Historic Places of San Mateo County
- Crystal Springs Dam—Skyline Blvd, San Francisco Watershed Property. When this dam was built in 1887, it was the largest concrete dam in the world.
- Pilarcitos Dam—San Francisco Watershed. Built in 1860-63, this dam was the first construced by the Spring Valley Water Works.
- Pulgas Water Temple—Canada Road, San Francisco Watershed. Built at the outfall of the Hetch Hetchy Tunnel in 1938, it replaced a temporary plaster structure which had been built in 1934 for ceremonies marking the completion of the Hetch Hetchy project.
- San Andreas Dam—San Francisco Watershed. Completed in 1868.
- Atherton—Named for Faxon Atherton, a hide and tallow dealer from Chile.
- Alameda De Las Pulgas—Spanish for "Avenue of the Fleas." It is believed that the Spanish expedition led by Captain Gaspar de Portola was infected by fleas while camping in this area and so the name.
- Belmont—Believed to have been named by William C. Ralston It was formerly called Angelo's Corners, The Corners, Emmetts Corners, and Waterview.
- Burlingame—Named for Anson Burlingame, Abraham Lincoln's minister to China.
- Daly City—Named for John Daly, a dairy farmer, banker, and real estate Developer, who settled there after leaving Boston in 1853. Daly City was also known as "Top of the Hill."
- El Camino Real—Spanish for "The King's Highway."
- Farrallones—Early name for the town of Montara.
- La Honda—Originally named Arroyo Hondo, the name became mangled over the years by Anglo settlers and finally named La Honda by John Sears. Arroyo Hondo is Spanish for "deep creek". La Honda, although a mangled variation means "the sling" which has nothing to do with the area. Some of the early settlers of La Honda were Burns John, Robinson Weeks, Michael Dubbs, George Carter, and John Sears.
- Menlo Park—Named for Menlough, County Galway, Irelnad, in August 1854 by two early Irish settlers: Dennis J. Oliver and D.C. McGlynn.
- Mezesville—This was the original name given to Redwood City by real estate developer, Simon M. Mezes. The name was never adopted.
- Pacifica—Spanish for "peaceful." This city was named in a contest in 1955.
- Pescadero—Spanish for "Fisherman."
- Ralston Avenue & Ralston House—Named for William Chapman Ralston.
- San Benito—Later renamed Half Moon Bay
- San Gregorio—Spanish for "Saint Gregory." San Gregorio was Spanish land grant deeded to Antonio Buelna.
- San Mateo—Spanish for "Saint Matthew."
- Searsville—Sometimes referred to as "The Lost Town of Searsville." This village sprung up in the mid-1850's around a hotel built by Augustus Eichkerenkotter and was populated by workers supporting the local timber industry. The town was named after John Sears a popular resident who came later and built a store there. The town was supposed to be called Eichkerenkotterville, but who could pronounce it? At one time, the town was the largest city in the county boasting stores, hotels, laundries, and lots of saloons. After the timber boom, the town fell into disrepair and Stanford University ultimately bought the land. The Spring Valley Water Company built a dam, and Searsville Lake came into existance which covered most of the town. Families from as far away as San Jose and San Francisco used to come to Searsville lake to swim. Old stories still exist that parents would warn children not to dive too deep as they would hit their head on a chimney on one of the drowned buildings.
- Spanish Town—An early name for Half Moon Bay.
- Visitacion—An early name for the City of Brisbane. So named for the valley, which is located on the former Spanish land grant called Rancho de Canada de Guadalupe la Visitacion y Rodeo Viejo.
