Editing Palo Alto, California (section)

== History ==
[[File:El-palo-alto-tree-california.jpg|thumb|left|Palo Alto is named after [[El Palo Alto]], a historic {{convert|110|ft|m|adj=mid|tall|abbr=on}} [[California Redwood]] on the banks of the [[San Francisquito Creek]], sighted and named by the [[Portolá expedition]] in 1769.]]
Before the arrival of Europeans, the [[Ohlone]] lived on the San Francisco peninsula; in particular, the Puichon Ohlone lived in the Palo Alto area. The area of modern Palo Alto was first recorded by [[Portola expedition|the 1769 party]] of [[Gaspar de Portolá]], a 64-man, 200-horse expedition setting out from [[San Diego, California|San Diego]] to find [[Monterey Bay]].<ref name=Rolle/> The group trekked past the bay without recognizing it and continued north. When they reached modern-day [[Pacifica, California|Pacifica]], they ascended [[Sweeney Ridge]] and saw the [[San Francisco Bay]] on November 2.<ref name=Rolle/> Portolá descended from Sweeney Ridge southeast down [[San Andreas Creek]] to [[Laguna Creek (San Mateo County)|Laguna Creek]] (now [[Crystal Springs Reservoir]]), thence to the [[San Francisquito Creek]] watershed, ultimately camping from November 6–11, 1769, by a tall redwood later to be known as [[El Palo Alto]].<ref name=Rolle>{{Cite book |last=Rolle |first=Andrew |url=https://www.worldcat.org/oclc/13333829 |title=California: A History |publisher=Harlan Davidson |year=1987 |isbn=0-88295-839-9 |edition=4th |location=Arlington Heights, IL |oclc=13333829 |page=52}}</ref>

In 1777, Father [[Junipero Serra]] established the [[Mission Santa Clara de Asis]], whose northern boundary was San Francisquito Creek and whose lands included modern Palo Alto. The area was under the control of the viceroy of Mexico and ultimately under the control of Spain. On November 29, 1777, [[San Jose, California|Pueblo de San Jose de Guadalupe]] (now the city of San Jose a few miles to the south of what was to be Palo Alto) was established by order of the viceroy despite the displeasure of the local mission. The [[Mexican War of Independence]] ending in 1821 led to Mexico becoming an independent country, though San Jose did not recognize rule by the new Mexico until May 10, 1825.  Mexico proceeded to sell off or grant much of the mission land.<ref name="nps-santa-clara">{{cite web|title=Early History |url=https://www.nps.gov/articles/early-history.htm|publisher=National Park Service|access-date=June 22, 2023}}</ref>

During the [[Mexican–American War]], the United States seized Alta California in 1846; however, this was not legalized until the [[Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo]] was signed on July 4, 1848. Mexican citizens in the area could choose to become United States citizens and their land grants were to be recognized if they chose to do so (though many legal disputes arose over this).{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

