The First San Mateans

The first inhabitants of what is now the City of San Mateo were members a tribe of the Ohlone Indians (called Coastanoans by Spanish explorers). This Tribe lived in the area from South San Francisco to Belmont for at least 4000 years before explorers first arrived on the Peninsula.

Downtown San Mateo's mild climate and fresh water creek made this area ideal for its first inhabitants and a large village once stood at today's Laurel Creek and El Camino Real.

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