Marin County, California
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
| Marin County, California | |
| Map | |
 Location in the state of California |
|
 California's location in the U.S. |
|
| Statistics | |
| Founded | February 18, 1850 |
|---|---|
| Seat | San Rafael |
| Largest city | San Rafael |
| Area - Total - Land - Water |
828 sq mi (2,145 km²) 520 sq mi (1,346 km²) 308 sq mi (799 km²), 37.24 |
| Population - (2000) - Density |
247,289 476/sq mi (184/km²) |
| Time zone | Pacific: UTC-8/-7 |
| Website: www.co.marin.ca.us | |
Marin County (IPA: /məˈrɪn/) is a county located in the North San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California, across the Golden Gate Bridge from San Francisco. As of 2000, the population was 247,289. The county seat is San Rafael and county government is the largest employer in the County. Marin County is renowned for its natural beauty, liberal politics and affluence. According to the 2000 Census, Marin County has the highest per capita income in the country at $44,962. It is governed by local cities and the Marin County Board of Supervisors.
San Quentin Prison is located in the county, as is Skywalker Ranch. Autodesk, the publisher of AutoCAD, is located there, as are numerous other high-tech companies. The headquarters of film and media company Lucasfilm Ltd., previously based in San Rafael, have moved to the Presidio of San Francisco. United States Senator Barbara Boxer is from Marin.
The Marin County Civic Center was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright and draws thousands of visitors a year to guided tours of its arch and atrium design.
America's oldest cross country race, the Dipsea Race takes place annually in Marin County, attracting thousands of athletes. Mountain biking is said to have been invented on the slopes of Mount Tamalpais in Marin.
Marin County's many beautiful natural sites include the famous Muir Woods redwood forest, the Marin Headlands, Stinson Beach, Point Reyes National Seashore, and Mount Tamalpais, one of the West's first tourist mountains.
[edit] History
Marin County is one of the original 27 counties of California, created February 18, 1850, following adoption of the Constitution of 1849 and just months before the state was admitted to the Union.[1]
The origin of the county's name is not clear. One version is the county was named for Chief Marin, of the Coast Miwok, Licatiut tribe of Native Americans who inhabited that section and waged fierce battle against the early Spanish military explorers. The other version is that the bay between San Pedro Point and San Quentin Point was named Bahía de Nuestra Señora del Rosario la Marinera in 1775, and it is quite possible that Marin is simply an abbreviation of this name.
The Coast Miwok Indians were hunters and gatherers whose ancestors had occupied the area for thousands of years. About 600 village sites have been identified in the county.
The English explorer and privateer, Sir Francis Drake and the crew of the Golden Hind was thought to have landed on the Marin coast in 1579 claiming the land as Nova Albion. A bronze plaque inscribed with Drake's claim to the new lands, fitting the description in Drake's own account, was discovered in 1933. This so-called Drake's Plate of Brass was later declared a hoax.
In 1595 Sebastian Cermeno lost his ship, the San Agustin, while exploring the Marin Coast. The Spanish explorer Vizcaíno landed about twenty years after Drake in what is now called Drake's Bay. However the first Spanish settlement in Marin was not established until 1817 when Mission San Rafael Arcángel was founded partly in response to the Russian-built Fort Ross to the north in what is now Sonoma County.
Mission San Rafael Arcángel was founded in what is now downtown San Rafael as the 20th Spanish mission in the colonial Mexican province of Alta California by four priests, Father Narciso Duran from Mission San Jose, Father Abella from Mission San Francisco de Asís, Father Gil y Taboada and Father Mariano Payeras, the President of the Missions, on Dec. 14, 1817, four years before Mexico gained independence from Spain.
[edit] Geography
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 828 square miles (2,145 km²), of which, 520 square miles (1,346 km²) of it is land and 308 square miles (799 km²) of it (37.24%) is water. According to the records at the County Assessor-Recorder's Office, as of June 2006, Marin had 91,065 acres (369 km²) of taxable land, comprised of 79,086 parcels with a total tax basis of $39.8 billion. These parcels are divided into the following classifications:
| Parcel Type | Tax ID | Quantity | Value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Vacant | 10 | 6,900 | $508.17 million |
| Single Family Residential | 11 | 61,264 | $30,137.02 million |
| Mobile Home | 12 | 210 | $7.62 million |
| House Boat | 13 | 379 | $61.83 million |
| Multi Family Residential | 14 | 1,316 | $3,973.51 million |
| Industrial Unimproved | 40 | 113 | $12.24 million |
| Industrial Improved | 41 | 562 | $482.83 million |
| Commercial Unimproved | 50 | 431 | $97.89 million |
| Commercial Improved | 51 | 7,911 | $4,519.64 million |
Geographically, the county forms a large, southward-facing peninsula, with the Pacific Ocean to the west, San Pablo Bay and San Francisco Bay to the east, and -- across the Golden Gate -- the city of San Francisco to the south. Marin County's northern border is with Sonoma County.
