Comprehensive guide to notable locations and landmarks for visitors and locals.
Before it became the California Avenue business district, Mayfield was a fiercely independent railroad and saloon town that resisted the dry ambitions of Stanford University and Palo Alto for decades. Its 1925 annexation erased a distinct municipal identity, but the streets, buildings, and memories of the vanished community still shape the landscape of south Palo Alto.
El Palo Alto, a millennium-old coast redwood standing sentinel over San Francisquito Creek, is far more than a botanical marvel. It served as a waypoint for Spanish explorers, inspired the name of a world-famous city, and endures as a living monument to California’s layered past—from Ohlone territory to the heart of Silicon Valley.
Explore the rich architectural heritage of Palo Alto, from Victorian homes to pioneering research facilities. This comprehensive guide details the origins, preservation efforts, and future of the city’s most iconic structures.
Explore the rich architectural tapestry of Palo Alto, from Victorian homes to mid‑century modern tech campuses. This definitive guide details historic periods, signature styles, and the city’s most iconic structures.
Explore the rise and fall of Mayfield, the independent town that once rivaled Palo Alto before being annexed in 1925. From its origins as a stagecoach stop to its notorious Whiskey Gulch, this comprehensive history reveals how political battles, Stanford University, and the railroad shaped the community that now forms the California Avenue district and College Terrace neighborhood.
