USA > California > A memorial and biographical history of the coast counties of Central California > Part 24
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CHAPTER IV.
SAN MATEO OF TO-DAY.
COUNTY OFFICERS.
FOLLOWING are the civil officers of San Mateo county: George H. Buck, super- ior judge; George W. Fox, district attorney; J. F. Johnston, county clerk and recorder; E. Eskerenkotte, deputy clerk; W. J. McGarvey, deputy clerk; George W.
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SAN MATEO COUNTY.
Lovie, assessor; George Barker, auditor; P. P. Chamberlain, treasurer; W. H. Kinnie, sheriff; Claud Fox, under sheriff; H. S. Pitcher, tax collector; J. F. Utter, superin- tendent of schools; D. Bromfield, county surveyor; Alexander Gordon, assemblyman; A. F. Greene supervisor (chairman) first town- ship; W. B. Lawrence, supervisor second town- ship; John Stafford, supervisor third town- ship; Jas. B. Freitas, supervisor fourth town- ship; H. B. Adair, supervisor fifth township.
ASSESSMENTS.
The following are the property valuations of the county for 1891 and 1892:
1891.
Real estate and improvements $12,690,475
Personal property 1,151,305
Total .: $13,841,780
Southern Pacific Railroad Company
235,094
Total $14,076,874
Tax rate 1.20
1892.
Real estate and improvements. $14,889,665 Personal property. 1,140,310
Total $16,029,975
Southern Pacific Railroad Co ...... $233,090
Pullman Car Co. 1,497- 234,587
Total $16,264,562
Acres of land assessed 293,973
County tax rate.
$1.15
SAN MATEO COUNTY PUBLIC SCHOOLS-1892.
J. F. Utter, superintendent County Board of Education: George H. Rice, president, Redwood City; J. F. Utter, secretary, Red- 13
wood City; Mary Stewart, Redwood City; Etta M. Tilton, San Mateo; J. C. Nash, Halfmoon Bay.
CENSUS CHILDREN.
No. between 5 and 17, white, boys, 1,373, girls, 1,260; total. 2,683 No. between 5 and 17, negro, 6, Mongd, 2 8- 2,641 No. under 5, white, 989 ; negro, 2 ... 991
No. under 17 total 3,632
No. between 5 and 17 attend public school in year. 1,952 No. between 5 and 17 attend only private schools in year. 244
No. between 5 and 17 not attending school in year. 445
No. native born, 3,137; foreign born, 495- 3,632
No. teachers or classes, grammar, 25; pri- mary, 31. 56
No. pupils enrolled, boys, 1,108; girls, 986 .. 2,094 Average number belonging. 1,472 Average daily attendance. 1,326
Percentage of attendance on number belong- ing. 91
COURSE OF STUDY.
No. of pupils enrolled, grammar grade, 566; primary grade, 1,528; total. 2,094
Average number months schools maintained .. 9 Sex teachers, male 8, female 48 56
Grammar certificates, high 5; first grade 42; second grade 9
Average salary paid teachers per month ...... $66.3-7
CURRENT EXPENSES.
Paid teachers $34,077.11
Paid rent, fuel, etc ... 5,781.28
Paid libraries
603.95
Paid apparatus.
386.01 -- $40,848.35
Paid sites, buildings and furniture ..
8,745.32
Total expenses $49,593.67
Balance July 1, 1891.
$13,254.02
Received State taxes
20,814.00
Received county. 15,338.00 Received city and district. 1,394.91
Received subscriptions,etc. 7,069.00
Total received.
$57,869.93
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SAN MATEO COUNTY.
Total expenses. 49,593.67
Balance June 30, 1892 .. .$ 8,276.26
Value of lots and buildings and furnishings $ 94,055
Value of libraries
9,170
Value of school apparatus. 4,360
Total school property $107,585 No. of volumes in libraries 11,441
Average month wages paid male teachers .. $88.14
Average month wages paid female
teachers.
62.81
Salary of county superintendent. $1,500.00
No. graduates from California normal schools 7 12
No. teachers holding life diplomas
No. teachers holding State education diplomas.
