Palo Alto Stanford HeritageIt's time for a Walking Tour! |
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29th Preservation Month Celebration
Harnessing the Power of Place
Palo Alto Art Center Auditorium, May 4, 2025
Join us on Sunday, May 4 at 2 p.m. as we join with the Palo Alto Historical Association for our 29th annual Preservation Awards celebration. This year we will be honoring the completion of the preservation and conversion of the Birge Cark designed Palo Alto Medical Cllinic building to the Palo Alto History Museum!
Also on the program will be the awarding of PAST's newly established Bo Crane Award to recognize an individual who has made a significant contribution to historic preservation in Palo Alto. Bo was a role model for his contributions to researching and sharing the history of Palo Alto through writing, lectures, walking tours, and publications.
Unfortunately, we are not able to present centennial plaques to owners of 100 year old buildings, houses and commercial structures, because the manufacturer of the plaques is no longer in business. We regret this lapse, but are searching for a replacement vendor, so we are still collecting information on centennial homes. As more and more homes were built since the early 1920's, we are faced with an expanding pool of homes every year. Identifying centennial homes becomes more complicated as it was not unusual to move houses from one location to another before the post–WWII housing boom of tract housing featuring slab foundations.If your house was built in the early 20th entury, we may have a plaque available for you to purchase. Email us and we will check our list for an appropriate plaque.
A new feature to our website is coming!!! We are in the process of including building permit information from the Palo Alto Times on the PAST web site. James Stone, Professorville resident and retired professor, and member of the original Historical Resources Board, donated his 3x5 note cards of building permit information to the Palo Alto Historic Archive. These cards will be accessible from the Master Index to Houses as copies of these notes become available. Links will be added by street name to the house lists reached by the clicking on the initial letter of the street name.
The Fall 2024 PAST News is available here.
PAST's mission is to promote the importance of preserving the historic architecture, neighborhoods, and character of greater Palo Alto and Stanford areas. This event is celebrated every May during the National Trust for Historic Preservation's Preservation Month. The theme for 2024 is "People Saving Places."
The presentation is now available for viewing on Vimeo:
28th Preservation Month Celebration
Watch Bo Crane's public service announcement video about PAST that he made at MidPen Media!
Find past PAST Newsletters here!
Please consider becoming a member of PAST or making a donation. Here's a FORM you can complete and send us with a check! Thanks so much!
The Master Index to Houses continues to grow! Mid–Century Modern has arrived!
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Have you seen this book? Birge Clark Selected Projects, celebrates the 100th anniversary of the opening of local architect Birge Clark's first office in 1922. Our fall walking tour schedule focused on his architecture and we were pleased to offer four walks that highlighted some of his most memorable projects. Books can be purchased for $20 at the Palo Alto Historical Association Archive in Room K7 at the Cubberley Community Center at 4000 Middlefield Road on Tuesdays between 4 and 8 p.m. and on Thursdays between 1 and 5 p.m. Books can also be purchased at Bells Book Store, 536 Emerson Avenue in Palo Alto. |
Attention researchers! The History Desk and Archives manned by historians Steve Staiger and Darla Secor is located in room K–7 at Cubberley, 4000 Middlefield Road. Either Steve or Darla is available on Tuesdays from 4 to 8 p.m. and Thursdays from 1 to 5 p.m. Most of the old photos used by PAST are from the Palo Alto Historical Association's archives. If you ave an old photo you would like to share, please contact us at webmaster@pastheritage.org
Looking for something? Explore these links:
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Palo Alto homes and commercial buildings feature a rich variety of architectural styles. Discover more Palo Alto styles and see more sketches. |
Links to videos from the Palo Alto Historical Association's Exploring the Archives . . . National Register Properties in Palo Alto . . . Places to Visit . . . and more are on our Resources page.
There was a building boom in 1923! Maybe your house was one of them. Construction dates are difficult to determine. In December, The Palo Alto Times used to publish a list of building permits issued that year, but the actual construction date might have actually been in next year. Another situation is that perhaps a house was built on spec, and was not occupied for still another year. Therefore, our centennial plaques say "circa". So, if your house is circa 1923 or earlier, let us know so we can explore it's origin!
