1961 Map of Palo Alto

About this map

The urban corridor of the San Francisco Peninsula meets the Santa Cruz Mountains in this early 1960s survey. Sprawling residential expansion in Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Sunnyvale is contrasted by the academic landscape of Stanford University and the heavy industrial presence of the Permanente Cement Plant near Monte Bello Ridge. The salt evaporators and sloughs of the southern San Francisco Bay define the northern edge, where the Naval Air Station Moffett Field stands as a prominent military landmark. Southward, the terrain climbs through Los Altos Hills toward the dense woods of Portola State Park. Transportation infrastructure including the Bayshore Freeway and the Southern Pacific railroad line indicates the region's rapid mid-century development. Notable institutional sites such as Agnews State Hospital and Maryknoll Seminary appear alongside numerous local schools and cemeteries, documenting the social infrastructure of a growing Silicon Valley.