San Mateo and San Francisco counties almost remarried

Since The City is surrounded on three sides by water, it was probably not wise to cut off its only avenue for expansion. In 1856, this probably did not seem to be a problem, but later it became so to San Franciscans.

Law enforcement had been the issue that created San Mateo County, and at the time, no one thought about the economic impact of it. In 1912, San Francisco began to plan for a great Panama Pacific International Exposition to be held in 1915. The idea was to showcase The City and its return from the devastation of the 1906 earthquake and fire. If the city was to demonstrate potential, it needed room to grow. A movement in 1912 called for the creation of Greater San Francisco to include the whole Bay Area. San Francisco Mayor "Sunny” Jim Rolph promoted the idea of expanding his city.

The model for this idea was New York City. The borough system in use there, supporters argued, could be used to unite Marin County, San Mateo County and the East Bay with San Francisco into a single metropolis. Marin and San Mateo were interested, but East Bay cities were not. The plan died. It was reintroduced in different forms in 1914, 1916, and 1923. Each time it died for various reasons.

With the expansion of Los Angeles threatening San Francisco’s pride as a great city, another attempt at the annexation of San Mateo County began in 1927. San Francisco and its Chamber of Commerce organized a very comprehensive plan in which they tried to address all previous concerns. Their survey showed that the per capita cost of government could be reduced by the plan. Services to the Peninsula would be better. Law enforcement in rural areas would be improved. Regional approaches to sewage disposal could be applied. The Hetch-Hetchy Water system would soon be completed. It had been financed by San Francisco, but if San Mateo County could only help with the debt burden, it could reap some of the future rewards. San Francisco also pointed out that the existing San Mateo County Charter of 1856 had become obsolete. A new charter was needed to modernize local government.

The plan certainly sounded interesting. A joint committee was to continue to work on ironing out the details. The annexation might have succeeded, but there was still some opposition to the plan. Then the press contributed to its defeat. While all the debate was going on, different everyday news stories of municipal problems took on new significance to Peninsula dwellers. San Francisco newspaper articles appeared telling of cost overruns by Hetch Hetchy. Failures in San Francisco’s street repairs were reported. Articles ran about how city workers were getting extra perks. The San Francisco sheriff was giving out privileges to his friends. The City had overrun its budget and was in debt. The Peninsula newspapers picked up on these incidents. Those opposed to annexation were being provided with plenty of ammunition as stories of various problems came to light.

The plan for annexation to San Francisco finally died, but one good thing came out of it. San Mateo County did replace its 1856 charter and modernized its county government.

Rediscovering the Peninsula appears in the Monday edition of the Daily Journal. For more information on this or related topics, visit the San Mateo County History Museum, 750 Middlefield Road, Redwood City.<