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Fairfax, California

Fairfax is an incorporated town in Marin County, California, United States. Fairfax is located 3.25 mi west-northwest of San Rafael, at an elevation of 115 ft. The population was 7,605 at the 2020 census.

History
The Coast Miwok Native Americans occupied stretches along local creeks, spring and seep areas; moreover, prehistoric habitations were usually chosen near permanent and seasonal drainages, typically along flat ridges and terraces.

The town was named for Lord Charles Snowden Fairfax. In 1861, Fairfax was the site of the last political duel in California. Daniel Showalter and Charles W. Piercy, both former assemblymen in the state legislature, decided to settle a political dispute at the home of Lord Fairfax, a mutual friend. Although Fairfax provided lunch to both men and tried to talk them out of it, they eventually headed to an open field nearby and dueled, with Showalter killing Piercy.

The first post office opened in 1910. Fairfax became an incorporated town in 1931.

On May 16, 1946, a B-17 Flying Fortress bomber, crashed on White's Hill just west of Fairfax.

Geography
Fairfax is in eastern Marin County, bordered to the east by San Anselmo and to the north by unincorporated Sleepy Hollow. The community lies in the valleys of San Anselmo Creek and its tributary Fairfax Creek, and climbs the surrounding hills. It is bordered to the south by the Mount Tamalpais protected watershed.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the town has a total area of 2.2 sqmi, all of it recorded as land.

Soils in the Fairfax area mostly belong to the Tocaloma Series as classified by the U.S. Soil Conservation Service. These soils consist of moderately deep, well-drained soils on uplands. These soils are typically formed from sandstone and shale and often occur on slopes ranging above 15 percent.

2020
At the 2020 census Fairfax had a population of 7,605. The racial makeup of Fairfax was 5,998 (78.9%) White, 94 (1.24%) African American, 56 (0.7%) Native American, 233 (3.1%) Asian, 20 (0.3%) Pacific Islander, 349 (4.6%) from other races, and 855 (11.2%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 878 people (11.6%).

The census reported that 7,579 people (99.7% of the population) lived in households, 16 (0.2%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 10 (0.1%) were institutionalized.

There were 3,410 households, 749 (22.0%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,477 (43.3%) were married couple households, 993 (29.1%) had a female householder with no spouse or partner present, 551 (16.2%) had a male householder with no spouse or partner present. There were 389 (11.4%) cohabitating couple households. 646 households (18.9%) were one person and 379 (11.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.2. There were 1,931 families (6.63% of households); the average family size was 2.7.

The age distribution was 1,135 people (14.9%) under the age of 18, 570 people (7.5%) aged 18 to 24, 1,605 people (21.1%) aged 25 to 44, 2,489 people (32.7%) aged 45 to 64, and 1,806 people (23.8%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 48.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.2 males.

There were 3,470 housing units, of the occupied units 2,128 (64.8%) were owner-occupied and 1,156 (35.2%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.6%; the rental vacancy rate was 3.6%.

2010
At the 2010 census Fairfax had a population of 7,441. The population density was 3,376.9 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Fairfax was 6,617 (88.9%) White, 110 (1.5%) African American, 36 (0.5%) Native American, 204 (2.7%) Asian, 4 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 174 (2.3%) from other races, and 296 (4.0%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 504 people (6.8%).

The census reported that 7,419 people (99.7% of the population) lived in households, 12 (0.2%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 10 (0.1%) were institutionalized.

There were 3,379 households, 939 (27.8%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,422 (42.1%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 319 (9.4%) had a female householder with no husband present, 134 (4.0%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 267 (7.9%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 52 (1.5%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 1,076 households (31.8%) were one person and 320 (9.5%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.20. There were 1,875 families (55.5% of households); the average family size was 2.77.

The age distribution was 1,436 people (19.3%) under the age of 18, 342 people (4.6%) aged 18 to 24, 1,806 people (24.3%) aged 25 to 44, 2,907 people (39.1%) aged 45 to 64, and 950 people (12.8%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 45.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 92.9 males.

There were 3,585 housing units at an average density of 1,626.9 per square mile, of the occupied units 2,103 (62.2%) were owner-occupied and 1,276 (37.8%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.9%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.9%. 4,917 people (66.1% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 2,502 people (33.6%) lived in rental housing units.

