San Mateo County Places: San Gregorio

East Front From South East -  SAN GREGORIO HOUSE

• Digital ID: (None) hhh ca0851.photos.362900p 
• http://hdl.loc.gov/loc.pnp/hhh.ca0851/photos.362900p
• Reproduction Number: HABS CAL,41-SAGR,1--1
• Repository: LOC Prints and Photographs Division Washington, D.C.  

In 1865 George Washington Tully Carter purchased five acres along the northern bank of San Gregorio Creek near the stage road.  Here he built San Gregorio House, a "summer resort for the citizens of San Francisco." (1)  Although Carter only lasted three years in what he considered a lonely place, by the 1870s the little town was thriving.  It had a school, a post office, a general store, a church, a blacksmith shop, a boot shop, a butcher shop, a Levy's store branch (1872) and of course a saloon. 

In 1875 the hotel was bought by John R Evans.  He preceded to add to the original building. Few changes have been made to the building which still stands today.   In 1888 the hotel was sold to the Palmers who ran it in partnership with Frank Bell, a native of the area.  Bell married the Palmer's daughter and the hotel remained open until 1930 when Mrs. Bell closed it, continuing to live on the premises.

Website for San Gregorio General Store 

In 1889 the current San Gregorio General Store building was added to the complex of buildings, which also had added another saloon and a Chinese laundry. The area was a major stop on the stage road down the coast from San Francisco.  A Chinese community grew up along the creek but eventually was washed away due to heavy rains. 

In 1915, the community was home to seven cheese factories.  

Report of the State Dairy Bureau 1915
Appendix to the Journals of the Senate & Assembly v5 p94

Residence of JB Harsha - Fairview Church in Background
Moore & DePue's Illustrated History of San Mateo County
GT Brown & Company 1878

Some Early Residents of San Gregorio & Vicinity 

Name, arrival, nativity, early holdings 1870 Census (holdings in 1877)

• Salvadore Castro (1114)
• Rodriguez 13344 15/100
• Jacob Downing 1853 New York (500)
• William S Downing 1854 Downing (600)
• George F Keiffer 1854 Virginia 190 acres  
• Joseph Keiffer (800)
• William Rayner 1857 England 748 Acres (748)
• George Watkins 1857 England
• John Ralston 1858 Pennsylvania 1200 acres (1037)
• William Ralston 1858 California
• George William Morrell 1860 Canada 180 (50)
• James W Bell 1860  Ireland  1140 acres
• JB Harsha  1862 Ohio 750 Acres (350)
• Alfred Fay 1863 New York 378 acres
• James Quintin 1867 Pennsylvania 1300 acres (1300) 
• Conrad Lautenschlager 1869 Germany 345 acres (450 24/100)
• Rane Capen Merrill 1870 Maine 240 acres
• Thomas Leary Baldwin  1873  - Maine
• A Marsh 1875 New York
• William Shields 1875 Ireland 262 acres
• K R Evan 1875 England 60 acres
• John Rayner (451)
• Newell (748)
• SM Culver (240)
• Alex Gordon (925)
• Alex Gordon (224)
• Rachel Dale (224)
• J C Richardson (150)
• LJ Dale (187)
• William Dale (187)
• Mary & J Dale 392 46/100
• Samuel W Preble 367 46/100
• John H Osgood 403 69/100

1.  San Gregorio House  An Enduring Heritage: Historic Buildings of the San Francisco Peninsula By Dorothy F. Regnery, Junior League of Palo Alto (Calif.), Historic American Buildings Survey
2.  History of San Gregorio - The Story of San Mateo County, California, By: Roy W. Cloud, The S. J. Clarke Publishing Company. Chicago, Ill 1928