|
Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...
|
[Continued from the week before]
When the residents rejected the request to go “dry,” Stanford went north to the area near University Avenue and purchased over 700 acres of land for the university’s location.
Palo Alto was a “dry” town, which suited Stanford just fine.
Alcohol became a watershed issue between Mayfield and Palo Alto, which many agree contributed to the eventual demise of Mayfield.
Leland Stanford Jr. University opened its doors in 1894, which was the same year Palo Alto officially incorporated.
For decades, local law prevented alcohol sales within a mile and a half of the university campus. Today, this is no longer the case.
Back to the saga of Mayfield:
In 1903, representatives from Mayfield went before the County Supervisors to seek incorporation. The request was approved. Then, the residents voted and overwhelmingly supported incorporation.
Arthur Bridgman Clark became Mayfield’s first Mayor.
However, Mayfield’s independence lasted just over two decades. The town fell on hard times. Many workers who built Stanford University chose to move to Palo Alto, a “dry” town, which was a better place to raise a family. The area around the Stanford campus and University Avenue grew in size and stature.
Mayfield, with its saloons, began to acquire an unsavory reputation.
In 1894, Mayfield residents finally decided to ban alcohol and go “dry.” However, bad blood developed between the city fathers of Mayfield and Palo Alto. Something had to be done. It was. Palo Alto decided to annex Mayfield. The vote to approve the annexation failed in 1924. However, on July 2, 1925, Palo Alto residents voted to approve the annexation of Mayfield into Palo Alto.
Four days subsequent to Palo Alto voting to annex, the Mayfield Enterprise published an op-ed that included the following lament- “It is with a feeling of deep regret that we see on our streets today those who would sell, or give, our beautiful little city to an outside community. We have watched Mayfield grow from a small hamlet when Palo Alto was nothing more than a hayfield to her present size … and it is with a feeling of sorrow that we contemplate the fact that there are those who would sell or give the city away.
Many have considered Palo Alto to have two ‘downtowns’: one on University Avenue and a second on California Avenue. California Avenue was the main street for the defunct town of Mayfield, which is why many have viewed Palo Alto as having two downtowns.
In 1986, the City of Palo Alto and the California Department of Parks and Recreation awarded Mayfield Farm Landmark status.
Everything else is just history