2000
At the 2000 census there were 7,319 people, 3,306 households, and 1,811 families in the town. The population density was 3,441.2 PD/sqmi. There were 3,418 housing units at an average density of 1,607.0 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the town in 2010 was 85.4% non-Hispanic White, 1.4% non-Hispanic Black or African American, 0.3% Native American, 2.7% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.4% from other races, and 3.1% from two or more races. 6.8% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 3,306 households 27.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 41.2% were married couples living together, 10.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 45.2% were non-families. 31.1% of households were one person and 7.4% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.76.

The age distribution was 19.2% under the age of 18, 4.7% from 18 to 24, 33.5% from 25 to 44, 33.1% from 45 to 64, and 9.5% 65 or older. The median age was 42 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.2 males.

The median income for a household in the town was $58,465, and the median family income was $68,308. Males had a median income of $51,457 versus $40,815 for females. The per capita income for the town was $34,080. About 4.3% of families and 6.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.6% of those under age 18 and 7.6% of those age 65 or over.

Culture
In the mid-1960s, a softball game between Jefferson Airplane and the Grateful Dead took place at Central Field (also known as Contratti Park), a public downtown baseball field.

Irving Berlin used to serenade from a treetop piano at Pastori's Hotel, formerly Bird's Nest Glen, the home of Lord Charles Snowden Fairfax, and later known as the Marin Town & Country Club.

The popularity of outdoor hot tubs soared after Al Garvey designed his own redwood hot tub in July 1966, installed outside Al and Barbara Garvey's home on Scenic Road on the hillside leading up to Fairfax Manor. The Garvey hot tub was used by hundreds of people in the first few months, including jazz musician John Handy, eccentric architect Roger Somers and sex worker/feminist Margo St. James. Barbara Garvey said, "We decided to make the hot tub a social enterprise and started throwing parties." Soon, many others had hot tubs of their own. The social fashion of hot-tubbing with friends became connected with Marin County culture and style.

Fairfax is a popular destination for mountain bikers and road cyclists due to its proximity to Mount Tamalpais. In 2015, Joe Breeze and other members of the Mountain Bike Hall of Fame founded the Marin Museum of Bicycling in downtown Fairfax. The museum hosts one of the largest collections of bicycles on the west coast.

Politics
In 2009 Fairfax Town Council became the fourth Green Party majority town council in US history. Three out of five council members registered Green. In 2017, Fairfax had 5,602 registered voters. Of those, 3,726 (66.5%) are registered Democrats, 370 (6.6%) are registered Republicans, 1,528 (27.3%) have declined to state a political party and 155 (2.8%) are registered with the Green Party.

Education
Fairfax is in the Ross Valley Elementary School District and the Tamalpais Union High School District.

Births

 * Polly Klaas (1981-1993), girl killed by Richard Allen Davis
 * Lonnie Mayne (1944-1978), wrestler
 * Ali Prosch (born 1979), artist
 * Virgil Shaw, musician
 * Alfred Sorensen (1890-1984), writer and mystic

Deaths

 * Keith Donnellan (1931-2015), philosopher and professor
 * Andy Kulberg (1944-2002), musician
 * Chris Michie (1948-2003), musician
 * Robert Peterson (1924-2000), poet
 * Charles Wesley Piercy (1833-1861), politician; killed in a duel
 * David James Redford (1962-2020), filmmaker
 * Archie Williams (1915-1993), athlete and Air Force officer

title: Fairfax, California


text:
Inverness, California

Inverness is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in western Marin County, California, United States. It is located on the southwest shore of Tomales Bay 3.5 mi northwest of Point Reyes Station and about 40 mi by road northwest of San Francisco, at an elevation of 43 ft. In the 2020 census, the population was 1,379. The community was named by a Scottish landowner after Inverness in Scotland.

Community
Inverness is located on the west shore of Tomales Bay, which runs southeast along the line of the San Andreas Fault. Surrounded by Point Reyes National Seashore, it is primarily a residential community, with little industry other than tourism. It has a small downtown area with a general store, post office, library, two restaurants, one gift shop and a coffee shop. A third restaurant is located a short way north of downtown. There are also a number of hotels and inns spread throughout the town.

One aspect of the town is a concentration of recreational (and some commercial) boating. There is a small public marina, a few private piers, and the Inverness Yacht Club.

Portions of the John Carpenter film The Fog as well as most of his film Village of the Damned were shot in and around Inverness. In 1970, American singer and songwriter Jesse Colin Young moved his home and recording studio to Inverness. In 1993, Young and his wife Connie founded Ridgetop Music, a label based out of their home in Inverness.