Most of the county's population resides on the eastern side, with a string of communities running along San Francisco Bay, from Sausalito to Tiburon to Corte Madera to San Rafael. The interior contains large areas of agricultural and open space; West Marin, through which State Route 1 runs alongside the California coast, contains many small unincorporated communities whose economies depend on agriculture and tourism.
[edit] National protected areas
- Golden Gate National Recreation Area (part)
- Muir Woods National Monument
- Point Reyes National Seashore
[edit] Transportation infrastructure
[edit] State and interstate highways
Interstate 580
U.S. Route 101 (Redwood Highway)
State Route 1
State Route 37
State Route 131 (Tiburon Boulevard)
[edit] Scenic roads
- Conzelman Road, Marin Headlands
- Dillon Beach Road
- Crown Road
- Tomales Petaluma Road
- Chileno Valley Road: Connects Marshall Petaluma Road to Tomales Petaluma Road
- Marshall Petaluma Road
- Hicks Valley Road: Connects Marshall Petaluma Road to Point Reyes Petaluma Road
- Point Reyes Petaluma Road
- Novato Boulevard: Novato to Point Reyes Petaluma Road
- Sir Francis Drake Blvd: Point Reyes Lighthouse to California Park
- Manuel T Freitas Pkwy
- Bolinas Fairfax Road: Connects Sir Francis Drake Blvd to State Route 1 (also a scenic road) at Bolinas
- Bolinas Ridge Road: Connects Bolinas Fairfax Road to Panoramic Highway and Muir Woods Road
- Lucas Valley Road and Nicasio Valley Road: Connect 101 with Point Reyes Petaluma Road
- Point/North San Pedro Road: Connects Santa Venetia and Peacock Gap neighborhoods via China Camp State Park
[edit] Public transportation
Golden Gate Transit provides service primarily along the U.S. 101 corridor, serving cities in Marin County, as well as San Francisco and Sonoma County. Service is also provided to Contra Costa County via the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. Ferries to San Francisco operate from Larkspur and Sausalito. Ferry service from Tiburon is provided by Blue and Gold Fleet and by the Angel Island Ferry.
Local bus routes within Marin County are operated by Golden Gate Transit under contract to the Marin County Transit District. MCTD also operates the West Marin Stage, serving communities in the western, rural areas of Marin County.
Greyhound Lines buses service San Rafael.
[edit] Airports
Marin County Airport or Gnoss Field (ICAO: KDVO) is a general aviation airport operated by the County Department of Public Works. San Rafael Airport is a private airstrip. The nearest airports with commercial flights are San Francisco International Airport and Oakland International Airport as well as Charles M. Schulz - Sonoma County Airport north of Marin County.
[edit] Educational institutions
[edit] Elementary and middle schools
[edit] Bolinas
- Bolinas-Stinson Union School District - Bolinas (4-8) & Stinson Beach (K-3)
[edit] Corte Madera
- Marin Montessori School
- Marin Country Day School
- Neil Cummins Elementary School
[edit] Fairfax
- Manor School
- White Hill Middle School
[edit] Kentfield
- Adeline E. Kent Middle School
- Bacich Elementary
[edit] Larkspur
- Marin Primary & Middle School
- Henry C. Hall Middle School
- Ring Mountain School
[edit] Mill Valley
- Old Mill School
- Edna Maguire Elementary
- Marin Horizon School (also Presidio of San Francisco)
- Mill Valley Middle School
- Mount Tamalpais School
- Park School
[edit] Novato
- Hamilton Elementary School
- Hill Middle School
- Loma Verde Elementary School
- Lynwood Elementary School
- Montessori School Of Novato
- North Bay Christian Academy
- Olive Elementary School
- Our Lady Of Loretto Catholic School
- Pleasant Valley Elementary
- Rancho Elementary School
- San Jose Middle School
- San Ramon Elementary
- Sinaloa Middle School
[edit] Point Reyes Station
- West Marin School
[edit] Ross
- Ross School
[edit] San Anselmo
- Brookside Elementary School
- Wade Thomas Elementary School
[edit] San Rafael
- Bahia Vista Elementary School
- Brandeis Hillel Day School (Marin Campus)
- Coleman Elementary School
- Dixie Elementary School
- Glenwood Elementary School
- James B. Davidson Middle School
- Laurel Dell Elementary School
- Mary E. Sylviera Elementary School
- Miller Creek Middle School
- Sun Valley Elementary School
- St. Mark's School - private
- St. Raphael's School - private
- St. Isabella - private
- Vallecito Elementary School
- Venetia Valley K-8 School
[edit] Sausalito
- Bayside/MLK Elementary School
- Willow Creek Academy School
[edit] Tiburon
- Bel Aire School
- Del Mar School
- Reed School
- St. Hilary School
[edit] Tomales
- Tomales Elementary School
[edit] High schools
[edit] Kentfield
- Marin Catholic High School, private school
