San Bruno has a heart every day

“The ‘City with a Heart’ slogan was adopted by the City Council a number of years ago, in the late 1990s,” said City Manager Connie Jackson. “The slogan recognizes the unique feature of the overlapping heart shaped street layout in our Cupid Row neighborhood. More importantly, however, it recognizes the special spirit and the identity of our community that we are very proud of.”

That spirit, she continued, is one of a tight knit and family-oriented community that values its friendly, small-town character.

According to the city’s Historical Resource Inventory, the homes were built between 1909 and 1951 with architecture ranging from wood shingled cottages to contractor modern. Labeling the area “unique in California,” the document says the neighborhood “represents in microcosm the residential development of San Bruno between 1903 and the early post-WWII era.”

The original developer was the Hensley-Green Company of San Francisco. The firm laid out the subdivision, installed the roads and infrastructure and sold parcels individually. The numbers and variety of building types suggest slow but steady growth, mostly occurring during the 1920s, the late 1930s and the early 1940s. There were a few homes built after World War II. Construction was done by contractors or owner-builders.

Why the heart? Most likely Hensley and Green came up with the idea, but the inventory says “the record is not clear on the issue.” The fact that the area is near railroad tracks led some historians to conclude the heart-shaped pattern was picked to lure young couples who took the train in a search for homes. Then again, how much of the unusual pattern can be spotted from a railroad car?

While not much can be seen from a train, that’s not the case with an airplane. The earliest known aerial photo of Cupid’s Row was taken in 1921 and shows about 50 homes scattered throughout the neighborhood.

The land was originally famous for being the site of the 14-Mile House, a good place to stop for a breather on a trip from San Francisco to San Jose. In 1875, the place became Uncle Tom’s Cabin which served for decades as a well-known restaurant until it was demolished in 1949 to make way for more lucrative ventures.

There are other history highlights in the area. Less than one block north of the Cupid’s Row development is the place where the state highway system started. The massive project was initiated and commemorated at the corner of El Camino Real and San Mateo Avenue in San Bruno on Aug. 7, 1912. The system was certainly needed. Cupid’s Row had concrete sidewalks around 1915, but city streets weren’t paved until 1922. In the winter, car drivers used the sidewalks.

The “family-oriented community” mentioned by City Manager Jackson is exemplified by the Girl Scout House at 299 Carlton Ave. The lot was bought and the building erected by popular subscription in 1937. The scouts collected money and local businesses and craftsmen donated materials and labor to build the structure that’s in use today.

The Rear View Mirror by history columnist Jim Clifford appears in the Daily Journal every other Monday. Objects in The Mirror are closer than they appear.