Menlo Park's Centennial Year Starts Under the Oak at Fremont Park. Here's What's Planned So Far.

When does Menlo Park turn 100? Strictly speaking, on November 23, 2027. That is the date of the city's current incorporation, according to the Menlo Park Historical Association's timeline. The city is starting a year early, though. On Friday, December 4, the annual tree lighting at Fremont Park is billed as the kickoff of Menlo Park's Centennial Celebration. This year the city is lighting the oak and giving the pine "a well deserved break."

The bigger story is where it starts and how the year is built. The city is adding centennial touches to the calendar residents already keep, and the first one happens on a small downtown lawn that shaped the town before the town officially existed.

A year built into events residents already attend

The plan first showed up in March, at the City Council's annual priority-setting workshop. Judi A. Herren, Assistant to the City Manager and City Clerk, presented one slide titled "Centennial 2027 planning." It reads, in full:

Centennial activities integrated into existing City events, December 2026 – November 2027, Seven events throughout the year. Collaboration with community partners: Menlo Park Historical Association, Local businesses, Community groups. Centennial event in November 2027.

So the plan is a series of seven events, each one an existing city event with centennial elements added. The year ends with a separate event in November 2027, the anniversary month itself. The workshop presentation said more details would follow in August. So far, the city's public calendar names only the December 4 kickoff. The other six events and the November 2027 event haven't been given public dates or venues yet. For now, treat the year's shape as planned, not scheduled.

This approach has a practical side. Residents don't have to look for a new event series. The centennial will show up at the familiar ones, and the first of those is a tree lighting many households already put on the calendar.

Why the kickoff lawn matters

Fremont Park is small. The city lists it at 0.38 acres of lawn and benches under mature heritage trees, at Santa Cruz Avenue and University Drive. It already hosts the Summer Concert Series and Light Up the Season. Its history is the reason it fits a centennial.

When the United States entered World War I in 1917, Menlo Park was chosen for a military training ground. On the city's Fremont Park page, the reason given is that the land and terrain looked like the French countryside. Camp Fremont became one of the largest training sites in the American West, and 43,000 soldiers trained there. The Historical Association's Camp Fremont exhibit dates the announcement of the site's selection to July 6, 1917, the start of construction to July 27, 1917, and the camp's formal closure to August 1919.

The camp lasted about two years, and it left a lot behind. According to the city, the Army built Menlo Park's first paved streets and its first municipal water and gas service. It also built a hospital on Willow Road, which later became a Veterans Administration hospital. Businesses that opened to serve the soldiers kept going after the war.

Paved streets, water and gas are much of what a town needs to work as a city, and Menlo Park had them before it incorporated in 1927. Eleven years after that, on November 11, 1938, the 20th anniversary of the Armistice, the site was dedicated as Fremont Memorial Park. Today it is simply Fremont Park.

The city that turns 100 started at about one square mile

The 1927 city was a fraction of today's map. The Historical Association's timeline says the incorporated area covered about one square mile. It ran from Middlefield Road to Olive Street and from San Francisquito Creek to Felton Gables, and several estates larger than 25 acres were left out at their owners' request.

The first City Council met in the Masonic Hall above the Duff and Doyle store. In 1928 it moved to 1090 El Camino Real, a building still occupied at the time by American Trust Co.

The 1927 date is also the city's second incorporation. The association's history of the Menlo Park train station describes an earlier one in 1874. Its purpose was to let landowners be taxed for improvements to the dirt roads, and once that taxing was done, the incorporation was allowed to lapse. That timeline is why the 2027 centennial counts from 1927, even though the town had organized itself once before.

The depot is older than either incorporation. The same exhibit says the station was finished in 1867 and calls it California's oldest continuously used railroad passenger station. It was added to the National Register in 1974 and named a State Historic Landmark in 1983.

What December 4 looks like, and the downtown around it

The kickoff is free and runs from 5:30 to 7 p.m., rain or shine. The city lists family entertainment, youth performances, centennial and winter-themed photo spots, hot cocoa while it lasts, and the tree lighting. The theme is "winter wonderland," and the event page asks attendees to shop and eat at downtown small businesses while they're there.

Santa Cruz Avenue has changed a bit since last year's lighting:

• Dragon General, 712 Santa Cruz Ave. opened October 14 in the former Mrs Khan space, The Almanac reported. Chef-owner Minjun Li serves a broad Chinese menu with dishes from his home region of Dongbei, plus Beijing, Shanghai, Hunan and Sichuan. The restaurant also serves beer and wine. Hours are Wednesday through Monday, 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. and 5 to 9 p.m., so it is open the night of the lighting.
• Anthem now has three storefronts. Anthem Home at 871, Anthem Bed and Bath at 887, and Anthem Edit at 889 Santa Cruz Ave. The third location had its grand opening on September 17.
• Fourth Fridays has finished its first season. The Downtown Menlo Fund series started July 24 and wrapped October 23 with a Halloween edition and line dancing in the main plaza, InMenlo reported. The Fourth Fridays page says the series runs through the warmer months and next season's dates are still being set.

Here are the nearby dates that matter for the season:

Details are on the city's Photos with Santa page. The farmers market's location and hours come from the state's certified farmers market list, dated October 1, 2026.

Where residents can add to the record

The centennial program is still being filled in, and the Historical Association is the partner already asking for help. In the September 1, 2026 issue of The Gate Post, the association's newsletter, it invited ideas for celebrating the 2027 centennial. It also asked for 100- to 250-word reminiscences about Menlo Park history for future issues. It is looking for volunteers to staff office hours, scan photos, catalog the archive and help with other projects.

The association has been doing this kind of work for a long time. It formed in 1971 as an offshoot of the Friends of the Library and keeps its archive and office in the library basement. Its online photo archive lists 2,308 historic photographs. Its exhibits cover the train station and the history of the public library.

The association is a named partner in the city's centennial plan, so ideas and reminiscences sent this winter go to a group that is already working on the year. Submissions and volunteer questions go through the association, as described in The Gate Post.

The first chance to see the centennial in person is December 4, starting at 5:30 p.m., on the lawn that was once part of Camp Fremont.

Every home in Menlo Park sits on a street with its own history, from the original square mile around Fremont Park to the neighborhoods added since. If you're curious how your property fits into that story and what it's worth heading into the centennial year, Ryan Gowdy would be glad to help. Request a complimentary home valuation and consultation.