Redwood City’s Oldest Working Commercial Building

Redwood City’s Oldest Working Commercial Building – Diller ~ P.P. Chamberland Store circa 1859 is an important asset of Redwood City real estate.  Once the life blood of the Redwood City now it’s Redwood City’s Oldest Working Commercial Building.

This one story brick structured building commonly known as P.P. Chamberland Store address is 726 Main Street, in Redwood City, CA 94063.  726 Main Street, Redwood City, CA 94063 is the oldest commercial building still standing and in operation in Redwood City and San Mateo County.

Diller ~ P.P. Chamberland Store circa 1859  is on the outside borders of the Central Business District on a 50′ X 100′ lot.  This building is of the Classic-Revival flavor, much like the Mother Lode commercial building during the days of the San Francisco gold rush of the 1849 period.  The façade of the brick building, over the years,  changed to ease the different enterprises that have used this property for their store.  There were iron shutters on both the front and the back of this building originally, however, today only the iron shutters on the back windows remain.

Diller ~ P.P. Chamberland Store circa 1859 replaced a two-story wooden building, from 1853, which stood behind the present building on the waterfront.  The waterfront was the ingress and egress to the San Francisco Bay via barges up to the Port of San Francisco.  J.V. Diller operated a general store, first in the wood framed building and then the brick building, which is the building we see today. In 1876 P.P. Chamberland purchased the building from Mr. Diller and he too operated a general store and the local Wells Fargo Express Agency for many years.

Because of its modern and superior construction, even more so than the San Mateo County Courthouse, county monies were kept in two very large safes inside this building for many years.  During WWI, the building main use included giving classes to the US Army Air Corp new pilots who’s air field, known as Redwood City Airport, located down where now sits the Shopping Center on Chestnut and Broadway. It has had other uses too, like an automobile repair shop and a laundry.

Diller ~ P.P. Chamberland Store circa 1859 is one of the few early buildings, which mark the Redwood City’s old waterfront and dates from the days when Main Street was the primary commercial street in Redwood City. Today Diller ~ P.P. Chamberland’s store is known as Redwood City’s Oldest Working Commercial Building

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