Have you ever been on Valparaíso Avenue in Atherton, CA and wondered how either the street or the town got their name? Faxon Atherton (1815-1877) is responsible for both, as well as other streets named after his children (Isabella, Elena and Alejandra) and daughter-in-law (Jane Selby).

Faxon Dean Atherton was born in the US state of Massachusetts and went into the shipping business at the young age of 15. He became in charge of ships going from Boston, MA to Valparaíso, Chile and Monterey, California. As luck would have it, this route later became very lucrative sending people and supplies into the California Gold Rush in 1848 and linking the United States with Asia via the Pacific Ocean.

Atherton first arrived in Valparaíso, Chile in 1834, where he later started “a ship chandler’s store, trading in tallow, hides, and merchandise” (1) and married Dominiga de Goñi.

He first visited San Francisco (then called Yerba Buena) in Alta California (the name during Mexican rule) in 1836. At the suggestion of fellow Massachusettsan Thomas Larkin (early California figure with a street named after him in San Francisco), Atherton eventually moved to San Francisco.

In 1860, Atherton purchased 640 acres of land on the peninsula in the area which now bears his name. It was then known as Fair Oaks. When the town was incorporated in 1923, the name Fair Oaks was already taken, so they went with Atherton instead.

Notes:

1. Thanks once again to Wikipedia for a quick take on Faxon Atherton. I had seen his name come up once or twice in history books and Wikipedia is quite good at summing up the highlights.