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Miramontez family, was perhaps the first. Then came one Bifano, an Italian, who was afterwards foully murdered by two Manilla men.

The first house of public entertainment was built by Henry Bidwell, nephew of Gen. John Bidwell, and, a post office being established about the same time, Mr. Bidwell was appointed postmaster. The earliest manufacturing industry in the town was that of M. A. Halsted, who began the erection of a grist-mill in the Spring of 1860. Of professional men, Dr. Huggard, who ministered to the spiritual and temporal welfare of the scattering population in the capacity of preacher or physician, as occasion required, is remembered as the first in this part of the valley. At Spanishtown, Dr. W. D. Church may be mentioned as the earliest to settle.

In October, 1863, a decree of partition was entered in the district court in a friendly suit between some of the owners of the Rancho Miramontez, brought for that purpose, and thereafter the plat of Spanishtown was made. E. Zaballa was especially prominent in the matter of platting the town, and to him is due much credit for advancing its interests. The site of the town is well chosen, being high and dry, and commanding an extended view of the ocean, from which it is distant about one mile. It is approached from the bay side of the county by a turnpike leading up the San Andreas valley and traversing the coast range through some of the most romantic and picturesque scenery in the county. Entering the town by this road, one crosses the Pilarcitos creek, upon probably the finest wagon-road bridge in San Mateo county. It was constructed about eight years ago at a cost of nearly $3,800, being built upon piles of preserved wood. In the matter of roads and bridges generally, the Half Moon Bay country has been well provided for, owing largely to the interest Supervisor Ames of this township has always taken in those matters.

Spanishtown has a mixed population of five or six hundred inhabitants, which supports two churches and one excellent graded school, the edifice of the latter being one that would do credit to a town of much larger population. The water supply of the place is mainly derived from the San Benito water works, a private enterprise projected by J. P. Ames.

The landing and shipping point for Spanishtown and the Half Moon Bay country is Amesport, of which Ames, Byrnes and Harlow were the projectors. The various industrial interests of the town at present are represented as follows: One grist-mill, the property of James Hatch; the plow manufactory of R. I. Knapp, which is the only one in the county. Three years ago Mr. Knapp obtained a patent for a side-hill plow (which, however, is equally well adapted to valley plowing) and began manufacturing on a small scale. Owing to the intrinsic worth of this invention of Mr. Knapp, the demand for the plow has steadily increased, and it is probable that in a short time the business of manufacturing will increase to such an extent as to render it profitable to the proprietor and creditable to the town. In 1873, Edward Schubert began the

brewing of beer at Spanishtown. Mr. Schubert's business has steadily increased until it has become one of the features of the town.

There is one large, first-class hotel here, the Schuyler House, kept by Mr. James Schuyler, who has been its proprietor for the past six years. Of parties engaged in merchandising there are quite a number, among whom are Levy Bros., and Thomas Johnston, the latter one of the first settlers of the valley, and a man universally respected.

The mails are carried by the San Mateo, Pescadero and Santa Cruz stage company, and Henry Pitcher is the postmaster of the office, which is known by the Post Office Department as Half Moon Bay. The town has telegraphic facilities, and an agency of Wells, Fargo & Co's express.

Following the stage-road south about four miles, and the Purissima creek is reached, where the early settlers in this part of the county first gathered. Although there was no settlement deserving the name of a town, yet here were the first schools, the first religious services, and the first tradesmen and mechanics. Those who journeyed hence "to that undiscovered country," found here, upon a gravelly knoll by the banks of the creek, a resting-place, and protestant burials have continued to be made here to the present time.

The little valley of the Purissima was highly fertile, and, besides that, was a gem of beauty. In addition to its being early sought after for agricultural purposes, it afforded, as the mountains were neared, a profitable field for lumbering, and here was built the first mill (the old mill of Borden & Hatch) devoted exclusively to the trade on the coast side of the county. Owing to the delightful climate and scenery, and to the excellent hunting and fishing advantages the place afforded, it was somewhat of a resort for pleasure-seekers, and formerly a good hotel was kept here by Richard Dougherty. This was destroyed by fire, and now about the only business of Purissima is represented by Mr. Henry Dobbel. The business of the place consists of Mr. Dobbel's store, a harness and blacksmith shop, and the hotel of Richard Dougherty.

A notice of the place would be incomplete without mention of the very fine public school building erected, than which there are few finer in the county. Southward from Purissima, the next point worthy of mention is Gordon's Landing, near the Tunitas creek. This is one of the finest landings or chutes to be found anywhere on the coast, and was constructed a few years ago at a great expense by the late Hon. Horace Templeton and Alexander Gordon. It is the shipping point for a large area of country, of which Mr. Gordon is owner of several thousand acres.

The first settler in the Tunitas valley was Major Jacob Downing, who, many years ago, purchased a large tract of land there and began sharing the possession of the territory with the bears and coyotes that before that date had a monopoly of the valley.

SAN GREGORIO, on the creek of the same name, is the next place of any note after passing Lobitas creek. This is the junction of the stage roads from San Mateo by way of Spanishtown, and the road crossing from Redwood City by way of Woodside, Weeks' and La Honda. It is a small town, and its business interests comprise one hotel and general goods store, blacksmith shop, meat market and boot and shoe shop. Here is a good public school, a post office, and, further up the valley, is a little church.

