"For our birthday month this October, we invite everyone to take part, learn something new about Belmont, and celebrate the people and places that have shaped our city over the past 100 years," City Manager Afshin Oskoui said in the City's October 2 announcement.
His line about places fits the schedule closely. Belmont incorporated on October 29, 1926. The City picked no new plaza or waterfront for the centennial. Nearly every event sits on a short stretch of Ralston Avenue, Sixth Avenue, and Twin Pines Park, and that ground was drawing crowds more than sixty years before there was a city to celebrate. The birthday month follows the original town's footprint, block for block.
A Park That Was Built For Crowds In 1864
Twin Pines Park didn't become the center of town because the City put it there. Carl Janke's Belmont Park opened on that ground in 1864, the year after the first train reached Belmont. It was a destination picnic ground, and it was there before the depot had much of a town around it.
The buildings in the park now came later and had private uses for decades. George and Mrs. Center built the main house in 1907, after the earthquake. A 1978 oral history collected by the Belmont Historical Society remembers its "beautiful woodwork in doors, some walls and floors." Dr. William Rebec later bought the house and the neighboring property known as "3 Acres." He named the whole place Twin Pines after the two pine trees at the entrance to 3 Acres and ran it as a sanitarium with quarters for nurses.
The City got the land only after several more owners. In the same oral history, the writer recalls that once the purchase was arranged, "it was found that there was no entrance to the property." The access problem had to be solved before the buildings could be put to civic use.
That history explains why the centennial mostly happens in one place. The Senior Center at 20 Twin Pines Lane and the Parks and Recreation office at 30 Twin Pines Lane both sit on the old picnic ground. That is where the walking tour starts, where the time capsule goes in, and where the festival runs until dark. Our summer piece on Belmont's year-round Sunday rhythm covered Twin Pines without its concert stage. In October the park is busier than it has been all year.
October 24 Runs Along The Old Spine
Centennial Fest on Saturday, October 24, moves through the center of town in this order:
- 1:30 p.m. A car parade leaves Chula Vista Drive and Alameda de las Pulgas. It heads north on the Alameda, turns right onto Ralston Avenue, runs east on Ralston, and turns right onto Sixth Avenue.
- After the parade. Cars line up for a show on the 1000 block of Sixth Avenue, near the front of City Hall.
- 3:30 p.m. The time capsule ceremony takes place in front of the Twin Pines Senior & Community Center.
- Afternoon into evening. The festival fills Twin Pines Park, with bands on two stages that include EZ Motion and Trevor & The Long Haul.
- 7:30 p.m. A drone show featuring art by Belmont youth closes the night.
The parade is invitation-only and limited to 50 cars, carrying city staff, elected officials, and community partners. The City is also asking owners of convertibles and vintage cars to sign up to carry dignitaries. Streets along the route will close on and off between noon and 3 p.m.
The festival is free. Alpha Acid is selling beer and the Park Boosters are selling wine. The food truck lineup lists 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, and the City says the list may change. Takeout from local restaurants is welcome. Opened alcohol brought in from outside is not allowed. Seating will be limited, so the City suggests bringing chairs or blankets as you would for Concert in the Park.
According to the City, the best place to watch the drone show is in front of City Hall, though it will also be visible from clearings and parking lots around the park. The Rotary Club of Belmont & Redwood Shores donated the time capsule memorial.
The capsule's full contents haven't been released yet. Residents voted on the items in a survey this spring, and a penny was the first item confirmed. The City has said it will publish the complete list closer to the event.
The Hydrants Have Done This Once Before
Not every piece of the centennial is new. In the 1970s, the Mid-Peninsula Water District and the City invited residents to paint fire hydrants for two anniversaries at once, Belmont's 50th and the U.S. bicentennial. The District's policy says those Happy Hydrants have been "beloved by the community for the last 50 years."
