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The First San Mateans
The first inhabitants of what is now the City of San Mateo were
members a triblet of the Ohlone Indians (called Coastanoans by
Spanish explorers). This Tribe lived in the area from South San
Francisco to Belmont for at least 4000 years before explorers first
arrived on the Peninsula. Downtown San Mateo's mild climate and
fresh water creek made this area ideal for its first inhabitants and
a large village once stood at today's Laurel Creek and El Camino
Real.
Early Explorers
In 1776, Spanish explorers came to today's San Mateo. During a
scouting trip to locate a place to start a colony on the Peninsula,
Lieutenant Colonel Juan Bautista de Anza, Padre Pedro Font,
Lieutenant Jose Joaquin Moraga, and eleven soldiers set up camp in
San Mateo. Father Font named the creek that they slept by "San Mateo
Creek." In 1793, the mission fathers in San Francisco created an
outpost of the mission on the Peninsula. The outpost was at San
Mateo creek and was established to bring the Church to the
Peninsula, to organize and oversee the newly converted Christians in
livestock herding, and to provide food for the Mission. The outpost
was the first building built in San Mateo by non-natives.
The Great Ranchos
In 1822, California received word of Mexico's independence from
Spanish rule. This would bring changes to San Mateo with the
missions becoming secularized and the opening of free trade. The
Mexican Land Grants (1835) would leave a few residents owning vast
expansions of land in the area. In fact, these ranches were so large
that what is now the City of San Mateo is comprised of portions of
two of them-Rancho San Mateo and Rancho de las Pulgas. This Rancho
period lasted about thirty years. Rancho San Mateo, which comprised
what is today south Burlingame, all of Hillsborough, and north San
Mateo was sold to the American mercantile firm of Mellus and Howard
for four dollars an acre. In 1850, Howard built the first of the
great homes of the area, El Cerrito, on the property.
San Mateo Becomes a Stagecoach Stop
Nicolas de Peyster came to San Mateo in 1849. De Peyster created
what would be the first business enterprise in San Mateo when he
opened a stagecoach stop in the now abandoned mission outpost. By
opening this business, de Peyster established what would be the main
road through San Mateo.
The Railroad Comes to San Mateo
In May 1861, under the direction of Charles B. Polhemus, the
construction of a railroad to link San Francisco with San Jose
began. The track was completed in January 1864 and the first service
through San Mateo was on October 17, 1863. The train made the trip
from San Francisco to San Mateo in thirty-seven minutes. With
Polhemus in the role of director of railroad construction, the
decision about where the central business district would be located
lay in his hands. The first building to be erected near the tracks
was the train station, but it wasn't long before buildings began
springing up in the area of Main Street and Railroad Avenue. This
was the beginning of downtown San Mateo.
The Great Estates
The opening of railroad service in San Mateo attracted many wealthy
San Franciscans to the area. San Mateo became an ideal place for
building summer and weekend homes for people who worked in San
Francisco. These estates were built for some of the most powerful
people in the West. The resulting population that developed in San
Mateo was largely made up of people employed in the service of these
great mansions. During this period, the wealthy estate owners bought
up large parcels of land, keeping the majority of San Mateo property
owned by a few families.
During this period,
there were some families that established their own wealth through
enterprises in the area. One of the most successful of these
businesses was the building company owned by the Wisnom family.
Robert Wisnom became the best known builder during this era and he
is credited for erecting many buildings in San Mateo.
The Churches
With San Mateo growing into a community, its citizens wanted to
establish permanent houses of worship. The first church built in San
Mateo was the Roman Catholic Church at what is today Third Avenue
and Ellsworth on a parcel of land donated by Charles Polhemus. The
Church was blessed on February 7, 1864 and the Episcopalians
followed with the construction of their own church on land donated
by the George Howard family and consecrated on May 23, 1866. The
church was constructed from stones taken from the Crystal Springs
quarry and for many years was the only stone church in California.
Establishing Schools
Two schools were established in the San Mateo area, one for girls,
and one for boys. In 1864, Ms. Buckmaster's School for Girls opened
with eleven pupils. Ms. Buckmaster's School was short-lived,
however, and in 1887 the school was rented by her estate to a
private school for boys. In 1866 the Episcopal Reverend A.L. Brewer
opened St. Mathew's Hall, a classical and military school, at what
is today 415 South Ellsworth. St. Mathew's Hall's reputation as an
outstanding school spread far, and drew students from as far away as
Hawaii, with three Hawaiian princes attending the academy.
Creating a Fire Department
After two disastrous fires in five years, five community members
called for a public meeting to be held on April 6, 1887 at Library
Hall. That same afternoon, the hall burned to the ground because
they had no way to fight the fire and had to wait until Redwood City
could arrive on the scene. On May 7 of the same year, the San Mateo
County Board of Supervisors appointed a fire commission. The
Commission then held an election to raise money for a hose, hose
cart, hook and ladder unit, and a building in which to store
them-the volunteer fire department was officially organized on March
18, 1889.
Incorporating into a Town
The year 1889 saw many important events in the developing San Mateo
Community. Under head engineer, Herman Schussler, the Crystal
Springs dam was completed. The completion of this project assured
that the people of the San Mateo would have quality drinking water,
allowing for further growth in the area. The activity surrounding
the construction of the dam further added to San Mateo's growing
population. It was in the same year as the dam's completion that
William Howard had part of his estate opened for subdivision.
Although subdividing had been attempted in the past, this was the
first successful attempt at selling smaller plots of land. With
this, the middle class moved to San Mateo. In this same year,
Richard H. Jury and Charles N. Kirkbride established the Leader, San
Mateo's first successful newspaper and one of the earliest
proponents of the incorporation of San Mateo. On September 3, 1894,
in a vote of 150 in favor of and 25 against incorporation, San Mateo
became a town.*
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