The land grant, [[Rancho Rinconada del Arroyo de San Francisquito]], of about {{convert|2230|acre|km2}} on the lower reaches of San Francisquito Creek (i.e., parts of modern Menlo Park and northern Palo Alto) was given to Maria Antonia Mesa in 1841. She and her husband Rafael Soto (who had died in 1839) had settled in 1835 near present-day Newell and Middlefield roads and sold supplies. In 1839, their daughter María Luisa Soto (1817–1883) married John Coppinger, who was to be, in 1841, the grantee of [[Rancho Cañada de Raymundo]] (in modern San Mateo county). Upon Coppinger's death in 1847, Maria inherited it and later married a visiting boat captain, John Greer. Greer owned a home on the site that is now Town & Country Village on Embarcadero and [[El Camino Real (California)|El Camino Real]]. Greer Avenue and Court are named for him.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}
[[File:Palo Alto area 1890.png|thumb|Part of an 1890 map of northern Santa Clara County including all or part of the towns of University Park, Palo Alto (now [[College Terrace, Palo Alto, California|College Terrace]] in Palo Alto), Mayfield. Also shows Stanford University (still under construction at the time.)]]
To the south of the Sotos, the brothers Secundino and Teodoro Robles in 1849 bought [[Rancho Rincon de San Francisquito]] from José Peña, the 1841 grantee.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb329004cp/?order=2|title=Plat of the Rancho Rincon de San Francisquito, finally confirmed to Teodoro and Secundino Robles : [Santa Clara Co., Calif.] / as located by the U.S. Surveyor General|date=August 23, 1863|website=Cdlib.org}}</ref> The grant covered the area south of Rancho Rinconada del Arroyo de San Francisquito to more or less present-day Mountain View. The grant was bounded on the south by Mariano Castro's [[Rancho Pastoria de las Borregas]] grant across San Antonio Road. This later became the Robles Rancho, which constitutes about 80% of Palo Alto and Stanford University today. In 1863, it was whittled down in the courts to {{convert|6981|acre|km2}}. Stories say the grand hacienda was built on the former meager adobe of José Peña near Ferne off San Antonio Road, midway between Middlefield and Alma Street.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.nps.gov/history/history/online_books/5views/5views5h87.htm|title=Spanishtown Site|website=Nps.gov|access-date=February 21, 2022}}</ref> Their hacienda hosted fiestas and bull fights. It was ruined in the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake|1906 earthquake]] and its lumber was used to build a large barn nearby, which was said to have lingered until the early 1950s. On April 10, 1853, {{convert|250|acre|km2}}, comprising the present-day Barron Park, [[Matadero Creek]] and Stanford Business Park, was sold for $2,000 to [[Elisha Oscar Crosby]], who called his new property Mayfield Farm. The name of Mayfield was later attached to the community that started nearby. On September 23, 1856, the Crosby land was transferred to [[Sarah Wallis]] to satisfy a debt he owed her.<ref name="barronhistory">{{cite journal|last1=Graham|first1=Doug|title=Barron Park History |journal=Barron Park Association Newsletter |date=Summer 2003| url=http://www2.bpaonline.org/bp-news/2003-summer/index.html#history|access-date=July 22, 2017}}</ref> In 1880, Secundino Robles, father to twenty-nine children, still lived just south of Palo Alto, near the location of the present-day [[San Antonio Shopping Center]] in Mountain View.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}
[[File:Frenchman'sTower,profile.jpg|thumb|left|upright|[[Frenchman's Tower]] was built in 1875 by Peter Coutts. This {{convert|50|ft|adj=mid||-tall}} brick tower near Matadero Creek likely marked the south corner of his property.]]
Many of the Spanish names in the Palo Alto area represent the local heritage, descriptive terms, and former residents. Pena Court, Miranda Avenue, which was essentially [[Foothill Expressway]], was the married name of [[Juana Briones de Miranda|Juana Briones]] and the name occurs in Courts and Avenues and other street names in Palo Alto and Mountain View in the quadrant where she owned vast areas between Stanford University, Grant Road in Mountain View and west of El Camino Real. Yerba Buena was to her credit. Rinconada was the major Mexican land grant name.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

The township of '''Mayfield''' was formed in 1855, around the site of a [[stagecoach]] stop and saloon known as "Uncle Jim's Cabin" near the intersection of El Camino Real and today's California Avenue in what is now southern Palo Alto.<ref name=Mayfield>{{cite book |editor=Ward Winslow |year=1993 |title=Palo Alto: A Centennial History |location=Palo Alto, California |publisher=Palo Alto Historical Association |isbn=9780963809834 |chapter=Neighboring Mayfield |pages=23–43 }}</ref> In October 1863 the [[San Francisco and San Jose Railroad|San Francisco to San Jose railroad]] had been built as far as Mayfield and service started between San Francisco and Mayfield (the station is now [[California Avenue station|California Avenue]]); train service all the way to San Jose started in January 1864.<ref>{{cite news|title=The San Jose Railroad|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/cgi-bin/cdnc?a=d&d=DAC18631018.2.3|access-date=August 8, 2017|work=Daily Alta California|date=October 18, 1863}}</ref><ref>{{cite web|title=Early Milestones|url=http://www.caltrain.com/about/History/Early_Milestones.html|website=Caltrain.com|access-date=August 8, 2017|archive-date=January 11, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210111112553/http://www.caltrain.com/about/History/Early_Milestones.html|url-status=dead}}</ref> El Camino became Main Street; the northeast–southwest cross streets were named for [[American Civil War|Civil War]] heroes, with California Avenue originally being Lincoln Street. The town had its own newspaper by 1869 (the ''Mayfield Enterprise'', in English and Spanish), incorporated in 1903, and had breweries and a cannery.<ref name=Mayfield/>

