Historical Marker · No. 825
Casa de Tableta
Portola Valley, San Mateo County · California
Erected by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the Town of Portola Valley, 1969
The American the bronze leaves unnamed was William Stanton, a nineteen-year-old coachman and gardener from Menlo Park, and the story Palo Alto historian Steve Staiger tells is that Félix Buelna sold to cover his losses at poker. Stanford's first president, David Starr Jordan, later wrote to the county supervisors calling the saloon vile even for a roadhouse, and they licensed it anyway. A separate plaque at the inn marks an SRI test in August 1976, when a message typed at a picnic table out back went by radio and the ARPANET to Boston.
What the plaque says
Casa de Tableta This structure, built by Félix Buelna in the 1850's, served as a gambling retreat and meeting place for Mexican-Californios. It was strategically located on the earliest trail used both by rancheros and American settlers crossing the peninsula to the coast and served this remote area. Acquired by an American in 1868, it has continued to serve under various names as a roadhouse and saloon. California Registered Historical Landmark No. 825 Plaque placed by the State Department of Parks and Recreation in cooperation with the Town of Portola Valley, May 24, 1969.
Where it stands
37.38232, -122.19375 · Directions