Middleton Tract, California
Encyclopedia
San Mateo County, California
San Mateo County is a county located in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. It covers most of the San Francisco Peninsula just south of San Francisco, and north of Santa Clara County. San Francisco International Airport is located at the northern end of the county, and...
, California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
. Unattributed press reports say the name Middleton Tract may have been applied to this area as early as 1925. In the present day, the name is official at the county government level. It appears on County Assessor's maps including County of San Mateo
San Mateo County, California
San Mateo County is a county located in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. It covers most of the San Francisco Peninsula just south of San Francisco, and north of Santa Clara County. San Francisco International Airport is located at the northern end of the county, and...
, Master Index Map, Revision 2, June, 1985, (Redwood City, California: County of San Mateo Assessor), page 40-41.
The community is located east of Portola Park
Portola Redwoods State Park
Portola Redwoods State Park is a California state park, located in San Mateo County. Peters Creek and Pescadero Creek meet in Portola, and are the park's primary watercourses, and feature numerous tributaries. Tip Toe Falls is a small waterfall along Fall Creek, a tributary of Pescadero Creek...
Road and south of SR35 or Skyline Boulevard
California State Route 35
State Route 35 in the U.S. state of California, generally known as Skyline Boulevard, is a two-lane road running along the western ridge of Silicon Valley in California. It runs from Highway 17 to San Francisco at State Route 1. It provides scenic views of both the Santa Cruz Mountains, the...
near Portola State Park and the town of La Honda
La Honda, California
La Honda is a census-designated place in southern San Mateo County, California, United States. The population was 928 at the 2010 census. It is located in the Santa Cruz Mountains between Silicon Valley and the Pacific coast of California...
. The coordinate set 37°15′52"N 122°12′21"W (NAD27) is within the area of the community. The community is inside area code 650
Area code 650
North American area code 650 is a California telephone area code which includes most of San Mateo County and the extreme northwestern portion of Santa Clara County including Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Los Altos....
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The community is east of Portola Park Road generally between Middleton Tract Road and Slate Creek Road. While the 1997 version of the Mindego Hill 7.5 minute quadrangle does not show Middleton Tract Road, it diverges east from Portola Park Road at a location called Crockers Curve (USGS feature ID 221842, NAD27 coordinates) 37°16′13"N 122°12′37"W. There are about two dozen mail boxes on the west side of Portola Park Road at this location. The intersection of Slate Creek Road and Portola Park Road is located approximately at latitude and longitude 37°15′57"N 122°12′35"W (NAD27). This is just outside the entrance station for Portola State Park.
Oil Creek Oil Field is east of the area.
A geographic feature, San Mateo County Fire Department Station 54 – also known as Middleton Tract according to the County of San Mateo's web site – supports this name as being official. Some of the roads and the fire station are shown on commercial maps such as Thomas Brothers Guides but the name Middleton Tract is not identified. The South Skyline Historical Society also cites this name in describing the area.
The ZIP Code
ZIP Code
ZIP codes are a system of postal codes used by the United States Postal Service since 1963. The term ZIP, an acronym for Zone Improvement Plan, is properly written in capital letters and was chosen to suggest that the mail travels more efficiently, and therefore more quickly, when senders use the...
is 94020 and the community is inside area code 650
Area code 650
North American area code 650 is a California telephone area code which includes most of San Mateo County and the extreme northwestern portion of Santa Clara County including Palo Alto, Mountain View, and Los Altos....
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History
Middleton Tract was purchased by William Middleton sometime prior to 1923. Middleton received title to the great expanse of land (approximately 640 acres (2.6 km²) or one “quarter section”) by way of several deeds. The tract is legally described as: the northeast quarter of section 5; the east half of the southeast quarter of section 5; the west half of section 4; all in township 8 south, range 3 west, M.D.B. & M.During the late 1880’s portions of the land now known as the “Middleton Trac” were logged and the logs processed at the “Old Page Mill” site which is now located within Portola State Park. However much of the logging was perfunctory and many stands of old growth redwoods remained within the quarter section, including some very large trees in the Peters Creek drainage, and in several steep canyon areas. Some of these old growth trees exceed 40 feet (12.2 m) diameters at the base. Second growth trees soon sprouted from the logged stumps and today stand as very large trees many exceeding ten foot diameters at the base.
