History of the City

In 1854 Menlo Park received its official name when two Irishmen,Dennis J. Oliver and D.C. McGlynn, purchased 1,700 acres bordering County Road. The land now known as the city of Menlo Park was originally the home of Ohlone Indians. Spanish settlement came to this area in 1769 when the exploration party led by Don Gaspar de Portola camped near “El Palo Alto” after their discovery of San Francisco Bay. The colonization of the “Peninsula” began after the expedition of Juan Bautista De Anza passed through Menlo Park on his way to establishing Mission Dolores and the Presidio of San Francisco in 1776.

In 1854 Menlo Park received its official name when two Irishmen, Dennis J. Oliver and D.C. McGlynn, purchased 1,700 acres bordering County Road (now El Camino Real) and built two houses with a common entrance. Across the drive they erected a huge wooden gate with tall arches on which the name of their estate was printed in foot high letters. It read “MENLO PARK.” When the Railroad came through in 1863, a railroad official looked over at the gates and decided that “MENLO PARK” would be appropriate for the newly established depot; hence the name was officially adopted. This station, constructed in 1866 and used by rail tycoons Leland Stanford and Mark Hopkins as a base for their travels, is the oldest rail station in continuous operation in the State of California. The station now houses the Menlo Park Chamber of Commerce.

A county road was laid for horses, carriages, wagons, and stagecoaches which opened San Mateo County to the residents of San Francisco who wished to establish a summer residence in the country. Among the first to buy large tracks of land and build their mansions were the Athertons, Hopkins, Floods, Mills, Donohoes, and Feltons. Menlo Park was originally incorporated in 1874 as the second city in San Mateo County. It was disincorporated two years later and remained so until reincorporation in November 1927.

Churches were founded, schools were opened, and businesses were established. A San Francisco literary publication, later known as “Sunset Magazine,” was founded in 1898 as a promotional tool for the Southern Pacific Railroad. Contributors to this first regional lifestyle magazine in the nation included Mark Twain and Jack London.

Little occurred to change the rural flavor of the community until the First World War. During the war Menlo Park was populated by 43,000 soldiers in training at Camp Fremont on land which extended from Valparaiso to San Francisquito Creek and from El Camino to the Alameda de las Pulgas. Between 1943 and 1946 another military installation, Dibble General Hospital, was built to care for the thousands of soldiers injured in the South Pacific in World War II.

A post war boom occurred in Menlo Park after World War II. Under the leadership of former Menlo Park Mayor Charles Burgess, the City acquired 29 acres of Dibble General Hospital grounds. The civic center was built on this land. Pioneering steps were taken in zoning control which attracted such enterprises as Stanford Research Institute and the U.S Geological Survey. This led to the City’s first Master Plan in 1952. This progressive community continues to grow, while it looks back with pride, hoping new generations of Menlo Park residents adopt the goals and aspirations of its pioneer families.