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The Wellesley Park subdivision is significant as a progressive subdivision planned in 1888 as an early commuter rail suburb of San Francisco. The original plan included 153 lots, bounded by Edgewood Road; it’s an early Picturesque suburban development in the Bay Area and the first suburban development in Redwood City west of El Camino Real.
Originally, the entrance featured a large stone gate, which is long gone. Today the entrance on Wellesley Crescent is guarded by two stone lions.
The development was sponsored by Daniel O’Connell, a founder of San Francisco’s Bohemian Club, who envisioned and designed it as an exclusive suburban enclave. O’Connell was a journalist and writer who worked for the San Francisco Chronicle and published several books of poetry and other writings. He designed the subdivision in partnership with local landscape gardener William Brown. O’Connell died in 1899, but had abandoned the project some time before then. The development was brought to fruition by George C. Ross, a prominent local attorney, who at one point suggested it would be the death of San Mateo County. Nonetheless, O’Connell’s vision for the development as it appeared in his 1889 promotional brochure prevailed.
The significant aspects of the subdivision – the layout of the roads, the park, the landscape concept, platting pattern, and streetscape design – are as apparent today as they were in O’Connell’s brochure. The subdivision still embodies the most progressive ideas in suburban design from across the country at the time. It was a landmark design in Redwood City and perhaps in San Mateo County.
Today, the beautiful stone lions still guard the enclave.
Everything else is just history
