Palo Alto Historical Association

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About PAHA

The Palo Alto Historical Association, a nonprofit organization, was established in its present form in 1948 as successor to an earlier organization founded in 1913.

Its main objectives are:

Collecting, organizing, and preserving materials pertaining to the history and heritage of Palo Alto.
Spreading information about Palo Alto's history by means of programs, exhibits, publications, and its official newsletter The Tall Tree.
Recognizing and preserving historic sites and structures.

The Palo Alto Historical Association Guy Miller Archives are housed at the Main Library, 1213 Newell Road. The Association maintains an office in the Museum of American Heritage (the Williams House), 351 Homer Avenue, Palo Alto.

Historian Steve Staiger is on duty at the History Desk at Palo Alto's Main Library Tuesday evenings from 6 to 9 p.m. and Thursday afternoons from 2 to 5 p.m. He is available to answer questions, supply information, and assist with research. He can be reached at the library at (650) 617-3100, Ext. 3211; his e-mail address is steve.staiger@cityofpaloalto.org.

The Palo Alto Historical Association is governed by a Board of Directors. The board meets the first Wednesday of each month (except for August) at 4 p.m. at the Lucie Stern Community Center, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto.

The Palo Alto Historical Association holds general meetings the first Sunday of the month October-December and February-May at 2 p.m. at the Lucie Stern Community Center, 1305 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto. The meetings include a speaker or speakers on topics relevant to local history. Usually slides are shown. The meetings are free and open to the public. An annual banquet (dinner and speaker) is held in June.

El Palo Alto, after which the city of Palo Alto is named, still stands. You will find it in El Palo Alto Park, at Palo Alto Avenue and Alma Street. Originally this coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) had two trunks; it is believed that the second trunk fell victim to a particularly wet winter in 1886. The landmark redwood is estimated to be over 1,000 years old. Not as tall as it was when the Spanish explorers led by Gaspar de Portola came through in November 1769, El Palo Alto measures in today at 110.8 feet.

The Tall Tree is the official logo for the city of Palo Alto as well as for the Palo Alto Historical Association.

This photograph was taken around 1902 or 1904.