HISTORY

OF

SAN MATEO COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.

TOPOGRAPHY AND GEOGRAPHY-CLIMATE-SCENERY-STREAMS-ROADS AND GEOLOGY.

SAN MATEO COUNTY is bounded on the north by San Francisco; east by the bay and Santa Clara; south by Santa Cruz, and west by the ocean. The county comprises a peninsula, having the Pacific Ocean upon the west and the Bay of San Francisco upon the east. Following the sinuosities of the shore lines upon the ocean and the bay, the county has a frontage upon navigable waters of about ninety miles. Upon the bay side are numerous navigable estuaries or sloughs traversing the salt marsh, which are of great commercial value for shipping purposes.

It is six miles in width on the northern boundary line, with a very irregular southern and eastern boundary line separating it from Santa Clara and Santa Cruz counties of about sixty-five miles. Its greatest width is twenty-four miles, and the superficial area contained within its limits comprises 292,320 acres. The original area of the county was much less than the above, but in March, 1868, was passed "An Act to fix and define the boundary line between the counties of San Mateo and Santa Cruz," by the provisions of which San Mateo acquired about 90,000 acres formerly belonging to Santa Cruz, including Pescadero and Pigeon Point.

Much the larger portion of the county is mountainous and broken; the principal exceptions being on the bay front, where a highly fertile and beautiful valley of varying width extends along nearly the entire eastern side of the county, and on the ocean front in the vicinity of Half Moon Bay.

A range of mountains known as the Santa Moreno extends the entire length of the county, and attain their greatest elevation at a point back of Searsville, where the altitude is about 2, 500 feet. Running parallel with these mountains and inside of a range of foot-hills to the east, is the most extensive of the interior valleys, viz.: the Cañada Raymundo.