Formation of a City

The explosion of population and the subsequent demands for construction materials in the rapidly developing San Francisco area were answered by entrepreneurs who were to supply wood from the Woodside areas. They dragged the logs down to a small lagoon that emptied into the Bay by way of Redwood Creek and in the process created a small settlement. The loggers and men who worked with the redwoods built shelters of all types around the lagoon that was behind what is now Main Street and Broadway. The squatters effectively took control of the area, although it was known that the area from San Mateo to Palo Alto was a 35,240-acre rancho that was owned by the Arguello family.

The squatter town continued to grow and after the Arguello family had its rancho confirmed by the Land Commission, the lawyer for the Arguellos, Simon Montserrat Mezes, acquired this land as part of his fee for legal work completed for the Arguellos. Mezes proceeded to plat out a town that he named Mezesville that had organized streets and lots that he then sold to many of the squatters. With names of Mezesville, the Embarcadero, Redwood Landing and finally with the name of Redwood City, this area became the county’s first incorporated city in 1867, thereby gaining taxing authority for developing streets, a water system, gaslights and a drawbridge across the creek. The streets were in dire need of improvement, and the merchants demanded that they be fixed in order to attract more customers to their businesses. Mound Street (now Main Street) west of Middlefield Road had 1000 feet of street paved to the county road at $1.50 per foot. Rapid improvement occurred on other streets after this. Redwood City continued to grow and by the 1860s over 400 individuals lived around the lagoon that had now become a construction site for ships, as well as a log-floating enterprise. At the same time, ships became available to transport finished lumber. The lagoon continued to be used for many years as the market for the lumber continued to grow.

Milestones along the history road to Redwood City include the first house, built in 1851 by Captain A. Smith on Broadway, west of Jefferson Avenue. In the same year Peter Tyler and wife became parents of the first twin babies born in Redwood City.

The first general merchandise store near the corner of Broadway and Main Street was opened in September, 1852. The store also contained the town’s first post office.

Squatters, about 200, continued descending upon the town and surrounded this first bit of organized hope for a city. Jonathan Diller built a two-story warehouse at the edge of Redwood Creek in 1852. He was an agent for the mill owners in the Woodside-Searsville area. Diller built a building at 724 Main Street out of bricks from the Whipple Hull brickyard on Cypress Street in San Carlos. This Main Street business became the first meeting site of the San Mateo County offices from 1856 to 1858. The board of supervisors first met at Diller’s store on July 7, 1856. A blacksmith shop opened on Bridge Avenue in 1858.

Also in 1858, the first two-story courthouse was completed on land donated by Simon Mezes. The entire city block of property was located at Broadway, Hamilton, Marshall and Middlefield roads, (the current site of the San Mateo County History Museum).

William and Emma Littlejohn migrated to Redwood City from Vermont and bought property on Main Street and other areas and he built the first drawbridge across the Redwood Creek. Littlejohn also constructed ships on the lagoon/lake property he owned that he called "The Littlejohn Ways.” The land along the creek attracted a number of rooming houses and small hotels that catered to the mainly male population. Very few women were living in this area and the saloons, which were close to the hotels, were the main attractions for the men. Making use of the empty fields around the nucleus of the city, the crops needed for the production of beer were grown. In 1865, beer brewing was begun in Redwood City by Michael Kreiss. One more milestone for Redwood City.

Rediscovering the Peninsula appears in the Monday edition of the Daily Journal.