%20Opens%20Today%2C%E2%80%9D%20. 350 “New Multi-Million Dollar Villa Hotel Opens Today,” The Times, August 13, 1956, 1-2A, https://www.newspapers.com/image- view/38885328/?match=1&terms=New%20Multi-Million%20Dollar%20Villa%20Hotel%20Opens%20Today%2C%E2%80%9D%20.
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Figure 62 Shopping Center at 42nd and Olympic Avenues
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
Figure 63 Commercial-Retail within the Villa Apartments at 4000 South El Camino Real
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
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Figure 64 Villa Hotel, 1957
Source: The Hotel Monthly, November 1957
Development during this period also included recreational facilities, like the construction of Bel Mateo Bowl in 1956 (extant). The bowling center, located at 4330 Olympic Avenue, was designed by the architectural firm of Powers, Daly and DeRosa, based in Long Beach. The bowling center originally featured a fountain with a distinctive totem, signaling the center’s Pacific Northwest Native American motif. Their design for Bel Mateo Bowl was featured in a 1958 issue of Life magazine, after which their firm was in demand to design more bowling centers throughout the country. Between 1955 and 1962, the firm went on to design 47 bowling centers across the United States, all with distinctive motifs characteristic of mid-century design trends.351
351 Peter Moruzzi, “Covina Bowl,” National Register Draft Nomination Form, Los Angeles Conservancy, April 2016, https://www.laconservancy.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ca_los-angeles-county_covina-bowl.pdf.
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Figure 65 Bel Mateo Bowl, 1958
Source: Life Magazine, March 17, 1958
Beyond shopping centers and strip malls, San Mateo’s mid-century commercial development included several Modern corporate-office buildings, bank branches, and storefront remodeling featuring the brick, concrete, and metallic materials prevalent in many American downtowns during the period. The bank branches were primarily constructed in a three-square-block downtown area north of Central Park and along or east of El Camino Real. The brick-clad bank building at 100 East 4th Avenue (extant), originally a branch of American Trust Co. and was later incorporated into Wells Fargo Bank, was among the earliest post-World War II banks constructed in the downtown (Figure 66).352
352Sanborn Map Company, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from San Mateo, San Mateo County, California, 1950.
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Figure 66 Wells Fargo Bank (Originally American Trust Co.) at 100 East 4th Avenue, 1981
Source: San Mateo Public Library, San Mateo Local History Collection In 1950, Hibernia Bank, then among the West Coast’s oldest financial institutions, opened its first branch outside of San Francisco at present-day 195 East 4th Avenue (extant, altered). The building was designed to harmonize with the “suburban atmosphere prevailing in all new buildings along Fourth Avenue,” as reported in a local newspaper.353
Bank of America continued expanding in San Mateo after World War II. Beyond its original San Mateo location at 277 B Street, branches opened in Hillsdale at 2900 South El Camino Real (1947), Bayshore/19th Avenue at 1860 South Norfolk Street (1956), and the A.P. Giannini Memorial Branch at 300 South El Camino Real (1963) (Figure 67). This branch was designed in the New Formalist style by the architectural firms of Miller & Steiner and Wurster and Bernardi & Emmons. The façade, recessed within an arcaded plaza, features murals by artist Louis Macouillard and mosaics by Alphonso Pardinas of Byzantine Mosaics. Both depict A.P. Giannini’s career and the history of Bank of America.354
353 “Hibernia Bank to Open Doors,” The Times, January 2, 1950, 8, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-the-times-1950- hibernia-bank/181192341/.
354 “The A.P. Giannini Branch of Bank of America Opens in San Mateo on Monday, March 11,” The Times, March 4, 1963, 6. https://www.newspapers.com/image/51899971/?match=1&clipping_id=181200629.
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Figure 67 Bank of America’s A.P. Giannini Memorial Branch at 300 South El Camino Real
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
Another example of New Formalist design is the former American Savings & Loan branch building at 195 East 4th Avenue (extant). Built in 1973 it features tapered concrete columns and double-height bays filled with curtain walls or marble panels.355 Both the Bank of America Branch and the former American Savings & Loan buildings express modernist approaches to interpreting the classical forms and detailing of earlier bank buildings. Additional examples of bank branches constructed during the post-World War II period include 444 South El Camino Real (extant) and 491 South El Camino Real (extant).
Retail buildings from the post-World War II period also claimed a place in San Mateo’s downtown.
The building at 88 East 4th Avenue (extant) was completed in 1949 for prominent San Francisco Bay Area women’s clothing retailer Joseph I. Magnin (Figure 68).356 The Streamline Moderne-style building succeeded an earlier Joseph I. Magnin store at 43 3rd Avenue and was reported as the largest suburban store for women’s clothing in the nation at the time of its opening. The building was originally designed to house various departments in separate “shops” across a single floor, with a dramatic corner window, green marble-clad exterior, recessed planting boxes at each window, and brown- and magenta-striped awnings.357
355 San Mateo County Assessor data.
356 “New J. Magnin Store Best of Entire Chain,” The Times, February 27, 1950, 9. https://www.newspapers.com/image/38963917/?match=1&clipping_id=181182349 . 357 “New J. Magnin Store Best of Entire Chain,” The Times, February 27, 1950, 9. https://www.newspapers.com/image/38963917/?match=1&clipping_id=181182349.
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Figure 68 Former Joseph I. Magnin Store at 88 East 4th Avenue
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
In 1952, a four-unit retail building was built at the northeast corner of East 4th Avenue and Ellsworth Avenue for the Algodon Company, a corporation of the Judge Aylett R. Cotton family. The company later redeveloped a portion of the Antoine Borel estate as Borel Place, an office park development.
The Algodon building was designed by architects E. Jay Miller and Robert D. Steiner, who also designed Borel Place buildings, and was constructed by Oscar Cavanagh & Son. The building was located opposite the Levy Bros. department store (built 1952) and later redeveloped as Draeger’s market (extant).358
Construction of the Algodon Company’s building at East 4th Avenue and Ellsworth Avenue occurred after the demolition of the George Bartlett residence. George Barlett was a pioneer and former San Mateo fire chief. The redevelopment foreshadowed future commercial redevelopment in this area of San Mateo. Portions of the Algodon building’s storefronts, canopy, and brick accent cladding along Ellsworth Avenue remain intact. The city’s mid-century bank branches and office buildings stood alongside department stores that were built during the first half of the twentieth century prior to the development of shopping centers. These buildings included the City of Paris at 130 2nd Avenue (extant), Levy Bros. at 55 3rd Avenue (extant), Loewe & Zwierlein at 317 B Street (extant), and J.C.
Penney & Co. at 200 East 3rd Avenue, and represent surviving pre-World War II downtown commerce.359
While most of San Mateo’s post-World War II bank buildings were one to two-stories, commercial architecture of the period also included several taller towers expressing varying traits of Modern design. These buildings typically served corporate occupancy and gained popularity during this period as San Mateo became the executive headquarters for national and regional companies, like Franklin Templeton Investments.360 Prominent office complexes were developed on the former Borel and
358 “From a Start on the Coastside in 1872 Levy Bros. Move into New $2,000,000 Store at 4th and Ellsworth, San Mateo,” Half Moon Bay and Pescadero Pebble, February 28, 1952, at https://www.newspapers.com/article/half-moon-bay-review-and-pescadero- pebbl/181192750/.
359 Burlingame, Hillsborough, San Mateo City Directory 1947-48, (Coast Directory Co. 1947), 407, at https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2469/images/32701_1020601537_0731- 00401?usePUB=true&_phsrc=Fcl713&pId=1408135359.
360 Polk’s San Mateo City Directory, 171, R.L. Polk & Co. Publishers, 1971.
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Hayne estates; the former located on lands south of the downtown and the latter opposite Central Park.
The Hayne Estate at 5th Avenue and El Camino Real (opposite Central Park) was initially proposed for redevelopment as a luxury resort hotel.361 However, plans from 1953 were abandoned and the property was redeveloped in the early 1960s with an I. Magnin store and office high rise buildings.362 The buildings at 500 and 520 South El Camino Real and 85 West 5th Avenue (extant) represent the redevelopment of the former estate.
Borel Place Office Center, located northwest of the El Camino Real and Highway 92 interchange was constructed between 1962 and 1967. Developers Aylett B. Cotton and Eric B. Bovet, grandsons of financier and Borel estate namesake, Antoine Borel, planned construction around the estate’s trees to preserve portions of the wooded setting. The first three buildings in the complex were designed by local architects E. Jay Miller and Robert D. Steiner.363 The first building in the complex was completed around 1962 after construction of the 19th Avenue Freeway required partitioning of the Borel estate.
The first two buildings were nearly fully occupied by 1966 when construction of a third building commenced, concurrent with planning for an eventual seven buildings. The architecture of the complex ranged from two-stories to taller mid-rise construction, with materials including redwood and pebble-dash intended to blend with the woodsy setting (Figure 69). Later buildings in this office park feature concrete or glass-clad exteriors, spanning the spectrum of regional Bay Area modernism to more overtly contemporary design, often referred to as Late Modern.364 Figure 69 Borel Place
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
361 “Landmark to Make Way for Luxury Hotel,” The Times, May 2, 1953. 362 “Hayne Plan Passed; Work Begins Soon, The Times, December 19, 1961. 363 “Open Borel Offices,” The Times, August 31, 1962, https://www.newspapers.com/image/52050931/?match=1&clipping_id=181199227; “Construction on Borel Unit Starts,” The Times, September 28, 1966, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-the-times-1965- borel-place-5/181200248/; “New Building Due for Borel Place,” The Times, January 22, 1964, https://www.newspapers.com/image/51694924/?match=1&clipping_id=181200405. 364 “Borel Place Preserves the Century-Old Trees,” The Times, July 30, 1966, https://www.newspapers.com/image/52512482/?match=1&clipping_id=181198995.
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An additional example of office construction includes 2555 Flores Avenue. It was completed in 1962 and designed by architect Vincent G. Rainey, who was known in the San Francisco Bay Area as a theater designer.365 Rainey’s design features a first-story lobby level with pointed arch windows and elevations featuring octagonal punched window openings and octagonal spandrel detailing running between each story (Figure 70).366
Figure 70 Commercial-Office Building at 2555 Flores Avenue
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
A greater concentration of mid- and high-rise office buildings were built downtown on sites adjacent to El Camino Real between the mid-1960s and mid-1970s. Examples include Mills Square Tower at 100 South Ellsworth Street, the former Crocker Bank building at 181 2nd Avenue (Figure 71), Heritage Bank of Commerce at 400 South El Camino Real, 444 South El Camino Real, 491 South El Camino Real, 520 South El Camino Real, and 4 West 4th Avenue (all extant). Within this group, styles include New Formalism and International with evident influence from architect Ludwig Mies van der Rohe, through elements like grid-like, exposed steel-fame exteriors and rectangular forms.
365 “$600,000 S.M. Building Set,” The Times, May 15, 1962, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-the-times-1962-hillsdale- pro/180356218/.
366 “$600,000 S.M. Building Set,” The Times, May 15, 1962, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-the-times-1962-hillsdale- pro/180356218/.
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Figure 71 Former Crocker Bank Building, 1982
Source: San Mateo Public Library, San Mateo Local History Collection By 1971, five hotels and 10 motels provided over 1,400 rooms. Several of the motels were located along the former Bayshore Highway, east of U.S. 101, and were heavily used for conventions and conferences held in the area.367 In the 1970s, commerce in San Mateo grew, with a population of roughly 80,000 at the start of the decade, despite facing challenges from the nationwide inflation and energy crises. The Chamber of Commerce noted revenues tied to convention- and business-related visitation increased compared to 1950 numbers. This reflected a pattern of growth in commercial- office space in the city during post-World War II decades, during which time many companies established headquarters in San Mateo.368 Likewise, Silicon Valley emerged during this period and influenced the vast technology-related commerce throughout the region.369 In 1973, Franklin Resources, Inc., a financial consultancy, relocated to San Mateo from its previous headquarters in New York City. The firm’s offices were within the mid-rise office building at Borel
367 Polk’s San Mateo City Directory, 171, R.L. Polk & Co. Publishers, 1971. 368 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 265.
369 “Silicon Valley: Building on a Cultural of Looking Forward,” Computer History Museum, 2025, https://computerhistory.org/stories/silicon-valley/.
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Place, now named Bovet Office Centre at 155 Bovet Road.370 Franklin Resources, Inc. has since become park of Franklin Templeton, which is based at a corporate office campus at 1 Franklin Parkway, developed on a portion of the Bay Meadows racetrack.
The Bay Meadows racetrack, as the only operating West Coast racetrack during World War II and into post-war decades, remained one of San Mateo’s largest employers between the late 1940s and late 1970s.371
CIVIC AND INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
During the post-war period, San Mateo upgraded civic facilities to accommodate its growing population. Additionally, institutional uses, including medical and educational facilities, schools, libraries, fraternal organizations, and churches all significantly expanded during this period.
In 1942, an 11-building training facility, the Merchant Marine Cadet Basic Training School at Coyote Point was rapidly constructed.372 Several thousand cadets graduated from the school and served in the Merchant Marines who operated ship fleets and delivered troops and materials during World War II. At the height of the war, in 1944, the United Service Organization (USO) established the Tri- Cities USO at 3rd Avenue and El Camino Real, providing a recreational outlet for service people and their families (non-extant). The facility on El Camino Real remained active until 1946 when it was sold to the College of San Mateo, which operated from three campuses in the area.373 Over the next decade and a half, the College of San Mateo used the former military buildings and adapted a surplus building for use by the San Mateo County Junior Museum. The college also developed Coyote Point Yacht Harbor and Coyote Point Marina later selling the property to San Mateo County in 1962. The college opened its existing, centralized campus west of downtown San Mateo in 1963.374 Coyote Point became part of the County’s regional park system in 1963, while Coyote Point Marina and the park lands were further developed by the late 1960s. Planning for a new Junior Museum began around 1973, coinciding with its renaming as Coyote Point Museum and ongoing park improvements.375
City Hall offices, located in a building connected to the San Mateo Fire Department’s headquarters at 1st Avenue and South Ellsworth Street (non-extant), were relocated in 1962 to the former headquarters of Mobil Oil at present-day 330 West 20th Avenue. The facility on West 20th Avenue brought City Hall outside the downtown and away from a cluster of civic and institutional buildings located along a two-block stretch of South Ellsworth Street including the fire department headquarters, Post Office, and an American Legion Hall.376 The City Hall building at 330 West 20th Street was remodeled and expanded in 1984.377
370 “New Firm Moving to San Mateo Soon,” The Times, May 7, 1973, 25, https://www.newspapers.com/image/52040557/. 371 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 277.
372 James O. Clifford, Sr., “San Mateo County: A Training Ground in World War II,” La Peninsula, Vol. xliv, No. 2, 14-15; “Coyote Point Regional Park Dream Coming True,” The Times, August 7, 1973, 26, https://www.newspapers.com/image/52113917/?match=1&clipping_id=180287725. 373 San Mateo County Historical Association, Photo Record, “Bill Kyne Has Coffee with Soldiers at the Three Cities USO Canteen in San Mateo,” Notes, online, accessed September 2025, https://historysmc.pastperfectonline.com/photo/75623C2A-B48C-4A37-B87A- 069500411816.
374 Stanger, South of San Francisco, 206.
375 “A Name Change for the Museum,” The Times, July 5, 1973. https://www.newspapers.com/image/52067031/; “Coyote Point Regional Park Dream Coming True,” The Times, August 7, 1973, https://www.newspapers.com/image/52113917/?match=1&clipping_id=180288095. 376 Sanborn Map Company, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from San Mateo, San Mateo County, California, 1950. 377 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 277.
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During this period, San Mateo’s citizens organized around several issues, including the fight to keep Sugarloaf Mountain as open space. In 1971, residents organized a grassroots campaign to save Sugarloaf Mountain from development by Cargus Corporation. After a protracted fight, a scaled-back condominiums and office space development with reserved open space was approved. In 1978, the City expanded its parks with the opening of Laurelwood Park.378 Medical
Institutions including Mills Hospital expanded during the mid-twentieth century, and many modern medical buildings were constructed in San Mateo, particularly along North San Mateo Drive. Mills Hospital’s West Wing was completed in 1950, as a continuation of periodic expansion from the first half of the twentieth century.379 The Baywood Medical Building at 1 Baywood Avenue was constructed in 1957. It features several elements of Modern architectural design including horizontal massing, uniform rectangular fenestration, and a screened bezel around its windows (Figure 72).380 By 1950, North San Mateo Drive contained multiple dental and medical offices along the 0, 100, 200, 300, 400 blocks close to San Mateo Hospital.381 By 1965, these blocks contained even more offices with medical-office uses, indicating that San Mateo continued to hold a central position in regional medical services.382 Buildings evidencing this pattern of post-World War II development include 101 North San Mateo Drive and 256 North San Mateo Drive (Figure 73).
Figure 72 Baywood Medical Building at 1 Baywood Avenue
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
378 Dana Yates, “Residents Keen of Keeping Open Space,” The Daily Journal, January 12, 2004, https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/residents-keen-on-keeping-open-space/article_6ea5c0bf-d470-55ff-b90f-a43a99eb4cb5.html. 379 Darold Fredericks, “Beginnings of Mills Hospital in San Mateo,” The Daily Journal, March 10, 2014, https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/beginnings-of-mills-hospital-in-san-mateo/article_20f8d723-d7e2-509a-8b3d- 6902104cdf67.html.
380 “Building Permits,” San Mateo Times, September 5, 1957, https://www.newspapers.com/image- view/51882800/?match=1&terms=%22baywood%20medical%20building%22. 381 Polk’s San Mateo City Directory, 1955, R.L. Polk & Co. Publishers, 1955. 382 Polk’s San Mateo City Directory, 1965, R.L. Polk & Co. Publishers, 1965.
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Figure 73 101 North San Mateo Drive
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
Schools
By 1948, San Mateo maintained four private or parochial schools and 13 public schools, ranging from elementary/grammar to high school level.383 By 1955, the three private or parochial schools were within the city, and the number of public schools grew to 22.384 The growth pattern aligned with overall population growth and the development of additional residential neighborhoods. By the 1960s, the post-war growth, lead to the creation of the San Mateo-Foster City School District.385 Racial segregation impacted San Mateo’s schools just as it impacted its residential neighborhoods. As noted by the San Mateo County Historical Association:
Resistance to racial intolerance took place in San Mateo County during the 1960s, perhaps most notably at its new College of San Mateo campus. […] Beginning in 1959, Professor Rudolph Lapp offered classes in Black History. The College of San Mateo was the first institution of higher learning outside of the South to have such a course.386 In 1963, the California legislature passed the Rumford Fair Housing Act, which outlawed race-based housing discrimination and restrictive covenants. The real-estate industry responded by funding the Proposition 14 campaign to overturn the Rumford Act, arguing that owners should be able to sell, or refuse to sell, their houses to whomever they chose. Although Proposition 14 passed in 1964, in 1966 the California Supreme Court ruled that Proposition 14 violated the U.S. Constitution. This ruling was confirmed by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1967, one year prior to the passing of the federal Fair Housing Act of 1968.387
Efforts to bus students to different schools throughout nearby schools materialized in the mid-1960s.
By that time, the racial makeup of elementary schools reflected the segregation in neighborhoods.
Some schools were mostly Black or Asian, while other were mostly White. In 1966, a community
383 Burlingame, Hillsborough, San Mateo City Directory 1947-1948, Coast Directory Co., 421. 384 Polk’s San Mateo City Directory, 1955, R.L. Polk & Co. Publishers, 1955, 1217. 385 Silicon Valley Community Foundation, “How Did We End Up With 54 School Districts in San Mateo and Santa Clara Counties?” (Silicon Valley Community Foundation, May 2012), 7.
386 “Resistance at the College of San Mateo,” in Online Exhibits: San Mateo County’s African American History, accessed online September 8, 2025, at https://historysmc.org/exhibits/san-mateo-countys-african-american-history/. 387 Simister, The African American Great Migration and San Mateo County” 12; U.S. Federal Census 1930, at https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224/records/92975710.
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conference to address the subject included approximately 700 people, and in December 1966 an “Administrative Transfer Plan” was adopted.388 As a result of implementation of the plan, 45 students from Lawrence and Turnbull Schools were selected as the first to be bused to 10 other schools as part of the desegregation process. Based on the success of this busing program, the San Mateo Elementary Teachers Associated passed a resolution to support the plan and called for desegregation in all city schools.389
Library
A modern San Mateo Public Library was constructed at 3rd Avenue and Dartmouth Road in 1969 and replaced the previous library at 2nd Avenue and San Mateo Drive, which was later demolished for the Mills-Peninsula Health Center’s parking lot. The 1969 library building was demolished in 2003 and replaced by another updated library building in the same location.390 Fraternal
The Benevolent Protective Order of Elks (Elks) Lodge No. 1112 was established in San Mateo in 1908 with 30 members. Originally based out of a building on B Street, the lodge’s membership grew to 3,300 by 1958. The existing Elks Lodge at 229 West 20th Avenue was constructed in 1954 and designed by architects E. Jay Miller and R.D. Steiner.391 Churches
During the post-World War II period, many of San Mateo’s oldest religious institutions continued serving their constituents, while the count of religious properties grew apace with the spread of new neighborhoods and the diversifying demography of the city. While many congregations remained rooted at preexisting locations, several undertook projects for new buildings or modernized existing sacred spaces after World War II, sometimes continuing projects previously halted due to Depression-era economics and/or wartime construction limitations. These religious properties appeared throughout the city, adjacent to commercial districts, in master-planned neighborhoods where developers reserved sites for educational or religious properties, or in some cases on somewhat isolated sites. City directories listed 11 religious properties in San Mateo in 1948, 27 by 1955, and 38 by 1971.392
Long-time congregation St. Matthew Catholic Church constructed a modern sanctuary and hall at 1 Notre Dame Avenue between 1948 and 1953 and opened the existing church and rectory in 1966 (extant).393 During this time, St. Timothy Church at 1515 Dolan Avenue in San Mateo’s Shoreview
388 Simister, The African American Great Migration and San Mateo County” 12; U.S. Federal Census 1930, at https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224/records/92975710. 389 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 259.
390 Gregory N. Zompolis, Images of America: San Mateo, (Arcadia Publishing, 2004), 113. 391 “Elks Have Millon Dollar Investment,” The Times, October 8, 1958, https://www.newspapers.com/image/52011902/?match=1&clipping_id=182593274; “San Mateo Elks Club Dedication Edition,” The Times, March 19, 1954, https://www.newspapers.com/image/51858385/. 392 Burlingame, Hillsborough, San Mateo City Directory 1947-48, (Coast Directory Co. 1947), 404. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2469/images/32701_1020601537_0731- 00401?usePUB=true&_phsrc=Fcl713&pId=1408135359; Polk’s San Mateo City Directory, 1955, R.L. Polk & Co. Publishers, 1955, 1171. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2469/images/32701_1020601537_0729- 00006?usePUB=true&_phsrc=Fcl761&pId=1402607985; Polk’s San Mateo City Directory, 1971, (R.L. Polk & Co. Publishers, 1971), vii. https://www.ancestry.com/imageviewer/collections/2469/images/32701_1020601537_0725- 00012?usePUB=true&_phsrc=Fcl762&pId=1393539795.
393 “Later Parish History: Twentieth Century,” St. Matthew Catholic Church, accessed October 2025, at https://www.stmatthew- parish.org/page.cfm?p=852.
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neighborhood was opened as a mission church of St. Matthew Parish. The Gothic Revival-style church was built in 1954 (extant).394
The San Mateo Buddhist Temple at 2 South Claremont Street was constructed in 1952 as the first permanent facility serving Japanese Buddhists from San Mateo, neighboring Belmont, and San Carlos (Figure 74). The temple’s completion followed a World War II-related development pause at the property. The Temple facility was expanded in 1980 to provide an education wing and a new parking lot (extant).395
Figure 74 Japanese Buddhist Temple at 2 South Claremont Street
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
The Sturge Presbyterian Church at 25 South Humboldt Street was constructed in the 1950s, for a primarily Japanese congregation that celebrated the construction of Sturge Memorial Chapel on the same property just before World War II. The existing mid-twentieth century church building appears to have replaced the previous chapel entirely (Figure 75).396 The neighboring Community Baptist Church at 15 South Humboldt Street was established in 1948 and initially focused on serving San Mateo’s Chinese community (Figure 76). The church incorporated as the San Mateo Chinese Baptist Community Church in 1958. It became Community Baptist Church in 1962 (extant). Cantonese- and Mandarin-speaking services were added in 1990 and 2002.397
394 Huneke Stained Glass, “Saint Timothy Catholic Church 1515 Dolan Avenue San Mateo,” 2018–2025, at https://www.hunekestainedglass.com/st-timothy.
395 “History of the San Mateo Buddhist Temple,” San Mateo Buddhist Temple, n.d., accessed October 2025, at https://sanmateobuddhisttemple.org/about-us/history/.
396 “Our History,” Community Baptist Church of San Mateo, online, n.d., accessed October 2025, at https://www.cbcsm.org/learn/history/. 397 “Our History,” Community Baptist Church of San Mateo, online, n.d., accessed October 2025, at https://www.cbcsm.org/learn/history/.
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Figure 75 Sturge Presbyterian Church
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
Figure 76 Community Baptist Church
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
The original Temple Beth El in San Mateo was developed between 1951 and 1952 to serve a growing community of Reform Jews, becoming the city’s first Synagogue.398 The 5-acre site at 1700 Alameda
398 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 250.
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de las Pulgas was expanded with a sanctuary, fellowship hall, administrative, educational and library spaces, between 1955 and 1956 (extant).399
The First Presbyterian Church of San Mateo erected a modern sanctuary in 1958, with elements of Gothic Revival styling, on Hacienda Street where the street meets the West 25th Avenue commercial district (extant) (Figure 77).400 The First Baptist Church at 2801 Alameda de las Pulgas and Grace Lutheran Church 2825 Alameda de las Pulgas were constructed on adjacent parcels near Beresford Park in 1960 and 1967, respectively (extant).401 Hope Evangelical Lutheran Church, featuring an Expressionistic design similar to an ark, was built in the San Mateo Knolls neighborhood in 1965 (extant) (Figure 78).402 These churches offer additional examples of the variety of contemporary ecclesiastical architecture developed in San Mateo during the post-World War II decades.
Figure 77 Former First Presbyterian Church (Waypoint Church)
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
399 “Beth El Group Pledges Funds,” The Times, February 13, 1956, https://www.newspapers.com/image- view/38870241/?match=1&terms=Beth%20El%20Group%20Pledges%20Funds%2C%E2%80%9D%20. 400 “The Beautiful New First Presbyterian Church of San Mateo,” The Times, January 17, 1958, https://www.newspapers.com/image/51862780/?match=1&clipping_id=182598153. 401 “New Units to Be Added to S.M. Church,” The Times, April 30, 1960, at https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-the-times-1960- san-mateo-fir/182210117/; “News of Our Churches: Dedication of Grace Lutheran Church Ready,” The Times, November 11, 1967, https://www.newspapers.com/image/52352087/?match=1&clipping_id=182596269. 402 “First Services Tomorrow at Hope Evangelical,” The Times, September 5, 1964, https://www.newspapers.com/image/51747173/?match=1&clipping_id=182601425.
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Figure 78 Hope Evangelical Lutheran Church
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE
Post-World War II population growth and the increased prevalence of automobiles in daily life influenced the development of transportation infrastructure during this period. Much of this infrastructure supported travel at a regional scale: road, freeway, or rail. Additionally, downtown development included major projects designed to accommodate vehicular traffic and parking demands.
