Thanks to the San Mateo County Genealogical Society for their bump to this blog and review of the Friendly Acres history blog on October 19th.  (Yes, we have been inactive for a while, but have been quietly compiling new articles as yet to be published....hopefully during a school break...so watch this space!)

The SMCGS website (revamped) and separate blog, which feature "society events, projects, meeting notes and other items of relevance to genealogists", has been a go-to for me when researching local names and places, particularly when I first started to look into my local neighborhood history.

So what is the Severn Dairy Mural in Burlingame, CA, doing on a blog about a neighborhood in Redwood City?

Severn Lodge Dairy Mural, Burlingame, CA - waymarking.com Naturally, there is a connection.  Firstly, its a segue from our last post on the Murals of Redwood City and mural of Friendly Acres, wherein we stressed the point that murals are not only beautiful but they bring the past alive   And secondly, the connection has everything to do with the livelihood of Harry Friend who founded the Friendly Acres neighborhood here in Redwood City.

It may seem strange to write about murals in a local history blog, but murals have been popping up all around Redwood City this year, 2015, and they're of cultural and historic importance.  Murals are not a new invention.  They have been around since the beginning of time.  We've seen them in caves from the Upper Paleothic times, to as recently as vintage advertizing signs and graffitti in World War I and II trenches.  For as long as man has had a wall to draw on, we have painted and drawn our way through time leaving a mark of who we are for future generations.

It was 1926 and both Daniel Stafford and the Redwood Committee had lost the bid to establish the San Francisco airport on Sweeny Ranch lands (read more in the post on Sweeny Ranch Airport) - lands that adjoined the Redwood City airport.  That loss lead to the creation of the neighborhood we know as Friendly Acres.

For those of you who wrote in with comments and information following the article on Sweeny Ranch / Sanders Airport thank you for your emails.

I have been advised by several people that there is still one building of the original Redwood City Airport that remains intact and should be considered a historic building.  (And hopefully it is considered a historic building by the Redwood City History Committee.)