In 1875, French financier Jean Baptiste Paulin Caperon, better known as Peter Coutts, purchased land in Mayfield and four other parcels around three sides of today's [[College Terrace, Palo Alto, California|College Terrace]] – more than a thousand acres (4.0&nbsp;km<sup>2</sup>) extending from today's [[Page Mill Road]] to Serra Street and from El Camino Real to the foothills. Coutts named his property Ayrshire Farm.  [[Leland Stanford]] started buying land in the area in 1876 for a horse farm, called the [[Palo Alto Stock Farm]]. Stanford bought Ayrshire Farm in 1882.<ref>{{cite journal |title=A Brief Human and Natural History of Stanford's Dish Open Space |first=Christy|last=Holloway |journal=Sandstone and Tile |pages=15–20 |date=Spring–Summer 2011 |url=http://histsoc.stanford.edu/STbackfiles.shtml |access-date=March 25, 2012 }}</ref>

=== Creation of the town ===
[[File:University Avenue at the Circle with train steaming toward El Palo Alto, 1894.jpg|thumb|University Avenue at the Circle with train steaming toward El Palo Alto, 1894]]
In 1884, Leland and Jane Stanford lost their only child [[Leland Stanford Jr.]] when he died of [[typhoid fever]] at 15 years old and decided to create a university in his memory. In 1886, they proposed having the university's gateway be Mayfield. However, they had one condition: alcohol had to be banned from the town. Known for its 13 rowdy saloons, Mayfield rejected his request. This led them to drive the formation of a new [[Temperance Towns|temperance town]] with the help of their friend [[Timothy Hopkins]] of the [[Southern Pacific Railroad]], who in 1887 bought {{convert|740|acre|km2|1}} of private land for the new townsite. This Hopkins Tract, bounded by El Camino Real, San Francisquito Creek, Boyce, Channing, Melville, and Hopkins Avenues, and Embarcadero Road,<ref>{{cite web|title=Palo Alto Comprehensive Plan, page L-3|url=http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/knowzone/city_projects/land_use/comprehensive_plan.asp|access-date=February 3, 2011|archive-date=July 29, 2012|archive-url=https://archive.today/20120729063143/http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/knowzone/city_projects/land_use/comprehensive_plan.asp|url-status=dead}}</ref> was proclaimed a local Heritage District during Palo Alto's centennial in 1994. The Stanfords set up their university, [[Stanford University]], and a [[Palo Alto station|train stop]] (on University Avenue) by the new town. This new community was initially called University Park (the name "Palo Alto" at that time was attached to what is now College Terrace), but was [[municipal corporation|incorporated]] in 1894 with the name Palo Alto. With the Stanfords' support, Palo Alto grew to the size of Mayfield. Mayfield eventually passed an ordinance banning saloons that took effect in January 1905.{{citation needed|date=March 2024}}

=== Later history ===

On July 2, 1925, Palo Alto voters approved the annexation of Mayfield and the two communities were officially consolidated on July 6, 1925.<ref name=Mayfield/> As a result, Palo Alto has two downtown areas: one along University Avenue and one along California Avenue (renamed after the annexation since Palo Alto already had a Lincoln Avenue).

The ''Mayfield News'' wrote its own obituary four days later:
{{blockquote|It is with a feeling of deep regret that we see on our streets today those who would sell, or give, our beautiful little city to an outside community. We have watched Mayfield grow from a small hamlet, when Palo Alto was nothing more than a hayfield, to her present size ... and it is with a feeling of sorrow that we contemplate the fact that there are those who would sell or give the city away.<ref>{{cite news |last=Diamond |first=Diana |author-link=Diana Diamond |date=2015-01-06 |title=Laying it on thick during change of the guard in Palo Alto
 |url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2015/01/06/laying-it-on-thick-during-change-of-the-guard-in-palo-alto/|access-date= 2020-09-03}}</ref>}}
[[File:Varsity Theater, Palo Alto, CA (2771895956).jpg|thumb|left|The historic [[Varsity Theatre (Palo Alto)|Varsity Theatre]], built in 1927 in a [[Mission Revival]] style]]
Palo Alto continued to annex more land, including the [[Stanford Shopping Center]] area in 1953.  [[Stanford Research Park]], Embarcadero Road northeast of Bayshore, and the West Bayshore/San Antonio Road area were also annexed during the 1950s. Large amounts of land west of Foothill Expressway were annexed between 1959 and 1968; this is mostly undeveloped and includes [[Foothills Park, Palo Alto|Foothills Park]] and [[Arastradero Preserve]]. The last major annexations were of Barron Park in 1975 and, in 1979, a large area of marshlands bordering the bay.<ref>{{cite book|title=Palo Alto Comprehensive Plan|page=50|chapter-url=http://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/8170|access-date=July 1, 2017|chapter=Land Use and Community Design|archive-date=January 12, 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210112235103/https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/civicax/filebank/documents/8170|url-status=dead}}</ref>