14 5
No. teachers holding high school certificates.
No. teachers holding first grade certificates 42
No. teachers holding second grade certificates 9
Among the private schools of the county are the following:
BELMONT SCHOOL.
This was opened in 1885, near Belmont, on the Southern Pacific railroad, twenty-five miles south of San Francisco. It was founded by the present head-master, H. T. Reid Harvard 1868), who resigned the presidency of the University of California for the pur- pose of carrying ont his long cherished plan of erecting a preparatory school for boys, which should hold an honorable place among the best educational institutions in the country. The location of the school is prob- ably unsurpassed as regards healthfulness, beauty, convenience and adaptability. Its steadfast purposes are to offer thorough preparation for those colleges and technical schools whose requirements for admission are most severe; to do all that it may to quicken the moral and religious sense, and strengthen the moral courage; and to give
such attention to systematic physical culture as shall contribute to good health and a vigorons physical development. The greater part of all students attending the school, 72 per cent (1892), are preparing for college. The graduates of the school have for the most part entered Harvard, Yale, the Uni- versity of California, Leland Stanford, Jr., University, Cornell University, or the Massa- chusetts Institute of Technology. No candi- date from the school has ever failed to pass the examinations for which he was recom- mended as prepared, and its graduates are admitted to the University of California, ·
Leland Standford, Jr., University, Cornell University, and the Van Rensselaer Institution without examination. Physical culture un- der the direction of a special teacher of gym- nastics will hereafter be a stated requirement, and will have a place in the program of exercises, the same as mathematics, English or any other requirement. Military drill is a feature only as an adjunct to the work of physical culture. The discipline of the school is very simple, and entirely in the in- terest of the boys, who are on the whole well meaning. Belmont does not pretend to keep and successfully deal with bad boys, and is perhaps a little intolerant of them, for it in- sists on their immediate withdrawal as soon as their unruly, vicious, or vulgar dispositions become known.
The school was started in the belief that the best social, scholarly and disciplinary results are likely to be obtained in a school whose numbers are so limited as to make it
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SAN MATEO COUNTY.
possible to exercise over every pupil a close individnal supervision. Certainly nothing could compensate for the loss of such su per- vision.
On the other hand it is of great advantage to the scholarship of a school to have its classes formed with such care that only pupils of like capacity or attainments and with a common purpose may be placed together. It is also highly desirable that classes should be large enough to stimulate interest and a healthy rivalry. How to combine in one the advantages of a small and a large school has been one of the educational problems. Its solution seems to be pretty well assured in the so-called cottage system. In this system " there is a separate building for every forty boys, more or less, and this building is the family home of a teacher and his wife. The cottage system, therefore, secures all tlie ad- vantages of a school limited in numbers, while a group of several cottages gives the numbers necessary to the most advantageous classification. The gradual enlargement of the school on the cottage system has become the fixed policy of the school. The increase in the size of the school calls for an imme- diate increase of the school facilities; a gym- nasium equipped with the best modern con- veniences will be erected and other buildings will soon follow. The best equipment for the best work is the steady purpose of the school.
OAK GROVE SCHOOL.
This institution for boys, although the most recent to be established in San Mateo,
is the peer of any other in the county. It is presided over by Ira D. Hoitt, A. B., M. A., a teacher of life- long experience and late State superintendent of public instruction. He is assisted by a full corps of able teachers.
The location and grounds were weighty considerations in the selection of this place for the school. It includes the private resi- dence and beautifully improved grounds of the late J. H. Redington, sitnated two and a half miles from Millbrae, three miles from San Mateo and one and a half iniles from Oak Grove Station, which can be reached from San Francisco in one hour. It is there- fore near enough to the city to allow of tak- ing advantage of any special privileges from that source. It is two and a half miles from Millbrae, the nearest village, and therefore free from any disadvantages of town sur- roundings. It is accessible and convenient not only for pupils but for parents who may wish to visit their sons when on business trips to the city.
The grounds include 156 acres and are possessed of great natural beauty, to which extraordinary attractions have been added by the expenditure of many thousands of dollars, under the direction of a skillful landscape gardener.
