Atherton Real Estate

Known as Fair Oaks in 1866, Atherton was a flag stop on the California East Coast for the Southern Pacific Railroad between San Francisco and San Jose for the owners of large estates living north of Menlo Park.

Fair Oaks was named Atherton to honor Faxon Dean Atherton who had been one of the first property owners in the south peninsula. Atherton was incorporated on September 12, 1923.

Today, Atherton is a small, rural, and residential community, with no industrial land-use base. Native live oaks, white oaks, bays, redwoods, cedars, pines, and other ornamental trees cover the six square miles of town.