Belmont Turns 100 This Month. Its Fire Hydrants Remember the Last Big Birthday.

Belmont incorporated on October 18, 1926. The city is marking its 100th birthday with two kinds of celebration. Over two weeks this month, a short run of events happens along Twin Pines Lane and Sixth Avenue. Spread across the rest of town is a revived art program, the Happy Hydrants, that Belmont first used at its 50th.

The two pieces explain each other. The official events stay close to City Hall and Twin Pines Park, at the old center of town. The painted hydrants are on residential streets all over Belmont, and residents are the ones painting them.

The Program Belmont Already Ran Once

The original Happy Hydrants were painted in the 1970s for two celebrations at once: Belmont's 50th anniversary and the U.S. Bicentennial. KQED's Bay Curious reported that the project grew to more than 300 hydrants. According to Patch, the first one was painted in September 1974 at Ralston Avenue and Old County Road. The same article describes a "Paul Revere" hydrant on Hallmark Drive in Belmont Heights.

The Mid-Peninsula Water District says many of the originals are still in its system. For the centennial, the district and the City of Belmont have brought the program back. The process is set up much like the first round in the 1970s. Artists, schools and community groups apply for selected hydrants in visible spots. The City handles applications and approves designs. MPWD gets each hydrant ready and makes sure the paint leaves it fully visible and working for emergencies.

By late January, the City's weekly bulletin reported that the first-round hydrant artists had finished. A second round was open, along with a call for one artist to paint a centennial utility box at Ralston Avenue and Sixth Avenue. In August, the Parks and Recreation newsletter described applications as still open through the year. The City hasn't published a list of new hydrant locations or artists. The best way to find the 2026 hydrants is to walk your own street and look for fresh paint next to the faded 1970s colors.

Other centennial projects take the same approach and put the work in residents' hands. On the City's Spotify podcast, 100 Years of Belmont Memories, long-time residents tell their stories. Through the 100 Celebrations program, anyone hosting a neighbor dinner, a walk or a block party can email [email protected] to have it counted toward a citywide goal of 100 gatherings. While supplies last, hosts can pick up a centennial party bag with cups, napkins and small swag. The City has not posted a running count.

Two Weeks on One Short Strip

The official October events are packed into a small area. Almost every one starts, ends or takes place on Twin Pines Lane or the 1000 block of Sixth Avenue near City Hall.

1. Saturday, October 17, 6 to 9 p.m. The Centennial Edition Music & Open Mic Night at Twin Pines Manor, 10 Twin Pines Lane, is free. Alex and Maya Valdivia perform before the open mic begins.
2. Sunday, October 18, 2:30 p.m. This is the actual anniversary. A free guided history walk starts at the Twin Pines Senior Center, 20 Twin Pines Lane. Registration is required.
3. Saturday, October 24, starting 1:30 p.m. Belmont Centennial Fest includes a car parade, a car show on Sixth Avenue, a time capsule ceremony, a festival in Twin Pines Park, and a 7:30 p.m. drone show.
4. Wednesday, October 28, 5:30 to 7 p.m. Belmont Boo Bash comes back to Twin Pines Park. It's free and includes Trunk or Treat, haunted buildings, live music and local food trucks. An earlier City newsletter listed a 5 p.m. start, but the City's October 2 bulletin gives 5:30.

Belmont Library is adding drop-in sessions for its centennial scrapbook activity throughout October. The City's centennial schedule lists a "Centennial Recap" in November, with no date announced yet.

October 18 Walks the Oldest Neighborhood

The anniversary event follows the same route as the rest of the month. The City describes the walk as a tour of Belmont's "illustrious and sometimes scandalous past." Volunteer historian Chuck Cotten leads the group from Twin Pines Park through downtown to the train station. The City's bulletin notes that the station area was once called the Hub of the Peninsula. From the platform, Cotten points out landmarks in Belmont's oldest neighborhood. The bulletin promises stories of speakeasies and gangsters, flower farms and military outposts, rock stars and Olympians.

The tour stops at Jolly's Old Fashioned Teas Cream for ice cream and a screening of "Pop Tuttle the Fire Chief," a silent film shot in the neighborhood in 1923. It then heads back to Twin Pines Park past the historic homes on Waltermire Street. Afterward, the Historical Society's History Room at 30 Twin Pines Lane stays open until 5 p.m.

The film is three years older than the city itself. A San Mateo Daily Journal history column describes Belmont in those same years. In 1923, someone suggested pushing San Francisco's city-county boundary south to Belmont. By 1925, developers behind a country-club subdivision called Belle Monti wanted to make Belmont "a little Hillsborough." The column doesn't say that either idea led to incorporation, but it shows what was being proposed for Belmont in the years before 1926.

Centennial Fest, Block by Block

The October 24 parade connects the neighborhoods to the city's center. It starts at Chula Vista Drive and Alameda de las Pulgas, heads north on the Alameda, turns right onto Ralston Avenue, runs east down Ralston, and turns right onto Sixth Avenue. It ends at the 1000 block of Sixth near City Hall, where the car show is set up. The parade is invitation-only, with up to 50 cars carrying city staff, elected officials and community partners. Owners of convertibles and vintage cars could apply to drive dignitaries.

At 3:30 p.m., the time capsule ceremony takes place in front of the Twin Pines Senior Center and the Parks and Recreation Office. The items going into the capsule came from a community survey earlier this year. The City hasn't published the list. The band playing the ceremony is Alameda de Las Pulgas, which shares its name with the street the parade just drove. Drini and the Wild Cats, Trevor & The Long Haul and New Shoes Blues Band are also playing across two stages.

The festival is free. Park Boosters will sell wine and beer from Alpha Acid, a Belmont brewery whose taproom is at 121 Industrial Road, Suite 11. The planned food trucks are Jolly's Old-Fashioned Teas Cream, Kona's Ice, Travelin Tom's Coffee, Jika's Kitchen, Respectable Bird, Sam's Chowder Mobile, Jaylis Cocina and Me So Hungry Too, though the City notes the lineup could change. Guests can bring outside food and non-alcoholic drinks, including takeout from local restaurants. Opened alcohol that wasn't bought from the Park Boosters vendor isn't allowed in the park. Seating is limited, so the City suggests bringing chairs and blankets.

The City says the drone show is best seen from in front of City Hall. It can also be seen from clearings and parking lots around Twin Pines Park. Centennial pins cost $4, shirts $25 and hats $15. They're sold only at community events and at the Parks and Recreation Office, 30 Twin Pines Lane, and the money goes to centennial programs. Payment is by card or Apple Pay only, no cash.

What Closes, and When

All of the events fit into this small area, so the street closures do too. They also start before the festival does.

The Friday drone practice is the closure most likely to surprise people who live near Emmett Avenue, since it's the night before the festival. The City's FAQ also says closures along the parade route will happen on and off between noon and 3 p.m.

Twin Pines Park and Sixth Avenue will both be closed to traffic. The City points drivers to the Caltrain lot and to Notre Dame de Namur University, using either the lower lot near the Taube Center or the East Lot up the driveway on the right. Street parking nearby is also an option. Parking is limited, and the City asks people to carpool, bike or walk if they can.

Four days later, on Wednesday evening, Boo Bash takes over the same park. The hydrants painted in 1974 and the ones painted this year will still be out on the streets, and many of the originals have now made it through a full 50 years.

If one of those 1970s hydrants has been outside your home for decades and the centennial has you thinking about what the house is worth today, The Doran Team can walk you through it. Get your home value, and we'll explain what's moving prices on Belmont's streets this fall.