Old Victorian offers a glimpse into 19th century San Mateo 

One house in particular, the Amelia Vollers house, is situated on North Claremont Street and dates back to 1891. The home caught the attention of Patricia McDaniel and her husband around 2010, and while they weren’t looking to buy an old Victorian, McDaniel said they were intrigued, and as a history buff, she wanted to learn more about it.

“I knew nothing about the history of San Mateo when we first moved in,” McDaniel said. “The more we found out, the more research we were inspired to do.”

Vollers was a Russian immigrant, married to a German immigrant, and together they had three children. 

“We discovered that she was the person who purchased the land in 1890 and purchased it in her name, not her husband’s, which was interesting,” McDaniel said. 

Not much more is known about Vollers’ life, but other pieces of historical information can offer clues about the environment they were living in. Victorian homes such as Vollers’ were often built out of old-growth redwoods, making them particularly sturdy and fire resistant compared to many homes built since. 

And the city was more like a village, said Mitch Postel, president of the San Mateo County Historical Association, as large properties typically belonged to wealthy San Francisco businessmen, who leaned on newly arrived immigrants to tend to their large estates and operate shops to keep the small town afloat. 

“Those who didn’t work on [the estates] worked for the businesses that supported them,” Postel said. “When observers came to the Peninsula, they’d comment that the countryside looked English, like they were from the Old Country.”

Economic growth was starting to pick up around the time Vollers bought the house, especially with the presence of the railroad, including the salt ponds and accompanying refineries. Industries, such as agriculture and mining, attracted many from Europe, though more Chinese and Japanese immigrants were also starting to make their way to the Peninsula during that time as well. About one-third of the population in the area had been born in another country. 

“One-third today come from another country. It’s amazing how it was basically the same as it is now,” Postel said. 

McDaniel and her husband have since sold the Amelia Vollers house, but they still maintain its website and helped get it listed on the National Registry. While living there, they also took on restorations, updating the original windows and repairing antique light fixtures.  

On April 26, McDaniel will give a presentation to the San Mateo Historical Museum on the history of the house. 

“If you walk around our neighborhood, there are a lot of Victorians that are dilapidated, but you can still see the soul of them,” McDaniel said. “Being a history buff, it’s important to have tangible evidence of the history of San Mateo and what life was like when people first moved here.”

The presentation will take place from 1-2:30 p.m. Saturday, April 26, at the San Mateo County History Museum.