"Speakeasies and gangsters, flower farms and military outposts, rock stars and Olympians." That is how the City of Belmont's October 2 newsletter describes the stories volunteer historian Chuck Cotten plans to tell on Sunday, October 18, from the train platform downtown.
The list covers a century of Belmont, but the walk itself is short. Almost everything the city has scheduled for its 100th birthday fits inside a few blocks: Twin Pines Park, Sixth Avenue, Old County Road, Waltermire Street and the rail line. Belmont is celebrating its centennial in the neighborhood where it began, and the October calendar makes that neighborhood the town's gathering place again, much as it was before incorporation.
A picnic ground before it was a civic center
Twin Pines Park was a destination long before it housed city offices. A history published by the Belmont Historical Society in 1978 says the site began as Janke's picnic grounds, where families held picnics and bands came in by train. The same account says George Center built the Manor House in 1907, the year after the earthquake. Dr. Rebec later took over the Center home and the acreage around it and named the property Twin Pines after the two pines at its entrance. The city eventually acquired it for civic use.
That same 1978 account gives an unglamorous reason for the city's founding. The state ordered the condemnation of a sewer serving the California Sanitarium and properties along Ralston. A sanitary district was formed in response, and residents then decided incorporation might help solve the sewer problem, so they held an election. A hundred years later, the City calls the anniversary "a once-in-a-generation opportunity," and nearly every centennial event is planned on the old picnic ground.
The park has had work of its own done in time for the occasion. The City's project page reports that the Twin Pines Park Belmont Creek Restoration Project is finished. It was built with the City of San Carlos, the County of San Mateo and the California Department of Water Resources, and the site will be monitored and maintained for five years.
The October 18 route, stop by stop
The Belmont Historical Society walking tour starts at 2:30 p.m. It is free, but space is limited and registration is required. The route reads like a guide to the city's oldest district:
- Twin Pines Senior Center, 20 Twin Pines Lane. The walk begins at the old Center property and crosses Twin Pines Park toward downtown.
- The train platform. The City's newsletter calls this spot "once considered the Hub of the Peninsula." "Belmont, the Hub of the Peninsula" was a local slogan. A City history page says a 1930s sign carrying it stood at the southeast corner of Ralston Avenue and El Camino and marked the location of Belmont's first City Hall. The first train came through Belmont in 1863. The old depot stood on El Camino just north of Ralston until it was removed in the early 1950s. Hal's Whistle Stop later took the site, followed by Larry's Country Inn.
- Jolly's Old Fashioned Teas Cream, 1110 Old County Road. The tour stops here for ice cream and a screening of the silent film "Pop Tuttle the Fire Chief." Jolly's says its building dates to 1910, when it housed the Chanticleer Ice Cream and Candy Shop, run by Mrs. Barrett and her daughter Winifred. The storefront appears in the background of the film, part of the "Plum Center" series, and Jolly's says Plum Center was the name the films used for Belmont. The movie was shot in this neighborhood in the early 1920s, so the screening plays a century-old picture of the block inside a building that appears in it.
- Waltermire Street. The walk heads back to Twin Pines past the Waltermire Historic District. The City describes it as downtown homes built from the early 1900s through the 1930s, still standing across from the downtown Safeway. The City historian names a house at Sixth Avenue and O'Neill Street, built in 1905 by contractor William Roussel for the George Roussel family, as one of the district's first homes.
- The History Room. The Historical Society's History Room on Twin Pines Lane stays open until 5 p.m. for anyone who wants more after the walk.
Two more events fall on either side of the walk. The night before, Twin Pines Manor hosts a free Centennial Edition of Music & Open Mic Night from 6 to 9 p.m., with the open mic running 7 to 9. On the evening of the tour, Farm House at 1301 6th Ave. holds a community Farm Gathering from 5 to 7 p.m., $20 at the door. The open mic is in Center's 1907 house, and Farm House sits a few minutes' walk from the tour route, so the whole weekend stays within the same small district.