The purpose of the school is to stimulate in the boy manly impulses, quicken and strengthen his sense of duty and moral cour- age, contribute vigor to his physicial develop- ment, lead him to a clear idea of right, and to the acquisition of such mental furniture as shall prepare him for admission to the
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SAN MATEO COUNTY.
best college, university, or technical school in the land, or for a successful business life, and at the same time surround him with as many of the refinements, comforts and pleas- ures of home as are possible in a first-class school.
Only teachers of accredited ability and high standing will be retained in the school. The course of study extends from the primary school to the college and university.
ST. MATTHEW'S SCHOOL.
St. Matthew's School founded in 1866, is situated about a mile and one-half from San Mateo. The site commands a fine view of the bay of San Francisco, with Mount San Bruno to the north, Mount Diablo in the center beyond the bay and the Conta Costa range, and Mount Hamilton to the extreme south. Nestling as it does at the base of the eastern slope of the Coast Range, there is ab- solute protection from all fogs, and the cli- mate is much warmer than in the valley be- low. The buildings are placed on three sides of a quadrangle, thus affording every oppor- tunity for close communication, and at the same time securing perfect lighting and ven- tilation and unlimited sunlight.
A TELESCOPE
is permanently mounted on a solid pier of masonry and furnished with necessary gear- ing for perfect and easy equatorial motion.
A teacher of gymnastics is engaged when opportunity arises, and a gymnasium is con- nected with the school. Target practice with
small arms is indulged in, under proper snper- vision. A revolving Wingate target for all distances up to and including 300 yards, with a marker's shelter, is provided. A large play- ground has been carefully leveled, providing drill ground, a base ball diamond and foot- ball grounds. Dancing is taught as classes are formed.
Every means is employed to arouse en- thusiasm in lines of study and self-improve- ment outside of the prescribed courses and in sports. In this connection clubs and so- cieties have proven most helpful and stimn- lating. Besides the regularly organized baseball and football " leagues," a literary association, with its own reading room, lias been maintained, a reading club has held frequent meetings, a yacht club and tennis club have been actively engaged, and the Brotherhood of St. Andrew has been estab- lished.
The junior grammar, middle grammar and intermediate grades constitute the grammar department, while the academic department is composed of the junior academic, middle acade- mic and senior academic grades. The course of the grammar department is the same for all students, but in the academic department there are three distinct courses, designed to prepare boys for an English scientific or class- ical course at college. While the course has been arranged, primarily, with a view to pre- paring boys for college, the scientific course is arranged for those who expect to enter upon active business life when they have left school. Those who have this object in view
205
SAN MATEO COUNTY.
will be allowed to omnit trigonometry and astronomy during the last two terms, taking up bookkeeping and commercial arithmetic instead.
French, German, Spanish and music are taught. But lessons in these branches must take second place in the arrangement of the schedule and cannot be substituted for stud- ies in the regular course. In general, boys should not begin the study of languages and music if they are in any way backward in their common-school branches, unless such study is in the line of their preparation for college.
Special attention is given to preparing boys for the University of California, and gradn- ates of this school are admitted to that insti- tution, as well as to the Leland Stanford, Jr., University, Cornell University, Trinity Col- lege, Hartford, Connecticut, and Hobart Col- lege, withont examination, on recommenda- tion from the rector. Such recommendation, however, is given to those students only, who have shown marked industry and ability throughout the course.
St. Matthew's school is conducted by Rev. A. S. Brewer.
The Convent of Notre Dame, built in 1886, has an attendance of eighty pupils, with Sister Mary Louise at its lead and five assistants.
CHAPTER V.
REDWOOD CITY.
EDWOOD CITY was started in 1851 at the head of tide-water on Redwood creek as the embarcadero for shipping lumber from the immense redwood forests on
the eastern slope of the Santa Cruz, Santa Morena and Coast Ranges, being incorporated as a city without a mayor. The city council (1892) consists of Alex. Gordon, president; George H. Rice, Henry Beeger and Robert Brown; J. W. Glennan, clerk. The other of- ficials are: J. V. Swift, assessor; P. B. Jami- son, marshal; J. S. Hughes, superintendent of streets.
