Why San Carlos
San Carlos, whose name translates from Spanish to "St. Charles," is a city situated on the San Francisco Peninsula in San Mateo County, California. Covering a land area of approximately 5.4 square miles, the community forms part of Silicon Valley. The city is home to a population of over 30,000 residents and offers a distinct blend of suburban residential areas, historic sites, and long-standing industrial heritage.
Prior to Spanish arrival, the area was inhabited by the Lamchin people, a indigenous Ohlone group whose primary village was located along Pulgas Creek between present-day Alameda de las Pulgas and Cordilleras Avenue. The region was later deeded to Don José Darío Argüello as a large cattle ranch called Rancho de las Pulgas. Land sales in the mid-nineteenth century brought non-Spanish settlement, and the municipality was eventually named San Carlos in honor of King Carlos III, the ship San Carlos, and the feast day of St. Charles.
The town grew gradually through the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, supported by the opening of a railroad station in 1888. Real estate developer Frederick Drake spurred rapid expansion in the 1910s and 1920s, leading up to the city's incorporation in 1925. Drake's 1920s business office still stands at the corner of San Carlos Avenue and El Camino Real. During World War II, the local H and H Ranch at the top of Club and Crestview Drives served as the US Army War Dog Reception and Training Center, where roughly 4,500 military service dogs were trained.
In the mid-twentieth century, San Carlos transitioned from an agricultural landscape into a early center for electronics and manufacturing. Innovations like the glass-blowing lathe invented by Charles Litton Sr. in 1932 laid the ground for future electronics advancements. Following World War II, prominent firms including Varian Associates, Dalmo Victor, and Lenkurt Electric established facilities in the city, driving rapid population growth and reinforcing its place within Silicon Valley.
Visitors exploring San Carlos can see landmarks from its development, including downtown street layouts established in the early 1900s along El Camino Real and Laurel Street. The city is easily reached via regional transit corridors, historically offering a short train ride to San Francisco, and is served by the county-owned San Carlos Airport, which relocated to its current site in the late 1940s.
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