The valley of the San Gregorio is highly productive, and contains some of the finest farms on the coast side of the county. It began receiving foreign settlers about the year 1854, and among the first to settle here were Hugh Hamilton, G. F. Keiffer and James Smith. The farm improvements here are equal to any on this side of the county.

Crossing the mountains from San Gregorio, the first place dignified with the name of "town" is old La Honda, in the redwood forest. Here one of the county's pioneers, John H. Sears, keeps a store and hotel. He has erected a costly and commodious house for the accommodation of pleasure seekers in this forest, which has become quite famous as a camping ground. At this new town, which is called La Honda, there is a post office, a store and a blacksmith shop.

The next station is Weeks' Ranch, the property of one of the first settlers on the western slope of the mountains, Mr. R. J. Weeks, who settled on his extensive ranch in 1853, where he has continued to reside to the present time, making some of the finest farm improvements in the county. In addition to his extensive farming operations, Mr. Weeks has erected a fine hotel for the accommodation of the traveling public.

DAIRY FARMS.

MILLBRAE DAIRY-Millbrae dairy, at Millbrae, the property of A. F. Green, is one among the largest dairies in the county. The barn and dairy house are commensurate in size with the business of the establishment, and are in every respect well appointed while on the ample domain, herds of the best breeds of milk cattle luxuriate in rich pasturage.

The shipments of milk from this dairy to San Francisco average daily two hundred and fifty cans, each can containing three gallons, or a total daily average of seven hundred and fifty gallons of milk, being a yearly average of two hundred and seventy-three thousand, seven hundred and fifty gallons.

WILLOW SIDE DAIRY FARM.-North of Pescadero, and at the head of the valley of that name, is situated R. H. Brown's Willow Side dairy farm, embracing a tract of twelve hundred acres of fine arable and pasture land. The capacious barn-a two story structure, covering an area of sixty-four by one hundred and twenty feet, is built on an elevated piece of ground a few hundred yards from the main road from Pescadero to Spanishtown. The cattle are stanchioned in four rows of stalls. A system of water-tight gutters, skirting along the row of stalls, receives all the manure from them, both liquid and solid. The floor is traversed by four tramways, on which a box car travels, following along by the manure troughs, and collecting from them the offal. When the car is filled, it is run to the rear end of the building, where it goes on a platform car, which, running on a track of its own, carries the loaded box car to the dumping place, to be utilized in enriching the soil of the farm. The barn has stalls for one hundred and twenty-eight head of cattle.

The upper floor is the hay floor, having a capacity for storing twenty-two tons of hay. Here also are two feed cutters, one for cutting roots, and the other for hay. The latter is driven by horse power, and the hay, as it is cut, falls into a receptacle below, where it is mixed with grain, and in this shape fed to the stock.

There is another barn close by, in which seventy-five head of cattle and young stock can be sheltered, and the hay and feed for them stored.

A short distance down the hill from the first mentioned barn is the dairy house, three stories high, and twenty-four by forty feet square. It is built

over an excavation in the hill-side, the face of the excavation fronting the rear wall of the first story; this first or basement story is divided into two compartments, in one of which is kept the tubs and everything used for packing butter. The size of this room is sixteen by twenty-four feet; the other is the butter room, twenty-four feet square. Its walls, as well as the walls of the room directly above it, are packed with saw dust, by which means an even temperature is preserved through all seasons of the year. The second floor is divided into rooms corresponding in size with those on the floor below. The smaller one contains a large iron boiler, always full of hot water, which is conducted by distributing pipes to every part of the building where its use is required. The larger apartment on this floor is the milk-room. In the center of it is an elevator for raising or lowering milk from one floor to the other. Outside of the building and close by the milk-room, is a one hundred and twenty-fivegallon tank, into which the pails of milk are emptied as it comes from the cow, and from which it passes through a pipe into the milk room. The top floor is used exclusively for making and curing cheese. Cleanliness is a cardinal feature in the entire building. Everything has an air of freshness and neatness, nothing whatever of an offensive nature being allowed to accumulate; all the refuse is carried away through pipes to the hog-pens.

There is also on the premises a stable and barn for horses, complete in all its details. Mr. Brown has now one hundred and sixty-five head of cattle on the farm, but when the improvements already begun are completed, he will be able to maintain two hundred and fifty cows, and take care of their products.

DAIRY FARM OF I. G. KNOWLES.-Near Colma is situated I. G. Knowles' dairy farm, of township No. 1. The business of this farm was founded in 1853, and it was probably the first regular dairy establishment in San Mateo county that supplied milk to the residents of San Francisco.

BADEN DAIRY FARM, AT BADEN. -In 1871, Robert Ashbury, the present proprietor of the Baden Farm, commenced the dairy and stock raising business on the fine tract which he has ever since occupied. The farm is located in township No. 1, between San Bruno and Colma. Unlike most dairymen, he has confined himself to thoroughbred and high-graded cows. He started business on a comparatively small scale, and has gradually increased his stock until now he has ninety head of thoroughbreds and ninety of other high grades of cattle. He milks every day over sixty cows, a large portion of the product of which finds a market in San Francisco.

JAMES REED'S DAIRY FARM.-In 1879, James Reed erected a barn at Pescadero, one hundred and forty by seventy-three feet in dimensions, and capable of stalling one hundred cows. He commenced the business of making butter

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