Conclusions

Conclusions from the notes from vol. 1 of Denis Oliver's diaries:

1. The total amount of land purchased by Oliver and McGlynn (sometime before 1854, but what year?) was 659 acres (640 acres = 1 sq. mi.). A previous owner (Johnson?) held a mortgage on 500 acres of this land. The 500 acres were given up to the mortgager in 1855. Maybe later volumes of the diary tell what happened to the remainder.

2. Oliver named the ranch Menlo Park after Menlo, Ireland, a place which at the time was near, but not part of, the Town of Galway.

3. Based on Oliver's comment recorded on February 6, 1855, construction of the gate to the ranch (which was on County Road, now El Camino Real) probably began in 1854 but was not completed until 1855. There’s no evidence in Oliver's diary that it was inspired by the Menlo Castle gate, although the similarities are striking. There is also no statement of what was painted on the gate (names, dates, etc.).

4. In 1855 Oliver and McGlynn had a crude structure or house (not a frame house) on their Ranch for their employees (10). At least for the first few years neither Oliver nor McGlynn lived there. They may soon after have built a frame house or houses.