Legacy Trees in Burlingame

In December, my husband and I journeyed across the San Francisco Bay for several nights in Burlingame. He was attending a seminar for therapists and psychologist, given by one of his favorite speakers as part of a series. I came as his travelling companion (working remotely by day, then ready to explore after hours). We enjoyed our stay at the Hilton, with close access to the walking trail around the lagoon, and beautiful views of the Bay and San Francisco International Airport traffic to the north.



Anza Lagoon in Burlingame – complete with a walking trail and beautiful trees

From the Burlingame Historical Society, I learned that the Juan Bautista de Anza expedition camped in the Burlingame area in 1776, and Spanish missionaries developed the San Mateo/Burlingame area as a  farm to support their San Francisco mission from 1776 – 1822.  After Mexican independence in 1822, mission lands were secularized, and land grants passed to the private sector. Wealthy San Francisco business leaders discovered the Peninsula as a desirable location for vacation estates in the 1800s, and as farm or dairy lands to support their businesses in the City. In 1893 the Burlingame Country Club and its five cottages were built, and in 1894 the Burlingame Train Station was added to welcome visitors. With the 1906 earthquake, Burlingame became a desirable place to settle, and the town incorporated in 1908. Burlingame is named after the Honorable Anson Burlingame, who was appointed as the United States Minister to China by President Abraham Lincoln.

Historic Burlingame train station – now a working Caltrains station, and museum

Burlingame is called “City of Trees”, and values its legacy trees, so I was surprised to learn that the area actually had few trees in the late 1800s. The Peninsula was described as “a vast, windswept prairie” according to the web article, “The Origins of Burlingame’s Famous Trees.” Several wealthy estate owners hired gardener John McLaren to landscape their frontages on El Camino Real (the main thoroughfare), to make the area more attractive and block the relentless wind off the Bay. Construction began in 1875 along a four mile stretch of El Camino Real, with the planting of long rows of blue and manna gum from Australia, and elms from America and Europe. Today El Camino Real and the Caltrans corridor are lined with beautiful, mature trees, and the remaining 2.2 mile stretch of trees is listed in the National Register of Historic Places.

Legacy trees line the Burlingame rail right-of-way- many of the trees are
over 100 years old, and 70 - 100 feet high