Published: March 8, 2008 · Last updated: September 22, 2026 Few places on the Peninsula have been reinvented as often as Tanforan. Over more than a century, the San Bruno property has served as a racetrack, wartime detention center, regional shopping mall, and transit-oriented retail center. Now, the 44-acre site faces another transformation through a proposed mixed-use redevelopment. Each chapter reflects the changing priorities of the Bay Area itself. Tanforan Mall in the 1970s, showing the Sears anchor and the original enclosed mall architecture. Annotated Apple Maps view of San Bruno showing the location of Tanforan, positioned off I-380 at El Camino Real. From racetrack to retail center (1899–1970) Before it was a shopping mall, the site was home to Tanforan Park racetrack, which opened in 1899 and became nationally known as a venue for thoroughbred racing. The racetrack is remembered not only for horses such as Seabiscuit, but also for its use as a temporary detention center...
Explore the malls, department stores, and shopping centers that helped shape postwar Northern California and the suburban communities that grew around them.