History

The town is about 5 mi northeast of Drakes Bay on the Pacific Ocean, named after Sir Francis Drake, who explored the coast in the 16th century. Although Drake's official log was lost, the ship's doctor's log described landing in an area that reminded him of the White Cliffs of Dover. Drakes Bay is backed by similar-looking cliffs, leading many to believe this is where the ship landed.

The region became the property of James Shafter, who began to develop the property in the 1890s. It became a summer resort where people from San Francisco and Oakland came to camp, hike and swim in Tomales Bay. Many built small summer cabins that still exist today. Small steamboats took day trippers down the bay to secluded beaches. They left from Brock Schreiber's boathouse, which has been preserved and is a prominent local landmark with its prominent sign "Launch for Hire".

The first post office opened in 1897.

In 1995, Inverness Ridge was the site of the Mt. Vision Fire, which burned a large area of Point Reyes National Seashore and a number of homes built on the ridge. The town itself was threatened but was saved by helicopters dipping water from Tomales Bay to drop on the Bishop pine forest between the town and the burning ridgetop.

Geography

Inverness is located at 38.10111°N, -122.85694°W. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 6.8 sqmi, of which 6.4 sqmi are land and 0.4 sqmi, or 6.38%, are water. The CDP includes the secondary community of Inverness Park, southeast of Inverness proper. It is bordered to the east by Point Reyes Station.

The town is adjacent to the San Andreas Fault and is spread out along approximately 2 mi of the western shore and valleys of Tomales Bay on the Point Reyes Peninsula. It provides services to visitors to the Point Reyes National Seashore and Tomales Bay State Park.

Climate
Inverness has a Mediterranean climate heavily influenced by the nearby Pacific Ocean, with cool, rainy winters and mild, dry summers. The community experiences a fairly narrow range of temperatures, due to its position only a few miles inland. The warmest month is actually September, a common pattern in the Bay Area due to the annual rollover in ocean currents.

Demographics
At the 2010 census Inverness had a population of 1,304. The population density was 190.8 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Inverness was 1,212 (92.9%) White, 15 (1.2%) African American, 8 (0.6%) Native American, 16 (1.2%) Asian, 2 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 19 (1.5%) from other races, and 32 (2.5%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 79 people (6.1%).

The census reported that 100% of the population lived in households.

There were 697 households, 90 (12.9%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 300 (43.0%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 33 (4.7%) had a female householder with no husband present, 14 (2.0%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 48 (6.9%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 9 (1.3%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 278 households (39.9%) were one person and 109 (15.6%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 1.87. There were 347 families (49.8% of households); the average family size was 2.46.

The age distribution was 139 people (10.7%) under the age of 18, 35 people (2.7%) aged 18 to 24, 226 people (17.3%) aged 25 to 44, 553 people (42.4%) aged 45 to 64, and 351 people (26.9%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 57.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 82.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.0 males.

There were 1,130 housing units at an average density of 165.3 per square mile, of the occupied units 451 (64.7%) were owner-occupied and 246 (35.3%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.2%; the rental vacancy rate was 9.8%. 65.7% of the population lived in owner-occupied housing units and 34.3% lived in rental housing units.

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Inverness, California


text:
Kentfield, California

Kentfield (formerly Ross Landing, Tamalpais, and Kent) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Marin County, California, United States, just north of San Francisco. Kentfield is located 2 mi southwest of downtown San Rafael, at an elevation of 115 feet (35 m). The population was 6,808 at the 2020 census. The ZIP codes are 94904 for street addresses, and 94914 for PO boxes, and are shared with the neighboring community of Greenbrae.

History
In 1857, James Ross (1812–1862) bought Rancho Punta de Quentin. Ross, a Scot who had arrived in San Francisco from Australia in 1848 and made his fortune in the wholesale liquor business, set up a trading post called "Ross Landing". Steamers would come up Corte Madera Creek to the landing there. Albert Emmett Kent bought the land from the Ross estate in 1871. Kent built an estate called Tamalpais, later applied to the nearby railroad station. His son, William Kent, was a US Congressman, philanthropist and founder of Muir Woods.

The name of the railroad station was changed to Kent in the 1890s, and finally to Kentfield with the opening of the first post office in 1905.

Geography
Kentfield is located on the eastern slopes of Mount Tamalpais. It is at 37.95222°N, -122.55722°W It is bordered to the north by Ross, to the northeast by San Rafael, and to the south by Larkspur.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 3.0 sqmi, of which 0.02 sqmi, or 0.62%, are water.

