About the Half Mon Bay Downtown Business Association

The Half Moon Bay Downtown Business Association is managed by a 10-person executive board consisting of a Chair, Vice-Chair, Secretary and Treasurer, and Captains, which represent each of the blocks and centers within the downtown business area. These positions are elected positions, and the men and women on the board represent downtown businesses.

The Half Moon Bay Downtown Business Association is staffed on a volunteer basis, in conjunction with the Half Moon Bay Coastside Chamber of Commerce and Visitors' Bureau. We meet on the first Wednesday of each month, at 9:00 a.m., at Casey's Café in Half Moon Bay, California.

About Half Moon Bay

Half Moon Bay is a coastal city in San Mateo County, California, USA, situated on the bay of the same name. Its population is about 13,000, and major local industries include agriculture, fishing, and tourism. Historically, Half Moon Bay has been known as San Benito and Spanishtown.

The city preserves a historic downtown district which includes buildings dating as far back as 1868. Several historic buildings exist on Main Street in Half Moon Bay, including the Odd Fellows Building at 526 Main Street (April 18, 1868), the DeBenedeti building on the 400 block of Main Street (first erected in the 1870s and later rebuilt and expanded after the 1906 earthquake by Italian immigrant Joseph Debenedetti), the Half Moon Bay Feed and Fuel, in operation since 1911, and the San Benito House (originally the "Mosconi Hotel") built in 1905.

Half Moon Bay began as a rural agriculture area, primarily used for grazing of cattle, horses, and oxen used by Mission San Francisco de Asis (established in June 1776), and then granted in the early nineteenth century to Spanish settlers, who established farms and ranches. The community began to develop in the 1840s as the first real town in San Mateo County. Known originally as San Benito, the town was renamed Spanishtown and attracted a thriving fishing industry in addition to its continued importance to coastal agriculture. Spanishtown became a racially diverse community, settled by Canadians, Chinese, English, Germans, Irish, Mexicans, Italians, Scots, Portuguese, and Pacific Islanders. As it grew, regular stagecoach service was established with San Mateo, and coaches also served the communities of Purissima, Lobitos, and San Gregorio. Spanishtown was officially renamed Half Moon Bay in 1874.

The area grew very slowly, even after the Ocean Shore Railroad began serving the community in 1907. The construction of Pedro Mountain Road in 1914 provided better access to San Francisco and probably contributed to the demise of the railroad by 1920. During Prohibition "rum runners" took advantage of dense fog and hidden coves in the area to serve a number of roadhouses and inns, some of which operate today as restaurants. Real growth in the area came after World War II with the construction of numerous subdivisions, eventually leading to the incorporation of Half Moon Bay in 1959.

Half Moon Bay hosts several state parks and beaches up and down Cabrillo Highway (State Route 1). At the north edge of Half Moon Bay is the famous big wave surf area, Mavericks, off Pillar Point, where pro surfers challenge waves over 50 feet (15 m).

The town is served by Half Moon Bay Airport. The local newspaper is the Half Moon Bay Review. The city has one of only two high schools along the Pacific coast between Pacifica and Santa Cruz, Half Moon Bay High School, which is part of the Cabrillo Unified School District. Other schools in that district include the Cunha Intermediate School, Pilarcitos Continuation High School, Hatch Elementary School, El Granada Elementary School and Farallone View Elementary School.