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Sarah Wallis

The owner of Mayfield Farm (1825-1905) and a pioneer of women’s suffrage in California, honoured by a state landmark in Barron Park.

Sarah Armstrong Wallis took over Mayfield Farm in 1856. In 1870 she was elected president of California’s first statewide suffrage organization, and her home drew leaders such as Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton, and Ulysses S. Grant.

The site of her home on La Selva Drive is California Historical Landmark No. 969, dedicated in 1986.

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Who was Sarah Wallis?

The owner of Mayfield Farm and a leader of California’s women’s suffrage movement in the 1870s.

Related terms

  • MayfieldThe older town around today’s California Avenue, settled in the 1850s and joined to Palo Alto in 1925.
  • Barron ParkA neighbourhood on the old Mayfield Farm, known for its donkeys and Bol Park; it was the last large area annexed to Palo Alto, in 1975.
  • Juana BrionesThe Californio rancher, healer and businesswoman (about 1802-1889) whose Rancho La Purísima Concepción lay on Palo Alto’s western edge.

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