During the 1870s, European immigrants including Irish, German, Italian, and Portuguese newcomers arrived in the Half Moon Bay area and along the coast, among them merchants, business people, dairymen, and farmers. Joseph Debenedetti, a native of Genoa, Italy, was one of the area's earliest dry goods merchants. In the late 1860s he traveled on foot down the San Mateo County coastline with a heavy pack of merchandise on his back, selling door to door to farmers along Irish Ridge. In 1872, the firm of Cereghino and Debenetti opened a branch store in Spanishtown with Joe as manager. By 1877 he had married, built a residence next to the store, and opened a third outlet in Pescadero. The general store in Spanishtown became a popular meeting place for local residents, and Debenedetti served as postmaster and as a member of the local school board. A Democrat, he became in 1896 the first Italian American elected to the San Mateo County Board of Supervisors and was a dedicated community leader. The Debenedetti Building was built in 1906.