The Middleton Tract was subdivided according to a plan created by Middleton and parcels were sold for summer residences. Included in Middleton’s plan of development was a prohibition on logging and hunting.
During the late 1920’s and through the early 1950’s a number of parcels were purchased by Stanford University luminaries and summer “cabins” were constructed. Among the owners of homes in the Middleton Tract was Frederick Terman. Terman founded the “towers of excellence” academic strategy that led Stanford to a leading role in engineering and electronics. J. Wallace Sterling, President of Stanford University from 1949 to 1968 built a rustic log cabin within the Middleton Tract as well as several university professors. Descendents of President Herbert Hoover also constructed several summer cabins within the tract. During the 1970’s many of these summer homes became full time residences and continue as full time residences to this day. William Middleton died in 1962.
While the 640 acres (2.6 km²) was subdivided according to Middleton’s plan into 80 parcels, many of the parcels, particularly those to the south and those on steep slopes remained undeveloped.
Many of the undeveloped parcels were acquired by the Holmes Lumber Company in Santa Cruz County. Approximately 150 acre (0.607029 km²) were purchased and in 1986 Holmes Lumber applied for and received a “Timber Harvesting Permit” from the California State Board of Forestry allowing commercial logging activities on the property
Many residents of the Middleton Tract, fearing the devastation of logging within their peaceful rural community formed the Greater Middleton Association(GMA)and proceed to file a lawsuit to enforce Middleton’s Covenants, Conditions, and Restrictions (CC&R’s) reflected within the deeds to the parcels. Residents of the Middleton Tract Laura: A. Bryan, Timothy G. Geiser, and Malcolm McGilvray, Jr., were responsible for forming the GMA
After a lengthy court trial in Superior Court of San Mateo County, Presiding JudgeFrank Piombo ruled in favor of the GMA and enforced the CC&R’s. Holmes Lumber was permanently enjoined from logging activity within the Middleton Tract.
Holmes Lumber Company appealed the lower court decision, but the Appellate Court upheld the lower courts decision as did the Supreme Court of the State of California. The commercial logging ban, under the legal concept of enforceable “equitable servitude” was upheld. An “equitable servitude” is a term used in the law of real property to describe a nonposseessory interest in land that operates much like a covenant running with the land.
The case may be found at “Greater Middleton Assn. v. Holmes Lumber Co.(1990) 222 Cal.App.3d 980 , 271 Cal.Rptr. 917” and was one of the first legal decisions concerning “equitable servitudes” in the past 70 years. This case is frequently sited in both California court decisions and in other states as well. Much of the history of the Middleton Tract can be found within the court filings of both litigants.
Other notable personages who owned cabins in the Middleton Tract include famed Palo Alto Architect Birge Clark, Round Table Pizza founder Bill Larson, Stanford University Professor of Education Avlarez, and one of the Mozilla Foundation
Mozilla Foundation
The Mozilla Foundation is a non-profit organization that exists to support and provide leadership for the open source Mozilla project. The organization sets the policies that govern development, operates key infrastructure and controls trademarks and other intellectual property...
/Mozilla Corporation
Mozilla Corporation
The Mozilla Corporation is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Mozilla Foundation that coordinates and integrates the development of Internet-related applications such as the Mozilla Firefox and SeaMonkey Navigator web browsers and the Mozilla Thunderbird email client by a growing global community of...
's founders Asa Dotzler
Asa Dotzler
Asa Dotzler is an American software developer best known for his work as community coordinator for several Mozilla projects. He was founder of Mozilla's Quality Assurance and Testing Program, which grew under his leadership from just a few contributors when Dotzler joined the project to tens of...
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External links
- [ftp://ftp.consrv.ca.gov/pub/oil/maps/dist3/w3-10/Mapw3-10.pdf PDF Oil field map of Oil Creek area.]