REDWOOD CITY SCHOOLS.
Census children between 5 and 17, boys, 294; girls, 297; total, .591
Census children under 5. ,204 No. between 5 and 17, who have attended public schools 441
No. between 5 and 17 who have attended only pri- vate schools 87
No. between 5 and 17 who have not attended any schools 63
Native born, 407-foreign born, 388.
795
No. of schools or teachers 9
No. teachers holding grammar grade certificates 4; primary grade, 5
Enrolled whole No. boys, 251; girls, 233.
484
No. months school maintained. 10
Sex, teachers;male, 1; female, 8
9
Grade teacher's certificate; high school, 2; frst grade, 4; second grade, 3.
CURRENT EXPENSES.
Paid teachers. $5,592.50
Paid rents, fuel, etc. 799.28
Paid libraries. 15.15 $6,406.93
Paid sites, building and furnishing.
2,719.14
Total expenditures.
$9,126.07
RESOURCES.
By balance July 1, 1891 $2,879.84
By amount state apportionment.
3,762.00
By amount county apportionment
2,534.00
Total .$9,175.84
Total expenses, 9,126.07
Balance June 30, 1892 $ 49.77
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SAN MATEO COUNTY.
Value of lots, buildings, and furnishings. $23,000
Value of libraries. 1,000
Value of apparatus. 500
Value of school property $24,500
No. of volumes in library 1,300
The school buildings, all but the primary department, are located on between two and three acres of land, donated for school pur- poses by J. V. Dillar, on what is known as the Island. The main building has four class- rooms, 30 x 40. Horace Hawes in his life-time built and equipped a complete gymnasium and presented it to the school. The trustees built two additional school-rooms 35 x 65. In 1880 two more school rooms were put up, and part of gymnasium converted into a class room. They now have in course of construc- tion a two-room building on B street, between Eleventh and Twelfth, on land purchased from the Mezes estate. Land and building will cost about $5,000.
Redwood city contained a population of 1,383 in 1880; and 1,572 in the year 1890.
Free Library .- There is a free reading- room and library on Bridge street, where all the San Francisco daily papers and leading periodicals are kept on file for public nse. Miss Kate Stewart is librarian. The directors are Mrs. Sarah T. Fox, C. N. Kirkbride, B. A. Rankin, Oliver Dodge.
NEWSPAPERS.
The Times-Gazette, now owned by the San Mateo Publishing Company, was consolidated from two papers: the Gazette, started April 9, 1859, by William Godfry, in Redwood City; and the Times started at San Mateo in
1875, by Alvinza Hayward & Co., who soon after bought the Gazette.
The Redwood City Democrat, started in 1884, is published by the Redwood Demo- crat Publishing Company, with Frank P. Thompson as manager, and Robert A. Thomp- son as editor. The Democrat is ably con- ducted and is a very valuable exponent of the social and economic interests of the com- munity in which it is published. This work is indebted to the Democrat for much local and historical data of value, which is hereby thankfully and cordially acknowledged.
TANNERIES.
"The Frank Tanning Company," one of the largest of its kind on the Pacific coast, owned by Frank Brothers, turns off 3,000 sides per week, principally of sole-leather; it employs 100 men; it uses bark mostly from California, but also from Mexico.
The plant includes a 100-horse-power steam engine, with the necessary machinery, building, etc., and three artesian wells, be- sides over 260 automatic sprinklers, attached to pipes throughout the works, as precaution against fire.
The Beeger Tannery, owned by Henry Beeger, employs twenty men and handles some 600 sides a week. Most of the prod- uct of both these extensive tanneries finds a ready and remunerative market in the East.
REDWOOD CITY CHURCHES.
Mount Carmel Roman Catholic church was erected in about 1865, with a seating
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SAN MATEO COUNTY.
capacity of 400: Rev. D. O'Sullivan, rector, the membership or parishioners being about 700. The church property consists of an entire block of land, upon which is located the church edifice, a handsome parsonage, and the convent of Notre Dame.
