[2] In 1853, prior to its becoming a town, Elisha Oscar Crosby acquired a 250 acres (1.0 km2) parcel of land, which was named Mayfield Farm.

It was the site of a stagecoach stop, inn, and a saloon known as "Uncle Jim's Cabin" near the intersection of El Camino Real and today's California Avenue in what is now southern Palo Alto.

[3] Mayfield experienced a gradual population growth, primarily consisting of long-standing locals and native inhabitants.

As a result, Arthur Bridgman Clark, a distinguished professor of art at Stanford University, was appointed as the first mayor.

[3] The Mayfield News wrote its own obituary four days later: "It is with a feeling of deep regret that we see on our streets today those who would sell, or give, our beautiful little city to an outside community.

We have watched Mayfield grow from a small hamlet, when Palo Alto was nothing more than a hayfield, to her present size … and it is with a feeling of sorrow that we contemplate the fact that there are those who would sell or give the city away.

"[13] On October 11, 1986, the city of Palo Alto, the Women's Heritage Museum of Palo Alto, and the California State Department of Parks and Recreation, erected a commemorative plaque, that designates this site as California Historical Landmark #969, the homesite of the Sarah Wallis Mayfield Farm.

[1] The inscription on the plaque reads: "Sarah Armstrong Wallis (1825–1905) was a pioneer in the campaign for women’s voting rights.

The home she built on this site, Mayfield Farm, was a center of suffrage activities attracting state and national leaders such as Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Ulysses S.