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1997 Map of Palo Alto

Name: 1997 Topographic Map of Palo Alto
Creator: U.S. Geological Survey
Published: 1999
License: https://creativecommons.org/publicdomain/mark/1.0/

USGS Topo · Published 1999

About this map

Palo Alto and Redwood City anchor this late 20th-century landscape, illustrating the dense suburbanization and institutional growth of the Peninsula. The map highlights the extensive footprint of Stanford University Medical Center and the Stadium, adjacent to the iconic Linear Accelerator stretching toward the foothills. Along the shore of the San Francisco Bay, a series of Salt Evaporators and marshy features like Ravenswood Slough represent the area's industrial and natural interface before reaching the Dumbarton Bridge.

Transit corridors define the region's layout, from the historic El Camino Real to the Southern Pacific rail line and the Bayshore Freeway. To the southwest, the terrain rises into Jasper Ridge and El Corte De Madera, where the settlement patterns of Woodside and Portola Valley follow the contours of the Santa Cruz Mountains. Local history is preserved in the numerous named schools and cemeteries, such as Alta Mesa Cem and Holy Cross Cem, which serve as vital landmarks for genealogists.