In January 2017, Jim Lewis, the incoming president of the Menlo Park Historical Association, said he wanted to uncover the origin of street names in the city.
After all, Palo Alto has such a list in booklet form. He assigned the task to the historical association’s secretary (that’s me), and it has resulted in my new book, “The Streets of Menlo Park.” I previously wrote a book titled “The Life and Times of Dennis Martin” about an early Menlo Park pioneer.
My first home was on West O’Connor Street in what then (in 1950) was considered North Palo Alto, but is now within the Menlo Park city limits. My current residence is in Palo Alto, of which I know a lot. Writing the book finally enabled me to learn my way around the city next door.
Partridge Avenue is a lengthy street off El Camino Real that runs without any side streets all the way to University Drive. It turns out that the heirs of Patrick Mary Partridge held out their parcel from developers who mapped all the surrounding streets with collegiate names.
In 1889, Patrick inherited the parcel from his younger brother, Peter, who had invested in Menlo Park property but died from a fall on Market Street in San Francisco. Both brothers had been born in Manchester, England, to Irish parents. That’s one of the longer stories in the book but it’s one example of how the namesakes have been tracked.
I dug into the background of any street with a Menlo Park mailing address, plus defunct street names such as Mulberry Street, an early name of West Menlo’s Alameda de las Pulgas.
Our goal was get the book out by November, the 90th anniversary of Menlo Park’s 1927 incorporation. After eight months and approximately 1,000 hours of work later, the book was ready to be printed locally.
In doing the research, my starting point was a San Mateo County website with subdivision maps. The names of map signers often match street names. I also dug into the Menlo Park Historical Association’s books and archive files, located in our office in Menlo Park’s main library at 800 Alma St. in the Civic Center.
I gathered more information about individuals from online sources, including California census lists.
May Brown and Susan Gale are streets with both the first and last names listed. Easy, right? Susan Gale was the town’s longtime historian but May Brown was actually May Broun, as was her street name originally.
Wallea and Marmona sound like combined names but only one is. Marmona is a compound of Marion and Ramona McKendry, granddaughters of a Civil War colonel who served in the Union Army. The girls’ father, who was divorced, had reportedly set fire to the farmhouse he inherited in the Willows to avoid paying taxes.
I found a Wallea who was renamed by her grandmother for her deceased father, who was named Wallace.
Streets with first names were the most difficult to identify. I found sources for Nancy, Franks, Doris and Robert S, for instance. Cathy, Cheryl, Helen and Patricia proved difficult. Ansel, surprisingly for me, is named for photographer Ansel Adams.
Residents will be interested in learning about their own street, of course, and streets in their neighborhood. But there’s more to it, as the back cover of the book states: “Within this book is a story told through street names of how an American town was formed over the last 150 years.”
All proceeds from the sale of “The Streets of Menlo Park” go to the Menlo Park Historical Association, which is the publisher.
Go to is.gd/street23 for information on how to buy the 124-page book. It’s $20 if purchased directly, $27 if mailing is required.
To learn more about our association and Menlo Park’s history, search online for: Menlo Park Historical Association.
You can email us at mphistorical@yahoo.com or call (650) 330-2522.
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