Why is Menlo Park so oak obsessed?

As previously noted in this space, Menlo Park is all about oak trees. The city logo features an oak, street and neighborhoods include the word oak. If you’re a resident with a heritage oak on your property, there are guidelines on how it should be pruned and permission must be granted if you want to remove it. But apart from the plentifulness of the California live oak within the town limits, it’s a mystery why oaks and Menlo Park became near synonymous. We do know that local oaks are a good subject for an arty photograph, this one by Chris Gulker.