The Bayshore Highway connected communities along the Peninsula’s eastern shore for nearly three decades and was reconstructed in the 1950s and designated as part of U.S. Highway 101 because the California Department of Highways and Public Works considered the four-lane highway, without a central median, accident prone. Improvements including a median and separation from surface streets began on the segment in San Francisco in 1950, and construction continued toward San José until 1962. The original Bayshore Highway now parallels the Bayshore Freeway/U.S. 101 and is known as Bayshore Boulevard.403
Concurrently, streetcar service between San Francisco and San Mateo was gradually reduced, as ridership fell rapidly after the World War II. After incorporation into San Francisco’s Municipal Railway in 1944, the No. 40 interurban route’s service was reduced to shuttle service between San Mateo and Daly City, limited service to San Francisco, and “high school trippers” that served San Mateo and Burlingame High School students. The San Francisco Board of Supervisors terminated the route in 1948, and San Mateo County rejected and option to continue the route under its own management, resulting in termination and a final ceremonial trip from San Mateo’s Southern Pacific Depot in 1949.404
403 Eva Knowles, “Highway 101,” FoundSF the San Francisco Digital History Archive, accessed September 10, 2025, https://www.foundsf.org/Highway_101#:~:text=The%20portion%20of%20the%20freeway,runs%20parallel%20to%20U.S.%20101. 404 Ward Hill, Historic Architecture Evaluation Report: 30 Ingold Road, Burlingame, CA. March 2020, https://cms6.revize.com/revize/burlingamecity/Appendix%20H_HAER.pdf; Walter Rice, Ph.D. and Emiliano Echeverria, San Francisco’s 40- line,” The Museum of the City of San Franciso, n.d., accessed September 2025, at https://sfmuseum.org/hist10/interurban.html.
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As the Bayshore Freeway was redeveloped regional planning for greater connection between San Francisco, Oakland, the Peninsula, North Bay, and East Bay sub regions also began. Several concepts for increased trans-bay connectivity began in the early twentieth century and included monumental projects like the construction of the San Francsico-Oakland Bay Bridge in 1937. Acknowledgement of rapid population growth and increased automobile use by the mid-twentieth century led a joint Army-Navy review board to conclude that additional trans-bay connection was needed to prevent San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge congestion in the near future.405 The State Legislature formed the BART Commission and then the San Francisco BART District in 1957. However, San Mateo County withdrew from the plan in 1961, citing potentially high costs of the new system and what was deemed as an adequate existing Southern Pacific commuter train service. Marin County withdrew one year later. In subsequent decades, BART connected San Francisco to nearby stations in northern San Mateo County, and eventually San Francisco International Airport.
While planning for BART was underway in the 1960s, the 1929 San Mateo-Hayward Bridge was replaced with a new bridge constructed between 1961 and 1967. Its steel girders were built across the Bay in Richmond, California by Murphy Pacific Bridge Builders. The bridge received an award from the American Society of Civil Engineers for Outstanding Civic Engineering Achievement in 1968.406 In 1971, Amtrak took over operation of the nation’s intercity passenger trains and rerouted its Coast Daylight line from a terminal in San Francisco to one in Oakland; Southern Pacific’s Del Monte line was also discontinued. This resulted in limited commuter train passenger service between San Francisco and San José.407 In 1977, one year after San Mateo’s historic Southern Pacific Depot was demolished for a parking structure, Southern Pacific petitioned the State Public Utilities Commission and the Interstate Commerce Commission to discontinue its Peninsula Commute Service.408 Months of negotiation with San Francisco, San Mateo, and Santa Clara counties and the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) led to an agreement under which Southern Pacific provided commuter service, and public agencies covered most of the operating costs.409 State Route 92, completed in 1964, connected San Mateo to Half Moon Bay and Highway 380, further improving the city’s connection to neighboring communities. The project, however, was not without controversy. Conservation groups interested in preserving coastlines were opposed to connecting the coast to the Peninsula’s communities.410 While moving residents, workers, and tourists were factors in shaping expanding regional transportation networks, additional parking capacity in the downtown remained a major concern. As regional shopping centers drew increasing traffic and offered the convenience of abundant parking, downtown commercial districts sought solutions to retain patronage to local businesses. In 1955, the City’s Central Parking District was created following nearly two decades of studies and debate over approaches to parking.411 Bounded by Railroad Avenue, El Camino Real, 2nd Avenue, and B Street, the envisioned district included a larger parking lot or structure at its center, which required razing buildings including a former Elks Lodge, several retail shops, and at least one dwelling. By 1962, a
405 “A History of BART: The Concept is Born,” San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District, 2025, at https://www.bart.gov/about/history. 406 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 254.
407 “Early Milestones,” Caltrain, accessed September 10, 2025, https://www.caltrain.com/earlymilestones. 408 “Early Milestones,” Caltrain, accessed September 11, 2025, https://www.caltrain.com/earlymilestones. 409 “Early Milestones,” Caltrain, accessed September 11, 2025, https://www.caltrain.com/earlymilestones. 410 Hynding, From Frontier to Suburb, 321.
411 “City Council Creates District for Parking,” The Times, June 16, 1954, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-the-times-1954- sm-city-counc/181843684/.
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stretch of mid-block surface-level parking existed, indicating some clearance was completed.412 By 1964, plans for the parking district evolved to include a 60-space lot at 2nd Avenue and El Camino Real, a large garage structure at center, and a separate underground parking garage. In November 1964, the first section of the Central Parking Garage, a thru-block structure extending through three city blocks between 3rd and 4th avenues, opened to the public. An underground parking structure was built in tandem with and below new tennis courts at Central Park.413 Development of the Central Parking Garage continued into 1965, as the structure was extended southwestward beyond San Mateo Drive and its upper level of parking was finished (Figure 79).414 Figure 79 Downtown San Mateo 1979
Source: San Mateo Public Library, Local San Mateo History Collection
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT
During the mid-twentieth century, San Mateo retained several local nurseries, where the cut flower industry maintained a strong presence during decades leading up to World War II. City directories indicate most nurseries were located on lands adjacent to El Camino Real or Bayshore Highway, where intensive residential development continued throughout the post-World War II period.415 The Pederson & Arnold Company at 4th Avenue and South Claremont Street and the neighboring San Mateo Lumber Co. at 501 South Claremont Street (extant) continued to operate lumber milling and lumber yard facilities (Figure 80). Additional lumber yards including Foley & Boettcher at 19 Bayshore Highway and Horne & Winfrey at 2701 El Camino Real supported the local construction industry.416
412 Norton, Pearl, “Aerial View of Downtown San Mateo, 1962,” San Mateo County Historical Association online database, catalog number 2015.001.02926A, at https://historysmc.pastperfectonline.com/photo/CFF2FDA1-2E29-4AB9-9C19-411966263130. 413 “Grand Opening! Great New Parking Facilities in Dynamic Downtown San Mateo,” The Times, November 16, 1964, https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-the-times-1964-grand-opening/182027956/. 414 “Drive-in Ceremony Opens New Parking,” The Times, November 16, 1964, https://www.newspapers.com/image/51765763/?match=1&clipping_id=182028548. 415 Polk’s San Mateo City Directory, 1948, R.L. Polk & Co. Publishers, 1948, 416. 416 Polk’s San Mateo City Directory, 1948, R.L. Polk & Co. Publishers, 1948, 414, 418.
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These lumber yards, and additional industrial properties including a few iron and sheet metal works and light-manufacturing plants were located along the U.S. 101 corridor, including on frontage roads South Amphlett Boulevard, North Amphlett Boulevard, and adjacent to the Southern Pacific Railroad corridor further to the west.
As indicated by the relatively limited industrial development in San Mateo during post-World War II decades, San Mateo became a center of commerce along the Peninsula, where corporations from several industries established headquarters or regional offices, rather than an industrial hub.
Figure 80 San Mateo Lumber
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
CULTURAL AND ETHNIC GROUPS
African Americans
In the years before World War II, San Mateo’s small African American population was generally concentrated east and north of downtown in the city’s Central neighborhood.417 The Black population grew during the war when many came to the area to work in shipyards in South San Francisco.
Discriminatory real estate practices made it nearly impossible for African Americans to settle in many Bay Area communities, causing many to settle in San Mateo’s Central neighborhood.418 The African American population grew in the years following World War II.
Based on 1950 census records, San Mateo’s African American community continued to reside primarily in the area east of Railroad Avenue, west of the Bayshore Freeway/U.S. 101, and north of San Mateo Creek (roughly 2nd Avenue). While this area was apparently racially integrated, with several White, Japanese, Chinese, and Filipino residents appearing on 1930, 1940, and 1950 census schedules, it remained one of the few areas where African Americans and Asian Americans were allowed to live in San Mateo. In an interview with La Peninsula, African American San Mateo resident,
417 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 143.
418 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 224.
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Basil Emery explained, “to the west of the 101 freeway, to the east of the railroad tracks, and then Poplar to the north and 3rd was to the south. That was [the neighborhood] we could buy in.”419 In addition to limited housing opportunities, African Americans faced difficulties with employment opportunities during this period. During World War II, a Mr. Cullen ran the San Mateo city dump and “was the second Black employee of the city, the first one having been a janitor for the Police Department,” as noted by scholar Eve Simister in La Peninsula.420 While some fair employment practices protests were successful, others appear to largely have resulted in the mere appearance of change. For example, when negotiations and promises were made by the Hillsdale Shopping Center in San Mateo and the Stanford Shopping Center in Palo Alto, actual implementation was minimal.421 By the 1960s, the city, like the rest of the country, experienced civil unrest. After the assassination of Dr. Martin Luter King, Jr. in April 1968, a thousand high school and college students marched on City Hall. In response to the dialogue following King’s death, East Park and the soon-to-be-constructed East Park Recreation Center at present-day 725 Monte Diablo Avenue were renamed in honor of the late civil rights leader.422 As part of the effort in renaming the park, Reverand Rufus Cooper of the nearby St. James A.M.E. Zion church, conveyed the support of his congregation and expressed the “hope that the park and center will not be segregated in any way.”423 A 1969 newspaper article reported the recently opened King Recreation Center served Black, White, and Asian residents, with amenities including meeting spaces.424
In the summer of 1969, City Council formed the 25-member Human Relations Commission to assist in reinforcing state and federal anti-discrimination laws. They addressed complaints of youth against police, individual cases of housing discrimination, and employment issues. Into the 1970s, the model of public involvement in the Human Relations Commission was repeated in the Public Works Commission, the Youth Advisory Council, the Greater Downtown Commission, and the Housing Advisory Appeals Board.425
Chinese
World War II was a major turning point for the Chinese residents in the United States and more broadly for Asian American and Pacific Island communities. The United States viewed the Republic of China, who was at war with the Empire of Japan since 1937, as an ally, following the attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941.
In 1943, exclusionary legislation limiting Chinese immigration was repealed. New legislation enabled additional opportunities for Chinese immigrants to enter the country, or for those already in the country to gain citizenship.426 The Magneson Act enabled Chinese residents in the United States to
419 Simister, “The African American Great Migration and San Mateo County,” 9; U.S. Federal Census 1930, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224/records/92975710. 420 Simister, “The African American Great Migration and San Mateo County,” 9; U.S. Federal Census 1930, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/6224/records/92975710. 421 Elysha Paluszek, Mary Ringhoff, Andrew Goodrich, Stacy Farr, Caitlyn Ewers, Morgan Quirk (Architectural Resources Group), Sian Winship, Alexandria Perlman (Historic Resources Group), “National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form:
African Americans in California, 1850-1974,” California Office of Historic Preservation, Draft 2024, at https://ohp.parks.ca.gov/pages/1067/files/CA_Multiple%20Counties_African%20Americans%20in%20CA%20MPDF_DRAFT.pdf. 422 “King Center Now Named Officially,” The Times, September 17, 1968, https://www.newspapers.com/image/52064955/?match=1&clipping_id=182100151. 423 “King Center Now Named Officially,” The Times, September 17, 1968, https://www.newspapers.com/image/52064955/?match=1&clipping_id=182100151. 424 “New Center is Popular,” The Times, May 12, 1969, 10, https://www.newspapers.com/image- view/52467428/?match=1&terms=New%20Center%20is%20Popular%2C%E2%80%9D%20. 425 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 261.
426 Albert A. Acena, “Chinese Americans in San Mateo County,” La Peninsula Vol. XLIII, No. 2, 2015, 3.
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become naturalized citizens, which was previously limited to free, White immigrants, based on legislation from 1790. The Magneson Act set an annual immigration limit for Chinese immigrants at 105, based on the Immigration Act of 1924.427 The War Brides Act of 1945 allowed Chinese women to immigrate as new brides or to reunite with husbands who were members of the armed services. This led to a demographic shift in Chinese communities, which were historically largely male. The immigration quota tied to the Immigration Act of 1924 was repealed with the Immigration Act of 1965, which greatly increased immigration from China, in addition to other Asian countries.428 Additionally, second and third generation English-speaking Chinese Americans and educated Chinese immigrants sought opportunities to establish careers and residence beyond local Chinatowns.
In San Mateo, the cluster of Chinese and Japanese-used buildings located on South Railroad Avenue between 1st and 2nd Avenue prior to World War II, was largely no longer identified with Chinese and Japanese uses by 1950. Several buildings formerly associated with the Chinese and Japanese populations were demolished, while a smaller group of stores and dwellings, including a Chinese laundry, remained (Figure 81).429 This local pattern aligned with wider trends of shrinking Chinatowns and Japantowns, due to relocation of residents, redevelopment, and clearance due to perceived blight.
Figure 81 1950 Sanborn Map Depicting Area of Former Chinese and Japanese Stores
Source: Sanborn Map Company, 1950
427 Page & Turnbull, “Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in California, 1850-1995” National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form (Washington D.C.: US Department of Interior, National Park Service, 2024), 30. 428Page & Turnbull, “Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in California, 1850-1995,” 29–31. 429 Sanborn Map Company, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from San Mateo, San Mateo County, California, 1950.
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After World War II, the Civil Rights Movement and immigration reform led to major changes in immigration policy, including a shift to geographic region-based quotas, allowing for greater numbers of immigrants. Racial and ethnic discrimination was also abolished.430 San Mateo County’s Chinese population doubled from just under 2,500 to over 5,000 between 1960 and 1970.431 Ah Sam Florist at 28th Avenue and El Camino Real continued operating through the Great Depression and World War II, including taking over the lease of The Towne Florist, a Japanese-owned business faced with the forced relocation of its proprietors during the war. The former Japanese business was eventually acquired by Ah Sam Florist owners but was closed in 1949 with focus reverting to the Ah Sam Florist business. Ah Sam Florist continued expanding after the war with acquisition of additional land behind their store where greenhouses, lathhouses, parking, and a warehouse were developed beginning in 1953.432
Japanese
The United States’ entry into World War II marked a turning point for the future of federal immigration policy and opened up opportunities for some Asian immigrants; however, the war was significantly impactful to Japanese communities in across the nation. The West Coast was an important region for the settlement and formation of Japanese immigrant communities, with over 50 Japantowns across California alone. By the interwar years, Japanese people significantly contributed to agriculture across the state as rice growers in Northern California, at coastal vegetable farms, and as laborers and proprietors working in the cut flower industry in the Bay Area, including chrysanthemum farms in San Mateo.433
Following the attack on Pearl Harbor, anti-Japanese sentiment and federal policy resulted in the forced relocation and incarceration of Japanese and Japanese Americans, halting the growth of Japanese communities in the Western United States. Less than three months after the attack, President Roosevelt issued Executive Order 9066 on February 19, 1942, which governed conditions for enemy aliens, including all individuals of Japanese descent, including American citizens, as well as non-citizen Italian and German residents. Between 1942 and 1945, the U.S. government incarcerated over 120,000 Americans of Japanese ancestry, first in temporary assembly centers adapted from facilities at racetracks and fairgrounds before sending to War Relocation Centers in isolated areas of the West Coast, two of which were in California.434
During this period, Attorney General Earl Warren actively prompted the creation of maps detailing landholdings of Japanese and Japanese-Americans county-by-county. These maps were sent to important officials to convince them of the danger the community posed to the state. The maps created for San Mateo show Japanese land ownership largely concentrated in the city’s central neighborhood, east of the railroad tracks (Figure 82). In San Mateo, evacuation orders given to Japanese and Japanese-American residents on May 3, 1942 required them to report to the Masonic Temple Building at 100 North Ellsworth.435 In response to the order, the San Mateo County JACL released a statement saying, “today, as evacuation orders affect Japanese aliens and American citizen
430 Albert A. Acena, “Chinese Americans in San Mateo County,” La Peninsula Vol. XLIII, No. 2, 2015, 4. 431 Albert A. Acena, “Chinese Americans in San Mateo County,” La Peninsula Vol. XLIII, No. 2, 2015, 4. 432 Nellie W. Leong, “Ah Sam,” La Peninsula Vol. XLIII, No. 2, 2015, 19. 433 Page & Turnbull, “Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in California, 1850-1995” National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form (Washington D.C.: US Department of Interior, National Park Service, 2024), 36–39. 434 Page & Turnbull, “Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in California, 1850-1995,” 38. 435 “State of California, Civilian Exclusion Order No. 35, San Mateo County,” accessed October 1, 2025, at https://digitalcollections.archives.csudh.edu/digital/collection/p16855coll4/id/5966/.
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Japanese, the sorrow at the thought of leaving their homes is eased by the knowledge that by cooperation and sacrifice, they are aiding the United States war effort.”436 On May 9, 1942, the last busload of San Mateo County Japanese residents was transported to Tanforan Assembly Center in San Bruno.437
Figure 82 1942 “San Mateo Land Occupied by Japanese”
Source: The Bancroft Library, University of California, Berkeley Some cultural institutions stored the belongings of those incarcerated, and in some cases later served as hostels for returning members; however, not all property was secured. Many lost their possessions, places of business, and residences. After the war ended, many sought residency beyond their pre-war communities, including in the Eastern and Midwestern states. While some arranged for their properties to be held and secured by sympathetic neighbors or friends, others lost their businesses or returned to find their housing occupied by wartime workers who settled in the Bay Area to support shipbuilding and other wartime industries. In San Mateo, the Yamaguchi family apparently returned from internment in Topaz to find their house and belongings intact (Figure 83).438 Altogether, California lost nearly 10,000 residents of Japanese descent from its prewar population of nearly 94,000, per the 1950 Census. During the period of incarceration, San Mateo’s Japanese Protestant congregation affiliated with Sturge Memorial Cottage offered and turned over their facility to local Chinese. After the war, Chinese and Japanese religious properties expanded along South Humboldt Street.439
436 San Mateo Chapter JACL, 1872-1942: A Community Story, 77. 437 San Mateo Chapter JACL, 1872-1942: A Community Story, 77. 438 Japanese War Relocation Collection, The Bancroft Library Archive, accessed October 1, 2025, https://digicoll.lib.berkeley.edu/record/105854?v=uv#?xywh=-123%2C-58%2C1694%2C1225&cv=1. 439“Page & Turnbull, Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in California, 1850-1995,” 41; “S.M. Japanese Offer Church For Chinese Use,” The Times, April 3, 1942, 1. https://www.newspapers.com/image/51851670/.
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Figure 83 Mrs. Saiki Yamaguchi and Susan Yamaguchi at the Tanaka House, 38 Eldorado, 1945
Source: University of California, Berkeley, Japanese War Collection Sanborn maps from 1950 show that the former Japantown, located alongside Chinatown, as nonextant. The one-story apartment building and gathering area, referred to as the Nagaya by the Japanese community appeared on the 1920 Sanborn map as “Japanese,” and contained several dwellings, a shed, and a more recently built garage for automobiles.440 By 1950, the Nagaya was redeveloped with residential buildings. After World War II, the first permanent facility for Japanese Buddhists in San Mateo was constructed in 1952.
An active member of San Mateo’s Buddhist congregation was Yoshiko Yamanouchi (1895–1973), wife of Tetsuo Yamanouchi (1878–1936) who founded Imperial Laundry at 214 1st Avenue. Following his death, she continued to run the family laundry business until her family returned to San Mateo at the
440 Sanborn Map Company, Sanborn Fire Insurance Map from San Mateo, San Mateo County, California, 1950.
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end of World War II. In 1957, following her retirement, Yoshiko Yamanouchi purchased property at 1007 East 5th Avenue (extant) to build a new house. The Ranch-style house was designed by Donald H. Brandes and built by Hugh H. MacDonald. Following completion of the house, Yamanouchi oversaw the construction and design of a traditional Japanese style garden implemented by renowned landscape architect Nagao Sakurai. The garden was expanded in 1968 with a contemporary Japanese garden by Kodo Matsubara and construction of the Katsura Building, inspired by the Katsura Imperial Villa in Kyoto. It is connected to the house via a raised walkway (ryoka), which is fronted at the streetside by a Japanese style gateway. In addition to its traditional and contemporary Japanese landscape, the property is a significant example of post-war Japanese American life in San Mateo and is associated with the life of early San Mateo Japanese resident Yoshiko Yamanouchi.441
Nagao Sakurai’s work is also present in San Mateo’s Central Park. Restrictions on Japanese immigration eased in the 1950s and 1960s and the concept of sister cities became popular to foster connections between different cultures. In California, there are over 75 sister-city relationships with Japanese cities.442 In 1963, San Mateo proposed a sister city affiliation with Toyonaka, a city in the Osaka Prefecture. The relationship helped to reinvigorate an earlier effort by the San Mateo Gardeners’ Association, made up of mostly Japanese-Americans, to landscape and maintain a garden in a public location (Figure 84). Following the creation of the relationship with Toyonaka, a one-acre site in Central Park was selected for a Japanese Garden.443 An organization was formed to raise funds, and Nagao Sakurai was hired to design it. Construction was mostly carried out by volunteers and Toyonaka donated a five-story pagoda for the garden.444 The Japanese Garden (extant) opened in 1966.
441 Denise Bradley and Ward Hill, “Yoshiko Yamanhoushi House,” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form (Washington, DC:
U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 2023). 442 Denise Bradley and Ward Hill, “Yoshiko Yamanhoushi House,” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form (Washington, DC:
U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 2023). 443 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 230.
444 “Central Park Centennial Exhibit,” San Mateo Arboretum Society, accessed October 15, 2025, https://www.sanmateoarboretum.org/centennialexhibit.html.
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Figure 84 San Mateo Gardner’s Association Building at 503 East 5th Avenue
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
Filipino
On December 8, 1941, Japanese forces attacked the Philippines, several hours after the attack on Pearl Harbor. As the United States entered World War II, it created Filipino military regiments, and many Filipinos residing on the West Coast enlisted. In 1946, the Luce-Cellar Act was passed, and granted citizenship eligibility to persons of Asian Indian and Filipino descent. On July 4, 1946, President Harry Truman proclaimed Philippine independence and signed the Treaty of General Relations, which relinquished U.S. sovereignty, dating to 1898, over the Philippines. While this policy still enabled the United States to maintain presence in the Philippines, a second wave of Filipino immigration to the United States followed, with some 33,000 Filipinos emigrating by 1965.445 Whereas previous period of Filipino immigration primarily included single males, the wave of post- World War II immigration included many women and children, including brides and families of Filipino servicemen with U.S. citizenship. Many Filipinas came to the United States for nursing training as participants of the Exchange Visitor Program of the State Department, “whose general objective was to promote a better understanding of the U.S. abroad through the exchange of people, education, and skills, received a monthly stipend for their work at U.S.-sponsored institutions”.446 The Exchange Visitor Program offered foreign nursing graduates an opportunity for two-year postgraduate study and clinical training in U.S. hospitals. The program significantly transformed the American nursing labor force, including hospital staff in San Mateo County.
Additionally, the 1965 Immigration Act (Immigration and Nationality Act) set the stage for a major increase in immigration by removing preexisting quotas allowing 20,000 people per year from each
445 Page & Turnbull, “Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders In California, 1850-1995” National Register of Historic Places Multiple Property Documentation Form (Washington D.C.: U.S. Department of Interior, National Park Service, 2024), 66. 446 Page & Turnbull. Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders in California, 1850-1995, 66.
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country in the Eastern Hemisphere. Between 1970 and 1980, San Mateo County’s Filipino population more than quadrupled from over 5,000 to over 24,000.447 Tongan
The Kingdom of Tonga has been an independent nation and a member of the British Commonwealth since 1970. After World War II, Tongans began immigrating increasingly to New Zealand, Australia, and the United States to pursue educational and employment opportunities.448 Immigration to the United States was influenced by the Immigration Act of 1965. Since the 1960s, Tongans have settled throughout the Bay Area with relatively high populations in San Mateo and neighboring San Bruno and East Palo Alto. As noted by scholars Cathy A. Small and David L. Dixon, “The first Tongan migrants were young single men, and occasionally women, who left home […] to earn high overseas wages that would help feather nests back in Tonga.” 449 As these migrants established permanence, they supported their family’s migration, leading to the formation of Tongan communities in Australia, New Zealand, and in the United States. While a relatively small community relative to the city’s overall population, San Mateo’s Tongan community remains one of the largest in California and the United States.
Latino
California experienced small waves of Latino immigration, primarily from Mexico, beginning in the mid-nineteenth century. An estimated 10,000 Mexicans came to California during the Gold Rush.
While many returned home after the Gold Rush, others decided to stay in the United States, with an estimated 8,000 Mexicans settling in California during this period. Similar to other immigrant populations, Mexican immigrants worked in the state’s early railroad industry and its agricultural economy. As a result of limitations on Asian immigration during that period, there was a growing reliance on Mexican labor.450 In the following decades, the improved connection between Mexico and California, especially by rail made immigration more fluid. In 1910, the Mexican Revolution began, resulting in increased violence and instability, and persuading many to relocate to the United States as a means of improving their situation.451
In the early twentieth century, most Mexicans migrating to the United States originated from central and southern Mexico and traveled by rail to border towns and settled in Texas and California. Once in California, common settlement locations included the Imperial Valley and San Joaquin Valley, becoming significant ethnic groups in those communities. The primary urban area for Mexican settlement was Los Angeles. Other California cities attracted Mexican populations, including nearby San Francisco and San Jose, but in smaller numbers.452 During World War II, attitudes toward Mexican labor changed, as war efforts resulted in labor shortages. In an effort to relieve the labor shortages the United States and Mexico created a guest worker program officially called the Emergency Farm Labor Agreement, known as the Bracero Program, in 1942. The agreement allowed Mexican farm workers to enter and work in the United States legally for limited amounts of time. The program was
447 Albert A. Acena, “’Invisible Minority’ No More: Filipino Americans in San Mateo County,” La Peninsula Vol. XXXVII, No. 1, (Summer 2008),
17. 448 Cathy A. Small and David L. Dixon, “Tonga: Migration and the Homeland,” February 1, 2004, The Online Journal of the Migration Policy Institute, at https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/tonga-migration-and-homeland. 449 Cathy A. Small and David L. Dixon, “Tonga: Migration and the Homeland,” February 1, 2004, The Online Journal of the Migration Policy Institute, at https://www.migrationpolicy.org/article/tonga-migration-and-homeland. 450 California Office of Historic Preservation, Latinos in the Twentieth Century California: National Register of Historic Places Context Statement, (California Office of Historic Preservation, 2015), 3. 451 California Office of Historic Preservation, Latinos in the Twentieth Century California, 4. 452 California Office of Historic Preservation, Latinos in the Twentieth Century California, 6.
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hugely successful and was extended for 22 years, resulting in lasting effects for the U.S. economy.453 It was not uncommon for workers to arrive on the program, stay after the end of their contract, find work in the country, and settle. In increasing numbers, those who found work moved to cities.454 During the post-war period, California’s economy was boosted by the military spending in research, technology, and defense during the Cold War. The influx of capital along with the availability of large acreages of land contributed to a major development boom in the state. It also stimulated the demand for labor in manufacturing, the service industry, and construction.455 In 1965, the U.S. immigration policy was overhauled, and strict quotas were set for the number of authorized immigrants from different regions of the world. This, in combination with the end of the Bracero Program and limited economic opportunities in Mexico, resulted in an increase in unsanctioned migrations as the second half of the twentieth century continued. The continued demand for labor caused a spike in legal and illegal immigration during the 1970s and 1980s.456 By the 1970s, the makeup of the Latino immigrant population became more diverse, with more populations from Central America. Before the 1970s, immigrant populations from Central American were small and mostly from the upper and middle classes from Nicaragua, Costa Rica, Guatemala, and El Salvador. Some Central American workers came to the United States through the Bracero Program by pretending to be Mexican because the program was limited to Mexican workers. Those who stayed in this region, settled in a San Francisco barrio neighborhood developed by the 1920s within San Francisco’s Mission District. In the mid-twentieth century American companies invested heavily in Central American countries, establishing manufacturing facilities and plants. When the global economy stagnated in the 1970s, Central American workers transferred their skills to manufacturing jobs in the United States.457 During this period, many Central American immigrants found work as domestic labor, too. During this period, South American immigration to the area did not materialize in the same magnitude as Mexican and Central American immigration. In San Mateo, by 1980, the city had the state’s 14th highest concentration of Mexican immigrant population.458
453 California Office of Historic Preservation, Latinos in the Twentieth Century California, 9. 454 California Office of Historic Preservation, Latinos in the Twentieth Century California, 10 455 California Office of Historic Preservation, Latinos in the Twentieth Century California, 10. 456 California Office of Historic Preservation, Latinos in the Twentieth Century California, 10. 457 California Office of Historic Preservation, Latinos in the Twentieth Century California, 11. 458 California Office of Historic Preservation, Latinos in the Twentieth Century California, 11.
