Qualla
Scanned from postcard, indicating publication. Dirt slightly retouched. Likely colorized from a black-and-white photo of a sunset. Back reads: "M. Reider, Publ., Los Angeles, Cal. and Leipzig. No. 3447." "IN SPACE BELOW MAY BE WRITTEN SENDER'S NAME AND ADDRESS (NO OTHER WRITING)" "THE SPACE ABOVE IS RESERVED FOR POSTMARK." "POST CARD." The card is postmarked for February 26, 1908, 6:30 pm. Estimated date comes from this nearly identical photograph, dated 1904. Although the trees look nearly identical in the two photographs, they are taken from slightly different angles, as evidenced by parallax. In particular, the postcard source photograph is taken from slightly higher and to the right of the other photograph.
Scanned from postcard, indicating publication. Dirt slightly retouched. Likely colorized from a black-and-white photo of a sunset. Back reads: "M. Reider, Publ., Los Angeles, Cal. and Leipzig. No. 3447." "IN SPACE BELOW MAY BE WRITTEN SENDER'S NAME AND ADDRESS (NO OTHER WRITING)" "THE SPACE ABOVE IS RESERVED FOR POSTMARK." "POST CARD." The card is postmarked for February 26, 1908, 6:30 pm. Estimated date comes from this nearly identical photograph, dated 1904. Although the trees look nearly identical in the two photographs, they are taken from slightly different angles, as evidenced by parallax. In particular, the postcard source photograph is taken from slightly higher and to the right of the other photograph.

El Palo Alto

Natural landmarks in CaliforniaPalo Alto, California
3 min read

The city is named after the tree, not the other way around. El Palo Alto -- Spanish for 'the tall stick' -- is a coast redwood growing on the banks of San Francisquito Creek. The Portola Expedition camped near it in 1769, and subsequent travelers used the distinctive tree as a landmark. When the Southern Pacific Railroad established a stop nearby, they called it Palo Alto. The tree became the city's seal, its logo, its identity. It is still alive, still growing, and still the most important tree in Silicon Valley.

A Living Landmark

El Palo Alto is a Sequoia sempervirens, a coast redwood estimated to be over a thousand years old. It originally had two trunks, but one fell during a storm in the 1800s, giving the surviving trunk the lean that helps distinguish it. The tree stands on the western bank of San Francisquito Creek, which marks the boundary between Palo Alto and Menlo Park. Despite encroaching development, lowered water tables, and pollution, the tree has endured -- though concerns about its health have periodically mobilized the community to take protective measures.

More Than a Name

The tree appears on the city seal and the Stanford University seal, connecting the university to the natural landmark that preceded both the campus and the city. When the Portola Expedition used the tall redwood as a waypoint, they were navigating a landscape with few permanent human structures. Today, El Palo Alto stands in one of the most built-up regions on Earth, surrounded by the technology companies and residential neighborhoods that borrowed its name. The contrast between the ancient tree and its modern context gives it a quiet power.

Still Standing

El Palo Alto is accessible by a short walk along San Francisquito Creek. It is not a tourist attraction in any conventional sense -- there is no visitor center, no gift shop, no parking lot designed for crowds. It is simply a very old tree by a creek, unremarkable to anyone who does not know its story. But for a city that reinvents itself with each technology cycle, the tree's permanence is the point. Everything else in Palo Alto changes. The tall stick remains.

From the Air

El Palo Alto is at 37.447°N, 122.170°W on the banks of San Francisquito Creek. The tree is not individually visible from altitude. Look for the creek corridor between Palo Alto and Menlo Park. Nearest airports: Palo Alto (KPAO) 1 nm northeast, San Jose International (KSJC) 10 nm southeast.

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