The Woodside Store

Just got back from a third grade field trip and during the whole tour, I kept thinking, «Man, what a cool place to have a photoshoot!» The items in the store are authentic (well, except for the fake fruit that they keep in the bins) and it was a good experience for the kids and I to get a better understanding of how hard it was to earn a decent dollar (on average, workers got paid $ 1/​day).
The manager, forgot her name, is rather on the stricter side and has no patience for children who do not listen, but she definitely means well. She maintains the place wonderfully and it shows.
If you ever decide on stopping by, you’ll find out what they found under the store when it was lifted to reconstruct the foundation of the shop =X

Visited on one of the Woodside Store days, where they have lots of extra activities for kids (e.g, pie eating, butter churning, two-​person saw, etc). Lots of volunteers in period costumes. The Woodside Store is pretty cool, it’s rare to see a period store that has everything from a dentist chair, blacksmith shop, and store from the 1800’s. It really feels like you’re going back to a different day. Definitely worth a stop if you’re in Woodside or learning about history.

Perfect field trip for third graders! Take them here. Very competitive to get a field trip.
Docent is strict, but really good!

Saw this place one day out of the corner of my eye while lost on Kings Mountain Road when I saw the sign… returned another day only to find it closed. Went today (open Saturday Noon till 4pm). Interesting place, a flashback to simpler but rougher times in the «old West». A little slow if you go on a day without the pre-​mentioned & reviewed activities and/​or events, but still nice to see how it was to live through memorabilia of that long-​gone era. At one point I commented out loud that an item hanging from the ceiling looked to be a bedpan, and the attendant sitting bored behind the counter corrected me saying it was a popcorn popper, and the bedpan was 3−½ feet to the left, over the door. Interesting but boring unless you use your imagination.
PHOTOGRAPHICALLY SPEAKING: Lots of bygone era items to photograph but very dark. If you’re into history this is nice to visit, but bring an external flash so you don’t kill your camera battery using your built-​in flash extensively. The exterior of these old structures is very photographically excellent… hint, hint.
NO parking anywhere except for the unpaved dirt parking lot — if the parking lot is closed, then the «store» is also.
Hours
Tuesday/​Thursday
10 a.m. — 4 p.m.
Saturday/​Sunday
12 p.m. — 4 p.m.
Admission
Free (donations accepted within)

So during our little trip to Woodside, we decided to continue driving and drove past this huge old wooden building, this place looked all old and such.
Anyways, we decided to see what this place was and it turned out to be a museum of some sort.
Simply put, back in the day this was the only rest stop between SF and SJ and most of the time people would stop here and take a break or so and then continue on their journey. Its a General Store/​Post office/​Dentists office/​Shingle Making place. The owner of this place? Dr. Tripp. Him and this other guy who i forget the name of came from the East Coast and decided to go into the shingle business. And since they were surrounded by all these redwoods it was a pretty good idea. Anyways they opend up this general store for people passing by and etc. Dr. Tripp was also a dentist so he would also do dental check-​ups for people too.
Overall this place isnt very big, its got a lot of old stuff to look it. You can see some old food cans and wine bottles. Some real old piggy banks that do pretty neat coin tricks. Old shoes and stoves and a toaster which looks like a cheese grater. In the other rooms they have a bunch of huge saws and other gizmos and gadgets. There is also the old dentist chair and notary area/​post office in the smaller room.
So if your in the area take a quick look, our tour guide was Bill, or Bob dang I forgot but yea he or someone else will give you a tour and explain the story behind the place. And there is no fee and if you feel like donating money there is a barrel with the tag donation labeled on it.
Also on every first sunday of May they have this little get together where they take you on a wagon ride and have little activites like making rope and ice cream etc, a pie eating contest, shingle making etc. So bring some kids along, it might be a lot of fun. I mean seriously, when was the last time you actually went on a wagon ride?

We came here on a field trip a few years back and I still enjoy looking at the photos and remember how life was really way simpler in yesteryear.

The Woodside Store is a wonderful historical landmark where children and adults alike can learn what San Mateo County was like in the mid-​19^th century. The store was opened in 1854 to serve local lumberjacks, miners, blacksmiths, etc. The store has been preserved since 1940 and there is really nothing like it in San Mateo county.
The store is filled with artifacts from the time and the tours for school groups are wonderful. It is a great look in to San Mateo County’s past, when it was a wild and wooly area in the West!
The Woodside Store is open Tuesday and Thursday from 10:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m., and Saturday and Sunday from 12 noon to 4:00 p.m. The Store is closed other days and holidays.