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MODERN SAN MATEO (1980–2026)
The continued development of San Mateo during the modern period, or recent past, is largely defined by its proximity to the expansion and growth of Silicon Valley’s technology industry.
RESIDENTIAL DEVELOPMENT
This period is marked by more limited residential development than in the decades following World War II due to several factors, including rising interest rates, economic shifts in the construction industry, land use and zoning policies, and the passage of Proposition 13 in 1978. Proposition 13 is an amendment to the California Constitution that established limitations on the tax rate and assessment increase for real property according to base year values.459 The assessed value of a property is limited to a 2 percent annual increase and reassessment on base year values when there is a change in ownership or new construction occurs.460 Historically, however, market values of real estate have increased more than 2 percent a year. When house values increase by more than 2 percent a year, homeowners gain from remaining in the same house because their taxes are lower than they would be on a different house of the same value. A widely accepted consequence of this law is reduced property tax revenue and a tendency for owner-occupiers to not sell their houses, thereby reducing the turnover of owner-occupied houses.461
The city’s residential building stock is characterized by older developments in mostly single-family neighborhoods. Approximately 73 percent of houses in the city were built before 1979.462 Residential development slowed in the two decades before 1980 and continued on a more dramatic downward trend between 1980 and 1999.463 People remaining in their owner-occupied houses, coupled with the slowing of residential development in the city, contributed to the rising cost of housing in the city in recent years. The cost of housing has been further affected by the health of the local economy.
Since 1980, the Silicon Valley’s technology sector has been a driving economic force in the local economy and stimulated population growth. The city’s population was approximately 80,000 by the late 1980s, a four-fold increase from 1940, and grew to over 95,000 by late 1990s.464 The influx of capital and scarcity of housing contributed to the rising cost of housing and the city’s poverty rate.
During the 10-year period between 1970 and 1980, the average value of a house in San Mateo increased 307.4 percent and has continued to rise.465
More recent residential developments generally trend away from the single-family only neighborhoods common during San Mateo’s suburbanization and post-war expansion to more multifamily housing. Major developments since the 1980s included housing within the mixed-use
459 Office of the Assessor, County of Santa Clara, “Understanding Prop 13,” accessed October 10, 2025, https://www.sccassessor.org/faq/understanding-proposition-13. 460 Office of the Assessor, County of Santa Clara, “Understanding Prop 13,” accessed October 10, 2025, https://www.sccassessor.org/faq/understanding-proposition-13. 461 Nada Wasi and Michelle J. White, “The Lock-In Effect on California’s Proposition 13, The National Bureau of Economic Digest, April 2005, https://www.nber.org/papers/w11108.
462 City of San Mateo, Strive San Mateo: General Plan 2024, 30, 2024, accessed July 20, 2025, at https://strivesanmateo.org/wp- content/uploads/2024/03/StriveSanMateo_GP2040_Adopted_3-18-2024_Web.pdf. 463 City of San Mateo, Housing Element of the General Plan 2023-2031, Appendix A: Needs Analysis, H-A-34-35, April 2024, accessed July 20, 2025, https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/DocumentCenter/View/87526/APPENDIX-A---Needs-Analysis?bidId=. 464 Housing Element of the General Plan 2023-2031, April 2024, 7, City of San Mateo. https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/DocumentCenter/View/94606/2023-2031-City-of-San-Mateo-Housing-Element; Chapter 4.2 Population/Housing/Employment in City of San Mateo General Plan Update EIR: Draft Environmental Impact Report, (City of San Mateo, July 27, 2009), at https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/DocumentCenter/View/5212/4_2-Population-Hsg-Emp?bidId=. 465 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 275.
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development for Mariner’s Island, which brought the city’s easternmost neighborhoods and a mix of multifamily housing types alongside Foster City and the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge/Highway 92 corridor. Developments included Edgewater Isle and Harbortown. Edgewater Isle was a condominium development built between 1984 and 1987 by the Anden Group/O’Brien & Hicks developers.
Comprised of two development associations, the North Association and the South Association, the units were marketed to emphasize their bayside location. Original floorplans for the North Association were named Capri, Malibu, Del Mar, and Newport. The South Association, also called the Cove, had nature-based named floor plans like the Peninsula, the Windward, and the Landing.466 Other Mariner’s Island developments, Harbortown and Mariner’s Isle, were developed in 1979–1981 by Mariner’s Isle Associates and are comprised of condominiums and townhouses. Harbortown was designed by architect Rodney Friedman and used a cluster pier design inspired by New England fishing villages.467
In 1981, the San Mateo Redevelopment Agency organized. The agency subsidized building out apartments in vacant spaces above ground-floor commercial uses, supported façade improvements, and provided loans for seismic retrofitting of unreinforced masonry buildings.468 In 1989, Rotary Club’s Rotary Hacienda, a low-income elderly housing complex, was constructed on Hacienda Boulevard between 27th and 28th avenues (extant). It was constructed with redevelopment funds, contributions from the Rotary Club of San Mateo, and with the help of federal tax credits.469 Infill residential development of former commercial properties, such as Bay Meadows racetrack, includes a combination of multifamily, townhouse, and adjacent corporate offices since the early 2000s. The first phase of Bay Meadows redevelopment was funded by redevelopment funds. However, the Redevelopment Agency, along with some 400 other similar agencies across the state were dissolved through statewide legislation in 2012, restraining the availability of redevelopment funds.470 Despite the loss of redevelopment funds, additional residential construction has occurred through redevelopment of formerly commercial or industrial properties through different financing options.
Recent residential developments focused on transit-oriented opportunities such as San Mateo’s three existing Caltrain stations. Recently constructed examples include Station Park Green (2018), Montara (2020), and Kiku Crossing (2025).471
COMMERCIAL DEVELOPMENT
In 1982, the Hillsdale Shopping Center expanded with a Nordstrom and a Mervyn’s store, as well as a second-story addition.472 It became an enclosed shopping mall following a nationwide trend of converting outdoor shopping malls to indoor with airconditioned destinations. During this time, the
466 “Original Sales Brochure and Floor Plans,” Edgewater Isle, accessed October 1, 2025, at https://edgewaterisle.com/sales/brochure/. 467 Micheal Uppergrave, “Multifamily Housing That’s Custom-Fit to Site,” Housing Vol 50, No 6. (November 1980): 60, at https://www.usmodernist.org/HH/HH-1980-11.pdf.
468 State of California Department of Finance, “Redevelopment Agency Dissolution,” Official Website of the State of California, 2025, at https://dof.ca.gov/programs/redevelopment/.
469 “Federal Tax Credits Give Boost to Housing Project for Elderly,” The Peninsula Times Tribune, April 23, 1989, https://www.newspapers.com/image/845891571/?match=1&terms=rotary%20hacienda. 470 State of California Department of Finance, “Redevelopment Agency Dissolution,” Official Website of the State of California, 2025, at https://dof.ca.gov/programs/redevelopment/.
471 Housing Element of the General Plan 2023-2031, (City of San Mateo, April 2024), 44, https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/DocumentCenter/View/94606/2023-2031-City-of-San-Mateo-Housing-Element; City of San Mateo, Housing Element of the General Plan 2023-2031, Appendix E: Review of Prior Element, H-E-4, at https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/DocumentCenter/View/93177/APPENDIX-E---Review-of-Prior-Element?bidId=. 472 Al Morch, “Downtown San Mateo: Everything’s Waiting For You,” San Francisco Examiner, May 19, 1995, https://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Downtown-San-Mateo-Everything-s-waiting-for-you-3154855.php.
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downtown was “creeping along,” as stated by former Mayor Claire Mack. The downtown struggled with attracting visitors and competing with new shopping center developments that catered to the city’s suburban neighborhoods. As a result, the downtown’s commercial core stagnated in growth and redevelopment.473
Franklin Resources, Inc., a financial consultancy, experienced greater success in the 1980s. After relocating to San Mateo in 1973, the company expanded to 1,700 employees, making it the largest employer in the city.474 The company grew through mergers in the 1990s and 2000s and relocated to the 1 Franklin Parkway office complex located on a portion of the former Bay Meadows Racetrack.
The Bay Meadows Racetrack entered its final decades of operation in the 1980s, ultimately closing in the early 2000s. By the end of the 1980s, Bay Meadows had more than 600 employees and was second to only San Francisco International Airport in contributing to the county’s tax base.475 However, attendance at races declined due to the popularity of remote betting. Between 2006 and 2007, the facility’s owner failed to secure an extension to replace the dirt track with the required synthetic track materials, which ultimately spelled closure of the facility in 2008.476 The former site of Bay Meadows continues to undergo redevelopment with office, residential, and recreational uses.
Along the city’s eastern perimeter, Mariners Island Shopping Center, later renamed Fashion Island, opened in 1982 adjacent to the Interstate 280 and State Route 92 interchange off San Mateo- Hayward Bridge. A project of Southern California-based developer Ernest Hahn, the shopping center was developed to compete with Hillsdale Shopping Center. Fashion Island originally featured a Bullock’s store, Montgomery Ward, J.C. Penney, and Liberty House as anchor tenants, with over 100 additional stores. However, the shopping center faced steep competition from the expanding Hillsdale Shopping Center and the demise of several anchor tenants, including Liberty House and Bullock’s, by the mid-1980s. In 1995, Sandhill Properties of San Mateo acquired the property and redeveloped Fashion Island as Bridgepoint Shopping Center.477 Commercial office development grew during this period, mostly outside of the residential neighborhoods and along the city’s transportation corridors including State Route 92, Highway 101, El Camino Real, and in the Bay Meadows racetrack development. A notable commercial development from this period is the Century Centre project at 1400 Fashion Island Boulevard (extant) constructed by developer Joaquin De Monet between 1985 and 1986, an early commercial office development on Fashion Island.478
CIVIC AND INSTITUTIONAL DEVELOPMENT
The city’s public services were expanded during this time. The San Mateo Fire Department updated all their existing facilities in 1989 to accommodate women firefighters.479 On October 17, 1989, the Loma Prieta Earthquake hit San Mateo, causing millions of dollars in property damage, but no loss of
473Morch, “Downtown San Mateo: Everything’s Waiting For You.” 474 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 267.
475 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 266.
476 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 266.
477 "June closing set for Oakland Liberty House store," Oakland Tribune, April 20, 1984, https://www.newspapers.com/image/758430566/?clipping_id=180274461; “Federated to sell Bullock's store,” San Francisco Examiner, September 23, 1986, https://www.newspapers.com/image/461365444/?clipping_id=180274644; Eve Mitchell, “Fashion Island plan gets approval,” San Francisco Examiner, September 17, 1996; Marshall Wilson, “Building on Fashion Island Failure / San Mateo's Bridgepointe attracts host of major stores,” San Francisco Chronicle, December 1, 1997, https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Building-on-Fashion- Island-Failure-San-Mateo-s-2792974.php.
478 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 267.
479 Jeff Brile ed., San Mateo Fire Department 1887-1990, (San Mateo Fire Department, 1990), 33.
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life.480 In 2017, the San Mateo Police Department replaced their building at 2000 South Delaware Ave with a new state-of-the art facility, housing the city’s emergency services and dispatch facilities at 200 Franklin Parkway.481
In 2006, after a comprehensive public outreach effort, the city replaced its main library at the corner of Dartmouth Road and 3rd Avenue with a new, energy-efficient facility with ample space for collections and improved access to technology.482 The San Mateo Arboretum Society, who has occupied the old Kohl pumphouse in Central Park since 1977, has undertaken several improvements to the facility.483 In 1985, architect Leonard Michaels of Leonard Michaels Associates was recognized with an award by the American Institute of Architects (AIA) San Mateo chapter for the then 20-year- old Central Park Recreation Building.484 Park improvements in the city continued in the following years. In 2000, the former East 3rd Avenue landfill was redeveloped for Seal Point Park, as part of a regional trend to close and redevelop the Bay Area’s shoreline landfills with parks.485 Today, San Mateo has 35 parks and 81 percent of San Mateo residents live within a 10-minute walk of a park, which is higher than the national average.486
In 2005, the San Mateo County Expo Center completed a $3 million renovation and was renamed the San Mateo County Event Center of the San Franciso Peninsula. The 1930s facility was updated with teleconferencing capabilities, event space, and new exhibit space.487 At Coyote Point, the Coyote Point Museum was constructed by Spencer Associates with exhibit specialist Gordon Ashby.488 Though the museum nearly closed in 2006 due to financial difficulties, fundraising efforts were successful and it was rebranded CuriOdyssey in 2011.489
TRANSPORTATION INFRASTRUCTURE
In the recent past the city’s transportation infrastructure has grown. The railroad continues providing access to the surrounding areas and continues to be an important link for commuters and residents alike. On July 1, 1980, Caltrans assumed responsibility for the management of the Peninsula Commute Service, formerly controlled by Southern Pacific Railroad. Caltrans continued management of the service until 1992 when the Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board assumed operation of Caltrain and contracted with Amtrak to operate the commuter service.490 Today the city has three Caltrain stations—Downtown, Hayward Park, and Hillsdale. In 1999, Hayward Park Station opened at 401 Concar Drive, south of the original location, which was known as Leslie Station prior to 1936.491 In
480 Jeff Brile ed., San Mateo Fire Department 1887-1990, (San Mateo Fire Department, 1990), 33. 481 Dana Yates, “Police Station Groundbreaking Set,” The Daily Journal, July 12, 2017, https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/police- station-groundbreaking-set/article_03bab3c5-4902-56fc-965c-192b414026a0.html. 482 David Zugnoni, “Library Celebrates First Anniversary,” The Daily Tribune, September 8, 2007, https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/library-celebrates-first-anniversary/article_c090c34e-5921-5dd1-b5ce-84f2a568d86c.html. 483 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 275.
484 “Around the State: San Mateo,” Architecture California, July/August 1985, 10. https://www.usmodernist.org/aiaca/aiaca-1985-07-08.pdf. 485 “Park to Replace Landfill,” The Daily Journal, November 15, 2000, https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/park-to-replace- landfill/article_a63d82e9-4e7a-5616-a606-3a3b577c63ae.html; United States Environmental Protection Agency, “25 Years of RCRA:
Building on Our Past to Protect Our Future,” (2002), at https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPDF.cgi/10000MAO.PDF?Dockey=10000MAO.PDF. 486 “San Mateo, CA,” Trust for Public Land, accessed October 1, 2025, at https://www.tpl.org/city/san-mateo-california. 487 “San Mateo Renovates, Renames Expo Center,” Trade Show Executive, December 15, 2005, at https://tradeshowexecutive.com/san- mateo-renovates-renames-expo-center/.
488 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 277.
489 “History,” CuriOdyssey, accessed October 15, 2025, at https://curiodyssey.org/about/history/. 490 Caltrain, “Peninsula Corridor Joint Powers Board, Annual Comprehensive Financial Report: Fiscal Years Ended June 30, 2021 and 2020, at https://www.caltrain.com/media/8106/download?inline.
491 City of San Mateo, “Hayward Park Caltrain Station Parking Lot (401 Concar Dr.),” 2025, at https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/4545/Hayward-Park-Station.
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addition to Caltrain, the city’s public transit includes bus service provided by SamTrans. SamTrans operates express bus service at the U.S. 101/State Route 92 park-and-ride lot, which was developed in 1987.492
Vehicular motorways have expanded in recent years. The State Route 92/U.S. 101 interchange linking the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge with 19th Avenue and College of San Mateo was completed in 1982– 1985.493 Today, U.S. 101 (Bayshore Freeway), State Route 92 (J. Arthur Younger Freeway), and State Route 280 all provide regional access to the community. Within the city, arterials like El Camino Real, San Mateo Drive, Hillsdale Boulevard, Norfolk Street, and Alameda de las Pulgas are the major thoroughfares for vehicular travel. In more recent years, the city has improved and expanded its bike networks to connect neighborhoods to schools, parks, and train stations.
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT
Since 1980, San Mateo’s economy shifted from agriculture, manufacturing, and retail and financial services toward professional services, mostly related to the region’s technology economy. In the 1990s and 2000s, the rise of the technology and information economy has driven the region’s economy. Between 2010 and 2019, available jobs based in San Mateo grew by 33 percent, with nearly 53,000 people employed in the city as of 2024. Professional services and technology account for 20 percent of jobs in San Mateo.494 In addition to the major healthcare providers in San Mateo, several technology companies are based in or have headquarter facilities in the city. With the increase in professional and business economy, house values and local wages have markedly increased. Investment in construction in San Mateo more than doubled in the 1970s and the trend continued in the early 1980s.495
CULTURAL AND ETHNIC GROUPS
Since 1980, San Mateo has continued to diversify. The population grew from 77,561 residents in 1980, 85 percent of which was White, to 85,486 residents in 1990, by which time the city’s Asian/Pacific Islander population grew to represent 13 percent of the city’s population.496 Between 1980 and 1990, the city’s Hispanic/Latino population grew from 9 to 15 percent.497 By 2020, San Mateo’s population grew to 105,661 residents in 40,263 households. The population was 38 percent White, 26 percent Asian, and 26 percent Hispanic/Latino.498 The city’s Hispanic/Latino population is mostly concentrated in the North Central neighborhood. While the rest of the city’s population grew 8 percent between 1990 and 2000, the North Central neighborhood experienced an
492 Chapter 4.4 Transportation and Circulation in City of San Mateo General Plan Update EIR: Draft Environmental Impact Report, July 27, 2009, at https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/DocumentCenter/View/5214/4_4-Transportation?bidId=. 493 Postel, San Mateo: A Centennial History, 267.
494 Housing Element of the General Plan 2023-2031, April 2024, 20, City of San Mateo, https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/DocumentCenter/View/94606/2023-2031-City-of-San-Mateo-Housing-Element. 495 Housing Element of the General Plan 2023-2031, April 2024, 20, City of San Mateo, https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/DocumentCenter/View/94606/2023-2031-City-of-San-Mateo-Housing-Element. 496 “San Mateo, Decennial Census Data,” Bay Area Census, accessed October 9, 2025, https://census.bayareametro.gov/historical- data/1980/san_mateo.
497 “San Mateo, Decennial Census Data,” Bay Area Census, accessed October 9, 2025, https://census.bayareametro.gov/historical- data/1990/san_mateo.
498 “Population: San Mateo,” Bay Area Census, accessed October 15, 2025, https://census.bayareametro.gov/population?location=san_mateo.
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18 percent growth.499 By 2010, the North Central neighborhood was comprised by a majority Hispanic/Latino population.500 The city’s expanding Asian and Hispanic/Latino populations resulted in an influx of Asian and Hispanic/Latino owned businesses, markets, and restaurants.
499 City of San Mateo, “North Central Community Based Transportation Plan,” (City of San Mateo, 2010), Appendix B, 17, at https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/DocumentCenter/View/7805/Appendices-Appendix-B-Chapter-1?bidId=. 500 City of San Mateo, “North Central Community Based Transportation Plan,” (City of San Mateo, 2010), Appendix B, 17, at https://www.cityofsanmateo.org/DocumentCenter/View/7805/Appendices-Appendix-B-Chapter-1?bidId=.
Architectural Styles
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ARCHITECTURAL STYLES
This section describes architectural styles that contribute to the character of San Mateo’s built environment. The identified styles are arranged in chronological order of their approximate periods of popularity during periods of the city’s development, while acknowledging some examples of each style may have been built outside of their periods of popularity. Additionally, buildings within the city may incorporate features of more than one style, reflecting the tastes of the owner, design professional, and approaches to building construction that evolved through the periods studied in this historic context statement.
Buildings appearing in this section are included as local examples of particular architectural styles that retain many of the style’s character-defining features. However, inclusion of a building in this section does not necessarily indicate that it meets the historic significance and integrity requirements for eligibility.
GOTHIC REVIVAL (CARPENTER’S GOTHIC)
The Gothic Revival began in eighteenth-century England as medieval houses were remodeled and new houses with Gothic features, such as pointed-arch windows, steep gable roofs, carved bargeboards, and embattlements (a feature derived from castles), were constructed. The style was used for houses in the United States primarily between the 1840s and 1860s, as house designers (not necessarily professional architects), including Andrew Jackson Davis and later Andrew Jackson Downing, influenced the development of the Carpenter Gothic sub-style. Davis built a Gothic Revival style house in Maryland in 1832 and authored Rural Residences in 1837. The book included plans for houses and helped introduce the style. He influenced Andrew Jackson Downing, who published and more intensively promoted several pattern books in the 1840s, which carpenters and builders used in constructing houses for clients. Although some examples of Gothic Revival/Carpenter Gothic houses were built in cities, these houses were in most cases built in rural areas at the time of construction, as the style was promoted as suited to rural areas where integration with natural landscapes played an important role in housing design. In the United States, Greek Revival and Italianate style were more commonly applied to houses constructed during the prime years of the Gothic Revival style’s use.501
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
501 Virginia Savage McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses, Alfred A. Knopf, 2013, 266–280.
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San Mateo Historic Context Statement 135
Period of Significance: 1840s–1860s
Associated Property Types: Residential, Commercial, Civic and Institutional Representation: Gothic Revival-style buildings are rare in San Mateo. The popularity of the style largely predates the city’s development. Because of the style’s rarity, the qualifying thresholds for historic integrity are lower in comparison to other, more frequently observed architectural styles.
Locational Information: Gothic Revival-style buildings are rare, but may be seen in San Mateo’s older neighborhoods, including Central San Mateo.
Character-Defining Features:
• Typically one- to two-and-a-half stories in height
• Building footprints are square, rectangular, or L-shaped, sometime with projecting bays • Roofs are gable with steep pitches and often include a center cross gable, or in rare cases two or three cross gables
• Eaves overhang the building footprint, with gabled ends often trimmed with carved bargeboards/vergeboards (commonly referred to as “gingerbread”) • Exterior finishes include smooth stucco (sometimes scored to mimic stone), or wood siding in horizontal or vertical (board-and-batten) configurations • Windows are typically double-hung with wood sashes (2-over-2 glazing is most common); other glazing patterns such as intersecting muntins (diamond-shaped) are rarer • Pointed-arch gable windows are common
• Front porches with brackets at frame corners
• Bracketed eaves
Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 136
FOLK NATIONAL
The Folk National style broadly captures variations of traditional, vernacular residential architecture built in the United States between the mid-nineteenth century and early twentieth century. The expansion of railroad networks in the United States during the mid-1800s, along with the introduction of balloon framing, increased the efficiency of supply chains and brought building materials to lumber yards in developing communities. As stylistic trends evolved during the late 1800s, local builders, artisans and carpenters, constructed vernacular residences that incorporated traditional gable-front, gable-front-and-wing, pyramidal, and other one- or two-story variants.502 Period of Significance: 1870s–1900s
Associated Property Types: Residential
Representation: Folk National-style buildings are rare in San Mateo. The popularity of the style largely predates the city’s development. Because of the style’s rarity, the qualifying thresholds for historic integrity are lower in comparison to other, more frequently observed architectural styles.
Locational Information: Folk National-style buildings are rare, but may be seen in San Mateo’s older neighborhoods, including Central San Mateo.
Character-Defining Features:
• Typically one- to two-stories in height
• Building footprints are rectangular or L-shaped (gable-front-and wing) • Roofs have moderate overhangs and are typically not ornamented with brackets or bargeboards/vergeboards
• Front porches are common and sometimes recessed into a corner • Exterior finished with wood siding
• Windows are typically wood, with double-hung sashes and often one-over-one glazing • Exteriors feature little to no ornamentation, but may feature some molded wood trim
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
502 McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses, 133–147.
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San Mateo Historic Context Statement 137
FOLK VICTORIAN
During San Mateo’s first few decades, vernacular construction methods, which relied on the skills of local builders, artisans and carpenters, and regionally available materials, were adapted to build residences, commercial buildings, and other structures that were not necessarily representative of an architectural style. Folk Victorian is a late nineteenth century vernacular trend that featured houses of one- to two-story heights, simple floor plans ranging from square, rectangular, to L-shapes, and roofs with gable or hip (sometimes pyramidal) forms. Exteriors were often finished with horizontal wood siding, board-and-batten, or stucco. Although some detailing was common, such as a decorative bargeboard on a gabled end, or spindlework or scroll-cut brackets at porches, ornamentation was limited when compared to high-style examples of Italianate, Stick, or Queen Anne style architecture. Some very early surviving examples of residential architecture in San Mateo can convey aspects of Folk Victorian architecture. However, the representation of this building approach in the present-day is dependent on the degree of alteration vernacular buildings have been subject to over time.503
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
Period of Significance: 1870s–1900s
Associated Property Types: Residential, Commercial, Civic and Institutional Representation: Folk Victorian-style buildings are present in many of San Mateo’s early neighborhoods, though have been commonly updated over time.
Locational Information: Folk Victorian-style buildings are most prevalent in San Mateo’s older neighborhoods, including Central San Mateo.
Character-Defining Features:
• Typically one- to two-stories in height
• Building footprints are square, rectangular, or L-shaped, sometime with a projecting bay • Recessed front porches are common
• Exterior finished with wood siding (horizontal or board-and-batten) or stucco • Windows are typically wood, with one-over-one or two-over-two glazing • Ornamentation is limited, but may include bargeboards or spindlework at porches • Roofs appear in gable, hip (sometimes pyramidal) forms
503 McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses, 396–405.
Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 138
ITALIANATE STYLE
During San Mateo’s early settlement, more elaborate examples of country houses included the Italianate style, a popular Victorian-era style. American Italianate houses were inspired by Northern Italian farmhouses. The style was first adapted by English architects and became known in the United States through English pattern books. During the style’s popularity it was considered appropriate for a rural setting because of its asymmetry and picturesque characteristics. Some of its elements are drawn from Classical detailing and the Gothic Revival style. The style includes a range of expressions from single family houses to modest Flat-Front Italianate commercial buildings. Some early surviving examples of residential architecture in San Mateo can convey the Italianate Style, but the representation of this building approach in the present-day is dependent on the rarity of surviving examples and the degree of alteration surviving examples may have been subject to over time.
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
Period of Significance: 1860s–1880s
Associated Property Types: Residential, Commercial, Civic and Institutional Representation: Italianate-style buildings are fairly rare in San Mateo. Because of the style’s rarity, the qualifying thresholds for historic integrity are lower in comparison to other more frequently observed architectural styles.
Locational Information: Italianate-style buildings are rare, but may be seen in San Mateo’s older neighborhoods, generally east of the downtown core.
Character-Defining Features:
• Typically one- to two-stories in height
• Rectangular massing and form
• Horizontal exterior wood cladding
• Roof with gently sloping sides and deep eaves
Architectural Styles
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• Tall and slim window openings, often rounded at the top • Columned entryways
• Decorative brackets below the roofline
• Bay windows
• Balustraded balconies and verandas
• Ornamental features like wood corner quoins imitating stone, wood water tables, and wood pediments
Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 140
QUEEN ANNE
The Queen Anne style was introduced to the United States in 1876, during the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, after it originated and was named in England by a group of architects including Richard Norman Shaw. This style was used most frequently in Southern California between approximately 1885 and 1895. Although named for Queen Anne, buildings constructed in this style did not strongly mimic those built during Queen Anne’s reign in the 1700s. Rather, Queen Anne style buildings had more similarity to those built during Queen Elizabeth I’s reign but typically lacked stone and brick materials associated with Elizabethan architecture. The Queen Anne style buildings introduced to the United States by England during the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, featured half-timbering and patterned masonry that was tied into the growing Arts and Crafts Movement. As the style was popularized in the United States, varying forms and subtypes incorporated elements of Victorian period architecture, representing a culmination of styles such as Italianate, Stick, and Eastlake, while also adding Classical details such as columns Palladian windows, swags, and garlands. The style also combined rectangular or square plans with projecting bays featuring circular, rectangular, hexagonal, or octagonal footprints to create varied compositions.