Six days later, the same blocks get a parade
Belmont Centennial Fest on Saturday, October 24 runs along the same streets the tour covers. The parade forms on the Alameda, comes down Ralston and ends on Sixth Avenue. The City's centennial page gives the schedule:
| Time | What | Where |
|---|---|---|
| 1:30 p.m. | Car parade begins | Immaculate Heart of Mary Church, 1040 Alameda de las Pulgas |
| After the parade | Car show | 1000 block of Sixth Ave., near City Hall |
| 3:30 p.m. | Time capsule ceremony | In front of the Twin Pines Senior Center and Parks and Recreation Office |
| Following the ceremony | Festival with live music, food trucks, games | Twin Pines Park |
| 7:30 p.m. | Drone show | Closes the night |
The parade is invitation-only, limited to 50 cars, and carries city staff, elected officials and community partners. The City is asking owners of vintage cars and convertibles to volunteer them to carry dignitaries. The route goes north on Alameda de las Pulgas, turns right onto Ralston, runs east down Ralston and turns right onto Sixth Avenue. Streets will close intermittently from 12 to 3 p.m.
The community chose what goes into the time capsule through a survey earlier this year. The City has not said what the items are.
What the festival asks of you
The festival is free. Food, drinks and centennial merchandise are sold on site. The practical details:
- Food trucks: Jolly's Old-Fashioned Teas Cream, Kona's Ice, Travelin Tom's Coffee, Jika's Kitchen, Respectable Bird, Sam's Chowder Mobile, Jaylis Cocina and Me So Hungry Too. The City notes the lineup may change.
- Beer and wine: Park Boosters will sell wine and beer from Alpha Acid Brewing. The brewery says it has more than 500 recipes and made its first homebrews more than 20 years ago.
- Outside food: Food and non-alcoholic drinks from local restaurants are welcome. Opened alcoholic drinks not bought from the Park Boosters vendor are not allowed in the park.
- Merchandise: Pins are $4, shirts $25 and hats $15, sold at community events or at the Parks and Recreation Office, 30 Twin Pines Lane.
Jolly's appears on this list too. The shop that hosts the tour's film stop six days earlier is also serving ice cream at the birthday party in the park.
The rest of the season stays in the park
The calendar does not leave Twin Pines after the 24th. The Belmont Boo Bash takes over the park on Wednesday, October 28, from 5:30 to 7 p.m., with Trunk or Treat, haunted buildings, live music and food trucks. An earlier City newsletter gave a 5 p.m. start. The October 9 bulletin, which is more recent, lists 5:30.
On Saturday, November 7, a Diwali Celebration runs from 1 to 4 p.m. at the Twin Pines Senior & Community Center, 20 Twin Pines Lane.
From the October 17 open mic to Diwali on November 7, that makes six public gatherings in three weeks, all in or near the old Center property. The park is filling the role the 1978 history describes for Janke's picnic grounds.
What stays after the drone show
A City release dated October 8 says the first phase of new wayfinding signs will go up over the following three weeks, pointing to the Twin Pines Civic Center, parks, the library and the community center. The new signs are arriving in the same weeks the park hosts the anniversary.
The centennial public art program is still taking applications. Belmont's July 2 newsletter said Happy Hydrant applications would be accepted through the year. A November 2025 Parks and Recreation Commission agenda recommended approving designs for eight city hydrants. The City's centennial page also lists a utility box art application. The 100 Years of Belmont Memories podcast launched in January and features conversations with long-time residents about their memories of the city.
The Waltermire houses, the 1910 building on Old County Road and the Manor House at Twin Pines will all still be there after the 24th. The history tour is free, and the Historical Society keeps the records that explain what you walk past.
Many of Belmont's early downtown homes have a documented history that is part of their value, from the Waltermire Historic District to the houses near Sixth Avenue and O'Neill Street. At The Buljan Group, we have spent decades helping Peninsula families record and present that history when a historic home changes hands. If you own one of these houses and would like to talk about its history and its future, we welcome you to schedule a confidential consultation.