WHY IS THE 724 / 730 BRYANT STREET FENCE HISTORIC? 724 / 730 Bryant Street Fence is “Historic” because: it is one of the last fences in Palo Alto built using actual 4 inch by 4-inch dimensioned Redwood Posts and Beams.
4” X 4”
4” X 4”
4” X 4” WHY IS THAT SIGNIFICANT?
After the 1950’s, lumber was no longer sold in 4”x 4” dimensions. That fact documents that the fence was most likely built in 1903 when 730 Bryant St was built or in 1906 when 724 Bryant Street was built, because 4”x 4” dimensioned material was readily available in that era. The 724/730 Fence is one the last 4”x 4” fences of this type still in Palo Alto. 4x4s existed well before that era. However, what happened in the 1950s was the lumber industry adopted a new standard for sizing lumber, called "nominal sizing." This means that the actual dimensions of a piece of lumber, like a 4x4, no longer corresponded exactly to the name. Prior to the 1950s, lumber dimensions were closer to the nominal size. For example, a true 4” x 4” might have measured closer to 4 inches by 4 inches. With the adoption of nominal sizing, a 4” x 4” measures 3.5 inches by 3.5 inches. Now that the Palo Alto Historical Museum is being built less than a block away from this 724 / 730 Historic Fence, this fence should be preserved for future generations as an important architectural representative of how fences were built at the turn of the century. POC: Robert Ferrand producer@thelastliberty.com 650-576-3334