Programs

 

Upcoming program -

A Toast to Palo Alto – Its Complicated Alcohol Story

Sunday, December 14, 2025
2:00 - 4:00 pm

Rinconada Library
1213 Newell Road
Palo Alto

This month's program will feature PAHA historian Steve Staiger speaking on the history of alcohol in Palo Alto. While many of us know about Palo Alto's "dry days", the actual story is far more interesting with many variations on what was dry and what was not.

The saga of alcohol in Palo Alto has been complicated. This story dates back to the time of the Ohlone, to the wild (and wet) times of Mayfield with its many saloons and local breweries, to the national era of Prohibition, and the various attempts to make Palo Alto a dry town. Hear how East Palo Alto's "Whiskey Gulch" and the Alpine Inn (aka Zott's) in Portola Valley also contributed the story.

And join in a toast to Frank Crist - the Palo Alto attorney who fought to rid Palo Alto of its dry label in the 1970s!

Free refreshments will be provided.

We look forward to seeing you there!

            

Steve Staiger, PAHA HistorianFrank Crist, far left, receives the first legal cocktail at the Shutter
                                                                               Restaurant in Palo Alto on May 21, 1971

Future Public Programs -

Upcoming Programs

Mark your calendars for the remaining programs of our 2025-2026 year:

February 1, 2026
March 1, 2026
May 3, 2026

Check back later for more details.

Recordings and General Program Information

PAHA programs are recorded. DVDs of the programs can be checked out from the Archives at Cubberley Center, Room-7. Recordings of our programs, titled "Heritage," are broadcast on local cable public access.

If you missed the October 12th program, Lost Gas Stations of San Mateo County, you can find it at Vimeo.

Also on the Vimeo site you will find programs from past seasons, including the December 2021 program Life in the Frank Lloyd Wright Hanna House with Karen Holman and John Hanna, and PART: Palo Alto "Rapid" Transit with PAHA Historian Steve Staiger presented in January 2022.