The District adopted a new Happy Hydrant policy for the 100th. Eligible hydrants are District-owned and sit in visible spots along Alameda de las Pulgas and Ralston Avenue, which are the same two streets the parade uses. Two of the hydrants on the program map are still painted from the original program. A separate City call for history-themed art covers the utility box at Ralston Avenue and Sixth Avenue, the corner where the parade turns toward City Hall.
The 1970s hydrants show that Belmont has already marked one anniversary on these streets. The 2026 hydrants will be painted beside them.
October 18 Walks The Town Back To Its Starting Point
The free historic walking tour on Sunday, October 18, at 2:30 p.m. heads east from the park toward the oldest part of Belmont. It starts at the Twin Pines Senior Center, crosses the park, goes through the downtown neighborhood, and continues to the train station. Volunteer historian Chuck Cotten leads it. The City's description lists early neighborhoods, flower farms, military history, and speakeasies among the topics. The Daily Journal's calendar listing says the walk then loops back to Twin Pines Park past the homes on Waltermire Street. Space is limited, and you have to register.
The east end of that route is where Belmont began as a stop for travelers. In the City's local history notes:
Aubrey Angelo's Road House opened at Old County Road and Ralston Avenue on December 18, 1850, serving travelers on the old El Camino route between San Francisco and San Jose. Train service followed in September 1863.
Walter Emmett, a merchant and postmaster, ran his store at that same corner from the late 1870s into the 1920s. His house was a one-story cottage at 843 Ralston Avenue, built in 1885. It gained a second story in 1899, was moved to 1000 O'Neill Street in 2008, and was rededicated in 2011. The old depot stood on El Camino Real just north of Ralston. A freight siding there let trains unload straight onto trucks, and the depot was removed in the early 1950s.
Belmont's flower history also left something behind in that eastern part of town. Belmont growers sent flowers to East Coast markets by train, and Japanese growers on Redrock Hill raised large chrysanthemums for those shipments. The Historical Society's account dates Christensen's Nursery's arrival on Old County Road to the 1940s.
The tour also stops at Jolly's Old Fashioned Teas Cream for ice cream and a showing of Pop Tuttle the Fire Chief. The City says the silent film was shot in the neighborhood in 1923. The publicity also promises stories about gangsters, rock stars, and Olympians. Those stories belong to Cotten, and the walk is the place to hear them.
The Rest Of The Month, And Getting There
Parking will be tight on the 24th. The entire Twin Pines Park area and Sixth Avenue will be closed to traffic. The City suggests parking at Caltrain, at NDNU, or on nearby streets, and asks people to carpool, bike, or walk if they can. Parking at Caltrain puts you right beside the old depot site, so the walk to the festival follows the same east-to-west line as the October 18 tour.
The free Belmont Boo Bash comes back to Twin Pines Park on Wednesday, October 28, with Trunk or Treat, a haunted house, live music, and food trucks. The City's event calendar gives the time as 5 to 7 p.m. The October 2 bulletin says 5:30 to 7 p.m. Check the calendar again that week. The Boo Bash falls the day before October 29, the date Belmont incorporated in 1926.
You can also take part without going to an event:
- 100 Celebrations. The City wants residents to hold 100 gatherings during the centennial year, from dinners with neighbors to block parties. Email [email protected] to get your gathering counted and to pick up a party bag while supplies last.
- Centennial merchandise. The Parks and Recreation office at 30 Twin Pines Lane and City events sell pins for $4, hats for $15, and shirts for $25. Payment is by card or Apple Pay only, and the money goes to centennial programs.
- Centennial Stories. The City's Spotify podcast features long-time residents, and it includes a Chuck Cotten episode called "100 Years of Belmont Memories."
For more on the town around these blocks, our Belmont neighborhood page covers the rest of the city.
If the centennial has you thinking about your own house's history, like when it was built or which old parcel it sits on, Park Lane Capital can help you look into it quietly and in detail. Schedule a private consultation.
