East Palo Alto

History

The Ohlone tribe of Native Americans inhabited this area at least by 1500 to 1000 BC. One tumulus was discovered in 1951 during development of the University Village subdivision near today's Costaño School. After a year-long excavation of 60 graves and 3,000 artifacts, researchers concluded Native Americans had utilized the area as a cemetery and camp, rather than as a permanent settlement. In later years another mound was found near Willow Road and the railroad right-of-way. From the 1850s through the 1940s, the area which was to become East Palo Alto went through many changes. In 1849, Isaiah Churchill Woods (1825–1880) attempted to make the area around what is now Cooley Landing in the northeast of the current city a major shipping town and named the area Ravenswood. In 1868, after Woods' investments failed he sold the wharf to Lester Phillip Cooley (1837–1882), who leased the land to the brick factory Hunter and Schakleford. When the brick factory left the landing in 1884, the land around the landing was reverted to a ranch. In particular, in 1954 the then-president of the California Real Estate Association, Floyd Lowe, implemented a strategy that turned a neighborhood on the East side of Palo Alto from predominantly white to predominantly black in a very short amount of time. He did this by "blockbusting," which is a strategy that was employed all over the country to similar results. Blockbusting involves instilling panic in white neighborhoods by warning of a "Negro invasion" when a black family considers purchasing a house in an area, in order to produce white flight and an ensuing drop in property values, which can then be purchased at a heavy discount and sold or rented to African Americans for a profit. In 1954, Lowe alerted the neighborhood that a "Negro…

Geography

East Palo Alto is located in San Mateo County. Despite its name, it lies almost entirely north, and not east of Palo Alto. It is bordered on the west by Menlo Park, to the south by Palo Alto, and to the east by the San Francisco Bay. The San Francisquito Creek defines its southern edge. To the north are Ravenswood Point and the western end of the Dumbarton Bridge in Menlo Park. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and of it (4.11%) is water.

Race & ethnicity

Largest nearby schools

• Carlmont High
  High · Belmont · 2,322 students · 20.4:1 ratio
• Menlo-Atherton High
  High · Atherton · 2,125 students · 19:1 ratio
• Sequoia High
  High · Redwood City · 1,909 students · 17.8:1 ratio
• Woodside High
  High · Woodside · 1,694 students · 16:1 ratio
• Bowditch Middle
  Middle · Foster City · 908 students · 19.7:1 ratio
• Hillview Middle
  Middle · Menlo Park · 867 students · 15.5:1 ratio
• KIPP Excelencia Community Preparatory
  Elementary · Redwood City · 733 students · 22.2:1 ratio
• John F. Kennedy Middle
  Middle · Redwood City · 706 students · 18.1:1 ratio