Climate
The National Weather Service reports that Kentfield's warmest month is July, with an average high of 82.7 F and an average low of 53.0 F. December is the coolest month, with an average high of 54.8 F and an average low of 41.3 F. The highest temperature on record was 112 F on July 11, 1913. The lowest temperature recorded was 17 F on December 31, 1915. Annually, there are an average of 19.6 days with highs of 90 °F or higher and 1.3 days with highs of 100 °F or more. Freezing temperatures (32 °F or below) occur an average of 3.8 days each year.

Kentfield has one of the highest average rainfall totals of any community in the San Francisco Bay Area; normally 47.98 in of rain falls each year on an average of 68.9 days. The most rainfall in a month was 26.95 in in February 1986 and the most in 24 hours was 11.56 in on January 21, 1967. Although heavy snow sometimes falls on nearby Mount Tamalpais, snow is rare in Kentfield; however, trace amounts were reported on January 28 and December 13, 1972.

2010
The 2010 United States Census reported that Kentfield had a population of 6,485. The population density was 2,132.6 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Kentfield was 5,908 (91.1%) White, 35 (0.5%) African American, 10 (0.2%) Native American, 224 (3.5%) Asian, 7 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 95 (1.5%) from other races, and 206 (3.2%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 299 persons (4.6%).

The Census reported that 6,463 people (99.7% of the population) lived in households, 13 (0.2%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 9 (0.1%) were institutionalized.

There were 2,572 households, out of which 893 (34.7%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,562 (60.7%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 200 (7.8%) had a female householder with no husband present, 78 (3.0%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 83 (3.2%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 25 (1.0%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 600 households (23.3%) were made up of individuals, and 285 (11.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.51. There were 1,840 families (71.5% of all households); the average family size was 2.97.

The population was spread out, with 1,660 people (25.6%) under the age of 18, 265 people (4.1%) aged 18 to 24, 1,092 people (16.8%) aged 25 to 44, 2,206 people (34.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 1,262 people (19.5%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.0 males.

There were 2,758 housing units at an average density of 907.0 /sqmi, of which 1,948 (75.7%) were owner-occupied, and 624 (24.3%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.8%; the rental vacancy rate was 8.1%. 5,202 people (80.2% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 1,261 people (19.4%) lived in rental housing units.

2000
As of the census of 2000, there were 6,351 people, 2,506 households, and 1,806 families residing in the CDP. The population density was 2,119.5 PD/sqmi. There were 2,565 housing units at an average density of 856.0 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the CDP in 2010 was 88.3% non-Hispanic White, 0.5% non-Hispanic Black or African American, 0.1% Native American, 3.4% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.2% from other races, and 2.7% from two or more races. 4.6% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 2,506 households, out of which 34.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 62.3% were married couples living together, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 27.9% were non-families. 21.5% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.52 and the average family size was 2.94.

In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 25.0% under the age of 18, 3.4% from 18 to 24, 22.0% from 25 to 44, 32.9% from 45 to 64, and 16.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 88.9 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $117,457, and the median income for a family was $154,673. Males had a median income of $88,000 versus $59,286 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $79,459. About 2.8% of families and 3.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 4.7% of those under age 18 and 1.9% of those age 65 or over.

Educational institutions
Most of Kentfield is in the Kentfield Elementary School District, while portions are in the Larkspur Elementary School District and the Ross Elementary School District. All of Kentfield is in the Tamalpais Union High School District.

Anthony G. Bacich Elementary School
A.G. Bacich Elementary School is a California Distinguished School that hosts grades K-4. During the 2009–2010 school year, Bacich Elementary School served approximately 600 children. The school is racially homogeneous, with 91% white. The next largest ethnicity is Asian, at 5%. As of 2010, there were 41 teachers. As of 2009, Bacich has an Academic Performance Index of 946 out of 1000, putting it in the top ranking in the state of California.

Adeline E. Kent Middle School
Adeline E. Kent Middle School is a co-ed California Distinguished School and a California Gold Ribbon School that hosts grades 5–8. As of 2014 it enrolled 522 students. The school is racially homogeneous, with over 90% white. The next largest ethnicity is Asian, at 3%. The school consists of 38 classrooms, as well as a multipurpose room, a gym, and a library. As of 2003, there were 32 teachers. As of 2009, Kent has an Academic Performance Index of 944 out of 1000, putting it in the top ranking in the state of California.

