Daniel H. Burnham, called "Father of the City Beautiful Movement," designed Granada, originally Balboa, in 1906 using public plazas, a 640 acre park, oceanfront promenades, and boulevards radiating from the town center. Unique Granada, on the Ocean Shore Railroad line in coastal San Mateo County, was the only Burnham plan ever built, while his plans for Washington D.C. in 1902, Chicago in 1909, and San Francisco in 1905 were not fully adopted. Remaining park areas and tree-shaded streets recall Burnham's vision. By an oversight, the post office recorded the town's name as El Granada in 1909. A short distance west are cement remnants near the former depot of the Ocean Shore Railroad, which between 1908 and 1920 carried passengers and freight north to San Francisco and south to Tunitas, with Stanley Steamer service to Davenport and then rail service on to Santa Cruz.