[edit] Corte Madera/Tiburon/Ross/Greenbrae/Kentfield/Larkspur
[edit] Continuing Education
- San Andreas High School, continuation school
- Tamiscal High School, independent study
[edit] Mill Valley
[edit] Novato
- Marin Oaks High School, continuation school
- Marin School of Arts and Technology
- Novato High School
- San Marin High School
[edit] Ross
- The Branson School, private school
[edit] San Anselmo
- San Domenico School, private school
- Sir Francis Drake High School
[edit] San Rafael
- Madrone High School, continuation school
- Marin Academy High School, private school
- San Rafael High School
- Terra Linda High School
[edit] Sausalito
- The Marin School, private school
[edit] Tomales
[edit] Colleges and universities
- College of Marin - Kentfield, Indian Valley
- Dominican University of California - San Rafael
- Golden Gate Baptist Theological Seminary, Strawberry Point
- San Francisco Theological Seminary - San Anselmo
[edit] Ecology
Marin county is considered in the California Floristic Province, a zone of extremely high biodiversity and endemicism. There are numerous ecosystems present, including coastal strand, oak woodland, chaparral and riparian zones. There are also a considerable number of protected plant and animal species present: fauna include the Northern Red-legged Frog and California freshwater shrimp, while flora include Marin Dwarf Flax, Hesperolinon congestum; Tiburon Jewelflower, Streptanthus niger; and Tiburon Indian paintbrush, Castilleja neglecta.
A number of watersheds exist in Marin County including Walker Creek, Lagunitas Creek, Miller Creek, and Novato Creek.
[edit] Demographics
As of the census[2] of 2000, there were 247,289 people, 100,650 households, and 60,691 families residing in the county. The population density was 476 people per square mile (184/km²). There were 104,990 housing units at an average density of 202 per square mile (78/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 84.03% White, 2.89% Black or African American, 0.43% Native American, 4.53% Asian, 0.16% Pacific Islander, 4.50% from other races, and 3.47% from two or more races. 11.06% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. 11.5% were of Irish, 11.0% English, 10.2% German and 8.4% Italian ancestry according to Census 2000. 80.8% spoke English, 9.6% Spanish, 1.4% French and 1.1% German as their first language.
In 2005 76.9% of Marin County's population was non-Hispanic whites. 12.6% of the population was Latino (mostly concentrated in the Canal Area of San Rafael).[citation needed] 5.3% of the population was Asian and 3.1% was African-American.[citation needed]
In 2000 there were 100,650 households out of which 27.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.4% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.7% were non-families. 29.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.90.
In the county the population was spread out with 20.3% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 31.0% from 25 to 44, 29.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 98.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.4 males.
The median income for a household in the county was $71,306, and the median income for a family was $88,934. Males had a median income of $61,282 versus $45,448 for females. The per capita income for the county was $44,962. About 4.7% of families and 9.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.9% of those under age 18 and 2.5% of those age 65 or over. Marin County has the second highest median household income in California behind Santa Clara County.
Marin County has the highest per capita income of any county in the United States. This is driven in particular by expensive enclaves in Belvedere, Kentfield, Larkspur, Ross, Tiburon, Mill Valley, Sausalito, San Anselmo and portions of San Rafael and Novato where displays of conspicuous consumption, especially luxury cars, are common. The county has the highest density of BMW cars (locally known as 'Basic Marin Wheels') in the United States, according to dealers in the county [1].
The traditionally middle class towns of Corte Madera, Fairfax, Novato and San Rafael (where per capita incomes typically paralleled the California state average as late as 1985) also have experienced especially sharp rises in real estate values, due in part to their proximity to the "prestige" address areas. The county's resistance to urban sprawl and its preservation of open space have also had an upward impact on housing prices by reducing the number of new subdivisions built in the area since 1970. The precedent for this was set after a huge development project that would have put a suburb atop the Marin Headlands called Marincello was defeated in court.