Marin Catholic High School
Marin Catholic High School, a Roman Catholic college preparatory, serves young boys and girls in the Catholic tradition. The student population currently numbers around 725. The school is owned by the Archdiocese of San Francisco.

College of Marin
The main campus for the College of Marin is in Kentfield, and is across the street from Kent Middle School. College of Marin is well known for its theatre department, with the highest transfer acceptance to Juilliard of any junior college in the state.

Notable people

 * Frederic Lister Burk, educator and university president, lived many years in Kentfield.
 * Jared Goff, NFL quarterback for the Detroit Lions and the Los Angeles Rams, attended Marin Catholic High School.
 * Charles S. Kilburn, U.S. Army brigadier general
 * Brian McCall, outfielder for Chicago White Sox
 * Gavin Newsom, 42nd mayor of San Francisco and 40th governor of California

title: Kentfield, California


text:
Lagunitas-Forest Knolls, California

Lagunitas-Forest Knolls is a census-designated place, composed of two unincorporated areas in the western half of the San Geronimo Valley in Marin County, California. It is located to the west of San Geronimo and Woodacre. The population was 1,924 at the 2020 census.

The two towns are locally seen as separate. Geographically divided by narrow points in the San Geronimo Valley, each has its own small commercial center. Both towns are primarily residential. The ZIP code of Lagunitas is 94938, while the ZIP code of Forest Knolls is 94933.

Geography
Lagunitas-Forest Knolls is located at 38.015°N, -122.69389°W (38.015064, -122.693874).

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 11.0 km2, all of it land.

San Geronimo Creek (a.k.a. Paper Mill Creek), one of the few remaining spawning grounds for Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch), runs through both towns. Lagunitas Creek, a tributary to San Geronimo Creek, is home to the largest remaining wild run of Coho salmon in Central California. These Coho are part of the Central California Coast Evolutionarily Significant Unit (CCC ESU), and are listed as "endangered" at both the state and federal level.

The towns line the western end of the San Geronimo Valley, extending into the forested south ridges and slightly into the grassier northern ones.

Lagunitas is on the eastern border of Samuel P. Taylor State Park. Like the park, Lagunitas-Forest Knolls and the surrounding environs are lushly vegetated with large areas of coniferous forests.

Hiking and horseback riding are popular in the hills above the towns.

2010
At the 2010 census Lagunitas-Forest Knolls had a population of 1,819. The population density was 428.3 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Lagunitas-Forest Knolls was 1,658 (91.1%) White, 26 (1.4%) African American, 11 (0.6%) Native American, 11 (0.6%) Asian, 1 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 43 (2.4%) from other races, and 69 (3.8%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 133 people (7.3%).

The census reported that 99.5% of the population lived in households and 0.5% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters.

There were 817 households, 213 (26.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 354 (43.3%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 86 (10.5%) had a female householder with no husband present, 40 (4.9%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 57 (7.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 10 (1.2%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 259 households (31.7%) were one person and 45 (5.5%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.22. There were 480 families (58.8% of households); the average family size was 2.78.

The age distribution was 342 people (18.8%) under the age of 18, 94 people (5.2%) aged 18 to 24, 339 people (18.6%) aged 25 to 44, 808 people (44.4%) aged 45 to 64, and 236 people (13.0%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 48.9 years. For every 100 females, there were 94.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 97.5 males.

There were 897 housing units at an average density of 211.2 /sqmi, of which 66.7% were owner-occupied and 33.3% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.6%; the rental vacancy rate was 3.2%. 71.4% of the population lived in owner-occupied housing units and 28.1% lived in rental housing units.

2000
At the 2000 census there were 1,835 people, 745 households, and 475 families in the CDP. The population density was 430.5 PD/sqmi. There were 776 housing units at an average density of 182.1 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the CDP in 2010 was 87.0% non-Hispanic White, 1.4% non-Hispanic African American, 0.2% Native American, 0.5% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.5% from other races, and 3.0% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.3%.

Of the 745 households 35.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.1% were married couples living together, 12.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 36.2% were non-families. 26.3% of households were one person and 3.0% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.43 and the average family size was 2.87.

The age distribution was 24.2% under the age of 18, 5.2% from 18 to 24, 29.6% from 25 to 44, 35.4% from 45 to 64, and 5.6% 65 or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.5 males.

The median household income was $55,917 and the median family income was $72,411. Males had a median income of $60,035 versus $40,625 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $31,504. About 4.1% of families and 6.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.4% of those under age 18 and 2.0% of those age 65 or over.

