Puzzles
Word games made from Palo Alto’s streets, creeks, preserves, donkeys and history. The word search changes every day.
Word search
Today’s word search
Find every word in the grid. Drag across the letters, or tap the first and last. Stuck? A hint lights up where a word starts. A new grid every day.
Find these words:
- Redwood
- Sequoia
- Portola
- Ohlone
- Puichon
- Creek
- University
- Hamilton
- Ramona
- Emerson
- Waverley
- Bryant
- Duck Pond
- Byxbee
- Marsh
- Egret
- Lucy Evans
- Gray Fox
- Donkey
- Perry
- Niner
- Bol Park
- Matadero
- Pasture
Anagram
Local anagrams
Unscramble names you will find around Palo Alto. Stuck? Read the hint.
- The tall redwood the city is named for
- The neighbourhood Stanford’s first professors built
- Downtown’s main street, from the station toward the bay
- The second downtown, once Mayfield’s Lincoln Street
- The older town Palo Alto absorbed in 1925
- The creek on the city’s northern edge
- It runs past the donkeys at Bol Park
- The last big neighbourhood to join the city, in 1975
- Where the Barron Park donkeys graze
- 1,940 acres of marsh on the bay
- The lake in Foothills Nature Preserve
- A preserve, a road and a creek in the foothills
Word scramble
Quote scramble
Unscramble the words and the quote completes itself.
When we came, a great wheatfield stretched away to the north, with only a little farmhouse and an old barn in sight.
Quiz
How well do you know Palo Alto?
12 questions on the town’s history, places, people and landmarks.
What does “Palo Alto” mean in Spanish?
- Old oak
- High hill
- Tall stick
- Red river
What kind of tree is El Palo Alto?
- Monterey pine
- Valley oak
- Coast redwood
- Eucalyptus
Which expedition camped by the tall tree in November 1769?
- Frémont’s
- Anza’s
- Portolá’s
- Vizcaíno’s
Which creek marks Palo Alto’s northern edge?
- Adobe Creek
- Matadero Creek
- San Francisquito Creek
- Barron Creek
What was the new town beside Stanford first called?
- Stanford City
- College Terrace
- Hopkinsville
- University Park
In what year did Palo Alto incorporate?
- 1891
- 1876
- 1925
- 1894
Which older town did Palo Alto absorb in 1925?
- Ravenswood
- Searsville
- Mayfield
- Menlo Park
What was California Avenue called in old Mayfield?
- Grant Street
- Stanford Avenue
- Lincoln Street
- Main Street
What was Mayfield’s famous stagecoach stop and saloon called?
- Uncle Jim’s Cabin
- Big Tree Station
- The Red Barn
- The Tall Tree Inn
Why did the Stanfords back a new town instead of Mayfield?
- Mayfield would not ban saloons
- Mayfield flooded every winter
- Mayfield was too far away
- Mayfield had no railroad
Who bought the 740 acres for the new townsite in 1887?
- Timothy Hopkins
- Peter Coutts
- David Starr Jordan
- William Paul
What did Leland Stanford breed on the Palo Alto Stock Farm?
- Trotting horses
- Sheep
- Dairy cattle
- Racing pigeons