Many of Stanford University's first faculty members settled in the [[Professorville]] neighborhood of Palo Alto. Professorville, now a registered national historic district, is bounded by Kingsley, Lincoln, and Addison Avenues and the cross streets of Ramona, Bryant, and Waverley. The district includes a large number of well-preserved residences dating from the 1890s, including 833 Kingsley, 345 Lincoln, and 450 Kingsley. 1044 Bryant was the home of [[Russell Varian]], co-inventor of the [[Klystron tube]]. The [[Federal Telegraph Company|Federal Telegraph]] laboratory site, situated at 218 Channing, is a [[California Historical Landmark]] recognizing [[Lee de Forest]]'s 1911 invention of the [[vacuum tube]] and [[electronic oscillator]] at that location. While not open to the public, the [[HP garage|garage that housed the launch of Hewlett Packard]] is located at 367 Addison Avenue. Hewlett Packard recently restored the house and garage. A second historic district on [[Ramona Street Architectural District|Ramona Street]] can be found downtown between University and Hamilton Avenues. The [[Palo Alto Chinese School]] is the oldest in the entire Bay Area. It is also home to the second oldest opera company in California, the [[West Bay Opera]].

One early major business was when [[Thomas Foon Chew]], owner of the Bayside Canning Company in [[Alviso, San Jose|Alviso]] founded by his father,<ref name="bayside">{{cite web |title=Five Views: An Ethnic Historic Site Survey for California (Chinese Americans) |url=https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/5views/5views3h6.htm |website=www.nps.gov |access-date=May 10, 2023}}</ref> expanded his business by starting a cannery in 1918 in what was then Mayfield that initially employed 350 workers but later expanded.<ref name="frys">{{cite news |last1=Sheyner |first1=Gennady |title=History of Fry's site complicates city's redevelopment plans |url=https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2019/07/31/history-of-frys-site-complicates-citys-redevelopment-plans |access-date=May 10, 2023 |work=www.paloaltoonline.com |date=July 31, 2019 |language=en}}</ref><ref name="hrbreport">{{cite book |title=Staff Report (ID # 10499): HRE Cannery |date=July 25, 2019 |publisher=Palo Alto Historic Resources Board |url=https://www.cityofpaloalto.org/files/assets/public/agendas-minutes-reports/agendas-minutes/historic-resources-board/2019/id-10499-hre-cannery.pdf |access-date=May 10, 2023}}</ref>  In the 1920s the Bayside Canning Company became one of the largest in the world. In 1949 the Palo Alto cannery, now part of the Sutter Packing Company under the ownership of [[Safeway]], closed; at the time it was the largest employer in Palo Alto with about a 1,000 workers.<ref name="frys"/><ref name="hrbreport"/>  Various businesses used the building since including [[Fry's Electronics]].<ref name="frys"/><ref name="hrbreport"/>

Palo Alto is also home to a long-standing baseball tradition. The Palo Alto Oaks are a collegiate summer baseball club that has been in the Bay Area since 1950, eight years longer than the San Francisco Giants. The Oaks were originally managed by Tony Makjavich for 49 years.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2010/08/01/palo-alto-oaks-headed-to-the-world-series|title=Palo Alto Oaks headed to the World Series|access-date=February 16, 2017|language=en}}</ref> The Oaks were going to fold before the summer 2016 season but were taken on by [[Daniel Palladino]] and Whaylan Price, Bay Area baseball coaches who did not want to see the team die. The Oaks have a rich history within the Palo Alto community.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.paloaltoonline.com/news/2016/06/28/the-palo-alto-oaks-gain-new-baseball-life-for-a-second-time|title=The Palo Alto Oaks gain new baseball life for a second time|last=Sports|first=John Reid/Palo Alto Online|access-date=February 14, 2017|language=en}}</ref>