Education
It is in the Lagunitas Elementary School District and the Tamalpais Union High School District.

title: Lagunitas-Forest Knolls, California


text:
Larkspur, California

Larkspur is a city in Marin County, California, United States. Larkspur is located 3 mi south of San Rafael, at an elevation of 43 ft. As of the 2020 census, the city's population was 13,064. Larkspur's Police Department is shared with that of the neighboring Corte Madera and town of San Anselmo as the Central Marin Police Authority. Intersecting Larkspur's downtown is Madrone Canyon, a residential area amidst a redwood grove.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.24 sqmi, of which 3.03 sqmi is land and 0.22 sqmi (6.66%) is water.

History
Charles W. Wright laid out the town in 1887. The first post office opened in 1891. Larkspur incorporated in 1908. Larkspur's Downtown Historic District, known also as Old Downtown Larkspur, is a historic district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The restored Art Deco Lark Theater is part of this downtown district.

Communities
Murray Park is an unincorporated community in Larkspur. Escalle is named after a 19th-century French immigrant.

Federal and state
In the United States House of Representatives, Larkspur is in. From 2008 to 2012, Huffman represented Marin County in the California State Assembly.

In the California State Legislature, Larkspur is in:

According to the California Secretary of State, as of February 10, 2019, Larkspur has 8,871 registered voters. Of those, 4,944 (55.7%) are registered Democrats, 1,250 (14.1%) are registered Republicans, and 2,324 (26.2%) have declined to state a political party.

2010
At the 2010 census Larkspur had a population of 11,926. The population density was 3,677.5 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Larkspur was 10,311 (86.5%) White, 186 (1.6%) African American, 26 (0.2%) Native American, 563 (4.7%) Asian, 13 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 343 (2.9%) from other races, and 484 (4.1%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 918 people (7.7%).

The census reported that 11,803 people (99.0% of the population) lived in households, 42 (0.4%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 81 (0.7%) were institutionalized.

There were 5,908 households, 1,314 (22.2%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 2,266 (38.4%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 433 (7.3%) had a female householder with no husband present, 197 (3.3%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 329 (5.6%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 74 (1.3%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 2,502 households (42.3%) were one person and 1,009 (17.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.00. There were 2,896 families (49.0% of households); the average family size was 2.77.

The age distribution was 2,176 people (18.2%) under the age of 18, 466 people (3.9%) aged 18 to 24, 2,620 people (22.0%) aged 25 to 44, 4,103 people (34.4%) aged 45 to 64, and 2,561 people (21.5%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 48.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 81.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.0 males.

There were 6,376 housing units at an average density of 1,966.1 per square mile, of the occupied units 2,898 (49.1%) were owner-occupied and 3,010 (50.9%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.5%; the rental vacancy rate was 7.1%. 6,494 people (54.5% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 5,309 people (44.5%) lived in rental housing units.

2000
At the 2000 census there were 12,014 people in 6,142 households, including 2,899 families, in the city. The population density was 3,833.7 PD/sqmi. There were 6,413 housing units at an average density of 2,046.4 /mi2. The racial makeup of the city in 2010 was 82.1% non-Hispanic White, 1.5% non-Hispanic African American, 0.1% Native American, 4.7% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.6% from other races, and 3.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.7%.

Of the 6,142 households 19.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 38.4% were married couples living together, 6.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 52.8% were non-families. 43.1% of households were one person and 14.7% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 1.93 and the average family size was 2.69.

The age distribution was 16.4% under the age of 18, 3.3% from 18 to 24, 28.8% from 25 to 44, 31.8% from 45 to 64, and 19.7% 65 or older. The median age was 46 years. For every 100 females, there were 82.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.8 males.

The median household income was $66,710 and the median family income was $104,028. Males had a median income of $83,252 versus $49,421 for females. The per capita income for the city was $56,983. About 1.8% of families and 3.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.3% of those under age 18 and 2.9% of those age 65 or over.

Ferry service

Larkspur is the location for one of Golden Gate Transit's Larkspur Landing, the main ferry terminal for its commuter passenger ferry service between Marin County and the San Francisco Ferry Building and job centers in the Financial District. This Golden Gate Ferry portals and has a ridership of over 8,500 per day, on average. There is special direct ferry service from the Larkspur Ferry Terminal to Oracle Park for San Francisco Giants games.

Rail service
The Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit commuter rail service was extended to Larkspur station in 2019. The line provides daily trips as far north as Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport and is eventually planned to extend to Cloverdale station.

