SAN MATEO

city, San Mateo county, western California, U.S. It lies on the west shore of San Francisco Bay (there bridged to Hayward), 16 miles (26 km) south of the city of San Francisco. Sheltered by hills from ocean wind and fog, San Mateo enjoys a mild maritime climate. A Spanish exploring party (1776) named a creek at the site after St. Matthew. In 1793 a Spanish mission hospice was established along the creek, and in the 1850s an American village grew up there surrounded by farms. After the locality was connected by railroad with San Francisco in 1863, men with gold-rush fortunes bought up farms there to establish their country estates. The village was incorporated in 1894, and the estates were gradually subdivided to house a growing number of commuters to San Francisco. From the 1950s on the proportion of commuters in the population declined owing to the growth of San Mateo's own job base, largely in retail commerce and light industry. In the 1960s San Mateo began to take on a metropolitan appearance with a cluster of multistory buildings in the downtown area. Its shopping centres and business offices continue to serve the surrounding area. The (junior) College of San Mateo was founded in 1922, and the city is also the site of the Bay Meadows Race Track. Inc. city, 1894. Pop. (1991 est.) 87,266.