The following paragraphs are excerpted from the Statement of Significance section of the National Register of Historic Places Inventory - Nomination Form.

The city of Palo Alto was created subsequent to the founding of Stanford University, essentially to serve as a university town. Construction of the University began on May 14, 1887, on land that had been the Leland Stanford farm.

Early founders desired the presence of a town near the University but the two existing nearby towns of Mayfield and Menlo Park did not seem suitable to them. The founders wanted a town with housing and community services to prohibit the sale of alcoholic beverages. Since neither of the two existing towns met this requirement or seamed willing to give up their saloon businesses, Leland Stanford, in 1887, acquired 740 acres to create a new townsite.

The city of Palo Alto was founded with the attitude of wholesomeness, and when liquor finally came to the town through annexed areas, there were many who resisted, asserting that a town without alcohol attracted families seeking a superior environment for their children.