The North Pacific Coast Railroad (later absorbed by the Northwestern Pacific Railroad) provided interurban services to Larkspur until 1941.

Education
Larkspur-Corte Madera School District serves much of Larkspur for elementary and middle school. Neil Cummins Elementary School and Hall Middle School serve both Corte Madera and Larkspur. Neil Cummins serves grades K to 5, while Hall serves grades 6 to 8. The former San Clemente Elementary School was reopened as The Cove School in 2014. In lieu of extensive retrofit to the existing structures, new buildings have been built on the same site. This school serves neighborhoods currently served by Neil Cummins Elementary, mostly to the west of Highway 101, and new developments in the area.

A portion of Larkspur is in the Kentfield Elementary School District.

The Tamalpais Union High School District, which serves most of Larkspur (the Larkspur-Corte Madera and Kentfield district portions), comprises five high schools that serve the region.

A portion of Larkspur is in the San Rafael Elementary School District and the San Rafael High School District, jointly operated as San Rafael City Schools. Residents of the San Rafael high school district may choose either San Rafael High School or Terra Linda High School.

Marin Primary and Middle School is a local private school.

In popular culture
Scenes in the 1949 film noir Impact featured several areas around Larkspur, including the home and gas station of the Probert family, in the location now occupied by Perry's Larkspur restaurant. In the film, the town is frequently mentioned as being in Idaho.

The final scenes of Clint Eastwood's 1971 movie Dirty Harry were filmed in Larkspur at the old Hutchison Gravel Quarry (now Larkspur Landing).

Town twinning

 * 🇺🇸 Corte Madera, California ("twin city")
 * Shangyu, Zhejiang, China (sister city)

Notable people

 * Jake Curhan (born 1998), American football offensive tackle for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL)
 * Matt Doyle, Broadway actor.
 * Leonard Gardner, author of the novel Fat City, lives in Larkspur.
 * Erin Gray, television actress.
 * Janis Joplin's last known residence was located in Larkspur at 380 West Baltimore Avenue.
 * Charles S. Kilburn, U.S. Army brigadier general
 * Ki Longfellow grew up in Larkspur's Madrone Canyon: 201 Madrone Avenue, (The Illustrated Vivian Stanshall, a Fairytale of Grimm Art, Eio Books, 2018)
 * Gavin Newsom, California Governor, lived in Larkspur in his youth.
 * Steve Perry, former lead singer of rock band Journey.
 * Michael Savage, conservative broadcaster.
 * Leon Uris wrote his acclaimed first novel, Battle Cry (1953), in Larkspur.
 * Corinne West, singer/songwriter.

title: Larkspur, California


text:
Lucas Valley-Marinwood, California

Lucas Valley-Marinwood is a census-designated place (CDP) in Marin County, California, United States. It includes the neighborhoods of Lucas Valley and Marinwood. As of the 2020 census, the population was 6,259.

History
James Miller, of Irish descent, came overland to California in 1844 with the Stephens–Townsend–Murphy Party and in April 1845 arrived in San Rafael. In 1846 he purchased 680 acre of land from Timothy Murphy, grantee of Rancho San Pedro, Santa Margarita y Las Gallinas. The land encompassed present-day Marinwood and a creek which was later named Miller Creek. He rebuilt an old adobe on a hill where the Miller Creek condominiums are located and called it Miller Hall. By 1862 Miller had 10 children, and in 1864 he donated a $3/4$-acre site next to Miller Creek to have the Dixie School built upon it. The building still stands but has been relocated in front of Miller Creek Middle school on Las Gallinas Avenue. It is on the National Register of Historic Places.

James Miller died in 1890. The 1084 acre ranch he owned at the time was eventually sold to the Sequeira family in 1935. The family tore down Miller Hall later that year. A portion of the Miller land was sold to Anthony Faustine (A.F.) Silveira, who had leased the property from 1900 to 1935. Silveira built his own home and dairy facility in 1935 on the east side of what is now the 101 Highway. Silveira, the founding president of Marin Dairymen's Milk Co. Ltd. aka Marin-Dell, died in a ranch accident in 1937. His family continued the ranching operation, which still exists.

Lucas Valley was named after John Lucas, a 19th-century rancher and nephew of Timothy Murphy (not related to George Lucas).

