Publication Date: Wednesday Sep 9, 1998

The plaques of Palo Alto

Here's your guide to historical sites throughout the city--both the obvious and not so obvious

In a city like Palo Alto--a place full of cell phones and T-lines, venture capital and start-up gazelles--it's good to take a breather every now and then.

A good way to do that is to take a step back in time to learn what came before the economic hustle that now characterizes much of our lives.

We thought it would be fun to look at that history through the many plaques that have been placed throughout town.

Some are obvious: the Digital Building on Bryant Street behind Walgreens. That was the site of the city's first schoolhouse.

Others, however, are more obscure. How many of you, for example, know about Uncle Jim's Cabin? It's long gone, but a plaque on California Avenue commemorates this famous stopping point, built in 1853 for weary travelers lumbering their way from San Jose to San Francisco.

It's hard to determine exactly how many historical plaques there are in Palo Alto. The city's historical association cites 23 as local, state or historical landmarks, though it admits that various community and historical groups down through the years have often designated something with a plaque but kept no record of it.

Tracking down all 23 can be a fun way to spend a day or weekend. If you've got the time--that is in between cell phone calls and closing deals-- take a tour of The Plaques of Palo Alto.

El Camino Mission Bells

Back in 1892 Anna Pitcher of Pasadena thought it would be a nice touch to accent the 700-mile route between California's 21 missions with decorative bells. By 1913, 450 of the bells were in place along the El Camino.

Two such bells, mounted on curved arms, were hung in Palo Alto. One is on a traffic island at Embarcadero and El Camino, and the other is just south on the west side of El Camino. A plaque is at the base of the one on the traffic island.

Over the years, vandalism and general wear and tear have taken a toll on the bells up and down the state. Palo Alto's bells, replaced years ago in concrete form by Caltrans, were replaced again earlier this year. The new bells, donated by the Iranian Federated Women's Club and the Palo Alto Historical Association, are made from cast iron and fashioned from the original 1906 mold.

Steve Staiger, the Palo Alto Historical Association's historian, notes that while there were many routes for those who were travelling between missions, none of them was El Camino Real. A more popular route was closer to what is today the Alameda de las Pulgas and when they was dry, shorter trails near the Bay were more desirable.

Also to be noted is the fact that when the padres were choosing sites for the missions, Palo Alto was a planned location, but when they arrived, they found San Francisquito Creek dry and built the mission in Santa Clara instead.

Hewlett-Packard Garage

In 1938 two green Stanford grads set up shop in a dusty one-car garage at 367 Addison St. Little did they know they were making history.

The two young men, William Hewlett and David Packard, soon put the finishing touches on Hewlett's invention, a resistance-tuned oscillator, a device that attracted the attention of Disney Studios. Disney, in fact, became their first customer, buying nine oscillators for the sound production of "Fantasia."

Soon, the pair moved out of the garage. By 1942, Hewlett-Packard had its own plant on Page Mill Road and became one of the companies that established Silicon Valley as a technological mecca. In the years following World War II, the company's production and work force doubled annually as it branched into defense work and other electronic measuring products.

Besides its history as a technological leader, Hewlett Packard revolutionized many other business practices that now follow under the heading "Human Resources." The company, for example, pioneered the notion of profit-sharing and displayed a willingness in tough times to furlough the whole work force rather than lay anyone off. H-P also developed the tradition of close cooperation with customers, even competing firms started by ex-employees. In addition, the company encouraged its executives to engage in civic leadership, on the theory that "the environment in which our people work has a good deal to do with the success of the company," as Packard put it.

With its headquarters still located in Stanford Industrial Research Park, Hewlett-Packard has tens of thousands of employees worldwide and records sales in the billions each year.

Antonino Buelna

In 1839, California Gov. Juan Alvarado granted Antonino Buelna a 1471-acre rancho (located where Stanford's main campus now is) for his help in a revolt that made Alvarado governor.

Buelna played a key part in politics in California in the early to mid-1800s, a time when only 2,000 to 3,000 Spanish/Mexican Californios were living in the state.

As part of a team that was set on ousting the current governor, Nicolas Gutierrez, out of office, Buelna has been likened to Patrick Henry for a speech he gave about how California should become a free and independent country.

On his new rancho, Buelna built a three-room adobe, where he lived for three years before he died. It was located at about 1850 Sand Hill Road near the current Oak Creek Apartments. At the adobe, he had a small garden and a few hundred head of cattle. He grew melons and corn and built a road to his other ranchero. He also served as justice of the peace.

