Dennis Oliver and Daniel McGlynn were successful paint merchants in San Francisco starting about 1850. Together they decided to start a cattle ranch on the peninsula aiming to sell the beef in the SF market. In early 1855 they made a buggy trip to their ranch. [A dirt road, rainy season, the trip took about 8 hours, they arrived long after dark, all the ranch hands had already gone to sleep.] Oliver commented in his diary entry for February 6, 1855, that "The new gate pleased me very much." The "Menlo Gates" (as they are now called) were located on the SW side of County Road (today's El Camino Real) opposite Ravenswood Avenue before it was realigned to match Menlo Avenue, but in what is now a right-turn lane. (El Camino was widened to the west in 1940s.) Ravenswood Avenue probably proceeded the Menlo Gates since the road led to a house (a pre-fabricated house shipped from the east) in today's Menlo Oaks area owned by the San Francisco banker I.C. Woods. The original gates were destroyed by a speeding car in 1922. > > A full-size replica of the Menlo Gates (an inspiration of the late Menlo Park architect Ernst Meisner) was completed in early 2019, constructed with funds from local donors and the City of Menlo Park under the sponsorship of the Menlo Park Historical Association (MPHA) and dedicated on St. Patrick's Day, March 17, 2019. They are installed at the corner of Ravenswood Avenue and Alma Street. Shown below is a recent photo of the Menlo Gates at night with the City's Main Library in the background. > > Extensive information about Oliver, McGlynn, why they named their ranch "Menlo Park," the original Menlo Gates and the Menlo Gates Project are available online at the MPHA website: https://sites.google.com/site/mphistorical/home . > > The 1907 map of Hoag and Landsdale's subdivision, Stanford Park (look under "Maps" on the MPHA Links page) shows the location of the original Menlo Gates. > (image/png attachment: image.png )
