Redwood City

Redwood City serves as the county seat of San Mateo County in California and stretches from the shores of San Francisco Bay eastward into the foothills of the Santa Cruz Mountains. The community is divided by two major transportation routes, Highway 101 and El Camino Real, which run parallel through the central area.

The community gained official incorporation in 1867 after emerging from a Spanish land grant known as Rancho de las Pulgas. Its harbor grew into a significant loading point for lumber shipments throughout Northern California as settlers moved into the region.

The San Mateo County History Museum occupies a courthouse built in 1910 and displays documents and objects from the area's past. Visitors can walk through rooms that once served as courtrooms and offices, seeing how local communities developed over time.

The Caltrain station offers direct rail links to San Francisco northward and San Jose southward along the Peninsula corridor. Local SamTrans buses run through different neighborhoods, connecting residential areas with downtown and surrounding communities.

Japanese immigrants Eikichi and Sadakusi Enomoto started growing chrysanthemums commercially here in 1907, establishing the first such operation in the United States. Their nursery laid the groundwork for a flower-growing industry that developed in the area over several decades.