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Old Woodside Store Day transported locals back to the 1800s and surrounded them with old-time sounds of a banjo and fiddle while they took part in a seed-spitting contest, split wood shingles, and tried their hands at making rope, washing clothes and making butter the old-fashioned way.
“I want people to get a sense of how life has changed,” said Carmen Blair, education director of San Mateo County Historical Association.
For over 35 years, the Woodside Store has hosted a one-day event on the first Sunday of May to celebrate the historical site and bring people back to what life was like in the 1800s.
The Woodside Store was built in 1854 by Dr. Robert Orville Tripp, a San Francisco-based dentist, and his business partner Mathias Parkehurst. The store catered to lumberjacks who were logging the original redwood trees in the area, said Jim Wagner, head volunteer storekeeper. The store itself is built out of the original San Mateo County redwood trees that grew on the land centuries ago, he added.
The historical site was once known as the only general store between San Francisco and San Jose, selling such items as groceries, clothes and even dental service, said Blair.
Chloe Cai, 7 years old, learning how to wring out a washed shirt through a laundry wringer during Old Woodside Store Day on May 4, 2025. Photo by Jennifer Yoshikoshi. 
Old Woodside Store Day visitors learn how to make wood shingles with a mallet and froe. Photo by Jennifer Yoshikoshi. 
Participants of the seed spitting contest try their best to reach the farthest distance. Photo by Jennifer Yoshikoshi.
The store was in operation until 1909 when Tripp died and was later acquired by the Woodside Community Church in 1926. It was not until 1940 that it became a county park and is now currently being operated as a museum by the San Mateo County Historical Association.
While the site is typically visited by third and fourth graders on school field trips, Old Woodside Store Day welcomes the broader community to enjoy the ambiance of what many think resembles the wild west, said Blair.
Visitors were able to make their own wood shingles with a mallet and froe, an axe-like tool made to split wood. Children were able to saw wood with a two-man and one-man saw like those common in the 1800s and were learning from volunteers about how much physical labor was involved with everyday tasks such as scrubbing laundry on a washboard and churning butter.
The store is operated by county staff and volunteers, some of whom have been with the site for over 30 years. Wagner has been volunteering since 1995 and said he loves being able to interact with the community and share the history of the store to visitors.
The staff has used the original ledgers from the 1880s to understand what goods were sold in order to place replicas in the store. A chalkboard in the store also lists the original prices of each item and is used during field trips to simulate a shopping experience for students.