Additionally, roof forms often combined intersecting or layered gables, dormers, and steeply pitched towers. Exteriors were finished with horizontal wood siding and molded trim, but also regularly featured shingles of varying profile as primary cladding materials or as accents at gabled ends or projecting bays. The style was introduced by architects but was popularized through pattern books and mail-order catalogs providing example plans, which could be delivered across expanding rail networks. The Queen Anne style remained popular into the 1890s but was succeeded by a return to Neoclassical and Craftsman styles by the turn of the twentieth century.504
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc. , 2025
504 McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses, 344–370; Anne Greening and Elena Moore, Victorian Era Styles (1870-1910), San Francisco Planning Department, 2022, at https://citypln-m-
extnl.sfgov.org/SharedLinks.aspx?accesskey=a4419d21510fea07d658880f76f2fd18d7316a7921cf41c4baca421190542a30&VaultGUID=A4A 7DACD-B0DC-4322-BD29-F6F07103C6E0; City of Los Angeles, Department of City Planning, Office of Historic Resources, SurveyLA Citywide Historic Context Statement: Architecture and Engineering—Late 19th and Early 20th Century Residential Architecture, 1885–1910 (Los Angeles: City of Los Angeles, July 2019), 16-21, https://planning.lacity.gov/odocument/1481fba6-c496-495c-804e- c56fd98b7f48/Late19thandEarly20thCenturyResidentialArchitecture_1885-1910.pdf
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Period of Significance: 1876–1890s
Associated Property Types: Residential
Representation: Queen Anne-style buildings are present in many San Mateo neighborhoods, and were a popular style of small, bungalow residences in San Mateo’s early residential areas.
Locational Information: Queen Anne-style buildings are fairly common and may be seen in San Mateo’s older neighborhoods that surround the downtown core like Central San Mateo and Eastern Addition.
Character-Defining Features:
• One- to three-stories height
• Asymmetrical façade composition
• Rectangular or square plan with projecting wings or bays • Gable or hip roofs with intersecting or layered cross gables • Exteriors with varied textured (wood siding, shingles, molded trim, sometimes accented with brick or stone)
• Front porch, often in a wrap-around configuration
• Double-hung windows with wood sash, often with smaller square panes surrounding a larger central pane
• Rounded corner towers or angled project bays with angled or boxed profiles Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 142
AMERICAN COLONIAL REVIVAL
The American Colonial Revival style, commonly referred to as Colonial Revival, appeared throughout the United States from the late nineteenth century through the mid-twentieth century and reinterpreted traditional architectural motifs of the American Colonial era that spanned parts of the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries. Architecture in North American colonies often adopted the construction methods, materiality, and aesthetic preferences of the nations who colonized areas now within the United States. The American Colonial Revival style is primarily associated with domestic architecture in New England, the Mid-Atlantic, and Midwest regions, but also appeared on the West Coast with less frequency, where Spanish colonial influence played a major role in the development of regional architecture. The American Colonial Revival style draws heavily on English and Dutch influences. The Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia of 1876 and the World’s Columbian Exposition in Chicago of 1893 popularized the American Colonial Revival style on a national scale. Both expos used colonial architecture in their displays as a way of idealizing the colonial era as a time when everything was simpler and purer. This desire for the past turned into an enthusiasm for all forms of colonial nostalgia, ranging from clothing to furniture.
By the turn of the twentieth century, this trend matured as a distinct style that was more faithful to eighteenth-century American colonial architecture. Between 1910 and 1930, the percentage of new houses built in this style in the United States was around 40 percent. Elements of this style were applied to Minimal Traditional houses constructed between the 1930s and 1950. Likewise, American Colonial Revival styling is applied to new construction in the twenty-first century.505
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
Period of Significance: 1880s–1930s
Associated Property Types: Residential, Commercial, Civic and Institutional Representation: American Colonial Revival-style buildings are fairly common in San Mateo as it was a popular style for many decades, including the years when San Mateo experienced residential expansion.
505 City of Los Angeles, Department of City Planning, Office of Historic Resources, SurveyLA Citywide Historic Context Statement: Architecture and Engineering—American Colonial Revival, 1895–1960 (Los Angeles: City of Los Angeles, December 2, 2015), 3-22, https://planning.lacity.gov/odocument/d26d7637-d6da-4466-aa74-992d63a284dc/American%20Colonial%20Revival%2012-2-15_0.pdf
Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 143
Locational Information: American Colonial Revival-styles buildings are seen in many San Mateo neighborhoods including Eastern Addition, Hayward Park, Baywood, Northeast Hillsdale, and Beresford, among others.
Character-Defining Features:
• Rectangular plan
• Primarily feature brick cladding, usually with secondary stucco or concrete exterior surfaces, and terracotta or cast stone ornament at the base
• Flat roofs with parapets or hip roofs, typically with clay tiles and overhanging eaves • Tripartite vertical organization (base, shaft, capital) • Façade characterized by symmetry or regularity
• Belt courses and cornices
• Molded window surrounds and hoods
• Classically inspired ornament
Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 144
CLASSICAL REVIVAL
The Classical Revival style draws inspiration from many Classical architectural sources, including ancient architecture of Greece, Rome, and Italian architecture constructed during the Renaissance and Baroque periods. During the late nineteenth century, the profession of architecture matured and relied increasingly on academic influences and training, which included study of historical approaches to design. Some architects studied at institutions such as the Ecole des Beaux Arts in Paris, France, where they learned formal principles of design. The institution is also associated with the development of Beaux Arts Classicism, or the Beaux Arts style, which resulted in very formal and often monumental designs, for example, San Francisco’s City Hall. While Classical Revival style shares some aspects with the Beaux Arts style, Classical Revival style buildings incorporate classical architectural vocabulary with simpler approaches intended to adapt features such as columns, porticos, entablatures, and cornices to a variety of building scales: single-family residences, apartment buildings, banks, schools, etc.506
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
Period of Significance: 1890s–1920s
Associated Property Types: Residential, Commercial, Civic and Institutional Representation: Classical-style buildings are not especially common in San Mateo, and few examples appear to survive. Because of the style’s rarity, the qualifying thresholds for historic integrity are lower in comparison to other, more frequently observed architectural styles.
Locational Information: Classical-style buildings are mostly concentrated in San Mateo’s older neighborhoods, including those that radiate from the downtown core.
Character-Defining Features:
• Symmetrically balanced primary elevation with rectangular massing • Primary elevation dominated by full-length porch with roof supported by classical columns • Entries typically have elaborate doors with decorative surrounds based on Greek Revival, Federal, or Georgian designs
• Rectangular multipane double hung windows, topped with broken pediment detailing • Ornamental and decorative elements include columns, cherubs, fluting, and boxed-eave cornices with dentils
506 Elena Moore et al., Progressive Era & Early Revival Styles (c. 1890-c. 1930), San Francisco Planning Department, January 18, 2023, 37–39.
Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 145
MISSION REVIVAL
The Mission Revival style is an architectural style that was influenced by romanticism surrounding former Spanish missions, churches, and other adobe buildings constructed during the colonial period.
Many of these buildings were in poor condition by the late nineteenth century but served as symbols of California’s early settlement by Europeans. They inspired architects, corporations, and institutions who sought architecture that was could be considered authentically Californian. The application of Spanish colonialist architectural motifs also was a way of developing a regional style that varied from other parts of the country. Until this point, West Coast architects adopted East Coast styles, not embracing their own history and surroundings until the Mission Revival style. Furthermore, as interest in Victorian-era styles (such as Italianate and Queen Anne) was surpassed by the growing Arts and Crafts Movement that emphasized basic forms and an appreciation for natural materials, the architecture of the Spanish colonial period was rediscovered. The style developed and spread through California, the American Southwest, and eventually as far as the East Coast, as it was adopted by institutions and corporations who sought architecture that was identifiable with California. Spanish colonial buildings also received attention through the publication of literature and art in the late eighteenth and early twentieth centuries. For instance, several railroad companies selected Mission Revival style for many railroad depots, which brought the style into many California communities as transcontinental travel increased.
After 1915, the Mission Revival style was eclipsed by the more widespread Spanish Colonial Revival style. The Mission Revival style also influences architecture of the recent past and present day, with elements such as stucco, tiled roofs, arcaded facades, and shaped parapets appearing often as a regional vernacular (or design language).507
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
Period of Significance: 1890s–1910s
Associated Property Types: Residential, Commercial
Representation: Mission Revival-style buildings are somewhat common in San Mateo. The popularity of the style did not endure as long as other styles but coincided with the early suburban development of San Mateo.
507 Karen J. Weitze, California’s Mission Revival, (Hennesy & Ingalls, Inc., 1984), 79; Los Angeles Department of City Planning, Citywide Historic Context Statement: Mediterranean and Indigenous Revival Architecture, 1893-1948, 6; McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses, 511.
Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 146
Locational Information: Mission Revival-style buildings are most common in San Mateo’s earlier residential neighborhoods including Central San Mateo and Eastern Addition.
Character-Defining Features:
• Espadaña: a curved or scalloped gable end or parapet extension that functions as an extension of the gabled end wall above the roof line, with openings for bells • Corner towers
• Stucco exterior
• Clay/terracotta tile roofs
• Wide, overhanging eaves
• Rounded arches and arcades
• Verandas, patios, and courtyards
• General lack of ornamentation, often limited to applied tiles or cast plaster motifs • Star-shaped, or quatrefoil (four-leaf) window openings, or openings with such shape in parapets
Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 147
CRAFTSMAN
A style driven by a search for the “simplicity” of pre-industrial times, the Craftsman style was greatly influenced by the Arts and Crafts Movement. The style emphasized natural materials and craftsmanship associated with construction and design. The bungalow became a typically single- story, mass-produced house grouped in middle class neighborhoods. The Craftsman style incorporated elements of Swiss, Japanese, and English architecture and the philosophies of the Arts and Crafts Movement to create site-specific buildings that were modest in form while still embracing craftsmanship and artistic tradition. By the start of World War I, the style declined in popularity due to a change in tastes. Nonetheless, bungalows relying less on wood materiality and more so on economical stucco exteriors were built in high numbers during the 1920s.508 In San Mateo, the Craftsman tradition is expressed in many bungalows, an often low-cost form of the style. The popular sub-type, the California Bungalow, was constructed between 1910 and 1925. Common bungalow typologies include a front or side gable roof with a projecting porch or a hipped roof cottage, which often features a central dormer. Also seen in San Mateo is the Classic Box variation, which has a boxy design with a square footprint and is usually two stories with a hipped roof, central dormers, and a projecting front porch.
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
Period of Significance: 1890s–1930s
Associated Property Types: Residential
Representation: Craftsman-styles buildings are relatively common in San Mateo. The style was popular during San Mateo’s early suburbanization.
Locational Information: Craftsman-style buildings are most common in San Mateo’s early suburban neighborhoods including Central, Hayward Park, and Beresford, among others.
508 McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses, 567–578; City of Los Angeles, Department of City Planning, Office of Historic Resources, SurveyLA Citywide Historic Context Statement: Architecture and Engineering—Arts and Crafts Movement, 1895–1930 (Los Angeles: City of Los Angeles, June 2016), 18, https://planning.lacity.gov/odocument/18037253-197d-483a-8b13- c85fcd553fe8/ArtsandCraftsMovement_1895-1930.pdf
Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 148
Character-Defining Features:
• One- to two-story height
• Exteriors typically clad with shingles or wood siding; stucco exteriors were increasingly common from mid-1910s to 1920s
• Low pitched gabled roofs with wide and overhanging eaves, sometimes with flared, Japanese-influenced profiles
• Exposed structural or decorative wood roofing elements: roof beams, rafters, brackets, braces
• Broad front porches spanning the half or full width of the building • Square or tapered (pyramidal) columns, typically constructed of wood or stone • Stone (“river rock”) or brick accent materials
• Wood casement windows, almost always grouped in pairs or as larger tripartite (“picture”) windows
• Single- and double-hung wood windows, often with multipane sash over single-pane sash
Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 149
TWENTIETH CENTURY COMMERCIAL
San Mateo’s commercial areas, most notably its downtown commercial core, features a mix of twentieth century commercial style buildings. Though not an architectural style in and of itself, this period of commercial architecture is easily discernable by its essential features. Those features generally include two portions - a cornice and a storefront. The cornice usually includes a projecting element at the top of the exterior wall, and the storefront is the exterior wall of a commercial space, usually with a large expanse of glass. Buildings from this period are usually one-part block, comprised of a single story or a two-part block, which usually includes one to three stories above the street- level, which is public while stories above are more private or residential.509 In San Mateo, one-part commercial blocks include many simpler forms for light industrial uses adjacent to the railroad. Some styles reflected in Twentieth Century Commercial buildings include Romanesque Revival, Classical Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival, American Colonial Revival, Art Deco, Streamline Moderne, and Mid- Century Modern.
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
Period of Significance: 1900s-1960s
Associated Property Types: Commercial
Representation: Twentieth Century-commercial buildings are common in San Mateo.
Locational Information: Twentieth Century-commercial buildings are located in several neighborhoods in San Mateo but are especially concentrated in the City’s retail corridors like the downtown core, commercial development adjacent to Bayshore Freeway, and along many sections of El Camino Real and Alameda de las Pulgas.
509 Richard Longstreth, The Buildings of Main Street: A Guide to Commercial Architecture (Preservation Press, 1987), 24-67.
Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 150
Character-Defining Features:
• Cornice/storefront composition
• One- to four-story building height
• Street-level retail/commercial space with private or differentiated use above • Display windows (often with transoms)
• Awnings/signage
Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 151
SPANISH COLONIAL REVIVAL
The Spanish Colonial Revival is an architectural style prevalent in California, which was inspired by the growing interest in the vernacular architecture of Andalusia in Southern Spain in the 1900s. The Spanish Colonial Revival style incorporates details inspired by Moorish, Byzantine, Gothic, or Renaissance architecture, as well as roof tiles common to historical construction in the Mediterranean region. The style’s form fit California’s warm climate and was greatly adaptable to a variety of size and site conditions. The 1915 Panama-California Exposition in San Diego introduced the style to a wide audience, and along with attention paid to European architecture during World War I, encouraged its popularity. Houses in this style were constructed with side-gabled, cross-gabled (L-), or compound plans featured gabled and hip roof forms. Exteriors were typically smooth of moderately textured stucco with ornamentation reserved for columns (often separating windows), paneled wood doors with elaborate surrounds, gable vents set behind patterned screens or grilles or made of cylindrical pipe. More so than detail, the picturesque composition of the building itself was emphasized, with features such as porches, small balconies, towers or turret bays, and prominent focal windows appearing in strong examples of the style.510 Sub-types of the Spanish Colonial Revival style include Mediterranean Revival and Spanish Eclectic.
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
510 City of Los Angeles, Department of City Planning, Office of Historic Resources, SurveyLA Citywide Historic Context Statement: Architecture and Engineering—Mediterranean and Indigenous Revival Architecture, 1893–1948 (Los Angeles: City of Los Angeles, November 2018), 14- 25, https://planning.lacity.gov/odocument/097f6db5-feee-43f5-a448- fd140763de90/MediterraneanandIndigenousRevivalArchitecture_1893-1948.pdf
Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 152
Period of Significance: 1915–1930s
Associated Property Types: Residential, Commercial, Civic and Institutional Representation: Spanish Colonial Revival-style buildings are common in San Mateo.
Locational Information: Spanish Colonial Revival-style buildings are present in many of San Mateo’s neighborhoods, especially those that developed during San Mateo’s suburbanization that began after the City’s incorporation. The style is well-represented in the downtown core and in neighborhoods like Hayward Park, Baywood, San Mateo Park, and Aragon, among others.
Character-Defining Features:
• Stucco exteriors, usually smooth, but sometimes with moderate texture • Low-pitched gable and/or hip roofs with little to no eave overhang • Clay roof tiles
• Arched windows and openings
• Occasional tower used as a vertical accent
• Enclosed outdoor spaces
• Wrought iron railings for balconies and window grilles (rejas) • Picturesque massing, comping rectangular and cylindrical masses • Asymmetrical façades
• Mix of large focal windows and smaller rectangular windows • Attic vents consisting of small-diameter red clay pipes, or set behind patterned screens (cut into façade)
• Distinctly shaped and capped chimneys
Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 153
TUDOR REVIVAL
The Tudor Revival style is an eclectic mixture of English building traditions of the Tudor, Elizabethan, and Jacobean eras, drawing inspiration from housing types ranging from cottages to large mansions.
Historians have also referred to the style as “Jacobethan” given its historical influences. In the United States, the style emerged as an adaption of Tudor, Elizabethan, and Jacobean features to Queen Anne style houses, eventually evolving to more faithfully revive English historical styling. It is often identified by steeply pitched gable roofs and distinct half-timbered surfaces, where stucco or brick fill wall areas between visible timber beams. Through explicit reference to English country architecture, the flexible and easily adaptable style with great versatility in floor planning was a popular choice for middle class houses in the late 1920s and 1930s, possibly accounting for around 25 percent of houses built during the 1920s. Like the Queen Anne style that preceded it in popularity in the United States, the Tudor Revival style also relied on asymmetry, intersecting and projecting roof forms in creating picturesque massing. Other common, prominent features included massive chimneys, leaded-glass or wood casement windows in single, paired, and other multiple sash configurations, stained glass, and arched openings at entrances.511
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
Period of Significance: 1890s–1930s
Associated Property Types: Residential, Commercial
Representation: Tudor Revival-style buildings are somewhat common in San Mateo.
Locational Information: As is the case with other revival styles, Tudor Revival-style buildings are present in many of San Mateo’s neighborhoods, especially those that developed during San Mateo’s suburbanization that began after the City’s incorporation. The style is well-represented in residential neighborhoods like Hayward Park, Baywood, San Mateo Park, and Aragon. There are also some commercial examples of the style in San Mateo’s downtown core and along West 25th Avenue.
Character-Defining Features:
• One- to three-story height
• Varied plans, steeply-pitched cross-gabled roofs
• Half-timbering at the exterior, often on the face of projecting bays or gabled ends • Brick or stucco primary cladding with brick or stone accents
511 McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses, 448–474.
Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 154
• Large, elaborate chimneys often crowned by decorative chimney pots • Entrances with arched openings
• Hand-hewn detailing on wood beams framing porches or entrances • One or more groupings of wood or metal casement windows usually in groups of three or more
• May have rectangular or diamond-shaped panes
Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 155
FRENCH ECLECTIC
Similar to other revival styles, French Eclectic drew on inspiration from the architecture, history, and literature of preindustrial periods in Europe. Primarily used in single-family residential neighborhoods, it is often the least decorative of the residential revival styles, and often only involved the application of one or two design elements on an otherwise minimalist building. Inspired by rambling French farmhouses, it became popular in the United States after World War I. Variations of the style are called “French Norman” or “French Provencial,” and uses combinations of materials including stucco, half-timbering, stone, and wood-shingle to suggest development over time. More complex examples of the style feature a prominent tower entry at the primary elevation.
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
Period of Significance: 1920–1940
Associated Property Types: Residential
Representation: French Eclectic-style buildings are somewhat common in San Mateo.
Locational Information: Of the revival styles exemplified in San Mateo, French Eclectic-style buildings appear to be less popular. Examples of the style are seen with moderate concentration in San Mateo Park and Baywood, while examples may be present in other residential neighborhoods from the period.
Character-Defining Features:
• One- to two-story height
• Irregular massing and fenestration
• Horizontal massing
• Roofs with long pitches, may be steeply pitched, hipped, clipped • Stucco, brick, and stone exteriors
• Half-timbering
• Dormers
Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 156
ASIAN ECLECTIC
Asian Eclectic architecture is a fusion style and ornamentation, frequently assembled in fantastical combinations to appear exotic. The style emerged in the early 1900s when Look Tin Eli, a Chinese American businessman is credited with creating a faux Chinese façade that would become distinctive in Chinatown neighborhoods.512 Buildings designed to be “Chinese-looking” began to include ornamental details, like pagodas. Designs were concentrated in Chinatowns, and then Japantowns as the style began to evolve. Other decorative elements included curved canopies, dragon motifs, oriental and geometric motifs, and brightly colored tile roofs.513
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
Period of Significance: 1900-1950
Associated Property Types: Commercial, Civic and Institutional, Cultural and Ethnic Representation: Asian Eclectic -style buildings are rare in San Mateo. The popularity of the style is largely limited to buildings associated with San Mateo’s Asian populations. Because of the style’s rarity, the qualifying thresholds for historic integrity are lower in comparison to other, more frequently observed architectural styles.
Locational Information: The few examples of the style in the City appear closely surrounding the downtown core.
Character-Defining Features:
• Sweeping roofs with flared gables
• Ornamented roof ridges
• Brightly colored roof ridge
• Elaborate surrounds on entryways and windows
• Geometrical or oriental motif details
512 “San Francisco Chinese American Historic Context Statement,” (City of San Francisco Planning Department, 2021), 78, at https://sfplanning.org/sites/default/files/documents/preserv/ChineseAmericanHCS/ChineseAmericanHCS-draft.pdf. 513 City of Los Angeles, Department of City Planning, Office of Historic Resources, SurveyLA Citywide Historic Context Statement: Japanese Americans in Los Angeles, 1869–1970 (Los Angeles: City of Los Angeles, August 2018), 95, https://planning.lacity.gov/odocument/bf97b9b9- cb81-4661-8d20-62c02b9c1415/SurveyLA_JapaneseAmericanContextandResources_Aug2018.pdf
Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 157
ART DECO
Art Deco, which takes its name from the Exposition Internationale des Arts Décoratifs et Industriels Modernes (International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts) held in Paris in 1925, was a short-lived response to modernism that quickly spread to the United States. American architects designed elaborate buildings that broke from the rigid structure of the Beaux Arts classical tradition. Art Deco captured the spirit of modernity, while still incorporating expensive and sophisticated forms and materials in a way that exuded a sense of luxury and splendor. At the time, the recent discovery of King Tutankhamun’s tomb, in part, prompted a cultural fascination in non- Western design, leading Art Deco architects to draw inspiration from Ancient Egyptian, Mesopotamian, or pre-Colombian cultures, including the Maya of Central America. Some buildings were designed with features such as shaped parapets, zig-zag shaped detailing, and ornate cornices or other elements that showcased Art Deco styling, while some buildings simply featured applied ornamentation that lent buildings with generally less distinctive forms a bit of Art Deco flair. Further development of the style was truncated by the Great Depression and its ostentatious and wealthy silhouettes quickly faded away from American architecture.514
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
Period of Significance: 1925–1930s
Associated Property Types: Residential, Commercial, Civic and Institutional Representation: Art Deco -style buildings are somewhat rare in San Mateo because the window of popularity of the style is rather narrow. Because of the style’s rarity, the qualifying thresholds for historic integrity are lower in comparison to other, more frequently observed architectural styles.
Locational Information: Examples of Art Deco-style buildings are present in the downtown core with disparate examples in some of San Mateo’s early suburban neighborhoods, including Eastern Addition, among others.
Character-Defining Features:
• One- to several-story height
• Characterized by linear, hard edge, or angular composition • Building facades commonly have a series of setbacks to emphasize their geometric form
514 McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses, 580–585.
Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 158
• Smooth wall surface, with stylized geometric motifs including zigzags and chevrons • Decorative façade elements like towers and vertical projections above the roofline that give a vertical emphasis to the building
• Other common decorative details include fluting, sunrise patterns, and geometric florals Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 159
STREAMLINE MODERNE
After the Art Deco style entered the American architectural scene in the mid-1920s, the harsh realities of the Great Depression subdued the sense of optimism associated with the years immediately after World War I. Despite economic downturn, scientific and technological advancements continued during the interwar years between the early 1920s and early 1940s, forming what has been described as the American Machine Age. Design professionals sought methods of balancing design with economic constraints and influenced by the design of Modern machines (cars, planes, trains, steamships). The Streamline Moderne style took the principles emphasized by industrial designers such as Norman Bel Geddes (the “father of streamlining”) and replaced the geometric and exotic aspects of Art Deco with smooth exteriors, curved forms, and an emphasis on horizontal lines that lent architecture a sense of movement. More affordable materials, such as glass block, aluminum, and stainless steel, were incorporated into Streamline Moderne designs, and favored over more expensive materials that contributed to earlier Art Deco designs.
With the onset of World War II and related limitations on building construction, the Streamline Moderne style’s period of popularity came to a close. By the mid-1940s, newly emergent trends in Modern architecture took hold.515
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
515 City of Los Angeles, Department of City Planning, SurveyLA Citywide Historic Context Statement: Architecture and Engineering—L.A.
Modernism, 1919–1980 (Los Angeles: Office of Historic Resources, 2021), https://planning.lacity.gov/odocument/4f67bd39-631a-4f26- 9a52-cd5809a66655/LA_Modernism_1919-1980.pdf.
Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 160
Period of Significance: 1930s–1940s
Associated Property Types: Residential, Commercial, Civic and Institutional Representation: Streamline Moderne buildings are somewhat rare in San Mateo because the window of popularity of the style is rather narrow. Because of the style’s rarity, the qualifying thresholds for historic integrity are lower in comparison to other, more frequently observed architectural styles.
Locational Information: Examples of Streamline Moderne-style buildings are present in the downtown core with residential examples in early suburban neighborhoods, like Aragon and Southeast Hillsdale. Disparate examples may be present in other residential neighborhoods developed in the 1930s and 1940s.
Character-Defining Features:
• Horizontal massing and emphasis, including ribbon windows or speed stripes that lead the eye along the exterior
• Rounded corners and curved surfaces
• Flat or nearly flat roof, sometimes with a flat parapet that is trimmed with plaster or metal coping
• “Speed stripes” at wall surfaces or on canopies that appear at entrances or over services areas (for example at gas stations)
• Horizontal moldings and continuous sill courses
• Smooth stucco cladding
• Windows with metal sash, often casements, sometimes arranged in ribbons, but typically with horizontal orientation
• Windows are often punched into walls, with no exterior casing or surrounds • Unadorned wall surfaces and with minimal ornamentation Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 161
MINIMAL TRADITIONAL
Fueled by the economic constraints of the Great Depression and the subsequent housing shortage of the immediate post-war era, the Minimal Traditional architectural style was a deliberate design and construction trend intended to create simple, economic, single-family residences for the masses. In the Federal Housing Administration’s 1940 version of Planning Small Houses, the word “simple” appears frequently in descriptions of the exterior design of the Minimal Traditional house. Efficient floor plans and speedy construction enabled the mass production of these houses: first between 1940 and 1945 as houses for relocating wartime production-plant workers and then between 1946 and 1949 for returning servicemen promised affordable housing through the G.I. Bill. Instant suburban communities appeared across the country, sometimes only using subtle variations of building prototypes replicated over and over to house thousands. By about 1950, Ranch houses began to replace Minimal Traditional Style houses, as post-war prosperity facilitated the building and financing of larger homes.516
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
Period of Significance: 1930s–1950s
Associated Property Types: Residential
Representation: Minimal Traditional-style buildings are very common in San Mateo and represent the most popular architectural style for residences built leading up to and following World War II.
Because of the popularity of the style, the qualifying thresholds for historic integrity are higher in comparison to other, rarer styles of architecture.
Locational Information: Examples of Minimal Traditional-style buildings are present in most of San Mateo’s World War II-era developments, including Hillsdale, Fiesta Gardens, San Mateo Village, Laurelwood, Sunnybrae, and Shoreview, among others.
Character-Defining Features:
• Low or moderately pitched roof, often gabled or hipped • Small, usually single-story massing
• Roof eaves with little to no overhang
• Double-hung windows
• Minimal decorative or architectural detail, often incorporating some traditional Colonial Revival or Classical elements (column, dentil, pedimented front door) • Principal subtypes include gable and wing roof, side gabled roof (also commonly called Cape Cod), hipped roof, and front gabled houses
516 McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses, 586–595.
Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 162
RANCH STYLE
“Ranch House” is a broad term that refers to a property type and an architectural style most often applied to residential buildings. Examples of Ranch houses appeared in limited numbers prior to the 1920s, while the 1930s through 1970s were the predominant years of the type’s construction. Ranch houses and Ranch styling were influenced by nineteenth-century vernacular residences in the American West and Southwest. Haciendas built in Southern California and wood-frame houses built by early American pioneers in Northern California, Texas, and elsewhere in the United States informed the style’s development. Haciendas featured adobe walls, low-pitched shed or gable roofs, and decorative wood windows grilles (rejas) or lattices (celosias) and featured asymmetrical plans that opened to an interior courtyard, which drew on Spanish precedents. Early American farmhouses were also typically asymmetrical in plan, with front porches, board-and-batten siding, and wood shake (long shingle) roofs. By the early 1900s, architects in California were designing houses drawing on these influences. William Wurster, an influential Bay Area Modernist architect, designed an early Ranch house in Scotts Valley, Santa Clara County known as the Gregory Farmhouse, which was featured in Sunset magazine. These early examples in the style preceded the influential work of architect Cliff May, who is strongly linked with the Ranch house’s popularization.
