Casa de Flores - A Church for a Growing Town
A stop on San Carlos History Walk, a free self-guided tour.
This small sanctuary on Walnut Street comes from the 1920s, the decade when San Carlos turned from a paper town into a real one. As Fred Drake's crews paved streets and new families arrived, congregations needed homes too. In 1929 the St. Charles Catholic parish moved into this building.
Today it is known as Casa de Flores and is the home of the Civic Garden Club of San Carlos, which led tours of the building's history during the city's 2025 centennial. A city historical marker tells its story.
Around you are the streets of the early subdivisions, where 1920s bungalows and cottages went up one by one along sidewalks laid out decades before. Notice how close everything is: the depot, Laurel Street and the schools are all a short walk apart. This was a town planned for people who walked to the train. Enjoy the homes from the sidewalk, and picture Sunday mornings here when the town had only a few thousand people.
Getting here: Head east about three blocks to 737 Walnut Street, near the south end of downtown Laurel Street.
Did you know?: Central Middle School, a few blocks south on Chestnut Street, opened in 1930, and its auditorium, Mustang Hall, was paid for by the WPA in 1939.
Photo op: From across Walnut Street, frame the whole sanctuary and its garden in one shot.
More on Wikipedia: San Carlos, California
Stops on this tour
- San Carlos Depot - The Stone Station That Started a Town
- Arguello Site - Lamchin Land and the Rancho of Fleas
- Brittan Party House - A Bohemian Hunting Lodge
- Elm Street - Victorian Hopes for a Paper Town
- City Hall - From Schoolhouse to the City of Good Living
- Casa de Flores - A Church for a Growing Town
- Terminal Way - Where San Carlos Learned to Fly
- Brittan Avenue - Airstrip, Racetrack and Radio Tubes
- Museum of San Carlos History - The Firehouse, Rebuilt
- Laurel Street - Main Street of the City of Good Living