5 Things You Didn't Know About Patriotic Palo Alto

Back in the day, the City of Palo Alto was known for its Independence Day celebrations, when thousands of out-of-towners would travel to experience all-day affairs of pomp and circumstance. You probably didn't know about these five past traditions:

1. In 1895, just one year after the founding of Palo Alto, there was a particularly fancy parade with several floats, including one celebrating the Goddess of Liberty--accompanied by 44 little girls representing (what were then) “the several states." The Palo Alto Times reported that “The members of the various councils were in Indian costume and their appearance and yells carried one back to the earlier days. Following this were a number of half-naked ‘Indian’ lads, a squaw with papoose and other appropriate features.”  

2. The celebrations during the turn of the century began with the singing of the national anthem and the ceremonial firing of the “National Salute” by two cannons at daybreak.

3. In 1904, the parade stretched a mile long and was kicked off at 11 a.m. with the explosion of 10,000 powder firecrackers. Paraders waved one thousand miniature U.S. flags and marched past homes decked out in red, white and blue paraphernalia. Later that day, there was a feast for 5,000 under a tent near the corner of Ramona and University, complete with a clam bake in which 3,000 clams were baked in a brick-lined pit. 

4. The 1904 festivities included a baseball match between the Pacific and Western companies of the Southern Pacific Railroad. During the 1901 match, clerks and their bosses faced off on the diamond. 

5. Contests during the 1904 holiday included: "Fat Man's Race," "Doughnut-Eating Contest," "Best Gentleman Waltzer," "Homliest Woman on the Grounds" and "Best Looking Girl Under 14 Years." 

Source: The Palo Alto History Project