Actually, it wasn’t really a corner or an intersection, more like a triangle of land that you’d run right into if you were traveling north on El Camino Real and couldn’t decide whether to veer left and keep going on El Camino Real toward San Francisco or veer right and keep on moving down San Mateo Avenue toward San Francisco. And actually San Mateo Avenue was called the San Bruno Toll Road then. Are you still with me?

The state of California didn’t have the money to build roads in the 1800s (they were having a budget problem), so they issued franchises to individuals to build roads and charge tolls for the use of them. The San Bruno Toll Road was one of these business opportunities. Three enterprising gentlemen, including Simon Mezes of Redwood City fame, financed the development of the road and reaped the rewards of the toll charges. In 1887, the San Bruno Toll Road was given to the county and the toll was eliminated. So was the name. It was re-named San Mateo Avenue.

This unique triangle of land was strategically located, with the two roads brushing up against it on either side. The first travelers were few, mainly explorers, soldiers and padres, but the foot and hoof traffic continued to increase as the sparsely-settled area began slowly to attract more folks. The first sprouts of civilization were the roadhouses, established to serve the very real needs of the weary and hungry and their horses, such as Uncle Tom’s Cabin in 1849. San Bruno House came in 1862 and attracted hunters and sports people. There were rumors of illegal prize-fights at the “House,” with one slug-fest in 1866 that went 110 rounds, finishing in a tie. One other account said the match went 119 rounds, but that probably was just another rumor.

August Jenevein was one of the managers of Uncle Tom’s Cabin for a few years. Born in Lorraine, France in 1851, he emigrated to New Orleans at the age of 16. He found himself working in the hotel-restaurant business there and he liked it. He also liked a young German girl named Amelia Schnell. Moving to San Francisco, August and his brother Adolph purchased the 5-acre triangular piece of land in 1877, across the road from Uncle Tom’s Cabin. In 1889, they built a hotel-restaurant there that they named Junction House. It was a wooden two-story New Orleans-French style structure, with slender support pillars and lacy millwork framing the wrap-around front porch, and a balcony on the second story that allowed patrons access to a view and fresh air.

While August Jenevein was an excellent manager at Uncle Tom’s Cabin, he did not particularly care for all the activities that went on there. The restaurant was fine, but the slot machines, the gambling and those rooms upstairs! There were rumors.

He determined to make his own Junction House a family-oriented place with fine French cuisine and comfortable, clean lodging. It should be noted that while August was extremely busy with all these endeavors, he had met up again with Amelia when she came to San Francisco. They were married in 1883. Already family-oriented in his plan for Junction House, he and Amelia produced a family of their own: Nine children.

The numbers of the traveling public continued to increase, now including ordinary businessmen as well as tycoon-type, itinerants, tourists, even the occasional band of Gypsies. Sooner or later, everybody passed by — and often stopped in — the roadhouses at this important junction. In 1899, 10 years after Junction House was built, Tanforan Race Track opened. The area had actually been used for horse-racing since the early days of the San Francisco Presidio, but now it was organized and brought in thousands of spectators. In addition to horse-racing, auto racing and aerial stunts thrilled the crowds. The 1906 earthquake brought in a huge exodus of refugees, many of whom camped temporarily on the land in back of Junction House. Many stayed on to settle permanently in San Bruno and surrounding areas.

In 1912, the always problematic dirt roads were finally addressed with the portion of El Camino Real between Uncle Tom’s Cabin and Junction House chosen as the site of the first paved road in California. If you veered left after 1912, you could travel on concrete instead of dust or mud.

August Jenevein sold Junction House in 1914 and retired to a house he had built nearby on San Mateo Avenue. He died in 1927. His family name is commemorated on a San Bruno street named Jenevein Avenue. Junction House was re-named and re-sold a number of times. You could continue to fill up your tummy at this roadhouse until the mid-1930s when it was demolished. Actually, you can still fill up there at the triangle-shaped location, but only if you bring your car. It’s a gas station now.

Photo courtesy of the San Mateo County History Museum

Two roads diverged in San Bruno and both were well-traveled.