About Burlingame

Burlingame is a city in San Mateo County, California. It is located on the San Francisco Peninsula and has a significant shoreline on San Francisco Bay. An early suburb of San Francisco, the city is named after diplomat Anson Burlingame. Beginning in the 1960s its proximity to the San Francisco International Airport generated airline support services growth and an increase in population. As of the 2010 U.S. Census, Burlingame had a population of 28,806.

Burlingame is on the Mexican land grant Rancho San Mateo given by Governor Pio Pico to his secretary, Cayetano Arena in 1845. Cayetano soon sold the land to San Francisco based merchant William Davis Merry Howard. Howard retired to live on the rancho for the remaining eight years of his life. Howard planted many eucalyptus trees on his property.

Burlingame is known as the "City of Trees" due to the number of trees within the city (18,000 public trees). In 1908, the Burlingame board of trustees passed an ordinance "prohibiting cutting, injuring, or destroying trees". Most residential properties have trees owned and protected by the city on their public right of way. In addition the city has many parks and Eucalyptus groves that add to the overall tree numbers. The Eucalyptus groves occur to the west of the city on Interstate 280 and grow along many city streets, such as the heritage Jules Francard Grove along the Caltrain tracks north of Burlingame Ave, following El Camino Real, and along other smaller local streets. Washington Park, with Burlingame Avenue at its southern edge, Burlingame High School at its northern edge, and the Caltrain line at its western edge is the oldest park in Burlingame. It was originally part of the estate of millionaire cigar retailer Moses A. Gunst, and some of the existing large trees within the park were part of this estate.

In the 1920s Burlingame became a location for automobile retailers. In 1958 Burlingame annexed the area including Burlingame Plaza and Mills Peninsula Hospital. Due to the proximity to San Francisco International Airport and a population increase beginning in the 1960s, various airline support service businesses opened in Burlingame. As of 2002, most of the businesses in the Rollins Road industrial area serve the airline industry due to the proximity to San Francisco International Airport; the Rollins Road area also has car service businesses.