Menlo Park, California
Menlo Park is a city in San Mateo County in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, United States. Located at the eastern edge of the county, It is bordered by San Francisco Bay on the north and east; East Palo Alto, Palo Alto, and Stanford to the south; and Atherton, North Fair Oaks, and Redwood City to the west. It had 33,780 residents at the 2020 United States census. It is home to the corporate headquarters of Meta Platforms, and is where Google, Roblox Corporation, Round Table Pizza, and SRI International were founded. The train station holds the record as the oldest continually operating train station in California. It is one of the most educated cities in California and the United States; nearly 70% of residents over 25 have earned a bachelor's degree or higher.
Name
"Menlo" is derived from Menlo in County Galway, Ireland, today an outer neighborhood of the city of Galway. The name "Menlo Park" was given to a ranch purchased by Irish settlers in honor of their home village in Ireland.History
The area of Menlo Park was inhabited by the Ohlone people when the Portolá expedition arrived in 1769.In 1795, the Rancho de las Pulgas Spanish land grant was made that included the area of the current city.
Original Menlo Park gate
In 1851, two Irish immigrants, Dennis J. Oliver and his brother-in-law, D.C. McGlynn, purchased a tract of land on the former Rancho de las Pulgas. In 1854, they erected a gate with a wooden arch bearing the inscription "Menlo Park" and the date "August 1854" at the entrance to their property. The wooden gate was modeled after the stone gate that stands at the entrance to the Menlo Castle estate in Menlo, Ireland.Railroad
In 1863, the San Francisco and San Jose Rail Road had built the railroad from San Francisco to as far as Mayfield and started running trains to the area. They named a nearby station "Menlo Park" after the sign. The 1867 station building still stands on the platform of the current Caltrain station, used by the local Chamber of Commerce. It holds the record as the oldest, continually operating train station in California. The town of Menlo Park grew up around this station, becoming a popular home for San Francisco businessmen. A post office was established in 1870, and the city was incorporated in 1874. The original arch, which gave its name to the stations and ultimately, the city, survived until 1922, when it was destroyed in an automobile accident. Menlo Park, New Jersey, was named after Menlo Park, California, predating any work done there by Thomas Edison ; Menlo, Washington, also derived its name from the California community.Camp Fremont
In 1917–18, a large portion of Menlo Park was the site of Camp Fremont, a training camp for, at its height, 27,000 men being sent to fight in World War I. Army engineers paved the first streets in Menlo Park and laid the first water and gas lines. In the autumn of 1918, a flu pandemic hit Camp Fremont and killed 147. Although the camp was dismantled after the war, its hospital was retained, today the site of a Veterans Administration Hospital off Willow Road in Menlo Park.SRI International
At the start of World War II, the US government bought the estate of Timothy Hopkins from his widow and created the Palo Alto General Hospital, later renamed the Dibble General Hospital. After the war ended, some of the land was sold to the city and became the sites of the main library and city hall. More of the land was bought by Stanford University to house the increase in students due to the G.I. Bill; the area was known as the "Stanford Village", which existed as student housing until the mid-1960s. This land also was the site of the Stanford Research Institute starting in 1947; between 1955 and 1968, SRI bought the rest of the Stanford Village.''Sunset'' magazine headquarters
magazine had its headquarters in Menlo Park from 1951 to 2015, designed by architect, Cliff May, with a similar layout to a California ranch-style house. Sunset referred to its Menlo Park headquarters as the Laboratory of Western Living.CaliforniaSharon Heights
In the 1960s, the former estate of Frederick W. Sharon and his wife, Louise Tevis Breckinridge Sharon, in the hills of south west Menlo Park was developed and called "Sharon Heights".Development of Google
The development of leading Internet search engine provider Google occurred in 1998 in the garage in a Menlo Park home owned by Susan Wojcicki. Wojcicki's Menlo Park garage was used as the office for Google co-founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin for $1,700 a month.Replica of Menlo Park gate
In 2015, the Menlo Park Historical Association began a project to raise funds for and build a replica of the original Menlo Park gates. The completed gate was placed in front of the Menlo Park public library at 800 Alma Street, and officially dedicated on March 17, 2019, by Menlo Park Mayor Ray Mueller.Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of, of which are land and are covered by water. Menlo Park is long and narrow on a northeast to southwest axis. The northeast portion borders the San Francisco Bay and includes the Dumbarton Bridge that connects Menlo Park to Fremont on the east side of the bay. The city shoreline includes the city's largest park, Bedwell Bayfront Park and the Don Edwards San Francisco Bay National Wildlife Refuge. San Francisquito Creek marks much of the southeast border of the city. West Menlo Park along Alameda de las Pulgas nearly separates the southwestern part of the city from the rest. The extreme southwest is clipped by Interstate 280.The Bayshore Freeway traverses Menlo Park northwest to southeast near the shoreline and somewhat parallel to the Bayshore Freeway to the southwest is El Camino Real. The intersection of El Camino Real and Santa Cruz Avenue is considered the heart of the city. Nearby, the Menlo Park Civic Center is bounded by Ravenswood Avenue, Alma Street, Laurel Street, and Burgess Drive. It contains the council offices, library, police station, and Burgess Park, which has various recreational facilities. Other major roads include Sand Hill Road in the Sharon Heights area.