The trend of increased affluence has not held true for two neighborhoods in particular, populated almost exclusively by low-income disadvantaged groups (aside from Asians): Marin City (which shares a zip code with Sausalito) and the Canal Neighborhood in San Rafael. Government policies have both forbidden property owners from raising rents and have also subsidized housing prices in these neighborhoods for tenants who do not report incomes higher than 200% of the poverty level on their IRS tax return. Marin City has a population of 3,000 and is ethnically diverse with large East Asian, Hispanic, and African American populations. Many families live in public housing apartment buildings. The population in The Canal is largely Hispanic, with many households residing in over-crowded apartment units. San Rafael has asserted to the Federal Government that this population is significantly undercounted by the U.S. Census due to the high percentage of illegal immigrants, depriving the city of tax funds for improved social services. They assert that the 6.6% of the county-wide population listed as below the poverty line is both under-reported, and heavily concentrated in The Canal. Nevertheless, if it weren't for these two neighborhoods, the service industry of Marin County would not function because the only other working-class neighborhoods are across the San Francisco Bay.
[edit] Politics
Marin is part of California's 6th congressional district, which is held by Democrat Lynn Woolsey.
In the state legislature Marin is in the 6th Assembly district, which is held by Democrat Jared Huffman, and the 3rd Senate district, which is held by Democrat Carole Migden.
[edit] Presidential elections results
The county has become a stronghold of the Democratic Party in recent decades. Out of California counties, only San Francisco County and Alameda County voted more Democratic in the 2004 Presidential election.
According to the California Secretary of State, Marin County has 144,691 voters. Of those, 77,438 (53.5%) are registered Democratic, 30,791 (21.3%) are registered Republican, 6,643 (4.6%) are registered with other political parties, and 29,819 (20.6%) have declined to state a political party. Except for Belvedere, every city, town, and the unincorporated areas of Marin County have more registered Democrats than Republicans. As of April, 2008, Republicans hold only a thin advantage of 8 voters over the Democrats in Belvedere.
| Year | DEM | GOP | Others |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | 73.2% 99,070 | 25.4% 34,378 | 1.4% 1,877 |
| 2000 | 64.2% 79,135 | 28.3% 34,872 | 7.4% 9,148 |
| 1996 | 58.0% 67,406 | 28.2% 32,714 | 13.8% 16,020 |
| 1992 | 58.3% 76,158 | 23.3% 30,479 | 18.4% 24,070 |
| 1988 | 58.9% 69,394 | 39.7% 46,855 | 1.4% 1,671 |
| 1984 | 49.6% 57,533 | 49.0% 56,887 | 1.4% 1,630 |
| 1980 | 36.2% 39,231 | 45.8% 49,678 | 18.1% 19,598 |
| 1976 | 42.9% 43,590 | 52.5% 53,425 | 4.6% 4,700 |
| 1972 | 45.6% 47,414 | 52.1% 54,123 | 2.3% 2,346 |
| 1968 | 43.8% 36,278 | 50.1% 41,422 | 6.1% 5,055 |
| 1964 | 61.6% 46,462 | 38.1% 28,682 | 0.3% 220 |
| 1960 | 42.5% 27,888 | 57.3% 37,620 | 0.2% 157 |
[edit] Economy
As of 2008, the largest private-sector employers in Marin County were:[3]
- Kaiser Permanente (1,626 full-time employees in Marin County)
- Marin General Hospital (1,267)
- Autodesk (1,200)
- Fireman's Fund Insurance Company (1,200)
- Comcast (619)
- Safeway Inc. (452)
- Macy's, Inc.
- Frank Howard Allen Realtors (423)
- BioMarin Pharmaceutical
- Fair Isaac
- MHN (350)
- Dominican University of California (325)
- W. Bradley Electric (295)
- Brayton Purcell (288)
- Guide Dogs for the Blind (287)
- Novato Community Hospital (274)
- Mollie Stones (270)
- Wells Fargo
- Costco
- Ghilotti Bros. (250)
- Kentfield Rehabilitation and Specialty Hospital
- Lucasfilm
- Longs Drugs
- Nordstrom (211)
- Coldwell Banker (207)
[edit] Media
Marin county has several media outlets that serve the local community.
- Marin Independent Journal, a daily newspaper with headquarters in Novato.
- Pacific Sun, a free weekly distributed throughout the county.
- The Point Reyes Light, a weekly newspaper.
- KWMR radio, West Marin Radio, serving the West Marin audience.
