Menlo Park is an affluent
city in San Mateo County
, in the San Francisco Bay Area
of California. It is located at latitude
37°29' North, longitude 122°9' East. Menlo Park had 29,964
inhabitants as of the 2007 U.S. Census.
History
In the nineteenth century two Irish immigrants, Dennis J. Oliver
and his brother-in-law D. C.
McGlynn, purchased a tract of land on the
former Rancho de las
Pulgas
. In the 1850s they erected a gate with a
wooden arch bearing the inscription "Menlo Park" at the entrance to
their property (now the intersection of Middle Ave and
El Camino Real).
The word "Menlo"
derived from the owners' former home of Menlough
in County
Galway, Ireland. In 1863, the
San Francisco and San Jose
Rail Road named a nearby station "Menlo Park" after the sign.
The 1867
station building still stands on the platform of the current
Caltrain
station
, used by the local Chamber of Commerce. The
town of Menlo Park grew up around this station, becoming a popular
home for San Francisco businessmen. A post office arrived in 1870,
and the city was incorporated in 1874. The original arch which gave
its name to the stations and ultimately the city survived until
1922, when it was destroyed in an automobile accident.
The origin of the name
of Menlo Park, California (ca 1850) pre-dates any work
done by Thomas Edison (ca 1876) in
Menlo
Park
, New
Jersey
.
Geography
Menlo Park is located at (37.454188, -122.178579).
According to the
United
States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which
is land and is water. The total area is 41.88% water.
The
main street in
downtown Menlo Park is Santa Cruz
Avenue, with the
Menlo Center situated at its intersection
with
El Camino Real. The
Menlo Park
Civic Center is bounded by
Ravenswood Avenue, Alma Street, Laurel Street and Burgess Drive. It
contains the
council offices,
library,
police
station and
Burgess Park which has various
recreational facilities.
Demographics
As of the
census of 2000, there were 30,785
people, 12,387 households, and 7,122 families residing in the city.
The
population density was .
There were 12,714 housing units at an average density of
1,255.5/sq mi (484.6/km²). The racial makeup of the city was
68.35%
White, 9.03%
African American, 0.54%
Native American, 6.15%
Asian, 1.46%
Pacific Islander, 9.56% from
other races, and 4.21%
from two or more races.
Hispanic or
Latino of any race were 19.60% of the
population.
There were 12,387 households out of which 26.6% had children under
the age of 18 living with them, 46.3% were
married couples living together, 8.5% had a female
householder with no husband present, and 42.5% were non-families.
32.1% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.4% had
someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average
household size was 2.41 and the average family size was 3.12.
In the city the population was spread out with 21.9% under the age
of 18, 6.2% from 18 to 24, 34.7% from 25 to 44, 21.4% from 45 to
64, and 15.9% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was
37 years. For every 100 females there were 94.0 males. For every
100 females age 18 and over, there were 90.6 males.
As of the 1999 census, the median
income for
a household in the city was $84,609. Males had a median income of
$79,766 versus $51,101 for females. The
per capita income for the city was
$53,341. About 4.2% of families and 6.9% of the population were
below the
poverty line, including 8.8%
of those under age 18 and 7.3% of those over age 64. As of 2008 the
median income for a family was $133,251.
Politics
The city is mostly Democratic, with 47% being registered Democrats
and 32% being Republicans. In the
state legislature Menlo Park is
located in the 11th
Senate
District, represented by
Democrat Joe Simitian, and in the 21st
Assembly District, represented by
Democrat
Ira Ruskin. Federally, Menlo
Park is located in
California's 14th
congressional district, which has a
Cook PVI of D +18 and is
represented by Democrat
Anna Eshoo.
For over twenty years Menlo Park has had a well-defined local
partisan split over environmental, traffic, and other issues,
between many residents and business interests. This crosses
traditional party lines (Republican/Democratic).
Economy
Much of Menlo Park's economy centers around the companies on
Sand Hill Road, consisting of venture
capital, private equity, financial services, law firms, and other
professional service companies and investment vehicles focusing on
technology.
Features

Original Round Table
Historic Landmarks

North Face of Train Station
California Historical Landmarks
National Historical LandmarksNational Register of
Historic Places lists:
- Barron—Latham—Hopkins Gate Lodge #8600195
- Church of the Nativity (Menlo Park, California) #80000855
- Menlo Park Railroad Station #74000556
- Rock Magnetics Laboratory(USGS) #94001647.
Famous residents
- Joan Baez, folk singer
- Sergey Brin, Google founder
- Lindsey Buckingham,
musician
- Henry Cowell, composer
- Jeanne DuPrau, author
- Nancy Farmer, author
- Jerry Garcia, Grateful Dead singer/guitarist
- Vince Guaraldi, jazz
musician
- Ken Kesey, author
- Phar Lap, New Zealand racehorse
- Milton Latham, railroad
baron/politician/California Governor (shortest term
– five days)
- Robert McCool, software
developer
- Stevie Nicks, musician
- Ariel Rittenhouse, Olympic
diver
- Shirley Temple Black, actress and
diplomat
- Courtney Thorne-Smith,
actress
- Isaac Baron, professional poker
player
Traffic and parking
Menlo
Park suffers from traffic
congestion at peak use hours owing to its proximity to Stanford
University
, and its lack of high capacity arterials that
connect Interstate 280
to U.S. Route 101. Much of the city's
arterial network consists of two-lane roads.
Since 1963, Menlo Park has had an ordinance that prohibiting
parking between 2 AM and 5 AM on all residential streets in the
city. The city has cited a number of benefits from this rather
strict policy including: easier street maintenance, reduced crime,
and easier access for nighttime emergencies.
See also
Notes
- Stanger, 1963. pg. 109
-
http://money.cnn.com/magazines/moneymag/bplive/2008/snapshots/PL0646870.html
References
- Stanger, Frank M. South from San Francisco: The Life Story
of San Mateo County 1963, publisher: San Mateo County
Historical Association
External links