There are many “nice” things about San Mateo, CA. It has a mild climate, a lot of beautiful homes (as the one below), interesting (but not necessarily exciting) history, etc. But is there anything special or unusual about San Mateo?
Here are 10 things I came with:
- You Tube was a San Mateo startup (http://youtube.com/ ). They are in San Bruno, CA now. Here is their Last Day in San Mateo
- Movie studio around 1923-5 - I read about in the Daily Journal, but cannot find the link!). San Mateo had a shot at becoming Hollywood, but I guess the weather in the South is better! Can you help to find the link???
- Bay Meadows Race Track – it still exist, but it might be its last year. Seabiscuit ran here! (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bay_Meadows )
- Lure Restaurant – if you look for a special (San Francisco like, expensive place with great food and décor, make sure you come here. It is in walking distance to San Mateo movie theaters (see #7) http://www.lurerestaurant.com
- The San Mateo Performing Arts Center located on San Mateo High School, is one of the largest theatres on the peninsula outside of San Francisco (per Wikipedia)
- Pier 1 Imports – was founded 1962, in San Mateo (per Wikipedia)
- B Street cinema district - cinema brought the evening traffic to the City and local restaurants. A great place!
- The local economy successfully withstood the dotcom industry crash – the credit goes to the San Mateo City Council! As a matter of fact, they continue doing a great job. Click Here to visit a very informative city website.
- Coyote Point Museum (one of the best natural history museums and wildlife centers in California, according to Wikipedia entry )
- Yul Kwon, winner of Survivor: Cook Islands.
To read more about San Mateo and its history, please go to the following website:
http://www.cityofsanmateo.org/visitors/history.html
I am sure that I missed many special or unusual things about San Mateo. Can you provide your input on unusual things that happened in San Mateo or about San Mateo?
I am closing with a picture of the San Mateo Bridge across SF Bay (it is over 7 miles long). Per Wikipedia - the original bridge was built in 1929 and upon completion it was the longest bridge in the world. As a matter of fact, San Mateo Bridge connects Foster City (and not San Mateo) and Hayward and
a picture of San Mateo College – a great place to take undergraduate courses and than transfer them to one of UCs.
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Hey there - at least I can answer (in part) your second question:
"Movie studio around 1923-5 - I read about in the Daily Journal, but cannot find the link!). San Mateo had a shot at becoming Hollywood, but I guess the weather in the South is better! Can you help to find the link???"
The building which housed the afore-mentioned film studio is located on Peninsula Ave (right at the border of San Mateo and Burlingame) on the corner of Woodside Way. The building now houses a sushi restaurant. The name of the studio was "Peninsula Studios". The book "San Mateo: A Centennial History" has some info about the studio which only made a few silent films before folding. (Incidentally this was around the same time as the existence of the amusement park "Pacific City" which was located on the bay shore north of Coyote Point, approximately where the Peninsula Humane Society and old B-game Drivein are now located).
http://www.halfmoonbaymemories.com/category/let-women-alone/
Check out the above link.
Another interesting fact about San Mateo is that it was the home of A.P. Giannini, founder of the Bank of America. His house "Seven Oaks" the largest single family house existing in the city, is on El Cerrito Ave a half-block from El Camino (can't remember the exact address). Seven Oaks is where Mr. Gianinni hid the bank's money following the Great Earthquake in 1906, saving it from fire and looters. The money that was saved by Giannini helped to rebuild the city following the catastrophe.
If you are interested in more history about San Mateo I would recommend the afore-mentioned book as well as several books printed by Arcadia Publishing, in particular "San Francisco's Interurban to San Mateo" by Walter Vielbaum et al which has great photos of the Peninsula from way back when.