San Mateo

Formed April 19, 1856 (42^nd county)

San Mateo County (764,432), Redwood City (84,303), Daly City (104,973)

A Modern style Hall of Justice building was constructed in 1954.  Redwood City hosted the 1910 version of the courthouse too, the only county seat.  Michael Goodman was the building architect of the Hall of Justice.  George A. Dodge and J. W. Dolliver designed the 1910 courthouse.  On April 19, 1856, San Mateo became a county from San Francisco County as the 42^nd county.  A local creek, Arroyo de San Matheo is the origin of the county name.  The courthouse is at the intersection of Bradford and Winslow streets.  The county seat’s name was provided by lumberjacks who cut the nearby forests.  United States Highway 101 is 10 blocks east of the site. 

San Mateo County government consists of a sheriff, assessor, controller, and treasurer (executive).  It has 5 Supervisors (legislative.)  Twenty-eight Superior Court Judges, clerk, and counsel serve San Mateo County (judicial.)  San Mateo County is directly south of San Francisco, California bordering the Pacific Ocean on the west and the San Francisco Bay on the east.  The county center is 8.6 miles Northwest of Redwood City in San Mateo.  The county is surrounded clockwise by San Francisco, Alameda, Santa Clara, and Santa Cruz counties and the Pacific Ocean.  The peninsula, of which the county is the largest part, is shaped like the lower half of a leg.  Therefore, if you cut off the toes for San Francisco County, you see San Mateo County.  Redwood City is slightly east of the county’s center.  Daly City is in the extreme northwest corner of the county.  Redwood City is the county seat and Daly City is the largest city.  Redwood City is 11.0% of the county population while Daly City is 13.7% of the county population.  The county is pronounced SAN MA-TAE-O.  

The area of the county is 449 square miles.  It is 56 out of 58 in the state.  It ranks 15 out of 58 in population in the state.  It has a density of 1702.5 persons per square mile making it 5 out of 58 in the state.  San Mateo County has 91.8% of its population in its incorporated areas.  Interstate Loops go through the county.  United States Highway 101 comes out of San Francisco County and departs into Santa Clara County from north to south.  This county is in the San Francisco-Oakland-Fremont Metropolitan Statistical Area.