Frenchman's Tower

Old Page Mill Road, a quarter-mile off the Page Mill Road exit from Highway 280, Palo Alto, California

Frenchman's Tower Palo Alto Attraction Palo Alto Historical Society's Steve Staiger says that whoever finally figures out the original purpose of Frenchman's Tower will get their 15 minutes of fame—at least in Palo Alto. This approximately two-story brick tower looks a lot like a displaced castle turret, except that its gothic-arched windows are all bricked over. Reportedly built in the late 18th century by the Peninsula's celebrated French pioneer, Peter Coutts, the Frenchman's Tower now stands guard right off of Old Page Mill Road. A barbed-wire fence and "Private Property" sign encourages would-be puzzle-solvers to keeping their hypothesizing to the public side of the fence—as if the clump of poison oak clinging to the tower wasn't enough.

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