St. Peter's Episcopal church is located on First street, near Bridge street. Rev. Jon- athan Nicols is the missionary in charge. The church building has been newly painted inside and out, seats cushioned and many comforts and appropriate appointments added.
The First Congregational church is located on Jefferson street. It is in charge of Rev. L. D. Rathbone.
The Methodist Episcopal church is located on Maple street, between Phelps and Stam- baugh streets. Rev. W. V. Donaldson is the pastor.
The Baptists have a church on Heller street, but only occasional services are held.
FRATERNAL SOCIETIES.
Redwood, as will be observed from the following list, has its share of fraternal so- cieties:
San Mateo Lodge, No. 168, F. and A. M.,-B. A. Rankin, M .; George C. Ross, secretary.
Bay View Lodge, 109, I. O. O. F .- A. Bahler, N. G .; H. Larsen, V. G .; James Wade, P. G .; George W. Fox, recording secretary; J. W. Glennan, permanent sec- retary.
Hope Encampment, No. 60, I. O. O. F .- Henry Mangels, C. P .; Henry Tribolet, S. W .; William Hadley, H. P.
Rebekah Degree Lodge, No. 48, I. O. O. F .- Dora Horn, N. G .; Mrs. A. A. Titus, V. G .; Mrs. John Deilman, permanent sec- retary, J. W. Glennan, recording secretary.
Redwood City Lodge, No. 82, K. of P .- Leon S. Bean, C. C .; W. H. Malott, V. C .; James Van Court, K. of R .; and S .; James Swift, K. of F .; C. H. Offermann, K. of E.
Metamora Tribe, No. 24, I. O. R. M .- Leon Bean, sachem; A. H. Hanson, secretary.
A. O. U. W., No. 25 .- Jens Hanson, M. W .; A. Fisher, F .; George H. Buck, R .; J. W. Glennan, F .; B. F. Cooper, R.
Redwood Parlor, No. 66, N. S. G. W .- H. C. Hall, president; A. D. Walsh, past president; William Havey, first vice-presi- dent: Michael Thompson, second vice-presi- dent; William Johnson, third vice-presi dent; C. N. Christ, recording secretary, Guy Hull, financial secretary; W. H. Scha- berg, treasurer, Frank Wentworth, mar- shal. Trustees-Will Beeson, Carl Plump and Fred Glennan.
The Native Daughters also have a Parlor. There is also a G. A. R. post; a Women's Relief Corps and an organization of the Ancient Order of Druids.
THE BANK OF SAN MATEO COUNTY
was organized in 1891, as a commercial bank, under the laws of the State, with a capital stock of $200,000. It is located at Redwood City. Its directors are: J. L. Ross, presi. dent; L. P. Behrens, cashier; L. J. Frank, P. P. Chamberlain, J. D. Byrnes, George H. Rice, John A. Hooper, Ch. Josselyn, Charles Hanson.
208
SAN MATEO COUNTY.
REDWOOD CITY FIRE DEPARTMENT.
There are three hose companies and one hook and ladder company. Edward Fisher is foreman of No. 1; Fred B. Joyce, foreman of No. 2; William J. Fitzpatrick, foreman of No. 3. The foreman of the hook and ladder company is M. H. Thompson. Henry Beeger is chief of the fire department. Besides this there is an organization of exempts. They have a hand-power machine which is still capable of doing good work. George W. Fox is president of the exempts.
CHAPTER VI.
MISCELLANEOUS-SAN MATEO.
HE town of San Matco is a station on the Southern Pacific railway, and has many elegant homes, being a favorite place for country residences of merchants and others doing business in San Francisco, on account of its nearness to that city. An excellent road over the mountains greatly facilitates the handling of such products from the neighboring coast as are not sent to the metropolis by water.
SAN MATEO DISTRICT SCHOOLS.
No. children between 5 and 17; boys, 253; girls, 185; total. .388
No. children under 5.
.144
No. children who have attended school. 247 No. children between 5 and 17 who only attend pri- vate 73
No. children who have not attended any school ... 68 Native born, 504-foreign born, 28. .532 No. and grade of schools, grammar grade 2; pri-
mary grade 5. 7
No. boys enrolled 211-girls 89. 300
Average No. belonging.