A plaque at the location explains Buelna's role in local history.

After he died, his widow lived on the property for about 10 more years and married Francisco Rodriguez, a widower from Monterey. In 1863, following a nasty legal dispute, the property was bought by a wealthy San Franciscan, George Gordon, who eventually sold it to Leland and Jane Stanford.

Uncle Jim's Cabin

In 1853, James Otterson, a 48-year-old Scotch Canadian, opened the doors of his newly-built inn, the first commercial building in Mayfield. Deemed Uncle Jim's Cabin, it stood where the main San Francisco/San Jose road intersected the road that led to the redwoods, which today would be near the intersection of California Avenue and El Camino Real.

By 1855, Uncle Jim's Cabin was a mail stop, with Otterson presiding as postmaster and calling his stop Mayfield, probably after Mayfield Farm, a nearby 250-acre farm owned by Elisha Crosby. Soonafter, a school, a general store and other various shops opened up, creating a town around the inn.

Not only was Uncle Jim's a place to rest weary feet and get something to eat or drink for those passing through, it also served as Mayfield's social hub. Dances and church services were held in in main room.

Many years later, Uncle Jim's Cabin became a butcher shop owned by a Peruvian, Andreas Ramos. The scene outside the shop on many days was somewhat odd: Ramos hung his steer carcasses from the limbs of a huge oak tree outside the shop. He hung them from branches high above ground to escape flies and yellow jackets. It made quite a sight for passing travelers.

Uncle Jim's cabin is long gone, but a plaque commemorates it on California Avenue just off El Camino.

First School in Mayfield

The corner of Birch and Sherman streets was the apex of elementary education in Mayfield in the mid-1800s. Education was a major concern of the early residents of Palo Alto and Mayfield; before the towns became one and Palo Alto became known for electronic advances, many Palo Altans considered education to be their main business.

The Palo Alto Historical Association records in its book, "Palo Alto: A Centennial History," that Sen. Leland Stanford is credited with saying, in 1891, "Of course in time the University will be complete from the kindergarten to the post-graduate course, but that can only be after a village has grown up around the University."

Built in 1855, the first school to cater to the children of Mayfield and Palo Alto was described as a log cabin "herring box" presumably because it was long and narrow.

On that same spot, a new schoolhouse was built in 1867, a two-story building that was later sold, moved off the site and converted into a brewery. This school was replaced by yet another in 1898.

Called Sherman School, it cost $14,000 to build and consisted of six rooms and served the community for more than 40 years. It was ordered torn down in 1940 but got a year reprieve because beehives in the rafters were producing 10 gallons of honey a year.

A plaque recalling the school can be found at Sherman and Birch.

Sarah Wallis House

Sarah Montgomery Green Wallis was married and abandoned twice before she finally found a suitable husband. Wallis' trouble with irresponsible husbands--the second of whom left her when she was 6 1/2 months pregnant--may have led to her mission in life: women's suffrage.

In 1854, Sarah married Joseph S. Wallis, a local clerk who was studying law, and moved to the Palo Alto area. Though the circumstances are still foggy, Sarah Wallis successfully sued Elisha Crosby, the owner of Mayfield Farm, for money owed to her and received instead the title to the farm. Once there, the couple built a lavish house, often called the "Wedding Cake House," where they entertained the likes of Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and President Ulysses S. Grant.

In 1870, Sarah was the founding president of the Mayfield Woman's Suffrage Association and the California State Woman Suffrage Educational Association in 1873. The house was later purchased by Edward Barron, whose name is associated with the nearby area, Barron Park.

The house is gone, but a plaque on La Selva Drive just off El Camino attests to it being the center of the local movement to win the vote for women.

First Elementary School in Palo Alto

Many early Palo Alto parents used to fret about having to load their kids on a wagon every morning for the long ride to the schoolhouse in Mayfield.

Finally, in 1893, local residents took the matter into their own hands. Local pioneer Anna Zschokke described the situation in the book "Palo Alto: A Centennial History."

"Mothers had often sighed over the drawback of having to send the little ones so far to school as Mayfield (two miles). The county superintendent, being interviewed, favored our having a school, declaring we had plenty of children, and directed that we take the necessary steps. ... This was done, but Mayfield so emphatically rebelled at having our end of her district cut off, insisting that we were not the required two miles from her schoolhouse, that we dropped the matter until we had a set of men here who could push the project through in spite of all opposition."

