National Register of Historic Places

Our Lady of the Wayside

Portola Valley, San Mateo County, California
Listed
November 22, 1977
Type
Building
Period
Industrial
Ref No.
77000338

About this property

Our Lady of the Wayside Church is a modest church built in 1912 for the then-growing Catholic parish of Portola Valley by a combined effort of Jewish, Protestant and Catholic members of The Family, a San Francisco men's club that owns a nearby rural retreat. The building itself was constructed of steel-reinforced concrete with stucco finish in the Mission Revival style, with the added Georgian element of the main doorway with its scrolled pediment. Mission Revival features include the tiled gable roof with exposed rafter ends, round-arched windows and buttressed side walls. James Rupert Miller, an architect and a member of The Family, gave the assignment of designing the church to a rising young draftsman at his firm: Timothy L. Pflueger. The building was 19-year-old Pflueger's first commission. Pflueger drew on his familiarity with Mission San Francisco de Asís in his native San Francisco for inspiration. In 1977, a plaque was placed proclaiming the building as California Registered Historical Landmark number 909. The church was also added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1977. The historic church suffered extensive damage in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake, and was recommended for demolition by structural experts. Instead, it was repaired by its congregation at a cost of US$600,000.

Location

930 Portola Rd.
Portola Valley, San Mateo County, California
37.38390, -122.23376

Categories

ARCHITECTURERELIGIONPHILOSOPHYSOCIAL HISTORY
National Register nomination ›
Sources

Property data from the National Register of Historic Places, National Park Service (public domain).

Description adapted from Wikipedia under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Unlimited access

Everything a full report reveals about Our Lady of the Wayside

This page lists Our Lady of the Wayside. A full Aubrey report for an address near it pulls together this listing alongside battlefield records, land patents, and every other historical record within a chosen radius:

Overview
An interactive map of the location with historic sites, battles and Native heritage plotted, and its full story era by era.
The Land
The historic sites and place names around the location, and how this land was settled and used.
Geology
The bedrock beneath the site, its age and rock type, reaching back millions of years.
LiDAR Terrain
Laser-scanned terrain that reveals earthworks and old features hidden in the landscape.
Conflict & War
The battles, raids and skirmishes fought near here, across every era of American conflict.
The Civil War
The Civil War on this ground, 1861 to 1865: who held it, and the battles, camps and regiments nearby.
The Soldiers
The men who marched from here in the Civil War, named and traced where the record allows.
Native Heritage
The Native nations who held this land, mapped across time from before European contact to today.
Settlement
Who claimed and held this ground, from Indigenous homelands through the colonial powers to the United States.
The Community
How the town grew, who came, and what kind of place it became, traced through the census record.
Rivers & Rail
The rivers, canals and railroads that connected this place between 1830 and 1911.
Notable People
The people born, buried or genuinely tied to this exact place, with their stories.
Historical Maps
Historic maps of the location layered over how it looks today.
Finds & Access
Museum objects tied to the area, and the laws on searching, collecting and access here.
Literature
The old books, county histories and archives that mention this place, quoted with their sources.
Spotlight
A deep dive into the most remarkable, lesser-known history of the place, traced back to the record.
Points of Interest
The most significant historic sites and landmarks near the location, and why they matter.
Timeline
The whole story of the location told era by era, from first peoples to the present day.
First month just $5.99, then $11.99 a month. Unlimited locations, cancel anytime.

Every location is different. Not every section appears for every place, only what the historical record actually holds turns up in a report.

Start your Our Lady of the Wayside report
Or see a real report first

Nearby Historic Sites

Portola Valley School
Industrial
0.3 mi
Folger Estate Stable Historic District
Industrial
2.2 mi
Casa de Tableta
Early Republic
2.2 mi
Independence Hall
Industrial
3.4 mi
Palo Alto Stock Farm Horse Barn
Industrial
3.9 mi

Questions about this property

When was Our Lady of the Wayside listed on the National Register?

Our Lady of the Wayside was listed on the National Register of Historic Places on November 22, 1977.

What type of historic resource is Our Lady of the Wayside?

Our Lady of the Wayside is classified as a building in the National Register of Historic Places.

What is the period of significance for Our Lady of the Wayside?

The period of significance for Our Lady of the Wayside is recorded as the industrial era.

Can I research the history near Our Lady of the Wayside?

Yes. Aubrey Research reports search National Register listings, battlefield records, land patents, and other primary historical sources within any radius of a US address. A report for an address near Our Lady of the Wayside will include this listing and all other historical records in the area.

More in San Mateo County

Historic places, battles, and census history across San Mateo County.

Explore San MateoCounty ›

More historic places in California

Browse all historic places in California.

View Californiahistoric sites ›

Conflict records

Explore 19,000+ military engagements across American history.

Browse US conflicts ›

California history

Colonial settlement, territorial period, and statehood narrative.

Californiahistory ›

Research the history near this site

An Aubrey US report for an address near Our Lady of the Wayside will include this listing alongside battlefield records and other historical sources within your chosen radius.

Research your locationView a free sample report