The ranch houses designed between the 1920s to 1940s were often architect-designed, custom houses on relatively large sites. After World War II, Ranch houses gained popularity as publications such as Sunset magazine and its related Western Ranch Houses, as well as House Beautiful and House and Garden. As the style was further publicized, developers began to favor it for mass-produced suburban communities. Into the 1970s, the style was adapted to commercial and institutional functions such as motels, gas stations, supermarkets, churches, civic buildings, and schools. Circa 1975, the Ranch style’s popularity declined due to a scarcity of expansive buildable land resulting from the previous decade’s suburbanization of many areas and a growing desire for more formal and traditional styles.517
517 Los Angeles City Planning Department, The Ranch House, 1930–1975, Los Angeles Citywide Historic Context Statement (Los Angeles: City of Los Angeles, n.d.), accessed December 13, 2025, https://planning.lacity.gov/odocument/1acefe03-5615-425f-9182- d58a79014901/The_Ranch_House%2C_1930-1975.pdf.McAlester, A Field Guide to Modern American Houses, 597–611.
Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 163
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
Period of Significance: 1930s–1970s
Associated Property Types: Residential, Commercial
Representation: Ranch-style buildings are very common in San Mateo and represent a very popular architectural style for buildings built leading up to and following World War II. Because of the popularity of the style, the qualifying thresholds for historic integrity are higher in comparison to other, rarer styles of architecture.
Locational Information: Examples of Ranch-style buildings are present in most of San Mateo’s World War II-era developments, including Hillsdale, Baywood Knolls, Hillsdale, Laurelwood, Country Club Heights, and Sugarloaf, among others.
Character-Defining Features:
• Low or moderately pitched roof, often gabled or hipped • Usually single-story with broad massing
• Roof eaves with little to no overhang
• Double-hung or sliding windows
• Front entry very commonly sheltered by main roof of structure • Often includes integrated garage
• Minimal decorative or architectural detail, often incorporating some traditional Colonial Revival or Classical elements (column, dentil, pedimented front door) • Principal subtypes include hipped roof, cross-hipped roof, side-gabled roof, cross-gabled roof and split-levels.
Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 164
MID-CENTURY MODERN
The term Mid-Century Modern is a broad classification used to describe a variety of post-World War II architectural and design styles that adapted the International Style, which was among the pre- World War II architectural styles important to the development of Modern architecture. The decades after World War II brought about the United States’ longest period of continuous growth and the rise of Mid-Century Modernism as the dominant mode of post-war architecture. The style embraced new technology and materials, the philosophy of indoor-outdoor living, and stylized clean simplicity.
Found in a wide assortment of building types, the lack of ornament and inclusion of historical detailing was extremely versatile, and designers could meet the needs of almost any client. Mid- Century Modern architecture has been applied to residential building types, is often seen in California downtown districts that saw extensive post-World War II expansion or redevelopment, and was also adapted to institutional and industrial buildings, typically with more restrained forms. Beyond new construction during the post-World War II period, Mid-Century Modern architectural elements were also used in designing additions to earlier buildings, or for example, in modernizing features such as storefronts, entrances, and exterior cladding. These patterns were seen in many communities in California, as downtowns that emerged during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries adapted to broader planning and developmental patterns, such as embracing the automobile (and related parking needs) and incorporating signage that could be seen by passing car traffic. A very exuberant sub-style of Mid-Century Modern architecture is the Googie style, made famous by California roadside commercial buildings with attention-getting rooflines and signage.518
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
Period of Significance: 1940s–1960s
Associated Property Types: Residential, Commercial, Civic and Institutional
518 Mary Brown, San Francisco Modern Architecture and Landscape Design 1935-1970 Historic Context Statement, San Francisco Planning Department, 2011, 121–125, at
https://sfplanninggis.org/docs/Historical_Context_Statements/Modern%20Architecture%20Context%20adopted%20Jan%202011.pdf.
Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 165
Representation: Mid-Century Modern-style buildings are well-represented in San Mateo and was a popular architectural style, particularly following World War II. Because of the popularity of the style, the qualifying thresholds for historic integrity are higher in comparison to other, rarer styles of architecture.
Locational Information: Examples of Mid-Century Modern-style buildings are present in many of San Mateo’s World War II-era developments, including Sunnybrae, San Mateo Village, Fiesta Garden, and Shoreview, among others. Many commercial examples of the styles are present along El Camino Real.
Character-Defining Features:
• Exposed wood, concrete, and or/or steel structural components, especially posts and beams • Simple geometric volumes
• Unornamented wall surfaces
• Flat, cantilevered roofs
• Wide overhanging eaves common but not required
• Use of bright or contrasting colors
• Spandrel glass in floor to ceiling windows
• Open floor plans
• Integration with the outdoors through overhanging trellises, pergolas, atriums, and planters • Horizontal massing
• Upper stories framed by projecting boxes
• Stucco siding
• Vertical corrugated siding
• Stacked Roman brick cladding
• Stone veneer cladding
• Projecting trellis
• “Googie” style variations typically have projecting roof forms (butterfly, zigzag) and roadside signage
Architectural Styles
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 166
CORPORATE MODERN
In the years following World War II, the era of structural steel design led to a new building type typically expressed for use in modern office towers, banks, and even apartment building construction. An application of the International Style at a larger scale, the style emphasizes the structural expression of the building, including the use of curtain wall construction, articulated frames, and concrete. As the style evolved, it also included cladding systems that used new materials like cut stone, laminates, and reflective solar glass.519
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
Period of Significance: 1960–1980
Associated Property Types: Residential, Commercial, Civic and Institutional Representation: Corporate Modern-style buildings are well-represented in San Mateo and was a popular architectural style for corporate campuses and business parks. Because of the popularity of the style, the qualifying thresholds for historic integrity are higher in comparison to other, rarer styles of architecture.
Locational Information: Examples of Corporate Modern-style buildings are represented in many buildings along El Camino Real. Other examples are concentrated in corporate business parks like those in Borel Place, office parks adjacent to Highway 92, and along Bayshore Freeway.
Character-Defining Features:
• Large, tower massing
• Steel or concrete construction with structural system expressed • Flat roofs that may include projecting canopies
• Form is typically geometric and simple
• Large expanses of glass are typical
• Little exterior ornamentation
519 Carole Rifkind, A Field Guide to Contemporary American Architecture (Plume, 2001), 265-311.
Architectural Styles
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NEW FORMALISM
New Formalism is an American architectural style that combined updated classical elements with modernist forms and technologies. First appearing in Edward Durrell Stone’s American Embassy in New Delhi in 1954, New Formalism broke from the minimalism of the modernist International style and worked classical forms, proportions, and motifs into the style. Focusing on monumental forms, the style takes liberties with the aesthetics and philosophies of the past, while adapting the technology and features of the present into massive forms often used in the context of civic and institutional buildings. New Formalism represents a radical and historically oriented departure from the rigid culture of the modernist movement through the embracing of classical precedents.520
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
Period of Significance: 1954–1970s
Associated Property Types: Commercial, Civic and Institutional Representation: New Formalism-style buildings are somewhat rare in San Mateo because of the relatively short window of popularity of the style and its typically reserved application for commercial and occasional civic and institutional property types. Because of the rarity of the style, the qualifying thresholds for historic integrity are lower in comparison to other styles of architecture.
Locational Information: Examples of New Formalism-style buildings are represented in a handful of buildings along El Camino Real.
Character-Defining Features:
• Large volumes
• Rectangular massing
• Strictly symmetrical facades that use full height colonnades • Formally landscaped plaza
• Classically derived details such as arches, columns, and entablatures • Modern-inspired details such as honeycomb screens, shell forms, and folded plates • Often three or more stories in height
• Integrated parking lot: subterranean or above grade
• Flat roof, usually with a heavy and extending overhand • Set on a podium
520 McAlester, A Field Guide to American Houses, 654–692; City of Los Angeles, Department of City Planning, Office of Historic Resources, SurveyLA Citywide Historic Context Statement: Architecture and Engineering—L.A. Modernism, 1919–1980 (Los Angeles: City of Los Angeles, August 2021), 190-201, https://planning.lacity.gov/odocument/4f67bd39-631a-4f26-9a52-cd5809a66655/LA_Modernism_1919-1980.pdf
Architectural Styles
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POSTMODERN
Postmodern architecture emerged in the late twentieth century and moved away from the modernist principles of the previous period. A resurgence in interest in earlier styles and classicism led to the application of a style that incorporated classical and historic references, while also integrating elements of irony, ornament, play, and symbolism.521 In many cases, references to previous period architecture is eclectic, and based on the use of mundane and vernacular materials.
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
Period of Significance: mid-1960s–2000s
Associated Property Types: Residential, Commercial, Civic and Institutional Representation: Post Modern-style buildings are somewhat rare in San Mateo because the City’s development generally predates the style.
Locational Information: Examples of Postmodern-style buildings are represented in a handful of buildings is disparate locations throughout the city and tend to be the result of later, infill development.
Character-Defining Features:
• Typically more than one story
• Use of exaggerated or abstracted ornamentation
• Selectively references earlier era vernacular or classical design features • Typically incorporates an unorthodox use of material
• Displays eclectic, contrasting, or colliding materials or graphic patterning • May include sculptural forms
521 City of Los Angeles, Department of City Planning, Office of Historic Resources, SurveyLA Citywide Historic Context Statement: Architecture and Engineering—Postmodernism, 1965–1991 (Los Angeles: City of Los Angeles, 2018), 1, https://planning.lacity.gov/odocument/a03c2624-ea2e-4d4b-b41c-df38d78713d3/Postmodernism_1965-1991_2.pdf
Architectural Styles
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BAY TRADITION REGIONAL STYLES
The Bay Tradition (also known as Bay Area Regional Tradition) developed in three phases between the late nineteenth century and mid-twentieth century. These styles are regional interpretations and began with the First Bay Tradition between the 1880s and 1920s. This style adapted the East Coast Shingle style to the Bay Area’s climate and brought an eclectic mix of forms to residential and institutional architecture that varied from the formality of the Classical Revival and Beaux Arts. The First Bay Tradition featured the natural materials (shingles and shakes) of the Shingle style and asymmetry. It was common to see houses with brick bases and shingles exteriors with limited classical or Gothic-influenced ornamentation.
The Second Bay Tradition developed during the growth of the Modern Movement, from the 1930s to the 1950s. Buildings with clean, Modern forms were clad with wood siding (horizontal or vertical), or shingles, often flat roofs, and adapted to emphasize indoor-outdoor connection within the site, or to adapt to complex site conditions. The Third Bay Tradition emerged in the 1960s and if typically traced to The Sea Ranch development along the coast of northern Sonoma County. Also clad in wood materials, this third iteration of region style often feature forms that were similar to barns, with gable or pitched roofs. More so than the First and Second Bay Traditions, the Third Bay Tradition became favored for use in multifamily residential architecture, such as condominium developments and in some cases campus housing.
Source: Rincon Consultants, Inc., 2025
Period of Significance: First Bay Tradition (1890s–1920s), Second Bay Tradition (1930s–1950s), Third Bay Tradition (1960s–1970s)
Associated Property Types: Residential, Commercial, Civic and Institutional Representation: Bay Tradition Regional-style buildings are not uncommon in San Mateo because the style evolved over time, but does not appear to be especially popular. Because of the relative rarity of the style, the qualifying thresholds for historic integrity are lower in comparison to other, more common styles of architecture.
Locational Information: Examples of Bay Tradition Regional-style buildings are present in many neighborhoods in San Mateo, because of its repetition and evolvement through time. First and Second Bay Traditions are more common in San Mateo’s earliest developed neighborhoods like Central San Mateo and early subdivisions like Hayward Park and Eastern Addition. Later examples may be present in many later subdivisions, including more recently developed neighborhoods, with commercial examples along El Camino Real.
Architectural Styles
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Character-Defining Features:
• Exposed wood, concrete, and or/or steel structural components, especially posts and beams • Simple geometric volumes
• Unornamented wall surfaces
• Flat, cantilevered roofs
• Wide overhanging eaves common but not required
• Use of bright or contrasting colors
• Spandrel glass in floor to ceiling windows
• Open floor plans
• Integration with the outdoors through overhanging trellises, pergolas, atriums, and planters
Architectural Styles
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Architects, Landscape Architects, Developers, and
Builders
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ARCHITECTS, LANDSCAPE
ARCHITECTS, DEVELOPERS, AND
BUILDERS
This section provides brief biographies of design, construction, and development professionals identified through research for the Historic Context Statement. Identified projects associated with each individual or firm and located within the city of San Mateo are listed below each biography. This is not a comprehensive list of design, construction, and development professionals with examples of work in San Mateo and is limited to those who were introduced in the narrative.
ARCHITECTS
Armet & Davis
Architects Louis Armet and Eldon Davis gained prominence as Los Angeles-based designers of commercial buildings featuring mid-twentieth century, Googie styling. Armet and Davis graduated from the University of Southern California School of Architecture in 1929 and 1942, respectively.
Their practice was established in 1947 and became synonymous with the proliferation of Googie style architecture that appeared along commercial corridors and in commercial districts during post-World War II decades. The firm is credited as designer of over 4,000 restaurants, including prototypes for chains, such as Denny’s and Bob’s Big Boy, along with notable properties, including Norm’s, Pann’s, and Mel’s coffee shops in Los Angeles. In 1972, associate Victor Newlove became a partner in the firm, and it became Armet Davis Newlove. Louis Armet died in 1981, and the practice continued and was led by Davis and Newlove. After Davis’ death in 2011, Newlove continued the practice as Armet Davis Newlove & Associates.522 An example of their work in San Mateo includes:
• Villa Square Coffee Shop (1965)
John Knox Ballantine, Jr.
John Knox Ballantine, Jr. was born in Illinois in 1893. He moved to California in 1913, eventually setting up his practice in Berkeley at 1512 La Loma Street. He was a member of the AIA and served on the State Association of California Architects.523 He specialized in residential design and designed both elaborate and economical houses. He worked with the G.W. Williams Company to design houses with small footprints for the Sunnybrae neighborhood. The houses were constructed with light units from the Soule Steel Co. and finished with an exterior stucco.524 The unit construction allowed a house to be completed on a short schedule, conducive for tract development. Ballantine died in 1974. Examples of his work in San Mateo include:
• Sunnybrae tract homes (1930s–1940s)
522 Los Angeles Conservancy, “Armet & Davis,” accessed January 5, 2026, https://www.laconservancy.org/learn/architect- biographies/armet-davis/.
523 The Architect and Engineer, 1936, accessed February 19, 2026, https://www.usmodernist.org/AECA/AECA-1936-10-1937-03.pdf. 524 House and Garden, Vol. 76, No. 2, 12, August 1939, accessed February 19, 2026, https://www.usmodernist.org/HG/HG-1939-08.pdf.
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Campbell & Wong
The firm Campbell & Wong was established by John Carden Campbell and Worley Wong in 1946 and remained active until 1968, when Wong reorganized the practice with architect Ronald Brocchini as Wong & Brocchini. The duo worked in Northern California, with Campbell as designer and Wong as architect. Documentation of their body of work indicates they focused on residential projects, including single-family and multifamily designs for private homeowners and institutions such as University of California, Berkeley, University of California, Santa Cruz, and California State University, East Bay (formerly Hayward). Campbell in particular was known as an early adopter of the A-frame and was awarded for several designs by the AIA.525 An example of their work in San Mateo includes:
• Lauriedale Apartments (c. 1965)
Ernest Coxhead
Ernest Coxhead was born in Eastbourne, England in 1863. He attended the Royal Academy and Architectural Association in London. In 1886, he moved to Los Angeles with his brother and opened an architecture practice, which they relocated to San Francisco in 1890. During his early career, Coxhead focused on church design in the Bay Area before focusing on residential designs and was involved in the emerging Arts and Crafts style. After a brief time in France, where he served as the Chief of University Extension Field Work of the Fine Arts Department at the University School of Architecture in Beaune, France, Coxhead returned to California and lived in Berkeley until his death in 1933.526 An example of his work in San Mateo includes:
• Coxhead House (c. 1893)
Herbert E. Goodpastor
Herbert E. Goodpastor was born in Marysville, California in 1901. He graduated with an architecture degree from the University of California, Berkeley in 1926 and became a licensed architect in 1932.
Based in Sacramento, he opened his own practice in 1935 but placed his practice on hiatus while he served in World War II. His early practice appears to have focused on residential architecture. By the mid-century, however, his work was mostly focused in the Sacramento area where he worked on several commercial, civic, and institutional buildings, all in the Mid-Century Modern style. He was a past president of the Central Valley Chapter of the AIA. He was a delegate to the AIA’s California Council and was a past president of the Sacramento Society of Architects. He died in 1964.527 Examples of his work in San Mateo include:
• 425 Edgewood Road (1934)
• 406 Edgewood Road (1936)
525 San Francisco Planning Department, “Campbell & Wong (1946-1986) Firm of Merit” in Architecture, Planning, and Preservation Professionals: A Collection of Biographies. Accessed December 23, 2025, https://sfplanning.org/project/architecture-planning-and- preservation-professionals-collection-biographies#info. 526 UC Berkeley, Environmental Design Archives, “Ernest Coxhead Collection,” accessed February 19, 2026, https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf087001g5/.
527 “Herbert Goodpastor Services Monday,” The Sacramento Union, December 7, 1964, https://www.newspapers.com/image/999641920/?article=4764d18e-8e13-4dbb-b161- d1bf5378428e&terms=%22herbert%20goodpastor%22.
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Builders
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Grimes and Schoening
Grimes and Schoening was an engineering and architectural firm composed of architects Gerlad M.
Grimes and Herman A. Schoening.528 The partnership, which was active in the area in the late 1920s, appears to be an iteration of several firms that included Grimes, including Grimes & Scott and Grimes, Lockwood & Schoening, all of which practiced in the Bay Area and specialized in residential work. An example of their work in San Mateo includes:
• 639 Fordham Road (1930)
Leonard Michaels and Associates
Leonard Michaels was born in London England in 1919. He attended Jesus College at Cambridge University, where he studied architecture. During World War II he joined the British Royal Navy.
Following World War II, he worked in London designing public housing projects and published his thesis Contemporary Structure in Architecture. He immigrated to the United States in 1950 and worked for a short time for architect Eric Mendelsohn in San Francisco before opening his own firm.
He worked on residential, commercial, and institutional designs. He lived in San Mateo for many years before his death in 2008.529 Examples of his work in San Mateo include:
• Peninsula Temple Beth El at 1700 Alameda de las Pulgas (1956) • San Mateo Central Park Recreation Building (1965)
• The Towers at 20 West 3rd Avenue (1980)
Lewis P. Hobart
Lewis P. Hobart was born in St. Louis in 1873. He received his bachelor’s and master’s degrees in architecture from University of California, Berkeley. Eventually opening his own practice in San Francisco, his work was heavily influenced by his training at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. Hobart was very involved in the rebuilding of San Francisco after the 1906 Earthquake and is credited with many of the city’s notable buildings.530 His work included many churches, civic and institutional buildings, and private residences. He died in 1954. In San Mateo, his work includes:
• Mills Hospital (1914 and 1928)
Miller & Steiner
San Mateo-based architects Elmer Jay (E. Jay) Miller and Robert D. Steiner led residential, institutional, and commercial projects in Peninsula communities during the mid-twentieth century.
Miller was born in Michigan and worked for the State of California Division of Architecture by 1940 and served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.531 Steiner was born in San Francisco and served in
528 Building and Engineering News, October 27, 1928,
https://www.google.com/books/edition/Building_and_Engineering_News/JiaCEr92qo4C?hl=en&gbpv=1&dq=%22gerald+grimes%22+archit ect&pg=RA19-PA6&printsec=frontcover.
529 “Leonard Michaels Obituary,” San Francisco Chronicle, March 19, 2008, https://www.legacy.com/us/obituaries/sfgate/name/leonard- michaels-obituary?id=7229590.
530 UC Berkeley, Environmental Design Archives, “San Francisco Blueprint Collection, 1906-1961,” accessed February 19, 2026, https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c851469f.
531 “Elmer Jay Miller” in U.S., World War II Draft Cards Young Men, 1940-1947, accessed via Ancestry.com December 20, 2025, https://www.ancestry.com/search/collections/2238/records/18470230.
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the Navy during World War II.532 While less is known about Miller’s architectural training, Steiner graduated from Stanford University in 1935 and apprenticed with noted architect Gardner Dailey before forming the partnership Miller & Steiner Architects. Miller and Steiner designed over 500 buildings, with multiple San Mateo projects rendered in varying Modern styles.533 Steiner was also known as a custom home designer on the Peninsula. Both Miller and Steiner resided in Hillsborough, where Steiner was a founding member of the Hillsborough Architectural Design Review Board and served as a consultant for the Town of Hillsborough. After Miller’s death in 1982, Steiner continued the practice until his retirement in 1993 and transitioned to limited consultation until his death in 1998.534 Examples of their work in San Mateo include:
• Commercial building for Algodon Company at 4thand Ellsworth avenues (1952) • The Benevolent Protective Order of Elks (Elks) Lodge No. 1112 at 229 West 20th Avenue (1958)
• Bank of America’s A.P. Giannini Memorial Branch 300 South El Camino Real (with Wurster Bernardi & Emmons) (1963)
• Martin Luther King Community Center at 725 Monte Diablo Avenue (c. 1965) • Multiple commercial buildings at Borel Place (1960s)
Ernest Norberg
Ernest Norberg was born in Nebraska in 1890 before relocating to San Francisco as a young boy with his family. Following the 1906 Earthquake, Norberg moved to Burlingame and commuted to high school in San Francisco. He and his brother John studied architecture, eventually opening a practice together in San Francisco and then Burlingame. Norberg worked for many years for the Army Corps of Engineers and was known as “Colonel Norberg.” He served as director of the State Association of California Architects.535 He was noted as having “designed most of the outstanding buildings erected in San Mateo and Burlingame in the last few years.”536 Norberg was very involved in his community until his death in 1979 at the age of 89. Examples of his work in San Mateo include:
• San Mateo High School at 506 North Delaware Street (1927) • Casa Baywood Apartments at 212 South El Camino Real (1929) • First Church of Christ, Scientist at 150 North El Camino Real (1928) • Medical Arts Building at 205 East 3rd Avenue (1929)
• Del Cerrito Apartments at 212 Eaton Road (1930)
Willis Polk
Willis Polk was born in Jacksonville, Illinois in 1867. He lived for many years in Kentucky and relocated several times during childhood before moving to San Francsico in approximately 1888. There, he was part of an architectural firm with his father, also Willis and brother, Daniel. The firm was called Polk and Polk. Willis served as chief designer and Daniel oversaw draftsmen. Daniel left the firm in 1897 to
532 “Robert D. Steiner.” SFGate. April 23, 1998, accessed December 20, 2025, https://www.sfgate.com/news/article/Robert-Steiner- 3008718.php.
533 “Robert D. Steiner.” SFGate. April 23, 1998.
534 “Robert D. Steiner.” SFGate. April 23, 1998.
535 Architect and Engineer, Vol. 111 No. 1, October 1932, https://www.usmodernist.org/AECA/AECA-1932-10-1933-03.pdf. 536 “Architect Designs Major Buildings,” The San Francisco Chronicle, May 10, 1930, https://www.newspapers.com/image/1237350449/?match=1&terms=%22ernest%20norberg%22%20%22architect%22.
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go to art school in Los Angeles, and the firm closed following financial troubles in 1898. Polk went on to work for several partnerships before founding a solo practice, Willis Polk and Company, in 1910.537 Based in San Francisco, the firm specialized in high-end residential design in San Francisco’s Pacific Heights and Nob Hill neighborhoods. Polk, a resident of 458 Turner Terrace in San Mateo, died suddenly of a heart attack in 1924. An example of his work in San Mateo included:
• St. Matthew’s Episcopal Church (1910)
Powers, Daly & DeRosa
Powers, Daly & DeRosa was a Long Beach-based architectural firm comprised of Gordon Powers (1916–2017), Austin Daly (1919–2006) and Pasquale DeRosa (1922–1999), who specialized in designing bowling alleys. They designed their first bowling alley in 1953 in Riverside. They were pivotal in introducing the idea of bowling alleys as entertainment centers that included amenities like cocktail lounges, restaurants and coffee shops, billiard rooms, and daycare centers. They designed 72 bowling centers across the United States and introduced a design concept that was replicated by others.538 An example of their work in San Mateo includes:
• Bel Mateo Bowl at 4330 Olympic Avenue (1956)
Robert M. Sherman
Architect Robert M. Sherman was born in San Francisco and remained a Bay Area resident throughout his career. In 1964, Sherman was appointed to the State Board of Architectural Examiners and held the post until 1999. He was also elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute of Building Design in 1965 and taught at Cañada College in Redwood City.539 Sherman died in 2008 at age 92. While documentation of Sherman’s career appears to be limited, his body of work included several commercial and institutional buildings in San Mateo, as follows:
• Villa Hotel at 4000 South El Camino Real (1955–1956)
• Bel Mateo Food Center at 51 41st Avenue (1956)
• Building for San Mateo Boys’ Club at 200 North Quebec Street (1956)540 William Toepke
William Toepke was a prolific Bay Area architect. Born in San Francisco in 1870, he began practicing architecture in 1886 and formed a partnership with C.I. Havens in 1897 that continued through 1915.
Toepke resided in San Mateo and served as a San Mateo trustee and moved his San Francisco-based practice to 19 South B Street in his later years.541 His work included several residential, commercial, and civic and institutional designs. Some of his work in San Mateo included the following, among many more:
537 Pacific Coast Architecture Database, “Willis Jefferson Polk,” accessed March 30, 2026, https://pcad.lib.washington.edu/person/490/. 538 Peter Moruzzi, “Covina Bowl,” National Register Draft Nomination Form, Los Angeles Conservancy, April 2016, https://www.laconservancy.org/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/ca_los-angeles-county_covina-bowl.pdf. 539 “Robert M. Sherman, Sr.,” San Mateo Daily Journal, April 15, 2008, updated April 1, 2025. https://www.smdailyjournal.com/obituaries/robert-m-sherman-sr/article_83dcf132-455f-522b-97c6-81fb0edb01b0.html. 540 “Boys’ Club Lunch Will Hear Hoover,” June 24, 1956, accessed January 5, 2026 at https://www.newspapers.com/image/1239934904/; Advertisement for Bel Mateo Center, The Times, May 9, 1956, 1A, https://www.newspapers.com/image/38878107/?match=1&terms=robert%20m%20sherman%20architect 541 “William H. Toepke Architect, Dies,” Redwood City Tribune, July 29, 1949, https://www.newspapers.com/image/842232330/?match=1&terms=william%20toepke%20%22san%20mateo%22.
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• San Mateo Central Fire Station (1940)
• Baywood Elementary School (1939)
William Henry Weeks
William Henry Weeks was a prominent Bay Area architect. He was born on Prince Edward Island, Canada in 1864. As a young man, he worked as an architect at the Brinker Institute in Denver, Colorado before relocating to San Francisco in 1905. In the following years, his business flourished in the rebuilding of the aftermath of the 1906 Earthquake. He gained prominence as designing the most Carnegie libraries in California. He designed using many architectural styles popular during the twentieth century. His work in California was prolific. He died in 1936.542 In San Mateo, he designed the following buildings:
• San Mateo Bank at 164 South B Street (1924)
• Benjamin Franklin Hotel (present-day Draper University) at 36 East 3rd Avenue (1926) Welton Becket & Associates
Welton Becket was born in Seattle, Washington in 1902. He graduated with a bachelor’s degree in architecture from the University of Washington in 1927, after which he studied at the Ecole des Beaux-Arts. He returned to Seattle in 1930 and opened a firm with University of Washington classmate Walter Wurdeman. In 1933, the two moved their practice to Los Angeles and formed a partnership with Los Angeles architect Charles Plummer. The firm gained public attention following their award-winning design at the Pan Pacific Auditorium in 1935, which facilitated their entry into Hollywood film circles and led them to several commissions for residential designs for many Hollywood industry players. Plummer died in 1939 and the firm continued as Wurdeman & Becket.
