Imagine. Another beautiful peninsula spring day. Radiant blue skies host puffy wisps of clouds. Verdant green rolling hills are topped with flowering trees, and California poppies flop about in a light breeze.

Except it’s May 1902.

San Mateans pass sedate Sunday afternoons watching trotters cruise the circular race race track at the Clark Dairy’s horse field. Horse and buggy riders scurry down the tree-lined El Camino streets, eager to get home from church to Sunday supper.

The Sunday newspaper announces another turn-century-land deal with the headlines:

SAN MATEO PARK… Very Desirable… AT AUCTION — 97 VILLA LOTS… to be held May 10, 1902


Auction to be held at the platform at Liberty Hall, 2nd and B Streets. Southern Pacific railroad will run three special excursion trains from San Francisco for 60 cents round trip. The first one-hundred ticket buyers will be entitled to a free lunch at the elegant Union Hotel on 3rd and Baldwin in downtown San Mateo.

The area up for auction was modern day San Mateo Park. Mr. Clark had been deeded the 200 acre parcel for legal work he completed helping William Howard convince the U.S. Land Commission of Howard’s right to the title of 6,000 acres of land granted to him by the last Mexican governor of California, Pio Pico. Howard’s original parcel included Hillsborough, Burlingame and San Mateo Park.

Howard paid a mere $54,757.70 for the entire land grant. Clark was hoping to get a lot more.

The terms of the auction were:

• One-third cash
• A 10% deposit at the fall of the hammer
• An interest rate 7, or 5 if the purchaser accepted a bond for the deed
• The balance was due in one or two years
• The principal and interest were payable in United States gold coin

The nearly 700 people who arrived for tours of the property that was to become San Mateo Park were delighted with the already 20 -foot tall trees and smitten with the bright green circles and oval planted beds. A Scottish gardener named John McLaren had worked with Howard to establish islands planted with trees representing separate countries. (Yes, this is the John McLaren who also transformed hills of sand to the now-acclaimed Golden Gate Park in San Francisco). Many of these landscape-designed islands within San Mateo Park provided prospective buyers that day with shade.

After tramping the turf and sighting the lot lines, prospective buyers climbed back into the rigs and headed downtown. Following a sumptuous lunch, the convivial crowd convened around the auctioneer J.P Baldwin.

Mr. Baldwin took the platform and promptly put on the block what was declared to be “The Best Lot in San Mateo Park.”

After spirited bidding, H.H. Lynch, superintendent of construction of the United Railroads of San Francisco, demonstrated his faith in San Mateo Park by upping the bids to $1,825.

On that May day in 1902, 53 lots were sold, far short of the 97 “Cracker Jack Villa Lots” that were offered for sale.

The combined sales figures of those 53 lots ran to $51,350, nearly $1000 per lot. The lowest priced lot went for $755. As of today, November 21st, 2009, there are 4 single family homes on the market, the average asking price is $1,870,750, and the average lot size of those 4 homes is 9,250 square feet.

Most buyers would be delighted with that selling price in San Mateo Park today.