Street Talk
Mayfield
AVE
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By Nick Perry
Newsletter Editor
In anticipation of our upcoming Spring Event, let’s take
a look at the history behind the name “Mayfield” and
Mountain View’s “Mayfield Avenue.”
Mayfield is a popular place-name throughout the Englishspeaking world. You can find a place called Mayfield in
at least a dozen states, and in six different countries. It
was even the name of the fictitious town where the iconic
“Leave it to Beaver” television show took place.
But long before Beaver Cleaver’s Mayfield became a
part of American pop-culture, the name Mayfield was an
important part of our local history. The first recorded use
of Mayfield in Santa Clara County can be traced to 1853
when Elisha O. Crosby established the “Mayfield Farm” on
250 acres of Rancho Rincon de San Francisquito that he
purchased from the Robles Family. Soon after, the name
“Mayfield” was adopted by a stagecoach stop settlement
on El Camino Real, just to the north of Mayfield Farm.
There’s much more to be said about the Town of Mayfield,
but we’ll save the details for our May 1st event!
Mountain View’s Mayfield Avenue is also named after
the Mayfield Farm, but in a round-about way. The road is
actually named for Mayfield Mall, and once served as its
primary vehicular entrance. The mall, in turn, was named
after the long-lost Town of Mayfield, which was named
after Mayfield Farm. Whew!
This 1876 map shows the Town of Mayfield (upper left) and Mayfield Farm
(center left) on El Camino Real (Labeled “San Francisco Road”).The
approximate location of Mountain View’s present-day Mayfield Avenue is
indicated with a red-dotted line. For geographic orientation, the parcel
labeled “Mrs. J. Crowley” is today the San Antonio Shopping Center.
But wait, there’s more! Before it was known as Mayfield Avenue,
the street sported a pretty quirky and short-lived name. Some of
you may remember it from a previous edition of this column. But
for those who don’t, I’ll share that bit of trivia (along with some
recently discovered photos) at our Spring Event.
Hope to see you there!
Mayfield Avenue as viewed from Central Expressway when Mayfield Mall was still open. The mall’s iconic butterfly logo (featured
prominently in this newsletter) can be seen on the tower sign that greeted drivers along Central Expressway.
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