The residential areas of Menlo Park can be unofficially divided into several neighborhoods. From "east" to "west", they are defined by the Palo Alto Weekly as: Belle Haven, the only neighborhood east of Route 101; much of the rest of that area is business or protected land. Between 101 and the roughly parallel Middlefield Road are the neighborhoods of the Willows, Suburban Park, Lorelei Manor, Flood Triangle, Vintage Oaks, and South of Seminary. Between Middlefield and El Camino Real are the Caltrain track and Felton Gables, Linfield Oaks, and Park Forest. West of El Camino until the foothills of the Peninsula are the neighborhoods of Downtown Menlo Park, Central Menlo Park, and Allied Arts. In the hills are Sharon Heights and Stanford Hills. Several other neighborhoods are closely associated with Menlo Park but are actually in unincorporated San Mateo county; these include Menlo Oaks and Fair Oaks between Bayshore and Middlefield, University Heights between Sharon Heights and most of the rest of the city, and Stanford Weekend Acres, which is somewhat near Stanford Hills.
Demographics
| Race / Ethnicity | Pop 2010 | % 2010 | ||
| White alone | 19,841 | 18,575 | 61.95% | 54.99% |
| Black or African American alone | 1,482 | 1,001 | 4.63% | 2.96% |
| Native American or Alaska Native alone | 43 | 26 | 0.13% | 0.08% |
| Asian alone | 3,132 | 5,764 | 9.78% | 17.06% |
| Pacific Islander alone | 446 | 364 | 1.39% | 1.08% |
| Other race alone | 73 | 156 | 0.23% | 0.46% |
| Mixed race or Multiracial | 1,107 | 1,905 | 3.46% | 5.64% |
| Hispanic or Latino | 5,902 | 5,989 | 18.43% | 17.73% |
| Total | 32,026 | 33,780 | 100.00% | 100.00% |
2020
The 2020 United States census reported that Menlo Park had a population of 33,780. The population density was. The racial makeup of Menlo Park was 57.3% White, 3.1% African American, 0.7% Native American, 17.2% Asian, 1.1% Pacific Islander, 9.4% from other races, and 11.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 17.7% of the population.The census reported that 98.8% of the population lived in households, 0.4% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.8% were institutionalized.
There were 12,743 households, out of which 34.2% included children under the age of 18, 52.2% were married-couple households, 5.7% were cohabiting couple households, 25.6% had a female householder with no partner present, and 16.5% had a male householder with no partner present. 25.7% of households were one person, and 10.6% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.62. There were 8,192 families.
The age distribution was 23.2% under the age of 18, 7.1% aged 18 to 24, 29.3% aged 25 to 44, 25.0% aged 45 to 64, and 15.5% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 38.2years. For every 100 females, there were 95.5 males.
There were 13,857 housing units at an average density of, of which 12,743 were occupied. Of these, 52.9% were owner-occupied, and 47.1% were occupied by renters.
In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $206,588, and the per capita income was $123,422. About 2.3% of families and 5.1% of the population were below the poverty line.
2010
The 2010 United States census reported that Menlo Park had a population of 32,026. Its population density was. The racial makeup of Menlo Park was 22,494 White, 1,551 African American, 156 Native American, 3,157 Asian, 454 Pacific Islander, 2,776 from other races, and 1,438 from two or more races. Hispanics or Latinos of any race were 18.4% of the population, most of whom were of Mexican ancestry.The Census reported that 31,181 people lived in households, 599 lived in noninstitutionalized group quarters, and 246 were institutionalized.
Of the 12,347 households, 33.3% had children under the age of 18 living in them, 49.9% were opposite-sex married couples living together, 8.4%had a female householder with no husband present, and 3.0% had a male householder with no wife present. About 5.2% were unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 0.8% were same-sex married couples or partnerships. About 29.7% were made up of individuals, and 11.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.53. The average family size was 3.20.
In terms of age, 7,805 residents were under the age of 18, 1,817 people aged 18 to 24, 9,563 people aged 25 to 44, 8,263 people aged 45 to 64, and 4,578 people were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.5 males.
The 13,085 housing units averaged, of which 6,927 were owner-occupied, and 5,420 were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.1%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.2%; 18,972 people lived in owner-occupied housing units and 12,209 people lived in rental housing units.