- Channel 26, public access television in Marin.
[edit] Notable current and former residents
[edit] Cities, towns and unincorporated districts
- Belvedere
- Bolinas
- Corte Madera
- Dillon Beach
- Dogtown
- Fairfax
- Inverness
- Inverness Park
- Kentfield
- Lagunitas-Forest Knolls
- Larkspur
- Las Gallinas
- Marin City
- Marshall
- Mill Valley
- Tamalpais-Homestead Valley
- Muir Beach
- Nicasio
- Novato
- Olema
- Point Reyes Station
- Ross
- San Anselmo
- San Geronimo
- San Rafael
- Sausalito
- Sleepy Hollow
- Stinson Beach
- Tiburon
- Tomales
- Woodacre
[edit] Adjacent counties
- south (across the Golden Gate Bridge)
- east (across the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge)
- north
[edit] Books and films
Marin County has been used as the venue for numerous films and books; in some cases these works have also incorporated scenes set in neighboring San Francisco or Sonoma County. The following are representative works produced in whole or in part in Marin County:
- Marin County lifestyles of the 1970s were spoofed in the 1977 novel The Serial: A Year in the Life of Marin County by Cyra McFadden, and in the subsequent film Serial (1980 film) which was based on the novel.
- The book The Body Snatchers was set in Mill Valley.
- Key scenes in the 1973 movie American Graffiti were filmed in Marin at Tamalpais High School and on 4th Street in downtown San Rafael.
- Scenes from The Godfather and The Godfather: Part II were filmed in Marin.
- Marin County's reputation as a counterculture enclave, especially the town of Bolinas and its isolationist reputation, made it a location of many key events in the 1981 novel Ecotopia Emerging by Ernest Callenbach.
- The 2002 film High Crimes takes place in Marin.
- Many scenes of the 1971 film Dirty Harry and its sequels were filmed in Marin.
- The Alfred Hitchcock film The Birds (1963) takes place in Bodega Bay which borders Marin and Sonoma county.
- The 1995 film Village of the Damned was filmed entirely in Marin.
- The 1996 film Jack was filmed almost entirely in Ross.
- The 2001 film Bandits was filmed in Marin.
- The 1997 film Gattaca was filmed at the Marin County Civic Center.
- Scenes from the 1971 film THX 1138 were filmed at the Marin County Civic Center.
- In the 1981 film Raiders of the Lost Ark starring Harrison Ford, the college scenes were filmed at Dominican University of California and Indiana Jones' home exteriors was filmed in San Rafael as well.
- In the book Youth in Revolt: The Journals of Nick Twisp, the Twisp family resides in Oakland and Nick's father is in jail in Marin County.
- The book A Time For Dancing was set in Mill Valley, and the characters attended Tamalpais High School
- Scenes from the 1992 film Basic Instinct were filmed in Marin, particularly the car chase scene when Nick Curran (Michael Douglas), follows Catherine Trammell (Sharon Stone) from Mill Valley to Muir Beach on Highway 1.
- In the 1978 movie Foul Play Chevy Chase's character, Tony Carlson, lives on a houseboat in Sausalito.
- Short scenes in the 1995 movie Nine Months were set in Tiburon with a view of San Francisco.
- Short scenes from the 2007 film "Zodiac" were filmed in and around Marin County. Note: the stabbing scene at the lake was not filmed in Novato but at Lake Berryessa.
- The staging of George Grisby's shooting in Lady From Shanghai was shot on the dock outside what is now the Gaylord Indian Restaurant in Sausalito.
[edit] Notes
- ^ California's Legislature, "APPENDIX M, Origin and Meaning of the Names of the Counties of California With County Seats and Dates Counties Were Created," p. 302. Spring 2006, Accessed March 26, 2007
- ^ American FactFinder. United States Census Bureau. Retrieved on 2008-01-31.
- ^ Cochrane, Laura; Princesa Pabalan. "Private-sector employers - Marin County", North Bay Business Journal, 2008-06-09, pp. M3-9. (English)
[edit] See also
- List of California counties
- Golden Gate Transit
- List of school districts in Marin County, California
- Gnoss Field
- Mount Tamalpais State Park
- Moon Over Marin, a Dead Kennedys song about pollution in Marin County
[edit] External links
- County of Marin official website
- Marin County - Untold Stories
- Marin County Free Library
- Marin County Real Estate
- Photos of Marin County - Terra Galleria
- Marin Fraternal Organizations
- Marin County community profiles at the Marin Independent Journal
- Marin County Arts
- Marin County Fire Department
- Marin County Businesses & Events
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