The town of Palo Alto lies 29mi/47km south of San Francisco on the U.S. 101. The Spanish name means "tall tree" and can be traced back to a centuries-old redwood tree (the Spaniards named it "palo colorade"), under which the Spanish governor camped with his expedition when they were searching for San Francisco Bay. The trunk of the tree is still there, by the San Francisquito brook, at the junction of Palo Alto Avenue and Camino Real. A century later Governor Leland Stanford revived the name by calling his ranch (where Stanford University now stands) Palo Alto.
This name was also used when the town was founded in 1892. A year later a railway station of the Southern Pacific Railroad was built here; by absorbing other districts the town then extended as far as the bay of San Francisco. The part which reached as far as the Santa Cruz Mountains, however, was intentionally not built on.
Hewlett-Packard
Thanks especially to the university, Palo Alto has become an important home of the American electronics industry, with numerous small firms having been set up by university graduates. The biggest company established here is Hewlett-Packard. Its premises cover such a large area that it is as big as a town, with 25 car-parks, a large swimming-pool and a municipal golf-course.
Hanna House, also known as Honeycomb House, is a hexagonal residence in Palo Alto, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright.
Tips: Tours are offered by appointment only on the 1st and 3rd Sunday and the 2nd and 4th Thursdays of each month. Children under 12 are not allowed on the tour.
One of the oldest children's museums in California, founded in 1934, the Junior Museum and Zoo in Palo Alto features children's exhibits, science classes and a zoo with animal demonstrations.
Address: Junior Museum and Zoo, 1451 Middlefield Road, Palo Alto, CA 94301-3351, United States
Phone: 1 (650) 329-2111, Fax: 1 (650) 473-1965
Hours:
10am-5pm; Sun:1pm-4pm; Closed: Mon
Always closed on: New Year's Day (January 1), Thanksgiving - USA (4th Thursday, November ), Christmas - Christian (December 25)
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Stanford University
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Stanford University, Palo Alto
Stanford University, Palo Alto
Stanford University, Palo Alto
Stanford University, Palo Alto
Stanford University, Palo Alto
Stanford University, Palo Alto
