El Granada’s unusual concentric-circular street layout was designed by the influential architect and city planner Daniel Burnham. Burnham’s other works included overseeing the design for the 1893 Columbian Exposition in Chicago and designing the 1902 Flatiron Building in New York City. Burnham’s plan was commissioned by the Ocean Shore Railroad, which developed El Granada as a seaside resort for visitors from San Francisco.He developed city plans for San Francisco (1905), Chicago (1909), Manila and the Mall in Washington D.C. His company designed many noteworthy buildings in Chicago, San Francisco, Pittsburgh and other cities in the US. He is buried on an island with his family under granite boulders in Graceland Cemetery, Chicago.