Menlo Park California is located
just south of San Francisco between San Mateo and Palo Alto near
the San Francisco Bay and
the Pacific Ocean. This
upscale family community was originally the home of the Ohlone
Indians, called by the Spaniards "Coastanoans", or Coast-dwellers.
Evidences of their civilization are still being unearthed on the
Filoli estate in Woodside and along San Francisquito Creek.
It was in 1854 that Menlo Park received its name when two Irishmen,
Dennis J. Oliver and D. C. McGlynn, purchased 1,700 acres and
built two houses. 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 MENLO PARK with the date August 1854 underneath.
When the railroad came through in 1863 the local station had no
name and needed a designation. A railroad official looked over
at the gates and decided that Menlo Park would be appropriate.
This historical landmark is now California State Landmark No.
955 (pictured upper left), the oldest California railroad station
in continuous operation.
The present day population of Menlo Park is approximately 35,000.
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