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CITY HISTORY
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 (Portions
of this article were provided by the Millbrae Historical Society,
as written by late Historian, Fran Baxter)
Historically, the Millbrae area was home to the Costano (coastal)
Indians - the Ohlone Tribe. These peace-loving people subsisted
on shellfish from the San Francisco Bay. Shell mounds from the
Bay to El Camino gave evidence of their principle source of food,
although they did hunt deer, rabbit and bear in the hills of Millbrae.
Mortar and pestles were found in the hills as late as the 1950's.
In the 1800's the bay extended almost to El Camino Real. Records
show that when D.O. Mills, founder of Bank of California, built
his dairy on El Camino, he hired Chinese laborers to fill portions
of the marshlands from the bay to El Camino. Prior to that time,
the Indians built their teepees and canoes from reeds gathered
from the marshes. They also wove their baskets from these reeds,
gathered acorns from the oaks on the hillsides from which they
made their meal for bread.
The 1800's ushered in the era of the Spanish with Jose' Antonio
Sanchez and his family. At age 14, Jose' joined the army at the
Presidio and patrolled the area from San Francisco to San Jose.
In 1822, when the Mexican Empire took over, Jose' continued to
serve until 1834 when he completed 45 years of service and was
retired, with pay and a Rancho Grant - Rancho Buri Buri, which
extended from South San Francisco to Adeline Drive in Burlingame.
Now, as a landed gentleman he enjoyed the title of "Don Jose'
Antonio Sanchez". He built twin adobes on El Camino, Millbrae,
where the Travelodge stand today. His great, great, granddaughter,
Mildred Cavanaugh Wilson, contributed the 66 original Spanish
Documents found in her trunk, and translated by the late Dr. Frank
Stanger while she was a student in his history class at the College
of San Mateo. Mildred's grandfather, Jose' De la Cruz Sanchez,
inherited as his one-tenth of his father's estate, the portion
which is now Millbrae. He sold 1500 acres to Darius Ogden Mills,
gold rush entrepreneur, Grantor of right-of-way- for a depot in
Millbrae, and for whom our city is named. As a Scotsman, the "Brae"
meant rolling hills, and together with "Mill" for his name he
left his heritage.
For a time, the dairy that Mills established, along with his partner,
A.F. Green (whose home still stands at #1 Lewis Avenue) was the
primary source of employment in Millbrae. Then came small business
establishments, the large porcelain works, and housing developments.
Mills' Mansion burned in 1954. Both Mill's and Green had died
in 1910. Mills' Mansion had, in the interim, been occupied by
his heirs and during WWII as a seaman's R&R facility.
In 1926, the City of San Francisco decided to establish an airport
East of Millbrae, calling it Mills Field. Finally, on January
14, 1948 after a decade of heated discussions about incorporation,
members of the Millbrae City Council-elect drove to Sacramento
where the Secretary of State handed them a certificate giving
Millbrae legal entity. The new city's chief industries were agriculture,
floriculture, dairy and porcelain manufacturing. Transportation
has shaped Millbrae's growth. From the turn of the century, the
#40 "interurban" streetcar traveled through Millbrae linking the
city with San Francisco and San Mateo. The streetcar line was
dismantled just after Millbrae's incorporation, leaving the Southern
Pacific Railroad as the only railway linking Millbrae with surrounding
areas.
Millbrae Historical Society was born in 1970 with an unsuccessful
attempt to save the original 16 Mile House at El Camino and Center
for a Museum. That failure resulted in a cohesive group of dedicated
citizens who filed incorporation papers, in 1970, as the Millbrae
Historical Society.
You can learn more about Millbrae's history by visiting the Millbrae
Historical Museum, located at 450 Poplar in Constitution Square.
This very special museum, housed in a turn-of-the-century building,
offers visitors a wonderful glimpse of furnishings, clothing,
documents, photographs and books through the years.
For information call (650) 692-5786.
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