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Redwood City has a long, rich history, which includes birthing several industries. Long before the city became incorporated, lumber was one of its most important industries.
It began in the late 1700s.
Numerous locations throughout the Bay Area sought lumber from Redwood City for projects that ranged from small to large scale.
Two projects in San Francisco were considered large scale. They were Mission Delores and the San Francisco Presidio. The search for enough lumber to complete these two sizeable projects brought the builders down the peninsula to Redwood City. Why? For one, the area had become the primary source of lumber anywhere in the area.
Trees were cut up and down on the skyline, and lumber mills often cut them into lengthy wooden planks. In other cases, they were left as uncut logs.
Reason No. 2 for choosing Redwood City was the fact it had the only deep water port. For this reason, it was allowed for numerous items, such as lumber, to be loaded on ships and transported throughout the Bay Area and beyond if necessary.
The local lumber industry began in 1850 when Charles Brown built a lumber mill. Soon afterward, Dennis Martin built another mill. Both were built along Alambiuque Creek. In addition to constructing a lumber mill, Martin developed several roads to Redwood City.
R.O. Tripp was the first local businessman to bring logging down Redwood Creek. Cut trees were hauled down to the port on a route that eventually became Woodside Road.
Hauling lumber from the mills was time consuming. It required an overnight stay in Redwood City. This gave impetus to developing hotels, restaurants and other businesses to support the growing number of lumber haulers.
Out of this, early commerce developed related businesses, from which a city began to sprout its wings.
Everything else is just history
