San Mateo

Sister cities

• Varde Municipality
• Toyonaka
• San Pablo

History

The earliest known settlers of the Bay Area were the Ramaytush people, since at least 10000 BC. In 1789, the Spanish missionaries had named a Native American village along Laurel Creek as Los Laureles or the Laurels (Mission Dolores, 1789). At the time of Mexican Independence, 30 native Californians were at San Mateo, most likely from the Salson tribelet. In 1827, Captain Frederick William Beechey was traveling with the hills on their right, known in that part as the Sierra del Sur, began to approach the road, which passing over a small eminence, opened out upon "a wide country of meadow land, with clusters of fine oak free from underwood... It strongly resembled a nobleman's park: herds of cattle and horses were grazing upon the rich pasture, and numerous fallow‑deer, startled at the approach of strangers, bounded off to seek protection among the hills... This spot is named San Matheo, and belongs to the mission of San Francisco." in 1846 for and spent an equal sum erecting a fence around the property. The area that is now the city of San Mateo was owned by a few large landowners, including Howard, whose Rancho San Mateo occupied in 1853 north of San Mateo Creek, pushing most of this early settlement into adjacent Hillsborough, Burlingame, and Belmont; other significant landowners in the area included John Parrott, who purchased in 1860 Several historically important mansions and buildings were constructed in San Mateo around this time. It is located at 20 El Cerrito Avenue. The Howard Estate was built in 1859 on the hill accessed by Crystal Springs Road; the building, named El Cerrito, eventually was moved to Hillsborough and served as its Town Hall starting from in 1910, but it has since been demolished. its first mayor was Captain A.H. Payson, a son-in-law…

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which are land and , comprising 23.44%, are covered by water. The best-known natural area is Coyote Point Park, a rock outcropped peninsula that juts out into the San Francisco Bay. The early Spanish navigators named it la punta de San Mateo. Crews of American cargo ships carrying grain in the bay renamed it Big Coyote. Sailors had a penchant for naming promontories at the edge of San Francisco Bay after the coyote; across the bay in Fremont are the Coyote Hills, part of Coyote Hills Regional Park. By the 1890s, the shore area was developed as a popular beach called San Mateo Beach. In 1842, the Spanish had named it playa de San Mateo. Today, Coyote Point is home to CuriOdyssey, formerly known as the Coyote Point Museum, a major natural history museum and wildlife center in the state. The animal care facility for the Peninsula Humane Society is also situated at Coyote Point, where the adoption facility is located in Burlingame. The variety of natural habitats includes mixed oak woodland, riparian zones, and bayland marshes. One endangered species, the California clapper rail, was sighted feeding on mudflats by the Third Avenue bridge in San Mateo. The marsh areas are also likely habitat for the endangered salt marsh harvest mouse, which inhabits the middle and high zones of salt and brackish marshes, as well as for the endangered marsh plant, Point Reyes bird's beak. Sugarloaf Mountain, whose name has been documented in 1870, is a prominent landform between the forks of Laurel Creek. In the late 20th century, this mixed oak woodland and chaparral habitat was a site of controversy related to proposals to develop a portion of the mountain for residential use. It has been preserved for use…

Race & ethnicity

Most-observed species

• American Crow

  Corvus brachyrhynchos C.L.Brehm, 1822 · Aves
  67,083
• Anna's Hummingbird

  Calypte anna (R.Lesson, 1829) · Aves
  63,783
• House Finch

  Haemorhous mexicanus (P.L.Statius Müller, 1776) · Aves
  61,450
• Black Phoebe

  Sayornis nigricans (Swainson, 1827) · Aves
  54,740
• White-crowned Sparrow

  Zonotrichia leucophrys (J.R.Forster, 1772) · Aves
  48,436
• California Towhee

  Melozone crissalis (Vigors, 1839) · Aves
  46,801
• Song Sparrow

  Melospiza melodia (A.Wilson, 1810) · Aves
  46,125
• Mallard

  Anas platyrhynchos Linnaeus, 1758 · Aves
  41,604

Largest nearby schools

• Carlmont High
  High · Belmont · 2,322 students · 20.4:1 ratio
• Sequoia High
  High · Redwood City · 1,909 students · 17.8:1 ratio
• Aragon High
  High · San Mateo · 1,740 students · 23.2:1 ratio
• Woodside High
  High · Woodside · 1,694 students · 16:1 ratio
• Hillsdale High
  High · San Mateo · 1,629 students · 17.7:1 ratio
• San Mateo High
  High · San Mateo · 1,613 students · 19.2:1 ratio
• Burlingame High
  High · Burlingame · 1,519 students · 21.1:1 ratio
• South San Francisco High
  High · South San Francisco · 1,280 students · 19.4:1 ratio

Most recent

• M 2.54 — 2026-10-15
  10 km ESE of Gilroy, CA
• M 2.51 — 2026-09-29
  5 km W of Yountville, CA
• M 2.6 — 2026-09-27
  26 km WSW of Westley, CA
• M 3.32 — 2026-09-27
  27 km WSW of Westley, CA
• M 2.51 — 2026-09-19
  10 km ENE of Milpitas, CA
• M 2.53 — 2026-09-17
  2 km ENE of Aromas, CA