The firm prospered in the World War II era and they designed several Mid-Century Modern department stores, offices, and commercial buildings. After Wurdeman’s death in 1949, the firm became Welton Becket & Associates and grew substantially, opening offices in San Francsico, New York, Houston, and Chicago. Becket developed the concept of “total design,” in which the firm was responsible not only for architectural design, but also for master planning, engineering, interiors, furniture, fixture, landscaping, and signage. Becket died in 1969. Leadership of the firm was assumed by his son, and the firm was purchased in 1987, becoming Ellerbe Becket Inc. 543 An example of their work in San Mateo includes:
• Hillsdale Shopping Center (1954)
Wurster Bernardi & Emmons
The San Francisco-based architectural firm Wurster Bernardi & Emmons (WBE) was established in 1945 as an outgrowth of architect Williams Wurster’s practice, with former draftsmen Theodore Bernardi and Donn Emmons rising to positions as partners. WBE became one of the most prolific designers of Modern and Second Bay Tradition-style architecture in the Bay Area during the mid- twentieth century, during which time Wurster served as Dean of Architecture at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and later the University of California, Berkeley, where he was a pivotal figure
542 Patrick McGrew, “Bank of San Mateo, San Mateo County, California” National Register of Historic Places Nomination Form (Washington, D.C: US Department of the Interior, National Park Service, 1997). 543 Michael Houser, “Welton D. Becket,” Washington Department of Archaeology and Historic Preservation, accessed February 20, 2026, https://dahp.wa.gov/historic-preservation/research-and-technical-preservation-guidance/architect-biographies/bio-for-welton-d-becket.
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in the formation of that school’s College of Environmental Design.544 Under Bernardi and Emmons’ leadership, WBE led projects involving institutional, commercial, and residential architecture, as well as master planning. Major works included collaboration with De Mars & Reay on San Francisco’s Golden Gateway Redevelopment Project in the 1960s, several Modernist residences in San Francisco, Cowell College at University of California, Santa Cruz and participation in the development of Bank of America’s World Headquarters in San Francisco in 1967, a few years after their work involving San Mateo’s A.P. Giannini Memorial Branch. While the firm was founded by Wurster, who is identified among the most influential Modernist architects in the Bay Area during the twentieth century, both Bernardi and Emmons also attained great recognition for their roles in shaping regional architecture.
Bernardi served as the firm’s lead designer in the years leading up to its expansion as WBE and ran the firm’s West Coast work while Wurster held academic leadership roles.545 Emmons’ designs were published in professional journals, and he served as chief architectural consultant for BART during the system’s planning in the mid-1960s.546 Examples of their work in San Mateo include:
• Bank of America’s A.P. Giannini Memorial Branch (with Miller & Steiner) (1963) • Woodlake Apartments at 900 Peninsula Avenue (1966)
LANDSCAPE ARCHITECTS
Nagao Sakurai
Nagao Sakurai immigrated to the United States in the 1950s and within a decade contributed notable landscape architecture design to properties in San Mateo. He returned to the United States after World War II, having previously represented Japan at the Golden Gate International Exposition in San Francisco and the New York International Exposition in 1939. During the formative years of his career, Sakurai was appointed Chief Gardener at the Imperial Palace in Tokyo and held that post for two decades. His work in San Mateo includes a 1957 commission for a private residential garden, as well as the well-known Japanese Garden within Central Park, completed in 1966. These projects occurred in the same period that he designed the Shikyeon (Hannah Carter Japanese Garden) in Los Angeles with Kyoto Garden designer Kazuo Nakamura. As noted by The Cultural Landscape Foundation, “Sakurai became one of the leading post-war designers of Japanese gardens in the country at a time when Japanese culture was just beginning to regain acceptance after World War II.”547 Sakurai’s additional works include the Zen Garden in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco; the Japanese Rock Garden at Micke Grove Regional Park, Lodi, and the Nishinomiya Japanese Garden at Manito Park, Spokane, Washington.548 Examples of his work in San Mateo include:
• Garden for Yoshiko Yamanouchi residence at 1007 East 5th Avenue (1957) • Japanese Garden at Central Park (c. 1966)
544 San Francisco Planning Department, “Wurster, Bernardi, and Emmons (WBE) (1945-present) Firm of Merit” in Architecture, Planning, and Preservation Professionals: A Collection of Biographies, accessed December 23, 2025, https://sfplanning.org/project/architecture- planning-and-preservation-professionals-collection-biographies#info. 545 San Francisco Planning Department, “Bernardi, Theodore C. (1903-1990) Architect of Merit” in Architecture, Planning, and Preservation Professionals: A Collection of Biographies, accessed December 23, 2025, https://sfplanning.s3.amazonaws.com/default/files/Preservation/biographies/Bios_DEF.pdf. 546 San Francisco Planning Department, “Emmons, Donn (1910-1997) Architect of Merit,” in Architecture, Planning, and Preservation Professionals: A Collection of Biographies, accessed December 23, 2025, https://sfplanning.org/project/architecture-planning-and- preservation-professionals-collection-biographies#info. 547 “Nagao Sakurai,” The Cultural Landscape Foundation, accessed January 5, 2026, https://www.tclf.org/pioneer/nagao-sakurai. 548 “Nahao Sakurai,” The Cultural Landscape Foundation.
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BUILDER AND DEVELOPERS
David D. Bohannon
Developer David Bohannon was a prolific builder of housing and related shopping centers in the San Francisco Bay Area between the 1930s and 1950s. The Bohannon Companies reports that Bohannon developed over 25,000 residential properties in Alameda, Santa Clara, and San Mateo counties.
Major developments included San Mateo’s Hillsdale neighborhood, built between 1941 and early 1950s, with a pause due to World War II, as well as the San Lorenzo Village in unincorporated Alameda County, which was built initially from 1944 to 1951 with 3,000 houses and has been evaluated as NRHP-eligible by Caltrans. Bohannon also led development of wartime housing in Richmond and in San José.549 In particular, Caltrans notes that Bohannon emerged as an influential “operative” builder, who achieved mass production of housing through deftly orchestrating lumber sourcing and on-site fabrication, which resulted in an average of 400 houses built per year between 1944 and 1951.550 Beyond developing neighborhoods, Bohannon was heavily involved in construction and real estate industry organizations, including the National Association of Home Builders.
Bohannon’s development company has continued and remains affiliated with Hillsdale Mall in San Mateo as Bohannon Companies. Examples of his work in San Mateo include:
• Hillsdale and Park Western neighborhoods and Hillsdale Shopping Center (1941–c. 1951) Conway & Culligan/Culligan Development Company
Thomas J. Culligan, Jr. founded the Culligan Development Company in the late 1940s and built houses, shopping centers, and commercial properties in the Peninsula region during the post-World War II decades.551 Culligan’s career in development began with partner Andrew J. Culligan as Conway and Culligan. That firm was responsible for developing over 3500 houses between South San Francisco and Redwood City by 1954 and led the development of the San Mateo Village subdivision to the southeast of E. Hillsdale Boulevard in 1948.552 During the 1950s, Culligan Development Company developed a subdivision of single-family houses designed by an unidentified architect, known as the Polo Club subdivision.553 This relatively small tract was located near the geographic center of the city, just west of the existing City Hall campus and south of what was then the Borel Estate.554 This subdivision preceded the larger Fiesta Gardens subdivision that was widely advertised in local newspapers around 1955. Examples of their work in San Mateo include:
• San Mateo Village, vicinity of East Hillsdale Avenue and Saratoga Drive (1948) • Polo Club subdivision, vicinity of West 20th Avenue and Spurway Drive (1953) • Fiesta Gardens (1955)
549 “A Family. A Company. A Continuing Legacy,” Bohannon Companies, accessed January 5, 2026, https://www.ddbo.com/about-us.; Andrew Hope, “Evaluating the Significance of San Lorenzo Village, A Mid-20th Century Suburban Community,” CRM Journal (Summer 2005), 50-61, accessed January 5, 2026,
https://www.historycolorado.org/sites/default/files/media/documents/2018/si_postwwii_sanlorenzovillage.pdf. 550 “A Family. A Company. A Continuing Legacy,” Bohannon Companies, accessed January 2026, https://www.ddbo.com/about-us. 551 “Company Information,” Culligan Management Company, Inc., accessed January 5, 2026, https://www.culliganmgmt.com/about/. 552 “$9,000,000 Development for 19th Avenue,” The Times, January 22, 1954, https://www.newspapers.com/image/51856466/?match=1&terms=culligan%20development; “San Mateo Village Celebrates,” The Times, October 27, 1948, https://www.newspapers.com/image/38904942/?match=1&terms=%22san%20mateo%20celebrates%22%20. 553 “Polo Club Opens Sunday,” The Times, August 8, 1953, https://www.newspapers.com/image/38977671/?match=1&clipping_id=188263594. 554 Culligan Opens New Development,” The Times, May 27, 1953, https://www.newspapers.com/image/38976313/?match=1&clipping_id=188258496.
Architects, Landscape Architects, Developers, and
Builders
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 180
Joseph Eichler
Joseph Eichler was born in New York City in 1900 and moved to California in 1925. Eichler began a career in real estate development and building relatively late in life, when he established the Sunnyvale Building Company in 1947.555 While Eichler initially built prefabricated houses, he shifted to hiring professional architects and landscape architects to design housing and landscaping in the late 1940s. Architects S. Robert Anshen and William Steven Allen (Ashen + Allen), Claude Oakland, Jones and Emmons, and landscape architects, including Thomas Church, Kathryn Stedman, and Robert Royston consulted with Eichler.556 Eichler neighborhoods typically feature several models of contemporary post-and-beam house with flat or low-pitched roofs, projecting eaves, integrated garages, atriums, and open floor plans. By 1954, Eichler constructed around 1,800 houses. Eichler constructed two separate tracts in and directly adjacent to the city of San Mateo, including 19th Avenue Park (1955–1956) and unincorporated neighborhood The Highlands (1955–1956), which remains the largest single tract Eichler developed.557 Eichler’s company developed over 11,000 houses in California, as well as several townhouse and high-rise developments, with 32 tracts in Palo Alto alone and additional tracts in Bay Area communities, including Castro Valley, Oakland, San Francisco, and San Rafael, among others.558 An example of his work in San Mateo includes:
• 19th Avenue Park (1955–1956)
L.C. Smith
Laurence Clinton (L.C.) Smith was a major developer and contractor in San Mateo County during the mid-twentieth century. Smith was born in Rutherford, Napa County and grew up in Palo Alto. He began a career in business in San Mateo County in the early 1930s, where his father owned property in the present-day Parkside area and in the area that was eventually developed with the present College of San Mateo campus. Smith’s companies, L.C. Smith Co., Concar Ranch & Enterprises, and the Polhemus Corporation combined to own extensive acreage between the Bayshore Freeway and Polhemus Road. L.C. Smith Co. reportedly paved or built hundreds of miles of highways, including Highways 92, 280, and 380.559 Known by friends as “Laurie,” Smith’s nickname was applied to San Mateo’s Lauriedale neighborhood and related shopping center developed in the mid-1960s. Beyond his business enterprises, Smith was heavily involved in community affairs and fraternal organizations.
Smith died in 1973 at age 69.560 Examples of his work in San Mateo include:
• 19th Avenue Park (land acquisition from Leslie Salt Company in early 1950s before housing construction by Joseph Eichler, 1953–1955)
• Lauriedale neighborhood (1965–1966)
555 Page & Turnbull, Palo Alto Eichler Neighborhood Design Guidelines, Final Draft – February 2018, 34, accessed December 23, 2025, https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/v/1/planning-amp-development-services/historic-preservation/eichler-guidelines-final- revised-markup-reduced.pdf.
556 Page & Turnbull, Palo Alto Eichler Neighborhood Design Guidelines, 34-35. 557 Marty Arbunich, “X-100 History: In the Beginning,” accessed January 5, 2026, https://www.eichlerx-100.com/history. 558 Mary Brown, Modern Architecture and Landscape Design, 1935-1970 Historic Context Statement, Final Draft January 12, 2011. San Francisco Planning Department, 134-136, accessed December 23, 2025, https://sfplanninggis.org/docs/Historical_Context_Statements/Modern%20Architecture%20Context%20adopted%20Jan%202011.pdf. 559 “Donor Spotlight: Concar Enterprises, Inc.,” The HEART of San Mateo County, Vol.3 Issue 2 (Summer 2010), 2, online, accessed December 23, 2025, https://www.heartofsmc.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/10/HEART_Newsletter_Summer2010ForWeb.pdf. 560 “Highway Builder - L.C. Smith, Bay Area Developer, Dies,” San Mateo Times, August 3, 1973, https://www.newspapers.com/image/52109811/?clipping_id=187353557.
Architects, Landscape Architects, Developers, and
Builders
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 181
G.W. Williams Co.
George W. Williams founded G.W. Williams Co., Ltd. in 1923 as a residential and commercial development company. The firm, based in San Mateo, developed housing in the San Francisco Bay Area, first focused on single-family residences in San Mateo. In 1946, the company reformed as G.W.
Williams Co. and focused on housing subdivisions in the Bay Area and Sacramento, including the construction of apartments. George W. Williams III joined the firm in 1952 and Scott W. Williams joined in 1977, becoming its president in 1992. In 2024, the fourth generation, Sean W. Wiliams was named president. The firm continues to operate today.561 Examples of their work in San Mateo include:
• Williams Place (1929)
• Sunnybrae (1939–1940s)
561 “Materials Related to George W. Williams Co.,” The San Mateo County Historical Association Online Collections Database, accessed February 20, 2026, https://historysmc.pastperfectonline.com/Archive/61701C61-E56B-4966-8E55-930215510300.
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 182
GUIDANCE FOR ASSESSING
SIGNIFICANCE
DESIGNATION CRITERIA
National Register of Historic Places
The NRHP was authorized by Section 101 of the National Historic Preservation Act and is the nation’s official list of cultural resources worthy of preservation. The NRHP is the official federal list of districts, sites, buildings, structures, and objects significant in American history, architecture, archeology, engineering, and culture. NRHP properties have significance to the history of their community state, or the nation. Properties which are listed in or have been formally determined eligible for listing in the NRHP are automatically listed in the CRHR. Per 36 Code of Federal Regulations, Part 60.4, a property is eligible for listing in the NRHP if it meets one or more of the following criteria:
Criterion A: Is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history
Criterion B: Is associated with the lives of persons significant in our past Criterion C: Embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of installation, or that represents the work of a master, or that possesses high artistic values, or that represents a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction
Criterion D: Has yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history Integrity
In addition to meeting at least one of the above designation criteria, resources must also retain integrity. The National Park Service recognizes seven aspects or qualities that, considered together, define historic integrity. To retain integrity, a property must possess several of these seven qualities, if not all, defined as follows:
Location: The place where the historic property was constructed or the place where the historic event occurred
Design: The combination of elements that create the form, plan, space, structure, and style of a property
Setting: The physical environment of a historic property Materials: The physical elements that were combined or deposited during a particular period of time and in a particular pattern or configuration to form a historic property Workmanship: The physical evidence of the crafts of a particular culture or people during any given period in history or prehistory
Feeling: A property’s expression of the aesthetic or historic sense of a particular period of time
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 183
Association: The direct link between an important historic event or person and a historic property Certain properties are generally considered ineligible for listing in the NRHP, including cemeteries, birthplaces, graves of historical figures, properties owned by religious institutions, relocated structures, or commemorative properties. Additionally, a property must be at least 50 years of age to be eligible for listing in the NRHP. The National Park Service states that 50 years is the general estimate of the time needed to develop the necessary historical perspective to evaluate significance.
Properties which are less than 50 years must be determined to have “exceptional importance” to be considered eligible for NRHP listing.
California Register of Historical Resources
The CRHR was established in 1992 and codified by Public Resources Code Section 5024.1 and Title 14 Section 4852. The CRHR is an authoritative listing and guide to be used by state and local agencies, private groups, and citizens in identifying the existing historical resources of the state and to indicate which resources deserve to be protected, to the extent prudent and feasible, from substantial adverse change (Public Resources Code 5024.1[a]). The criteria for eligibility for the CRHR are consistent with the NRHP criteria but have been modified for state use in order to include a range of historical resources that better reflect the history of California (Public Resources Code 5024.1[b]).
Unlike the NRHP however, the CRHR does not have a defined age threshold for eligibility; rather, a resource may be eligible for the CRHR if it can be demonstrated sufficient time has passed to understand its historical or architectural significance. Furthermore, resources may still be eligible for listing in the CRHR even if they do not retain sufficient integrity for NRHP eligibility. Generally, the OHP recommends resources over 45 years of age be recorded and evaluated for historical resources eligibility.
A property is eligible for listing in the CRHR if it meets one of more of the following criteria:
Criterion 1: Is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of California’s history and cultural heritage
Criterion 2: Is associated with the lives of persons important to our past Criterion 3: Embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, region, or method of construction, or represents the work of an important creative individual, or possesses high artistic values
Criterion 4: Has yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in prehistory or history Integrity
Integrity is the authenticity of a historical resource’s physical identity as evidenced by survival of characteristics that existed during the resource’s period of significance. Resources eligible for the CRHR must meet one of the significance criteria, outlined above, and retain enough of their historic appearance to be recognizable as a historical resource and to convey the reason for its significance. It is possible that a historical resource may not retain sufficient integrity to meet the criteria for listing in the NRHP but may still be eligible for listing in the CRHR.562
562 California Office of Historic Preservation, “Technical Assistance Series #6, California Register and National Register: A Comparison (for purposes of determining eligibility for the California Register), https://ohp.parks.ca.gov/pages/1069/files/technical%20assistance%20bulletin%206%202011%20update.pdf.
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 184
San Mateo Historic Preservation Ordinance
Under municipal code Chapter 27.66, properties may be eligible for the San Mateo Historic Resources Inventory (HRI) as a Landmark or Historic District. A Landmark or Historic District may include any combination of residential, commercial, civic and institutional, transportation, industrial, or cultural and ethnic properties. A property is eligible for listing in the San Mateo HRI if it includes one of the following:
(a) Is associated with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of San Mateo or California’s history and cultural heritage (b) Is associated with the lives of persons or communities important to San Mateo or California’s past
(c) Embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, region, or method of construction, or represents the work of an important creative individual, or possesses high artistic values (d) Has yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important to prehistory or history Integrity
To be eligible for listing in the San Mateo HRI, a property must retain sufficient integrity to convey its significance. Eligible resources must retain enough of their original location, setting, design, materials, workmanship, feeling, and association to convey historical or architectural significance.
PROPERTY TYPES AND DESIGNATION CRITERIA
Precontact (Before 1769)
The various shell mounds, burial sites and habitation sites recorded in San Mateo indicate a period of indigenous occupation. Any structures constructed by this population disappeared when Euro- American occupation of the area grew. It is possible, however, that there are previously unknown subsurface archaeological resources present. Such resources, if present, may be encountered during the course of ground-disturbing activities, like construction or grading. Any artifacts dating to this period may have potential to yield information important to prehistory and be eligible for the NRHP, CRHR, or San Mateo HRI under Criterion D/4/d.
Spanish and Mexican Period (1769–1848)
Few, if any, built environment resources from these periods of development are still extant in San Mateo. Any properties identified as constructed between 1769 and 1848 may have significance as a rare, surviving example property from its time and a lesser threshold of integrity for assessing significance may be suitable.
It is possible, too, that historic-era archaeological resources may be present. Such resources, if present, may be encountered during the course of ground-disturbing activities, like construction or grading. Any artifacts dating to this period may have potential to yield important information and be eligible for the NRHP, CRHR, or San Mateo HRI under any Criterion.
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 185
Early Settlement (1849–1893)
The dominant themes of San Mateo’s Early Settlement period (1849–1893) are the transformation of former rancho lands into residential estates by many of the region’s wealthy class. Residential development was limited to when large landholders subdivided their holdings. The city’s first residential subdivision was developed in the Central/North Central neighborhood and extended from San Mateo Creek southward to 5th Avenue and eastward to present-day Eldorado Street.
Commercial development was sparse, first limited to a stagecoach stop along the old trading route and mission trail (present-day El Camino Real). Following the arrival of the railroad in 1864, improvements to the city’s early infrastructure followed and included expanded commercial development, mostly concentrated along the railroad tracks. A commercial downtown began to emerge during this period, beginning along Main Street and Railroad Avenue, with a major thoroughfare along B Street. With increasing population, the city’s earliest civic and institutional development was established with the founding of fraternal organizations, a library, schools, and churches. During this period, the city saw little industrial activity outside of related infrastructure projects.
Residential Properties
Residential buildings constructed between 1849 and 1893 primarily consisted of large single-family houses, mostly associated with the city’s early influential families. Of these grand estates, none are extant. Residences that are extant from this period are concentrated in the city’s earliest residential subdivisions, concentrated on the east side of Railroad Avenue in the Central/North-Central neighborhood that generally emerged following the arrival of the railroad in 1864. They are typically one and two-story wood frame residences. While exact dates of construction proved difficult to confirm, available mapping and the architectural styles seen from this period indicate that they were likely developed during the city’s Early Settlement period.
Associated Architectural Styles
Residential architectural styles associated with the Early Settlement period (1849–1893) include the following:
• Gothic Revival (Carpenter’s Gothic)
• Italianate
• Folk National
• Folk Victorian
• Queen Anne
• Colonial Revival
Significance Requirements
Table 3 discusses the significance of residential buildings from San Mateo’s Early Settlement period in consideration of NRHP, CRHR, and the San Mateo HRI. In order for a residential property built during the city’s Early Settlement period (1849–1893) to be eligible for designation as an individual property on the City’s HRI, the property must be: (1) located within the boundary of the city from the period and (2) be constructed during the Early Settlement period (1849–1893).
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 186
Table 3 Significance Requirements for Residential Properties from the Early Settlement Period
Criteria
(NRHP/CRHR/HRI)
Type of
Significance Description of Significance
A/1/a Events/Patterns of
Development
Residential buildings from this period may be significant for their associations with the theme of Residential Development, specifically San Mateo’s pattern of early residential development in the city’s Central/North Central neighborhood, if they are clearly important within the associated context. This period was characterized by development of the town site as depicted in Polhemus’ 1862 map and expansion into previously undeveloped sections of the city north of San Mateo Creek, in the North Central neighborhood, following the arrival of the railroad in 1864.
B/2/b Persons Residential buildings from this period may be significant for their association with persons important to the history of San Mateo. Such persons may include a prominent pioneer, business owners, merchants, artists, or city officials. Under this Criterion the residence should: (1) be clearly associated with the person during the period that they gained prominence within their profession or group and (2) be compared to other properties associated with the person(s) in question in order to identify which property best represents that person’s achievements or reasons for being significant.
C/3/c Architecture/Design Residential buildings from this period may be significant for their architecture, as evidenced by intact character-defining features, forms, or construction methods. Buildings may also qualify as the work of a master architect or prominent builder, such as Robert Wisnom. Resources qualified under these criteria should be good examples of types and/or styles and retain most of their original features. Architectural significance should be considered for different property typologies, including simple residences.
D/4/d Information
Potential
Residential buildings or ruins from buildings that have the potential to yield important information about construction methods and materials, or patterns of residential development may be significant for their potential to provide information important to history. It is unlikely that such examples exist.
Integrity Requirements
To be eligible for listing, a residential property must retain sufficient integrity to convey its significance as part of the Early Settlement theme. While most buildings undergo change over time, alterations should not substantially change the essential character of the buildings. Properties dating to this period are relatively few, and therefore discretion is warranted when considering integrity.
Buildings may qualify as individual resources if they retain a majority of their original features. The following integrity requirements have been identified for residential properties from the Early Settlement period:
• Good representative of a style of architecture from the period (Gothic Revival, Italianate, Folk National, Folk Victorian, Queen Anne, and Colonial Revival, but may include other styles) • Retains original roofline and roof form
• Replacement roof material is acceptable, but the roofline form must be generally intact.
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 187
• Substantially retains the original pattern of windows and doors • Replacement of windows and doors is acceptable, as long as they conform to the original door/window pattern and size of opening, especially on primary elevations. • Retains some of its original ornamentation (e.g., spindle posts, trim, decorative verge boards, etc.)
• Retention of original cladding is important but not absolute.
Integrity Considerations
• Additions may be acceptable, as long as the essential character, form, and massing of the original building is identifiable.
• Rear/secondary elevation additions that have respected the scale of the original building are generally acceptable.
• Additions that comprise a building’s scale are generally not acceptable. • A number of buildings from this period have had modifications to front porches, including being replaced or enclosed. This is acceptable, as long as the modifications and/or replacement are compatible with the scale and materials of the buildings. Enclosing a porch in an irreversible manner is generally a diminishment of integrity and can alter or obscure character-defining materials and characteristics of a property. The consideration of an enclosed porch should be weighed against the relative rarity of the property type. • Retention of original cladding material is an important aspect of material integrity.
Replacement cladding, however, is acceptable when it does not detract from the historic character of the building.
• Residential buildings that have been converted for commercial use may still be eligible for designation provided that the conversion did not result in changes to character-defining features.
• For historic districts, contributing properties need not meet the integrity threshold required for individually eligible properties. Provided that the grouping achieves significance within its historic context, individual properties may lack individual distinction necessary for individual listing.
Commercial Properties
Commercial properties developed during this period generally followed the arrival of the railroad in 1864, when commercial development shifted from along the mission road (present-day El Camino Real) eastward to the railroad tracks. Early commercial development in the city’s first commercial core, concentrated along Main Street and Railroad Avenue, consisted of general stores, commercial storefronts, workshops, and warehouses. Mostly wood construction, many early commercial properties were vulnerable to fires that took place in 1880, 1883, and 1887 and did not survive. By the end of this period, many surviving wood structures were replaced with brick buildings. Many more buildings constructed during this period were later destroyed during the 1906 Earthquake.
There appear to be very few or perhaps no surviving commercial properties from this period. Those that may date from this period were likely altered over time such that they are not recognizable.
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 188
Associated Architectural Styles
Though examples from this period appear to be very rare, typical architectural styles of commercial buildings from this period include the following:
• False Front
• Romanesque Revival
• Gothic Revival
• Italianate
• Queen Anne
• Mission Revival
Significance Requirements
Table 4 discusses the significance of commercial buildings from San Mateo’s Early Settlement period in consideration of NRHP, CRHR, and the San Mateo HRI. In order for a commercial property built during the city’s Early Settlement period (1849-1893) to be eligible for designation as an individual property on the City’s HRI, the property must be: (1) located within the boundary of the city from the period and (2) be constructed during the Early Settlement period (1849–1893).
Table 4 Significance Requirements for Commercial Properties from the Early Settlement Period
Criteria
(NRHP/CRHR/HRI)
Type of
Significance Description of Significance
A/1/a Events/Patterns of
Development
Commercial buildings from this period may be significant for their associations with the theme of Commercial Development, specifically San Mateo’s pattern of shifting commercial development away from the mission trail, eastward following the construction of the railroad in 1864.
Eligible properties must be clearly important in the associated context.
B/2/b Persons Commercial buildings from this period may be significant for their association with persons important to the history of San Mateo. Such persons may include prominent business owners and merchants. Under this criterion the commercial property should: (1) be clearly associated with the person during the period that they gained prominence within their profession or group and (2) be compared to other properties associated with the person(s) in question in order to identify which property best represents that person’s achievements or reasons for being significant.
C/3/c Architecture/Design Commercial buildings from this period may be significant for their architecture, as evidenced by intact character-defining features, forms, or construction methods. Buildings may also qualify as the work of a master architect or prominent builder. Resources qualified under these criteria should be good examples of types and/or styles and retain most of their original features.
D/4/d Information
Potential
Commercial buildings or ruins from buildings that have the potential to yield important information about construction methods and materials, or patterns of commercial development may be significant for their potential to provide information important to history. It is unlikely that such examples exist.
