Downtown San Mateo Is a Monument to Insider Self-Dealing

In 1862, the San Francisco & San Jose Rail Road needed to decide where to cross San Mateo Creek as it laid train tracks down the Peninsula. The decision was not made by an engineer; it was made by a real estate speculator who had already bought the land he wanted the railroad to run through. That speculator was Charles Polhemus. Polhemus joined the San Francisco–San Jose railroad board in 1860. He…