Hillsborough is a town encompassing a
residential community near Interstate 280 in San
Mateo County. It is west of Highway 101 and El
Camino Real and east of Highway 280 within a
short commute to San Francisco and minutes from
San Francisco International Airport.
Though
wealthy Hillsborough has no hotels, it is
surrounded by cities Burlingame, Millbrae and
San Mateo, where guests can stay in a large
selection of comfortable accommodations.
You'll know you are in Hillsborough when you see
the statue from Highway I280, also known as Junipero Serra Freeway.It
is a huge stone structure
built in honor of Spanish missionary Father Junipero Serra who founded many of California's
missions. The 26-foot high faux-sandstone statue
of Father Serra kneeling and pointing over the
freeway is located at a highway rest area on the
22-mile portion of Hwy 280 that carries the
padre's name.
This freeway
which has received national aesthetic awards,
traverses the valley created by the San Andreas
Fault.
Nestled behind the cities of Millbrae and San
Bruno, a freeway exit accesses Junipero Serra
Park which affords spectacular views of the Bay
Area, San Bruno Mountain, San Francisco Airport,
San Francisco Bay and Mount Diablo.
In between San Jose and San Francisco,
Interstate 280 passes through Santa Clara,
Cupertino, Los Altos and Los Altos Hills, San
Bruno, South San Francisco and Daly City. While
much of this segment runs inside the eastern rim
of the canyon of the San Andreas Fault, the
stretch of freeway from Hillsborough to Belmont
provides a beautiful look at Crystal Springs
Reservoir, formed by water piped hundreds of
miles from Hetch Hetchy Valley in Yosemite
National Park, filling the bottom of the fault
canyon.
Hillsborough was named for William Davis Merry
Howard, son of a wealthy Hillsboro, New
Hampshire shipping magnate. He purchased Rancho
San Mateo from the Mexican governor, Pio Pico,
in the mid-1800s.
One of the main attractions Hillsborough has for
home buyers is its charm. Hillsborough still
offers its escape from the pressures of the
city. Nearby cities with hotel accommodations
include Burlingame less than 4 miles away, San
Mateo and Redwood City.