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 189
Integrity Requirements
Commercial properties from this period are rare, and therefore discretion is warranted when considering integrity. Buildings may qualify for designation if they retain a majority of their original features. The following integrity requirements have been identified for commercial properties from the Early Settlement period:
• Clear example of commercial architecture from this period • Retains original form and roofline
• Substantially retains the original pattern of windows and doors • Storefront alterations, particularly in multistory buildings are often acceptable. • Replacement of doors and windows is often acceptable, as long as they substantially conform to the original pattern and size/opening of windows and doors.
Integrity Considerations
• Commercial buildings that retain their original form from this period are exceptionally rare.
Storefronts, in particular, were commonly altered for changing commercial uses and changing tenancy. In multistory commercial buildings, storefront alterations should be considered as acceptable, as long as they are subordinate to the overall character of the building.
• Additions may be acceptable, as long as the essential character, form, and massing of the original building is identifiable.
• Additions associated with demands of a subsequent historically significant context may also be acceptable. However, additions that compromise a building’s scale are generally not acceptable.
• Retention of original cladding material is an important aspect of material integrity.
Replacement cladding, however, is acceptable when it does not detract from the historic character of the building.
• For historic districts, contributing properties need not meet the integrity threshold required for individually eligible properties. Provided that the grouping achieves significance within its historic context, individual properties may lack individual distinction.
Civic and Institutional Properties
The Early Settlement period was a period of growth for civic and institutional buildings in the years before the city’s incorporation. Buildings from this period included a library, churches, schools, and civic group social halls. The city’s first services were also developed during this period, with the establishment of the first fire department in 1887. Early civic and institutional development centered in the city’s commercial core, with churches and schools more likely to be integrated into the city’s emerging residential neighborhoods.
Associated Architectural Styles
• Gothic Revival (Carpenter’s Gothic)
• Romanesque Revival
• Italianate
• Queen Anne
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 190
• Colonial Revival
Significance Requirements
Table 5 discusses the significance of civic and institutional buildings from San Mateo’s Early Settlement period in consideration of NRHP, CRHR, and the San Mateo HRI. While most of the buildings from this period are no longer extant, for remaining civic or institutional properties built during the city’s Early Settlement period (1849–1893) to be eligible for designation as an individual property on the City’s HRI, the property must be: (1) located within the boundary of the city from the period and (2) be constructed during the Early Settlement period (1849–1893).
Table 5 Significance Requirements for Civic and Institutional Properties from the Early Settlement Period
Criteria
(NRHP/CRHR/HRI)
Type of
Significance Description of Significance
A/1/a Events/Patterns of
Development
Civic and institutional buildings from this period may be significant for their associations with the theme of civic and institutional development, including social organizations, schools, churches, and city services.
Properties may represent development patterns moving beyond the city’s commercial core but must be clearly important in the associated context.
B/2/b Persons Civic and institutional buildings from this period may be significant for their association with persons important to the history of San Mateo. Such persons may include prominent business owners, civil servants, clergy, educators, and institution/chapter founders. Under this criterion the civic or institutional property should: (1) be clearly associated with the person during the period that they gained prominence within their profession or group and (2) be compared to other properties associated with the person(s) in question in order to identify which property best represents that person’s achievements or reasons for being significant.
C/3/c Architecture/Design Civic and institutional buildings from this period may be significant for their architecture, as evidenced by intact character-defining features, forms, or construction methods. Buildings may also qualify as the work of a master architect or prominent builder. Resources qualified under these criteria should be good examples of types and/or styles and retain most of their original features.
D/4/d Information
Potential
Civic and institutional buildings or ruins from buildings that have the potential to yield important information about construction methods and materials, or patterns of civic and institutional development may be significant for their potential to provide information important to history. It is unlikely that such examples exist.
Integrity Requirements
Civic and institutional buildings from this period are rare, and therefore discretion is warranted when considering integrity. Buildings may qualify for designation if they retain a majority of their original features. The following integrity requirements have been identified for civic and institutional properties from the Early Settlement period:
• Clear example of a civic or institutional property from this period • Retains original form and roofline
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 191
• Substantially retains the original pattern of windows and doors • Retains most of its original ornamentation
Integrity Considerations
• Additions may be acceptable if the essential character of the original building is recognizable.
In particular, rear additions that have been designed to respect the scale of the original building are generally acceptable.
• Civic and institutional buildings may have been adapted for new uses over time, which is acceptable if the building’s original character remains intact.
Transportation Properties
Transportation properties from this period are extremely rare, having mostly been replaced in the years since. The most important change to transportation during San Mateo’s Early Settlement (1849–1893) was the reduction of stagecoach traffic with the arrival of the railroad to San Mateo in 1864, eventually becoming part of the Southern Pacific Railroad. Despite the arrival of the railroad, offering connectivity from San Francisco to Santa Clara, stagecoach traffic continued to be important for westward travel to neighboring coastal communities and included the construction of three toll roads during this period. As expected, however, rail and road travel developed considerably in the following periods. As such, though the general alignment of the rail line and many roads remain, associated transportation properties constructed during this period are unlikely to survive.
Industrial Properties
Industrial properties constructed during this period were extremely rare. Construction projects like the railroad in 1864 and Crystal Springs Dam in 1887 brought support services to the area for the duration of the projects, but San Mateo did not have a main industrial economic driver like neighboring communities. No industrial properties from this period appear to be extant.
Cultural and Ethnic Properties
Immigrant and ethnic groups contributed traditions and cultural practices to the development of San Mateo’s Early Settlement (1849–1893). Groups present during this period included Irish, Chinese, and African Americans.
Associated Architectural Styles
Properties associated with cultural and ethnic groups could include any architectural styles from this period.
Significance Requirements
Table 6 discusses the significance properties associated with cultural and ethnic groups from San Mateo’s Early Settlement period in consideration of NRHP, CRHR, and the San Mateo HRI. While most of the buildings from this period are no longer extant, for remaining properties built during the city’s Early Settlement period (1849–1893) to be eligible for designation as an individual property on the City’s HRI, the property must be: (1) located within the boundary of the city from the period and (2) be constructed during the Early Settlement period (1849–1893).
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 192
Table 6 Significance Requirements for Cultural and Ethnic Properties from the Early Settlement Period
Criteria
(NRHP/CRHR/HRI)
Type of
Significance Description of Significance
A/1/a Events/Patterns of
Development
Properties associated with cultural and ethnic groups may be significant for their association with San Mateo’s early development and could include built environment resources, such as residences, institutional buildings, schools, and churches that have a strong association with the settlement and migration of immigrant groups or ethnic communities. Eligible properties must be clearly important in the associated context.
B/2/b Persons Properties associated with cultural and ethnic groups may be significant for their association with an individual or group significant to San Mateo’s Early Settlement period that were instrumental or made an important contribution to San Mateo or were otherwise active, successful, or influential.
C/3/c Architecture/Design Properties associated with cultural and ethnic groups may be significant for their architecture, including the Asian Eclectic style, as evidenced by intact character-defining features, forms, or construction methods. Buildings may also qualify as the work of a master architect or prominent builder.
Resources qualified under these criteria should be good examples of types and/or styles and retain most of their original features.
D/4/d Information
Potential
Properties associated with cultural and ethnic groups or ruins from buildings that have the potential to yield important information about construction methods and materials, or patterns of development with cultural and ethnic groups may be significant for their potential to provide information important to history.
Integrity Requirements
Properties associated with cultural and ethnic groups from this period are rare. Integrity considerations should account for the rarity of such resources. The property should retain sufficient integrity of design, location, feeling, and association to convey immigrant life and community networks dating to the period of significance. However, because properties associated with this theme are rare, a greater degree of change to the property and its environs may be acceptable.
Properties significant under this theme may also be significant under another applicable theme.
The following integrity requirements have been identified for properties associated with cultural and ethnic groups from the Early Settlement period:
• Clear representative example of a property type or style associated with a cultural and/or ethnic group from this period
• Has a clear association with an identified cultural and/or ethnic group from this period • Often designed in a dominant architectural style of period Incorporation and Suburban Growth (1894–1940)
The City of San Mateo incorporated in 1894 under a board of prominent local figures. In the decades that followed, the city entered a period of significant growth aligned with broader patterns of suburbanization. Initially home to fewer than 2,000 residents, San Mateo experienced rapid Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 193
expansion after the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, as displaced San Franciscans relocated to the area. This influx spurred new residential and commercial development, expanded transportation infrastructure, and increased cultural diversity. By the early twentieth century, the city’s population had grown to nearly 20,000, marking a major phase of demographic and physical transformation.
Residential Properties
Residential buildings constructed between 1894 and 1940 are characterized by the transformation of San Mateo from a sparsely populated community to a developing suburb that included development of new areas of the city, formalization of transportation networks, and large-scale civic projects.
Residential growth during this period expanded into the previously undeveloped estates outside the city’s commercial core. It included periods of development, like the growth following the 1906 Earthquake and slowdowns due to nationwide events like World War I and the Great Depression.
Despite these periods, the Incorporation and Suburban Growth Period was one of the city’s most productive periods in terms of residential growth and the accompanying commercial and civic and institutional development.
The city experienced several annexations during this period, adding to its residential growth that included the transformation of former estate lands, as well as semi-rural land for suburban housing.
Residential buildings constructed during this period primarily consisted of single-family houses that are typically one and two-story wood frame residences. During this period multifamily housing also emerged and included apartment towers and garden apartments. Suburban expansion later in the period included subdivisions based on principles established by the Federal Housing Administration, which included some modern building materials, like steel. Residential architectural styles included popular revival styles like American Colonial Revival, Mission Revival, Spanish Colonial Revival, Tudor Revival and French Eclectic. It also included the emergence of new architectural styles, like Craftsman, Art Deco, and Streamline Moderne and the restrained style of Minimal Traditional.
Associated Architectural Styles
Residential architectural styles associated with the Incorporation and Suburban Growth period (1894–1940) include the following:
• Colonial Revival
• Mission Revival
• Spanish Colonial Revival
• Tudor Revival
• French Eclectic
• Craftsman
• Art Deco
• Streamline Moderne
• Minimal Traditional
Significance Requirements
Table 7 discusses the significance of residential buildings from San Mateo’s Incorporation and Suburban Growth period in consideration of NRHP, CRHR, and the San Mateo HRI. In order for a residential property built during the city’s Incorporation and Suburban Growth period (1894–1940) to Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 194
be eligible for designation as an individual property on the City’s HRI, the property must be: (1) located within the boundary of the city from the period and (2) be constructed during the Incorporation and Suburban Growth period (1894–1940).
Table 7 Significance Requirements for Residential Properties from the Incorporation and Suburban Growth Period
Criteria
(NRHP/CRHR/HRI) Type of Significance Description of Significance A/1/a Events/Patterns of
Development
Residential buildings from this period may be significant for their associations with the theme of Residential Development, specifically San Mateo’s pattern of expanding development from the subdivision of former estate holdings and semi-rural properties, including those areas that were annexed in 1909, 1927, and 1929. This period is characterized by the development of large residential tracts. Many private residences were constructed during this period, including many by speculative development. Groups of residences may be better able to convey these patterns than individual structures, though some properties may qualify individually for their architectural merits or associations with prominent individuals (see below).
B/2/b Persons Residential buildings from this period may be significant for their association with persons important to the history of San Mateo. Under this Criterion the residence should: (1) be clearly associated with the person during the period that they gained prominence within their profession or group and (2) be compared to other properties associated with the person(s) in question in order to identify which property best represents that person’s achievements or reasons for being significant.
C/3/c Architecture/Design New residential design trends were emerging during this period and residential buildings from this period may be significant for their architecture, as evidenced by intact character-defining features, forms, or construction methods. Buildings may also qualify as the work of a master architect. Resources qualified under these criteria should be good examples of types and/or styles and retain most of their original features.
Architectural significance should be considered for different property typologies including simple residences
D/4/d Information
Potential
Residential buildings or ruins of residential buildings that have the potential to yield important information about construction methods and materials, or patterns of local residential development may be significant for their potential to provide information important to history; but it is unlikely such examples exist
Integrity Requirements
To be eligible for listing, a residential property must retain sufficient integrity to convey its significance as part of the Incorporation and Suburban Growth theme. While most buildings undergo change over time, alterations should not significantly change the essential historic character of the buildings. A residential property must retain essential physical features that made up its character during its period of significance. Buildings may qualify as individual resources if they retain a majority of their original features. The following integrity requirements have been identified for residential properties from the Incorporation and Suburban Growth period:
• Good representative of a style of architecture from the period Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 195
• Retains original roofline and roof form
• Substantially retains original pattern of windows and doors • Retains some of its original ornamentation (e.g., cornices, trim, decorative verge boards, elaborations, etc.)
• Replacement roof material may be acceptable, but the roofline form must be generally intact.
• Replacement of windows and doors is acceptable, as long as they conform to the original door/window pattern and size of opening, especially on primary elevations. • Retention of original cladding is important but not absolute.
Integrity Considerations
• Additions may be acceptable as long as the essential character, form, and massing of the original building is identifiable.
• Rear/secondary elevation additions that have respected the scale of the original building are generally acceptable.
• Additions that comprise a building’s scale are generally not acceptable. • Retention of original cladding material is an important aspect of material integrity.
Replacement cladding, however, is acceptable when a majority of the character-defining features are retained.
• The retention of original windows enhances integrity of materials, particularly on street- facing elevations. However, window replacement is a common intervention. Thus, the fact that a building does not retain its original windows does not preclude it from being eligible for listing, so long as the building retains its original pattern of windows and replacement windows are compatible.
• For historic districts, contributing properties need not meet the integrity threshold required for individually eligible properties. Provided that the grouping achieves significance within its historic context, individual properties may lack individual distinction.
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 196
Commercial Properties
Commercial growth during the Incorporation and Suburban Growth period was characterized by rapid expansion and growth to respond to San Mateo’s increasing population. During this period, the previous period’s commercial buildings were replaced by more permanent construction. The city’s commercial district experienced considerable damage from the 1906 Earthquake, contributing to its rebuilding and expansion. This period’s development was also influenced by the rise of the automobile. As a result, San Mateo’s business district began shifting away from Railroad Avenue toward El Camino Real, a major vehicular thoroughfare.
During this period, commercial development began to include auto-oriented businesses like garages, machine shops, and gas stations. It also began to include recreation and entertainment, like theaters, a theme park, and Bay Meadows racetrack.
Associated Architectural Styles
Commercial architectural styles associated with the Incorporation and Suburban Growth period (1894–1940) include the following:
• Colonial Revival
• Classical Revival
• Renaissance Revival
• Mission Revival
• Spanish Colonial Revival
• Tudor Revival
• Art Deco
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 197
Significance Requirements
Table 8 discusses the significance of commercial buildings from the Incorporation and Suburban Growth (1894–1940) period in consideration of NRHP, CRHR, and the San Mateo HRI. In order for a commercial property built during the city’s Incorporation and Suburban Growth (1894–1940) to be eligible for designation as an individual property on the City’s HRI, the property must be: (1) located within the boundary of the city from the period and (2) be constructed during the Incorporation and Suburban Growth period. Many commercial buildings from this period are listed in the San Mateo Downtown Historic District.
Table 8 Significance Requirements for Commercial Properties from the Incorporation and Suburban Growth Period
Criteria
(NRHP/CRHR/HRI)
Type of
Significance Description of Significance
A/1/a Events/Patterns of
Development
Commercial buildings from this period may be significant for their associations with the theme of Commercial Development. San Mateo’s pattern of commercial development from this period included changes to the commercial core that expanded development westward, toward El Camino Real. A large number of commercial buildings were developed during this period and represent a period of rapid growth for the city.
Eligible properties must be clearly important in the associated context.
B/2/b Persons Commercial buildings from this period may be significant for their association with persons important to the history of San Mateo. Such persons may include prominent business owners and merchants. Under this criterion the commercial property should: (1) be clearly associated with the person during the period that they gained prominence within their profession or group and (2) be compared to other properties associated with the person(s) in question in order to identify which property best represents that person’s achievements or reasons for being significant.
C/3/c Architecture/Design Commercial buildings from this period may be significant for their architecture, as evidenced by intact character-defining features, forms, or construction methods. Buildings may also qualify as the work of a master architect or prominent builder. Resources qualified under these criteria should be good examples of types and/or styles and retain most of their original features.
D/4/d Information
Potential
Commercial buildings or ruins of commercial buildings that have the potential to yield important information about construction methods and materials, or patterns of local commercial development may be significant for their potential to provide information important to history. It is unlikely such examples exist.
Integrity Requirements
To be eligible for listing, a commercial property must retain sufficient integrity to convey its significance as part of the Incorporation and Suburban Growth theme. While most buildings undergo change over time, alterations should not significantly change the essential historic character of the buildings. A commercial property must retain essential physical features that made up its character during its period of significance. Many commercial buildings from this period have been altered over time, leaving few examples of intact properties that retain their original storefront configurations and Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 198
materials. Discretion is warranted when considering eligibility. The following integrity requirements have been identified for commercial properties from the Incorporation and Suburban Growth period:
• Clear example of commercial architecture from this period • Retains original form and roofline
• Substantially retains the original pattern of windows and doors. Storefront alterations may be acceptable.
• Replacement of doors and windows is often acceptable, as long as they substantially conform to the original pattern and size/opening of windows and doors. • Retains some original ornamentation, if applicable
Integrity Considerations
• Commercial buildings that retain their original form from this period are uncommon.
Storefronts, in particular, were commonly altered for changing commercial uses and changing tenancy. In multistory commercial buildings, storefront alterations should be considered as acceptable, as long as they are subordinate to the overall character of the building.
• Additions may be acceptable, as long as the essential character, form, and massing of the original building is identifiable.
• Additions associated with demands of a subsequent historically significant context may also be acceptable. However, additions that comprise a building’s scale are generally not acceptable.
• Retention of original cladding material is an important aspect of material integrity.
Replacement cladding, however, is acceptable when it does not detract from the historic character of the building.
Civic and Institutional Properties
The city’s growing population naturally increased the demand for expanded services and institutions.
Many civic and institutional buildings were constructed at San Mateo’s downtown commercial core, while many were also constructed within the city’s new residential neighborhoods. Properties included churches for many denominations, reflecting the city’s growing diversity. Like commercial properties of the time, buildings were constructed in the popular architectural styles, with some being constructed by well-known architects like Willis Polk.
Associated Architectural Styles
Civic and institutional buildings constructed during the Incorporation and Suburban Growth period include the following styles:
• Colonial Revival
• Classical Revival
• Renaissance Revival
• Mission Revival
• Spanish Colonial Revival
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 199
Significance Requirements
Table 9 discusses the significance of civic and institutional buildings from San Mateo’s Incorporation and Suburban Growth period in consideration of NRHP, CRHR, and the San Mateo HRI. In order for properties to be eligible for designation as an individual property on the City’s HRI, the property must be: (1) located within the boundary of the city from the period and (2) be constructed during the Incorporation and Suburban Growth period (1894–1940).
Table 9 Significance Requirements for Civic and Institutional Properties from the Incorporation and Suburban Growth Period
Criteria
(NRHP/CRHR/HRI)
Type of
Significance Description of Significance
A/1/a Events/Patterns of
Development
Civic and institutional buildings from this period may be significant for their associations with the theme of civic and institutional development, including social organizations, schools, churches, and city services.
Properties may represent development patterns moving beyond the city’s commercial core. Eligible properties must be clearly important in the associated context.
B/2/b Persons Civic and institutional buildings from this period may be significant for their association with persons important to the history of San Mateo. Such persons may include prominent business owners, civil servants, clergy, educators, and institution/chapter founders. Under this Criterion the civic or institutional property should: (1) be clearly associated with the person during the period that they gained prominence within their profession or group and (2) be compared to other properties associated with the person(s) in question in order to identify which property best represents that person’s achievements or reasons for being significant.
C/3/c Architecture/Design Civic and institutional buildings from this period may be significant for their architecture, as evidenced by intact character-defining features, forms, or construction methods. Buildings may also qualify as the work of a master architect or prominent builder. Resources qualified under these criteria should be good examples of types and/or styles and retain most of their original features.
D/4/d Information
Potential
Civic and institutional buildings or ruins of buildings that have the potential to yield important information about construction methods and materials, or patterns of local civic and institutional development may be significant for their potential to provide information important to history. It is unlikely such examples exist.
Integrity Requirements
Civic and institutional buildings from this period may qualify for designation if they retain a majority of original features. The following integrity requirements have been identified for civic and institutional properties from the Incorporation and Suburban Growth period:
• Clear example of a civic or institutional property from this period • Retains original form and roofline
• Substantially retains the original pattern of windows and doors • Retains most of its original ornamentation
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 200
Integrity Considerations
• Additions may be acceptable if the essential character of the original building is recognizable.
In particular, rear additions that have been designed to respect the scale of the original building are generally acceptable.
• Prior replacement of doors and windows may be acceptable, if the replacements conform to the original size and location of the openings. All other character-defining features must be retained.
• Civic and institutional buildings may have been adapted for new uses over time, which is acceptable if the building’s original character remains intact.
Transportation Properties
Similar to many cities throughout California, San Mateo’s development pattern was influenced by advancements in transportation technology. During this period, San Mateo’s development became more focused on daily transit, and included the introduction of the streetcar. The increased influence of the automobile also dictated more roadway development, including establishing El Camino Real as a highway followed by the construction of the Bayshore Highway along San Mateo’s eastern edge.
Improved connections also resulted in new train stations and the construction of transbay access with the San Mateo-Hayward Bridge.
While these transportation developments and projects were an important factor in San Mateo’s expansion, they did not produce significant buildings that are part of the architectural fabric of the city today. Extant properties from this period may include overpasses, bridges, culverts, and associated municipal infrastructure and utilities.
Significance Requirements
Table 10 discusses the significance of transportation properties from San Mateo’s Incorporation and Suburban Growth period in consideration of NRHP, CRHR, and the San Mateo HRI. In order for properties to be eligible for designation as an individual property on the City’s HRI, the property must be: (1) located within the boundary of the city from the period and (2) be constructed during the Incorporation and Suburban Growth period (1894–1940).
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 201
Table 10 Significance Requirements for Transportation Properties from the Incorporation and Suburban Growth Period
Criteria
(NRHP/CRHR/HRI) Type of Significance Description of Significance A/1/a Events/Patterns of
Development
Transportation properties from this period may be significant for their associations with the theme of transportation development, including roadways, culverts, bridges, and associated utility infrastructure. However, given the ubiquity of these types of properties and improvements, a property would have to demonstrate exceptional significance.
B/2/b Persons It is highly unlikely that transportation or infrastructure properties from this period would be associated with a
significant individual to be eligible under this criteria.
C/3/c Architecture/Design Transportation properties from this period may be significant as an example of a particular architectural style or innovative method of construction or engineering, or as the representative work of a master architect or prominent builder, though it is likely rare.
D/4/d Information Potential Transportation buildings or ruins of buildings that have the potential to yield important information about construction methods and materials, or patterns of local transportation development may be significant for their potential to provide information important to history. It is unlikely such examples exist.
Integrity Requirements
The following integrity requirements have been identified for properties associated with transportation properties from the Incorporation and Suburban Growth period:
• A property should retain the essential aspects of integrity and enough physical features to convey its association with its reason for significance. • If the transportation property is eligible for its design, it should retain the distinctive character-defining features of the style, type, or method of construction. • Replacement of materials in-kind is not likely to result in loss of integrity.
Industrial Properties
Industrial properties constructed during this period were extremely rare. Similar to the period before, there was little industrial development in San Mateo during the Incorporation and Suburban Growth period. Industry was largely limited to a plant of the Leslie Salt Refining Company. San Mateo did not factor in significantly to other major industries during this period. No industrial properties from this period appear to be extant.
Cultural and Ethnic Properties
Immigrant and ethnic groups expanded significantly during the Incorporation and Suburban Growth period (1894–1940). Groups present during this period included Chinese, African American, and included the arrival of significant Japanese and Filipino populations.
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 202
Associated Architectural Styles
Properties associated with cultural and ethnic groups could include any architectural styles from this period, including the emergence of Asian Eclectic architectural styles and ornamentation.
Significance Requirements
Table 11 discusses the significance properties associated with cultural and ethnic groups from San Mateo’s Incorporation and Suburban Growth period (1894–1940). To be eligible for designation as an individual property on the City’s HRI, the property must be: (1) located within the boundary of the city from the period and (2) be constructed during the Incorporation and Suburban Growth period (1894–1940).
Table 11 Significance Requirements for Cultural and Ethnic Group Properties from the Incorporation and Suburban Growth Period Criteria
(NRHP/CRHR/HRI) Type of Significance Description of Significance A/1/a Events/Patterns of
Development
Properties associated with cultural and ethnic groups may be significant for their association with San Mateo’s incorporation and suburban development and could include built environment resources such as residences, institutional buildings, schools, and churches that have a strong association with the settlement and migration of immigrant groups or ethnic communities.
Eligible properties must be clearly important in the associated context.
B/2/b Persons Properties associated with cultural and ethnic groups may be significant for their association with an individual or group significant to San Mateo’s Incorporation and Suburban Growth period that were instrumental or made an important
contribution to San Mateo or were otherwise active, successful, or influential.
C/3/c Architecture/Design Properties associated with cultural and ethnic groups from this period may be significant for their architecture, as evidenced by intact character-defining features, forms, or construction methods. Buildings may also qualify as the work of a master architect or prominent builder. Resources qualified under these criteria should be good examples of types and/or styles and retain most of their original features.
D/4/d Information Potential Properties associated with cultural and ethnic groups or ruins from buildings that have the potential to yield important information about construction methods and materials, or patterns of development with cultural and ethnic groups may be significant for their potential to provide information important to history.
Integrity Requirements
Properties associated with cultural and ethnic groups from this period are not common. Integrity considerations should account for the rarity of such resources. The property should retain sufficient integrity of design, location, feeling, and association to convey immigrant life and community networks dating to the period of significance. However, because properties associated with this Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 203
theme are less common, a degree of change to the property and its environs may be acceptable.
Properties significant under this theme may also be significant under another applicable theme.
The following integrity requirements have been identified for properties associated with cultural and ethnic groups from the Incorporation and Suburban Growth period:
• Clear representative example of a property type or style associated with a cultural and/or ethnic group from this period
• Has a clear association with an identified cultural and/or ethnic group from this period • Often designed in a dominant architectural style of period World War II and Post-War Development (1941-1979)
During World War II, the San Francisco Bay Area played a vital role in coastal defense, military training, and wartime industry, with heightened security and rapid construction of defense facilities following the Attack on Pearl Harbor. While the war stimulated economic growth and resulted in increased development of all property types in San Mateo, it also led to discriminatory policies, most notably the forced relocation of Japanese Americans. In the postwar decades, San Mateo experienced substantial population growth and suburbanization, characterized by the subdivision of former estates, transformation of the downtown with mid-twentieth-century architecture, and construction of much of the city’s existing built environment. This period also saw expanded cultural and institutional development, including new religious congregations and consolidation of the College of San Mateo, alongside major transportation investments facilitated the decentralization of commerce and increased regional connectivity.
Residential Properties
Residential buildings constructed between 1941 and 1979 were completed in the post-World War II building boom. Residential development during this period expanded San Mateo’s suburban character beyond its earlier developed residential neighborhoods and is largely characterized by tract developments. In the years following World War II, the city’s population grew and the geographic boundaries expanded with annexation of newly subdivided areas for new suburban neighborhoods.
Residences during this period were constructed in large numbers and marketed to prospective buyers.
Residential buildings during this period primarily consisted of single-family houses but also included many examples of multifamily housing, like garden apartments, larger scale apartment complexes, and condominium buildings, offering a greater variety in housing types than constructed in previous periods. Residential architectural styles included Streamline Moderne, Minimal Traditional, Ranch Style, Mid-Century Modern, and Second and Third Bay Tradition.
Associated Architectural Styles
Residential architectural styles associated with the World War II and Post-War Development period (1941–1979) include the following:
• Streamline Moderne
• Minimal Traditional
• Ranch Style
• Mid-Century Modern
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 204
• Second and Third Bay Tradition
Significance Requirements
Table 12 discusses the significance of residential buildings from San Mateo’s World War II and Post- War Development period in consideration of NRHP, CRHR, and the San Mateo HRI. In order for a residential property built during the city’s World War II and Post-War Development period (1941– 1979) to be eligible for designation as an individual property on the City’s HRI, the property must be:
(1) located within the boundary of the city from the period and (2) be constructed during the World War II and Post-War Development (1941–1979).