Once officials verified that two miles did separate the Mayfield school from the proposed site in Palo Alto, a temporary schoolhouse was constructed on Bryant Street near University Avenue in four days by volunteers from the community. Opening on Sept. 5, 1893, it boasted nearly 80 students and two teachers. The following year, a permanent structure opened on Channing Avenue where Channing House is now located.

A plaque now rests at the site of the temporary school, at the Digital Building on Bryant behind Walgreens.

The Squire House

The huge white mansion located at 900 University Avenue was built in 1904 at a cost of $15,000. It was designed by T. Paterson Ross and constructed by George W. Mosher and stands as one of Palo Alto's most well-known houses. Across the street from the Squire House, back in 1904, stood the Dayan mansion at 449 Seneca Street, a colonial style home built in 1895.

Hailed as a state historic landmark, the design of the Squire House is recognized today as a fine example of the neo-classical or Greco-Roman revival in America in the early 20th century.

House owner John A. Squire, heir to a large fortune made from the meat-packing industry on the East Coast, was Palo Alto's first weatherman. Thanks to him, records were kept of the rainfall that fell in the early part of the 20th century.

St. Thomas Aquinas Church

Standing at 745 Waverley Avenue, this church is the oldest church still in use in Palo Alto.

Construction began in 1901 under the leadership of Rev. Bernard J. McKinnon, whose parish had never had a permanent place of worship.

A ladies' benefit fair raised enough funds to buy the land on Waverley for $1,500 and in 1902, the $12,000 church opened its doors.

To movie goers, the rich interior of the building became known as a set for the classic film "Harold and Maude."

The church is the headquarters for the five local churches that make up the St. Thomas Aquinas Parish.

Site of Lee deForest Lab

Radio communication was still relatively new as the 20th century rolled around. The signal quality was lousy and amplification was difficult at best. In Palo Alto, Cyril F. Elwell was struggling to get his Federal Telegraph Compay off the ground. So, Elwell recruited Dr. Lee deForest, a New Yorker who had made many important contributions to the field.

Working with technician Charles V. Logwood in Palo Alto, deForest began to delve even more into the amplification process through refinements in his groundbreaking audion tube. Through their experiments and findings, radio and telephone long-distance communication were made possible.

Their discoveries in Palo Alto made possible live radio broadcasting and became the key components of all radio, telephone, radar, television and computer systems until the transistor was invented in 1947.

After obtaining many patents for his audion tube and selling different rights to different companies, including the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, deForest left Palo Alto in 1913.

A plaque at Emerson Street and Channing Avenue discusses deForest's contributions at the site of his lab.

Hostess House

Casual visitors to MacArthur Park restaurant near the main train station may be oblivious to the building's history

This building, designed by renowned architect Julia Morgan, was built for Camp Fremont in Menlo Park during the first world war and is the only structure from California's World War I army training camps that remains. Used originally as a place where residents of the camp could receive visitors, it was turned into a community center once it came to rest on Palo Alto soil. Moving the building was a big chore, as you can imagine. It was, essentially, chopped into three pieces and then reassembled at 25 University Ave.

As one of the first municipally funded community centers in the United States, the building hosted such events as Saturday night dances, Sunday musicales, night classes and plays--hence the name Hostess House. The Girl Scouts, the Palo Alto Business and Professional Women's Club were started at the Hostess House, then called the Community House, and a health center could also be found in the midst of the old wartime building. Once the building was enlarged, an outdoor theater was added.

An interesting sidelight: One evening Palo Altan Lucie Stern was in the audience watching a performance of a play and became so vexed with the sounds of the trains rolling by, as many as 75 a day, that she built her own community center away from the tracks. Today, it is known as the Lucie Stern Center.

Palo Alto Police and Fire Building

Now the Senior Center at 450 Bryant Street, this Birge Clark-designed building was the headquarters for both the police and fire departments for many decades. It was also the location of the police courts, the city jail, and even a small pistol range.

It was built in 1927 after voters approved a $74,000 bond measure. The building served the fire department until 1966 and the police until 1970.

One of the more humorous aspects of the building was a sign created by Judge John E. Springer, who presided over the city's courts from 1929 to 1948. Springer, a stickler for traffic laws, placed a sign in his courtroom reading:

"Things We Know Without Being Told

1. You were not going that fast

2. You are a careful driver

3. The cop did not pace you

4. The fast ones got away

5. You favor law enforcement, but ... (So tell us again. We love it.)"

The building became the senior center in 1978.



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