209
Average daily attendance.
197
Per-cent of attendance on average No. belong.
94
No. pupils enrolled in grammar grade 32; primary
grade 268.
300
No. months of school maintained
1014
Sex of teachers : all females
7
Teachers certificates high school, 1; 1st. grammar, 4; 2d grammar, 2
CURRENT EXPENSES.
Paid teachers
$4,323.75
Paid rent and
contingent ex-
penses.
1,710.61
Paid libraries
101.50
Paid apparatus.
30.00
$6,165.86
Paid lots, buildings and furnishings ..
....
5,661.30
$11,827.16
INCOME.
Balance July 1, '91.
.$952.42
Received State ..
$2,574.00
Received county .
1,818.00
Received subscription, insurance,
etc.
7,069.00
Total receipts.
$11,413.42
$12,413.42
Balance June 30, '92.
.$586.26
Valuation of lots, houses and fur-
nishings
$600
Valuation of libraries
600
Valuation of apparatus
250
$1,450.00
No. of volumes in library
900
NOTE-In this district a six-class schoolhouse was burned during the school year and $7,000 insurance received. $25,000 bónds were voted for erecting an eight-class and also a four-class building.
OTHER POINTS.
There are numerous small towns in San Mateo county, besides Redwood City with its population of 1,570 and San Mateo with 950 inhabitants, among which are: Halfmoon bay, Pescadero, Menlo Park, Colma Station ; and smaller settlements, as Millbrae, Colusa,
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SAN MATEO COUNTY.
Belmont, Searsville, Woodside, La Honda, Purísima and San Gregorio.
A PICTURESQUE COUNTY.
Esthetically considered, San Mateo is one of the most attractive sections of the State. It abounds in the beautiful, both in nature and art. It has long stretches of beach, the finest for bathing in the world, rolling hills, elevated ridges, wooded glens, rugged roman- tic cañons, precipitons cliffs, against which the ocean beats unceasingly, dense forests, where deer and quail find a home, and crystal streams filled with trout. From the summit of the ridge the view is unequaled in grand- eur and extent, except possibly from Mount Shasta, a point few people ever reach. Stand- ing on the crest of the divide and looking north, east and south, the eye commands at a sweep a distance of a hundred miles. From Vallejo to Gilroy, the hills of Marin, the bay of San Francisco, in its entirety, the counties of Alameda and Santa Clara, with their nu- merous cities, towns and villages, lie like a map spread at the observer's feet, with Ta- malpais, Diablo and Hamilton, rising like stately sentinels at intervals. To the west- ward adown deep cañons over the tops of giant redwoods, that darken the slope, are seen the coast towns, the long shore line, the Far- allone Islands and the Pacific ocean with a stretch of unnumbered miles north and south and limited in the west only by the impene- trable curtain at the horizon.
HALFMOON BAY.
Of all the towns in San Mateo this most
wears the air of the pre-American regime. It is a quaint, rambling place with as much variety in its architecture as there is in the patois of its people. Situated in the beauti- ful and fertile Pilarcitos valley, on the border of that semi-luna of water, from which it takes its name, it is one of Nature's chosen spots, but unfortunate in its isolation. The valley spreads out into thousands of acres, through which the Pilarcitos creek makes its way to the sea. The climate is not excelled in its loveliness by any on the ocean side, not excepting the much vaunted Santa Barbara channel. From the town there stretches away to the north for miles a clean gradually shoaling beach, the finest without exception in California. From Pilar point, the north- ern headland, a reef of rocks, just discernible at low water by the break of the waves, ex- tends southward for two miles, forming a natural breakwater and rendering the beach absolutely free from undertow, high rollers and every possible danger. Here is the grandest bathing place in the world, prepared and protected by Nature. The building of the coast railroad will deflect the great army of people who annually flock to Monterey and places farther south. Halfmoon Bay will be rediscovered and the borders of the cres- cent be ornamented with summer hotels and villa residences. There is room for all in the spacious waters of the bay and the most ele- gant sites for hotels or summer homes to be found anywhere on the coast.
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