In 1876, former California Governor Leland Stanford bought 650 acres of Rancho San Francisquito for a country home and began the development of his famous Palo Alto Stock Farm£®He later bought some land next to his farm totaling more than 8,000 acres£®The little town that was beginning to appear near the land took the name Palo Alto£¨tall tree£©after a giant California redwood£¨¼ÓÖݺìľ£©on the bank of San Francisquito Creek£®The tree itself is still there and would later become the university's symbol£®ª¥