Circa 1920: 
Circa 1919:
Did you know that buildings on the Historic Inventory are selected because of their importance in one of the following areas:
Architecture, Arts & Leisure, Economic/Industrial, Exploration/Settlement, Government, Military, Religion, or Social/Education?
| A sampling of homes from Evergreen Park, (otherwise know as the California Avenue area.) | ||
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 2053 Park Boulevard |
 2065 Park Boulevard |
 2110 Park Boulevard |
 423 Oxford Avenue |
 390 Oxford Avenue |
 304 Oxford Avenue |
Have you checked these links?
Read about architectural styles found in Palo Alto and where examples can be found.
A newly discovered listing of important local people from the Palo Alto Historical Association's files which also provides an outline of Palo Alto's early history and links to many historic photographs!
Margaret Feuer's articles that first appeared in the Palo Alto Daily News.
Residents of the Los Arboles Eichler neighborhood gathered together to restore their sign and the clean up the overgrowth at Middlefield and Ames Avenue. See how the work progressed!
Then and Now... the windows on the tower are the clue to the identity of this 1895 house at 446 Forest Avenue. | ||
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Sunday, April 28, 2019 was when the contents of the first time capsule from 1994 were displayed. The capsule was stored in an unused elevator shaft in the City Hall Basement along with 3 more capsules scheduled for opening on the 150th, 175th, and 200th anniversaries of Palo Alto's founding. Viewers were asked to suggest what might be put into the emplied capsule before it is re-sealed for opening 75 years from now on the 200th anniversary! |
Most of us are aware that Julia Morgan, the designer of Hearst Castle, also designed buildings in Palo Alto. PAST is pleased to acknowledge her achievements and her addition to the University of California Wall of Fame.
If you are a Julia Morgan fan, be sure to check out the on-line exhibition from the Kennedy Library at Cal Poly http://lib.calpoly.edu/specialcollections/architecture/juliamorgan/
Demolitions. . . Always a concern. . . Homes by prominent Palo Alto architects are being demolished, but remember, "the greenest house is almost always the one already built". (Spring 2012, Preservation Magazine)
Have you seen this man?
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NO...he escaped! (Photo taken May 8, 2016 before renovation.) |
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Take a look... at the master index of houses on this Website! There are links to houses all over town. If you have a photo of your house to add, please contact us! It could be an older photo, a more recent one, or even better, historic!
Continuing local tid-bits not to be missed! Even though the Palo Alto Daily News is no longer publishing history articles in the Friday real estate section, you can find most of them right here!
Palo Alto Remembered: Stories from a City's Past published by the Palo Alto Historical Association. Find out more...
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Palo Alto native and Stanford graduate Bo Crane's newest book, Ticket to Rock, is available now! The book chronicles many remarkable musicians who either had their start or performed in our community during the 60s and 70s. The focus is on their homes and neighborhoods and the backdrop to a counter culture than began musically right here! Bo's other books of local interest include and . Books are available at Bells Books, 536 Emerson Street, Palo Alto. |
Do you recognize anything in these photos? Do you know where they were taken?
 University Avenue, 1941 |
 Nortree Hall, not rebuilt after 1906 earthquake |
 318 Middlefield |
 Byxbee Real Estate Office |
 Dr. Russell Lee and Birge Clark |
 Stanford cottage. Do you know who lived here? |
 Board of Directors of the Bank of Palo Alto |
Do you have an old photo to share? |
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Architects and builders who worked in Palo Alto into the 1960's. |
More easy links:
Not that far from home. . .
Nevada City residents are struggling with the realities of maintaining two art deco treasures. Read the National Trust for Historic Preservation's story about this historic Gold Rush town.
E-mail us at either webmaster@pastheritage.org or president@pastheritage.org.
Palo Alto Stanford Heritage—Dedicated to the preservation of Palo Alto's historic buildings.
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