As Belmont celebrates its Centennial, we’re looking back at some of the people, places, and stories that helped shape the community we know today.
And few Belmont landmarks are as familiar as Carlmont High School.
Generations of local students have walked its halls, cheered for the Scots, climbed its hillside campus, and probably complained at least once about having to walk back uphill to class.
But long before there were classrooms, football games and students wearing plaid, this hillside looked very different.
It was a ranch.
Before There Was Carlmont
The property that eventually became Carlmont High School was once part of the Bourdette family ranch, a substantial piece of land in the Belmont hills that included prune and pear orchards.
And, yes, there were cows.
Among the stories preserved about the property is that the Bourdette ranch had a particularly productive Jersey milk cow.
Which raises an entertaining question:
How did a Belmont hillside occupied by fruit trees and cows eventually become home to the Scots?
The answer begins in the 1940s.
As the Peninsula grew, particularly during and after World War II, communities such as Belmont and San Carlos were changing rapidly. The population was increasing, subdivisions were replacing farms and open land, and the Sequoia Union High School District needed another high school to serve the growing number of families in the area.
In 1944, the school district purchased the future Carlmont property from Isabel Bourdette, widow of attorney John W. Bourdette.
The ranch would eventually give way to classrooms.
But the new school still needed a name.
CARLos + BelMONT
The solution was wonderfully simple.
The new high school would primarily serve the communities of San Carlos and Belmont.
Take part of each name:
CARLos
belMONT
Put them together and you get:
CARLMONT
It is one of those local names many of us have heard thousands of times without stopping to think about where it actually came from.
Even before its Belmont campus was completed, Carlmont technically existed.
In 1952, Carlmont began as what was essentially a “school within a school” at Sequoia High School, with its first group of students attending classes there while construction of the new campus continued.
Then, in April 1953, students moved onto the new Carlmont campus in the Belmont hills.
Approximately 1,481 students arrived at their new school.
The former ranch had officially entered a very different chapter of its history.
But Why the Scots?
If the school was built on an old Belmont ranch, perhaps a cow might have been the historically accurate mascot.
Fortunately — depending on your feelings about intimidating dairy animals — someone had another idea.
Carlmont sits in the hills between Belmont and San Carlos, and the school’s elevated setting helped inspire a Scottish Highlands theme.
From that came the Scots.
Over the years, the Scottish identity became deeply woven into Carlmont tradition — the Scots name, tartan and plaid imagery, school spirit and the familiar cry of “Go Scots!”
So the transformation was complete:
Orchards to classrooms, cows to Scots.
But the Bourdette family’s connection to Belmont has another fascinating chapter.
And it nearly changed the history of the city itself.
The Family That Challenged Belmont’s Existence
Belmont incorporated as a city in 1926.
Not everyone was happy about it.
A legal challenge followed over the incorporation process, eventually resulting in the California appellate case People ex rel. Bourdette v. City of Belmont.
At issue was whether the original petition used to begin Belmont’s incorporation had complied with California law — specifically requirements involving the dating of signatures on the incorporation petition.
The challenge was serious enough that a trial court ruled against the city.
For a time, the legal conclusion was extraordinary:
Belmont had not been legally incorporated.
Imagine waking up one morning and discovering that the city you thought you lived in technically didn’t exist.
The case went to the California Court of Appeal.
In 1929, the appellate court reversed the lower court’s decision, rejecting the attempt to invalidate Belmont’s incorporation.
Belmont survived.
And years later, land connected with that same Bourdette family would become the site of one of the city’s most recognizable institutions.
Carlmont High School.
From Ranchland to a Belmont Landmark
Today it is difficult to imagine the hillside without Carlmont.
Thousands upon thousands of students from Belmont, San Carlos and surrounding communities have attended the school since those first students arrived in 1953.
Yet underneath today’s campus is another layer of Belmont history — a time when this part of the Peninsula still had orchards, ranches and open hillsides.
A family whose property became a high school had once been connected to a court case questioning whether Belmont itself legally existed.
And a school jointly serving Belmont and San Carlos took a little from each city’s name and created an identity all its own.
CARLos + BelMONT became Carlmont.
And somewhere along the way, the cows gave way to the Scots.
Go Scots!
We hope you enjoy this Centennial Series in honor of Belmont’s 100th anniversary next month. Thank you for reading along!
Drew and Christine Morgan are experienced REALTORS® and longtime Mid-Peninsula real estate professionals based in Belmont, California, where they own and operate MORGANHOMES, Inc. They help buyers and sellers navigate important real estate decisions with experienced guidance, thoughtful strategy, and highly personalized service. Their achievements include RE/MAX’s prestigious Diamond Club Award, recognition among the Top 50 RE/MAX agents nationwide, and ranking among the Top 3 in Northern California.
To speak directly with Drew or Christine, call (650) 508-1441 or emailinfo@morganhomes.com.
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This article provides educational information and is intended for informational purposes only. It should not be considered real estate, tax, insurance, or legal advice; it cannot replace advice tailored to your situation. It’s always best to seek guidance from a professional familiar with your scenario.
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