Table 12 Significance Requirements for Residential Properties from the World War II and Post-World War II Period
Criteria
(NRHP/CRHR/HRI)
Type of
Significance Description of Significance
A/1/a Events/Patterns of
Development
Residential buildings from this period may be significant for their associations with the theme of Residential Development, specifically San Mateo’s pattern of expanding development into new suburban residential tracts. A property may also be eligible as the site of a historical event.
Groups of residences may be better able to convey these patterns than individual structures, though some properties may qualify individually for their architectural merits or associations with prominent individuals (see below).
B/2/b Persons Residential buildings from this period may be significant for their association with persons important to the history of San Mateo. Under this Criterion the residence should: (1) be clearly associated with the person during the period that they gained prominence within their profession or group and (2) be compared to other properties associated with the person(s) in question in order to identify which property best represents that person’s achievements or reasons for being significant.
C/3/c Architecture/Design Residential properties may be eligible as distinctive examples of an architectural style from the World War II and Post-World War II period.
Examples may include designs that involved innovation or the use of new technology and materials.
Residential properties from this period may be significant for their architecture, as evidenced by intact character-defining features, forms, or construction methods. Buildings may also qualify as the work of a master architect.
Resources qualified under these criteria should be good examples of types and/or styles and retain most of their original features. Architectural significance should be considered for different property typologies including simple residences. However, unique, custom designed residences are more likely to be individually eligible than those that were built on designs replicated in many suburban tracts.
D/4/d Information
Potential
Residential buildings or ruins from buildings that have the potential to yield important information about construction methods and materials, or patterns of residential development may be significant for their potential to provide information important to history. It is unlikely that such examples exist.
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 205
Integrity Requirements
To be eligible for listing, a residential property must retain sufficient integrity to convey its significance as part of the World War II and Post-War Development period. While most buildings undergo change over time, alterations should not significantly change the essential historic character of the buildings. A residential property must retain essential physical features that made up its character during its period of significance. Buildings may qualify as individual resources if they retain a majority of their original features. The following integrity requirements have been identified for residential properties from the World War II and Post-War Development period. • Good representative of a style of architecture from the period • Given the prevalence of residential properties from this period, eligible individual resources or historic districts should have a high degree of historic integrity. • Retains original roofline, roof form, and general massing • Substantially retains original pattern of windows and doors • Replacement or removal of exterior material is acceptable to the degree that it does not substantially alter the historic character and original style of the building.
Integrity Considerations
• Additions may be acceptable, as long as the essential character, form, and massing of the original building is identifiable. Changes to overall massing and form (such as a second story addition to a single-story residence) are likely to result in a lack of integrity to support individual eligibility or as a district contributor.
• Rear/secondary elevation additions that have respected the scale of the original building are generally acceptable.
• Retention of original cladding material is an important aspect of material integrity.
Replacement cladding, however, is acceptable when a majority of the character-defining features are retained.
• The retention of original windows enhances integrity of materials, particularly on street- facing elevations. However, window replacement is a common intervention. Thus, the fact that a building does not retain its original windows does not preclude it from being eligible for listing, so long as the building retains its original pattern of windows and replacement windows are compatible.
• For historic districts, contributing properties need not meet the integrity threshold required for individually eligible properties. Provided that the grouping achieves significance within its historic context, individual properties may lack individual distinction. • Given the prevalence of suburban residential development during this period, most residential neighborhoods of this era are not likely to rise to the level of significance for listing as historic districts. Exceptionally intact examples with distinctive examples of a period architectural style (such as Mid-Century Modern) may be eligible as historic districts.
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 206
Commercial Properties
Commercial growth during the World War II and Post-War Development period was characterized by the emergence of neighborhood and regional shopping centers, modern bank branches in the central business district, motels, road-side restaurants, and office tower/campus developments that supported growing professional sectors. Increased commercial development grew along El Camino Real as well as integrated into San Mateo’s new and expanded suburban neighborhoods. Much of the commercial development of this period featured auto-centric design that included access to thoroughfares, ample parking, and drive-through options. Commercial architecture included the popular styles of the period like Mid-Century Modern, Corporate Modern, and New Formalism.
Associated Architectural Styles
Commercial architectural styles associated with the World War II and Post-War Development period (1941–1979) include the following:
• Mid-Century Modern
• Corporate Modern
• New Formalism
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 207
Significance Requirements
Table 13 discusses the significance of commercial buildings from the World War II and Post-War Development (1941-1979) period in consideration of NRHP, CRHR, and the San Mateo HRI. In order for a commercial property built during the city’s World War II and Post-War Development (1941– 1979) period to be eligible for designation as an individual property on the City’s HRI, the property must be: (1) located within the boundary of the city from the period and (2) be constructed during the World War II and Post-War Development period.
Table 13 Significance Requirements for Commercial Properties from the World War II and Post-World War II Period
Criteria
(NRHP/CRHR/HRI)
Type of
Significance Description of Significance
A/1/a Events/Patterns of
Development
Commercial buildings from this period may be significant for their associations with the theme of Commercial Development. Properties may be significant if they had a particularly influential role in suburban retail and shopping center development, roadside and/or drive through elements associated with the auto-centric retail trends of the period, or the emergence of corporate/professional campus buildings and office parks. A property may also be eligible as the site of a historic event.
B/2/b Persons Commercial buildings from this period may be significant for their association with persons important to the history of San Mateo. Such persons may include prominent business owners and merchants. Under this Criterion the commercial property should: (1) be clearly associated with the person during the period that they gained prominence within their profession or group and (2) be compared to other properties associated with the person(s) in question in order to identify which property best represents that person’s achievements or reasons for being significant.
C/3/c Architecture/Design Commercial buildings from this period may be significant for their architecture, as evidenced by intact character-defining features, forms, or construction methods. Commercial properties may be eligible as distinctive examples of an architectural style or type of construction. Such properties may include automobile-oriented businesses with distinctive architecture of building typologies. Typical examples of an architectural style of the period is not sufficient for eligibility.
Buildings may also qualify as the work of a master architect or prominent builder. Resources qualified under these criteria should be good examples of types and/or styles and retain most of their original features.
D/4/d Information
Potential
Commercial buildings or ruins from buildings that have the potential to yield important information about construction methods and materials, or patterns of commercial development may be significant for their potential to provide information important to history. It is unlikely that such examples exist.
Integrity Requirements
To be eligible for listing, a commercial property must retain sufficient integrity to convey its significance as part of the World War II and Post-War Development (1941–1979) theme. The following integrity requirements have been identified for commercial properties from the World War II and Post-War Development period:
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 208
• Clear example of commercial architecture from this period • Retains overall form, massing, proportion, and materials and features that convey the original design
• Retains the essential aspects of integrity necessary to convey its association with its reason for significance.
• Substantially retains the original pattern of windows and doors. Storefront alterations may be acceptable if they maintain the overall original style of the building. • Replacement of doors and windows is often acceptable, as long as they substantially conform to the original pattern and size/opening of windows and doors. • For roadside and auto-oriented properties to be eligible, their relationship to the roadway should be intact.
Integrity Considerations
• Additions may be acceptable, as long as the essential character, form, and massing of the original building is identifiable.
• Retention of original exterior material is an important aspect of material integrity.
Replacement of some exterior material may be acceptable, but replacement of exterior cladding, alteration of openings, or alteration of distinctive exterior features have the potential to diminish the integrity of the property.
• For corporate campus/office park properties, setting and associated features like designed landscape features may contribute to the overall campus design and should be considered as character-defining when evaluating for historic integrity.
Civic and Institutional Properties
During the World War II and Post-War Development period, San Mateo upgraded civic facilities to accommodate its growing population. Additionally, institutional uses, including medical and educational facilities, schools, libraries, fraternal organizations, and churches were all significantly expanded during this period. Additionally, Coyote Point transformed from a Merchant Marine Cadet Basic Training School to temporarily housing for the College of San Mateo before being developed as the Coyote Point Yacht Harbor and Marina.
Associated Architectural Styles
Civic and institutional buildings constructed during the World War II and Post-War Development period include the following styles:
• Mid-Century Modern
• New Formalism
Significance Requirements
Table 14 discusses the significance of civic and institutional buildings from San Mateo’s World War II and Post-War Development period in consideration of NRHP, CRHR, and the San Mateo HRI. In order for properties to be eligible for designation as an individual property on the City’s HRI, the property must be: (1) located within the boundary of the city from the period and (2) be constructed during the World War II and Post-War Development period (1941–1979).
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 209
Table 14 Significance Requirements for Civic and Institutional Properties from the World War II and Post-World War II Period
Criteria
(NRHP/CRHR/HRI)
Type of
Significance Description of Significance
A/1/a Events/Patterns of
Development
Civic and institutional buildings from this period may be significant for their associations with the theme of civic and institutional development, including social organizations, schools, churches, and city services.
Properties may represent development patterns responding to the city’s growing population and the accompanying establishment of new social, religious, civic, and cultural organizations. A property may also be eligible as the site of a historical event. Eligible properties must be clearly important in the associated context.
B/2/b Persons Civic and institutional buildings from this period may be significant for their association with persons important to the history of San Mateo. Such persons may include prominent business owners, civil servants, clergy, educators, and institution/chapter founders. Under this criterion the civic or institutional property should: (1) be clearly associated with the person during the period that they gained prominence within their profession or group and (2) be compared to other properties associated with the person(s) in question in order to identify which property best represents that person’s achievements or reasons for being significant.
C/3/c Architecture/Design Civic and institutional buildings from this period may be significant for their architecture, as evidenced by intact character-defining features, forms, or construction methods. A property should be a fine example of its style and era and embody the characteristics that make the style significant. A typical example of an architectural style of the period is not sufficient for eligibility.
Buildings may also qualify as the work of a master architect or prominent builder. Resources qualified under these criteria should be good examples of types and/or styles and retain most of their original features.
D/4/d Information
Potential
Civic and institutional buildings or ruins from buildings that have the potential to yield important information about construction methods and materials, or patterns of civic and institutional development may be significant for their potential to provide information important to history. It is unlikely that such examples exist.
Integrity Requirements
Civic and institutional buildings from this period may qualify for designation if they retain a majority of original features. The following integrity requirements have been identified for civic and institutional properties from the World War II and Post-War Development period:
• Clear example of a civic or institutional property from this period that retains essential aspects of integrity and enough physical features to convey its significance • Retains original form, roofline, and general massing. • Substantially retains the original pattern of windows and doors • Retains most of its original ornamentation. A property may be eligible if some materials have been removed or replaced but should still maintain its original design and character.
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 210
Integrity Considerations
• Additions may be acceptable if the essential character of the original building is recognizable.
In particular, rear additions that have been designed to respect the scale of the original building are generally acceptable.
• Prior replacement of doors and windows may be acceptable, if the replacements conform to the original size and location of the openings. All other character-defining features must be retained.
• Civic and institutional buildings may have been adapted for new uses over time, which is acceptable if the building’s original character remains intact.
Transportation Properties
During this period, San Mateo’s development responded to the growing population, increased development, and physical expansion. Much of this infrastructure supported travel at a regional scale: road, freeway, or rail. Additionally, development in downtown included major projects designed to accommodate vehicular traffic and parking demand. While these transportation developments and projects were an important factor in San Mateo’s expansion, they did not produce significant buildings that are part of the architectural fabric of the city today. Extant properties from this period may include overpasses, freeway interchanges, bridges, culverts, and associated municipal infrastructure and utilities.
Significance Requirements
Table 15 discusses the significance of transportation properties from San Mateo’s World War II and Post-War Development period in consideration of NRHP, CRHR, and the San Mateo HRI. In order for properties to be eligible for designation as an individual property on the City’s HRI, the property must be: (1) located within the boundary of the city from the period and (2) be constructed during the World War II and Post-War Development period (1941–1979).
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 211
Table 15 Significance Requirements for Transportation Properties from the World War II and Post-World War II Period
Criteria
(NRHP/CRHR/HRI)
Type of
Significance Description of Significance
A/1/a Events/Patterns of
Development
Transportation properties from this period may be significant for their associations with the theme of transportation development, including roadways, culverts, bridges, and associated utility infrastructure. However, given the ubiquity of these types of properties and improvements, a property would have to demonstrate exceptional significance.
B/2/b Persons It is highly unlikely that transportation or infrastructure properties from this period would be associated with a significant individual to be eligible under this criteria.
C/3/c Architecture/Design Transportation properties from this period may be significant as an example of a particular architectural style or innovative method of construction or engineering, or as the representative work of a master architect or prominent builder, though it is likely rare.
D/4/d Information
Potential
Transportation buildings or ruins of buildings that have the potential to yield important information about construction methods and materials, or patterns of local transportation development may be significant for their potential to provide information important to history. It is unlikely such examples exist.
Integrity Requirements
The following integrity requirements have been identified for properties associated with transportation properties from the World War II and Post-War Development period:
• A property should retain the essential aspects of integrity and enough physical features to convey its association with its reason for significance. • If the transportation property is eligible for its design, it should retain the distinctive character-defining features of the style, type, or method of construction. • Replacement of materials in-kind is not likely to result in loss of integrity.
Industrial Properties
Industrial properties constructed during this period are rare and industrial development during this period was limited. San Mateo did have several nursery properties during this period that were later developed. The city did develop light manufacturing businesses along the U.S. 101 corridor, including on frontage roads South Amphlett Boulevard, North Amphlett Boulevard, and adjacent to the Southern Pacific Railroad corridor further to the west.
Significance Requirements
Table 16 discusses the significance of industrial properties from San Mateo’s World War II and Post- War Development period in consideration of NRHP, CRHR, and the San Mateo HRI. In order for properties to be eligible for designation as an individual property on the City’s HRI, the property must be: (1) located within the boundary of the city from the period and (2) be constructed during the World War II and Post-War Development period (1941–1979).
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 212
Table 16 Significance Requirements for Industrial Properties from the World War II and Post-World War II Period
Criteria
(NRHP/CRHR/HRI)
Type of
Significance Description of Significance
A/1/a Events/Patterns of
Development
Industrial properties from this period may be significant for their associations with patterns of industrial development, or as the site of a significant historic event. Eligible properties must be clearly important in the associated context.
B/2/b Persons Industrial properties from this period may be significant for their association with persons important to the history of San Mateo. Such persons may include prominent business owners or entrepreneurs.
Under this criterion the industrial property should: (1) be clearly associated with the person during the period that they gained prominence within their profession or group and (2) be compared to other properties associated with the person(s) in question in order to identify which property best represents that person’s achievements or reasons for being significant.
C/3/c Architecture/Design In rare instances, industrial properties from this period may be significant as a distinctive example of a particular architectural style or as the representative work of a notable architect or builder.
D/4/d Information
Potential
Industrial properties or ruins of buildings that have the potential to yield important information about construction methods and materials, or patterns of local industrial development may be significant for their potential to provide information important to history; but it is unlikely such examples exist.
Integrity Requirements
The following integrity requirements have been identified for properties associated with industrial properties from the World War II and Post-War Development period:
• A property should retain the essential aspects of integrity and enough physical features to convey its association with its reason for significance. • If the industrial property is eligible for its design, it should retain the distinctive character- defining features of the style, type, or method of construction. • Replacement of materials in-kind is not likely to result in loss of integrity.
Cultural and Ethnic Properties
Immigrant and ethnic groups continued to expand during the World War II and Post-War Development period (1941–1979). Groups present during this period included African Americans, Chinese, Japanese, Filipino, Tongan, and Latino.
Associated Architectural Styles
Properties associated with cultural and ethnic groups could include any architectural styles from this period. They may also include Asian Eclectic properties.
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 213
Significance Requirements
Table 17 discusses the significance properties associated with cultural and ethnic groups from San Mateo’s World War II and Post-War Development period. To be eligible for designation as an individual property on the City’s HRI, the property must be: (1) located within the boundary of the city from the period and (2) be constructed during the World War II and Post-War Development period (1941–1979).
Table 17 Significance Requirements for Cultural and Ethnic Properties from the World War II and Post-World War II Period
Criteria
(NRHP/CRHR/HRI)
Type of
Significance Description of Significance
A/1/a Events/Patterns of
Development
Properties associated with cultural and ethnic groups may be significant for their association with San Mateo’s World War II and Post-War Development period and could include built environment resources, such as residences, institutional buildings, schools, and churches that have a strong association with the settlement and migration of immigrant groups or ethnic communities. It may also include properties that were the site of a historic event. Eligible properties must be clearly important in the associated context.
B/2/b Persons Properties associated with cultural and ethnic groups may be significant for their association with an individual or group significant to San Mateo’s World War II and Post-War Development period that were instrumental or made an important contribution to San Mateo or were otherwise active, successful, or influential.
C/3/c Architecture/Design Properties associated with cultural and ethnic groups from this period may be significant for their architecture, as evidenced by intact character- defining features, forms, or construction methods. Buildings may also qualify as the work of a master architect or prominent builder. Resources qualified under these criteria should be good examples of types and/or styles and retain most of their original features.
D/4/d Information
Potential
Properties associated with cultural and ethnic groups or ruins of buildings that have the potential to yield important information about construction methods and materials, or patterns of local cultural and ethnic groups may be significant for their potential to provide information important to history. It is unlikely such examples exist.
Integrity Requirements
Properties associated with specific cultural and ethnic groups from this period are somewhat rare.
Integrity considerations should account for the rarity of such resources. The property should retain sufficient integrity of design, location, feeling, and association to convey immigrant life and community networks dating to the period of significance. However, because properties associated with this theme are less common, a degree of change to the property and its environs may be acceptable. Properties significant under this theme may also be significant under another applicable theme.
The following integrity requirements have been identified for properties associated with cultural and ethnic groups from the Early Settlement period:
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 214
• Clear representative example of a property type or style associated with a cultural and/or ethnic group from this period
• Has a clear association with an identified cultural and/or ethnic group from this period • Often designed in a dominant architectural style of period • These properties may have been altered over time to meet the changing needs of the community, and a lower threshold of integrity may be appropriate when assessing eligibility • A property may have some alteration to its design but may remain eligible for its association with an ethnic or cultural group, so long as the property has enough of its essential physical features to be able to convey its reason for significance Modern San Mateo (1980–2026)
Development in San Mateo since 1980 has been largely defined by its proximity to the expansion and growth of region as it relates to Silicon Valley and the technology industry. Development in recent years has been slower compared to the two previous periods of initial development and expansion.
Nonetheless, the City has continued to see development of all property types.
Properties built after 1980 are generally not yet age-eligible for listing. The “fifty-year rule” is the principle that properties that have achieved significance within the past 50 years are not generally considered eligible for listing in NRHP. NRHP and CRHR do not include properties important for their contemporary impact and visibility, as it is rarely possible to evaluate historical impact immediately after an event occurs or a building is constructed. The passage of time is necessary to gain adequate perspective.563 However, such properties will qualify for NRHP and CRHR if the property is of exceptional importance.564 Resources that convey exceptional importance may be reflected in a range of resources which the community has an unusually strong associative attachment. To be listed in the San Mateo HRI, a property must be at least 50 years old.
As such, registration requirements for this period of development have not been developed and should be evaluated on a case-by-case basis to ascertain if they meet the threshold of exceptional importance for listing in NRHP or CRHR.
563 National Park Service, National Register Bulletin 22: Guidelines for Evaluating and Nominating Properties that Have Achieved Significance Within the Past Fifty Years (U.S. Department of the Interior, 1998): https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/NRB22- Complete.pdf
564 National Park Service, National Register Bulletin 15: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation (U.S. Department of the Interior, 1997a): https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/NRB-15_web508.pdf.
Guidance for Assessing Significance
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 215
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_____. “San Mateo Bridge Due to Be Ready Before July, 1929; Here are Facts, Figures.” January 4, 1928. Accessed December 23, 2025. https://www.newspapers.com/image- view/841934976/?match=1&terms=san%20mateo%20hayward%20bridge. _____.. “School Bond Bid Rejected.” September 21, 1938. Accessed December 23, 2025. https://www.newspapers.com/image/841854346/?match=1&terms=School%20Bond%20Bid %20Rejected.
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_____. “Wouldn’t You Rather Live In…Fiesta Gardens…in Sunny San Mateo.” August 3, 1955.
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San Mateo Historic Context Statement 225
San Francisco Call Bulletin. “705-unit Hillsdale Apartments Sold.” October 3, 1953. Accessed December 23, 2025.
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_____.“Miscellaneous Items.” July 22, 1895. Accessed December 23, 2025. https://www.newspapers.com/image/80996139/?match=1&terms=%22water%20transporta tion%22.
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_____. “Boys’ Club Lunch Will Hear Hoover.” June 24, 1956, 3P. Accessed January 5, 2026. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1239934904/.
_____. “Casa Baywood to be Ready Mar. 20.” March 2, 1929. Accessed December 23, 2025. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1237302385/?match=1&terms=Casa%20Baywood%20 to%20be%20Ready%20Mar.%2020%2C%E2%80%9D.
_____. “Del Cerrito, Latest Word in Apartments, Opens Today.” May 10, 1930. Accessed December 23, 2025.
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_____. Obituary. “Leonard Michaels.” March 19, 2008.
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_____.“Visitors Will Have Final Opportunity to See Model Home This Week.” May 24, 1930. Accessed December 23, 2025.
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The San Francisco Examiner. “Contract Award to Smash Peninsula Chinese Wall.” August 10, 1924. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1235459138/?match=1&terms=State%20Action%20O n%20New%20Road%20Cause%20Of%20Joy.
_____. “Peninsula’s Big Floral Fiesta Opens.” October 12, 1935. Accessed December 23, 2025. https://www.newspapers.com/image/457996476/?match=1&terms=%22floral%20fiesta%22 %20%22japanese%22.
References
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 226
_____ “Peninsula Hotel Burns Down When Water Fails.” June 26, 1920. Accessed December 23, 2025.
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_____. “Sales at Baywood Park Have Passed Million Dollar Mark.” September 24, 1927. Accessed December 23, 2025.
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_____. “Emmons, Donn (1910-1997) Architect of Merit,” in Architecture, Planning, and Preservation Professionals: A Collection of Biographies. Adopted October 18, 2023. Accessed December 23, 2025. https://sfplanning.org/project/architecture-planning-and-preservation- professionals-collection-biographies#info.
_____. “Wong, Worley (1912-1985) Architect of Merit” in Architecture, Planning, and Preservation Professionals: A Collection of Biographies. Adopted October 18, 2023. Accessed December 23, 2025. https://sfplanning.org/project/architecture-planning-and-preservation- professionals-collection-biographies#info.
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References
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 227
San Mateo County Historical Association. Photo Record, “Bill Kyne Has Coffee with Soldiers at the Three Cities USO Canteen in San Mateo.” Notes. Accessed December 23, 2025. https://historysmc.pastperfectonline.com/photo/75623C2A-B48C-4A37-B87A- 069500411816.
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_____. “Aragon Enjoys Active Month.” September 14, 1935. https://www.newspapers.com/image/51681539/?match=1&terms=Aragon%20Enjoys%20Act ive%20Month.
_____. “Aragon Tract Will Open to Public Sunday.” August 24, 1929. _____. “Beresford Votes Union to San Mateo by Big Majority.” August 28, 1929. https://www.newspapers.com/image/51674915/?match=1&terms=Beresford%20Votes%20 Union%20to%20San%20Mateo%20by%20Big%20Majority.
_____. “Boys’ Club Lunch Will Hear Hoover.” June 24, 1956. https://www.newspapers.com/image/1239934904/.
_____. “City Hall is Nearly Empty.” August 16, 1940.
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_____. “Fire Protection Needed.” March 27, 1931. Accessed December 23, 2025. _____. “Highway Builder – L.C. Smith, Bay Area Developer, Dies.” August 3, 1973. Accessed December 23, 2025. https://www.newspapers.com/image/52109811/.
_____. “Legal Notice.” May 23, 1940. Accessed December 23, 2025. https://www.newspapers.com/image/38860990/?match=1&terms=%22legal%20notice%22. _____.“Polo Club Opens Sunday.” August 8, 1953, 3. Accessed January 5, 2026. https://www.newspapers.com/image/38977671/?match=1&clipping_id=188263594. _____. “San Mateo Village Celebrates.” The Times. October 27, 1948. https://www.newspapers.com/image/38904942/.
References
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 228
_____. “Tree Planting Starts in Sunnybrae Tract.” March 18, 1939. Accessed December 23, 2025. https://www.newspapers.com/image/38660966/?match=1&terms=Tree%20Planting%20Star ts%20in%20Sunnybrae%20Tract.
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Simister, Eve. “The African American Great Migration and San Mateo County.” La Peninsula, Vol. XLIV, No. 1, 4, 12.
Skowronek, Russell K. “Sifting the Evidence: Perceptions of Life at the Ohlone (Costanoan) Missions of Alta California.” Ethnohistory 45, no. 4 (1998): 675–708.
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_____. Levy Bros: A Centennial History, 1872-1972. Stanger, 1972.
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_____.“Advertisement for Fiesta Gardens Swimming Pools and Recreation Center.” October 8, 1955.
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_____. “Center Opens at Los Prados.” December 4, 1965. Accessed December 23, 2025. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-the-times-1965-los-prados-sh/180892864/. _____. “Construction on Borel Unit Starts.” September 28, 1966. Accessed December 23, 2025. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-the-times-1965-borel-place-5/181200248/.
References
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 229
_____. “Coyote Point Regional Park Dream Coming True.” August 7, 1973. Accessed December 23, 2025. https://www.newspapers.com/image/52113917/?match=1&clipping_id=180287725. _____. “Look to Lauriedale for a Completely New Living Idea.” October 29, 1964. Accessed December 23, 2025. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-the-times-1964-lauriedale- ad/180827468/.
_____. “South S.M. Meeting Maps Improvement.” May 17, 1949. Accessed December 23, 2025. https://www.newspapers.com/image/38905645/?match=1&clipping_id=182596869. _____. “Southward the Course of Progress Makes Its Way.” August 16, 1940. Accessed December 23, 2025. https://www.newspapers.com/article/the-times-the-times-1940-san-mateo- kno/180894262/.
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United States Environmental Protection Agency. 25 Years of RCRA: Building on Our Past to Protect Our Future. 2002. Accessed October 1, 2025.
https://nepis.epa.gov/Exe/ZyPDF.cgi/10000MAO.PDF?Dockey=10000MAO.PDF.
University of California, Berkeley. UC Berkeley, Environmental Design Archives. “Ernest Coxhead Collection.” Accessed February 19, 2026.
https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/tf087001g5/.
_____. UC Berkeley, Environmental Design Archives. “San Francisco Blueprint Collection, 1906– 1961.” Accessed February 19, 2026. https://oac.cdlib.org/findaid/ark:/13030/c851469f.
University of California, Santa Barbara. San Mateo [aerial photograph], Flight C-674, Frame 1 and Frame 2, October 1, 1929.
Uppergrave, Micheal. “Multifamily Housing That’s Custom-Fit to Site.” Housing Vol 50, No 6. (November 1980), 60.
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References
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 230
Weigel, Samantha. “Uncovering History in San Mateo: St. John’s Cemetery Has Lineage of Caretakers, Formative Family.” The Daily Journal, October 31, 2014.
Weitze, Karen J. California’s Mission Revival. Hennesy & Ingalls, Inc., 1984.
Yates, Dana. “Park to Replace Landfill.” The Daily Journal, November 15, 2000. Accessed October 1, 2025. https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/park-to-replace- landfill/article_a63d82e9-4e7a-5616-a606-3a3b577c63ae.html. _____. “Police Station Groundbreaking Set.” July 12, 2017. Accessed October 1, 2025. https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/police-station-groundbreaking- set/article_03bab3c5-4902-56fc-965c-192b414026a0.html.
_____. “Residents Keen on Keeping Open Space.” January 12, 2004. Accessed October 1, 2025. https://www.smdailyjournal.com/news/local/residents-keen-on-keeping-open- space/article_6ea5c0bf-d470-55ff-b90f-a43a99eb4cb5.html.
Zompolis, Gregory N. Images of America: San Mateo. Arcadia Publishing, 2004.
References
San Mateo Historic Context Statement 231
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Historic Context Statement
Appendix A
Records Search Results
Prepared for
City of San Mateo
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March 2026