The following year, he purchased "Rancho San Mateo" from the Mexican governor, Pio Pico. The Rancho was a tract of land that became the city of San Mateo. He paid $25,000 for the tract, or approximately $3.88 an acre. For the next few years, Howard and his wife, Agnes, lived a comfortable life on the isolated Peninsula. Here they built a fine home which they called "El Cerrito" and made San Mateo a successful working ranch.

When the Gold Rush began a few years later, the thousands of prospectors flooding California needed provisions and only a few outlets were present. In a short span of time, Howard and his partner became wealthier than even the most successful gold seekers.

Mexican rule ended legally in 1848 and California became a state in 1850. Although Howard himself died in 1856, his children and his wife's family "set the pattern for genteel living down on the Peninsula," according to historian Frank Stanger. The Howards, the Poetts, and several other families became the leading members of the community. By the late sixties, parcels of the Howard estate had been sold in chunks large enough to provide ample estate property for the new generation of the founding families.

The area also became attractive to many San Francisco businessmen who wanted to live in a relaxed country setting while working in the city.

As San Mateo and Burlingame continued to grow, the need for money to make improvements became acute, and the residents began to show interest in annexing the estate-owner's land. The owners of the estates were not well disposed to contributing tax dollars toward the improvement of neighboring city life; nor were they interested in any of the benefits incorporation would bring, i.e., sidewalks and other amenities which would detract from the rural atmosphere of their area. Accordingly, in 1910 residents filed incorporation papers with the County Board of Supervisors and on April 25 of the same year, by popular vote of 60-1 a "perfumed city" (as one San Francisco newspaper put it) was born. "Hillsborough" had 89 registered voters at the time out of an estimated population of 750. Women, children, and servants did not participate in the election. Hillsborough was incorporated on May 5, 1910.

Between 1910 and 1938 Hillsborough's population grew from an estimated 750 to over 2,500. But the era of large estates was coming to a close. Uplands, Home Place, La Dolphine, and other classic estates were gradually being subdivided into smaller lots, usually leaving the original house and several acres intact.

The community faced many challenges to the town's exclusivity. It fought off Standard Oil's plan to operate a service station on the Hillsborough side of El Camino Real. It resisted a plan for a hospital, and in 1954, when the Ford Foundation offered to invest $315 million in a Center for Advanced Study in Behavioral Science to be located in Jennie Crocker Henderson's "Home Place", the proposal died quietly in the Hillsborough Town Council. In 1956, after much debate, the Crystal Springs School for Girls (and now for boys as well) was allowed to be located at "Uplands", the Charles Templeton Crocker estate.

Hillsborough's zoning laws have varied throughout the years, the policies behind the laws have basically stayed the same. The Town has continually worked to preserve the "nature of Hillsborough". In 1937 the Town changed its lot size minimum to one-half acre and its frontage minimum to 150 feet, which are the limits in force today.

One of the main attractions that Hillsborough has for home buyers is its rural charm, which is not always captured in the newer developments. However, Hillsborough still offers its escape from the pressures of the city. In addition to its generally quiet atmosphere, people are attracted to Hillsborough for its excellent public schools, fine police and fire protection, public works service, and the stability that the community offers.*

               *Excerpts from Town of Hillsborough