In the 1950s and 1960s, suburbia came to Marinwood. It was brought partly on the shoulders of modernist builder/developer Joseph Eichler. His highly recognizable and stylish homes can be found throughout Lucas Valley and Eastern Marinwood. The Lucas Valley community center and pool were also constructed by Eichler as a centerpiece of the neighborhood.

The original subdivision of Marinwood consisted of streets to the north of Miller Creek Road and featured a blend of suburban single story ranch-style homes and two-story Cape Cod-inspired homes. The streets were named so that all the names ended in "-stone". In alphabetical order, they are Adobestone, Blackstone, Cobblestone, Deepstone, Emerystone, Flagstone, Heatherstone, Johnstone, Millstone, Opalstone, Peachstone, Rhinestone, Unionstone, and Windstone.

The second subdivision was smaller, built to the south of Miller Creek Road, featuring the same mix of ranch- and Cape Cod-style homes. The streets were named with "-wood" as their suffix. They are Pinewood and Quietwood.

A later development was the area that became known as Lower Lucas Valley. This development featured the Eichler-style homes, as opposed to the Marinwood mix. The streets of lower Lucas Valley were named so their names all ended in berry. The streets are, in alphabetical order: Appleberry, Blackberry, Cedarberry, Danberry, Elderberry, Flaxberry, Greenberry, Huckleberry, Idylberry, Juniperberry, Kernberry, Loganberry, Mulberry, Newberry.

The final development was the area up the valley to the west, known as Upper Lucas Valley, and also featured Eichler-style homes. The streets of this area are all named for famous mountains, such as Mt. Shasta, Mt. Rainier, Mt. Whitney, etc.

In 1977, George Lucas purchased 1267 acre west of Marinwood, which he subsequently refashioned into Skywalker Ranch. Geographically, Skywalker Ranch is located on the western side of the Big Rock Ridge and is not part of the Lucas Valley–Marinwood CDP.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 5.7 mi2, all of it land. It is bordered to the north by Novato and to the south by San Rafael. The U.S. Route 101 freeway forms the eastern limit of the CDP, and Lucas Valley Road is the southern border. The CDP extends west up Lucas Valley road to the height of land at Big Rock.

2010
The 2010 United States Census reported that Lucas Valley-Marinwood had a population of 6,094. The population density was 1,064.2 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Lucas Valley-Marinwood was 5,225 (85.7%) White, 68 (1.1%) African American, 18 (0.3%) Native American, 424 (7.0%) Asian, 5 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 117 (1.9%) from other races, and 237 (3.9%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 444 persons (7.3%).

The Census reported that 6,011 people (98.6% of the population) lived in households, 54 (0.9%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 29 (0.5%) were institutionalized.

There were 2,348 households, out of which 809 (34.5%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,395 (59.4%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 222 (9.5%) had a female householder with no husband present, 84 (3.6%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 84 (3.6%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 35 (1.5%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 521 households (22.2%) were made up of individuals, and 311 (13.2%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.56. There were 1,701 families (72.4% of all households); the average family size was 2.97.

The population was spread out, with 1,455 people (23.9%) under the age of 18, 309 people (5.1%) aged 18 to 24, 1,055 people (17.3%) aged 25 to 44, 2,052 people (33.7%) aged 45 to 64, and 1,223 people (20.1%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 47.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 89.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 85.2 males.

There were 2,407 housing units at an average density of 420.3 /sqmi, of which 2,002 (85.3%) were owner-occupied, and 346 (14.7%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.7%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.9%. 5,121 people (84.0% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 890 people (14.6%) lived in rental housing units.

2000
As of the census of 2000, there were 6,357 people, 2,369 households, and 1,764 families, residing in the CDP. The population density was 1,134.3 PD/sqmi. There were 2,392 housing units at an average density of 426.8 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the CDP in 2010 was 81.0% non-Hispanic White, 1.1% non-Hispanic African American, 0.1% Native American, 6.9% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.3% from other races, and 3.2% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7.3% of the population.

There were 2,369 households, out of which 37.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 61.5% were married couples living together, 10.1% had a female householder with no husband present, and 25.5% were non-families. 19.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.03.

In the CDP, the population was spread out, with 26.6% under the age of 18, 3.6% from 18 to 24, 23.8% from 25 to 44, 30.2% from 45 to 64, and 15.8% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 43 years. For every 100 females, there were 91.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.4 males.

The median income for a household in the CDP was $85,444, and the median income for a family was $95,852. Males had a median income of $65,583 versus $51,132 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $38,423. About 2.0% of families and 3.7% of the population were below the poverty line, including 2.2% of those under age 18 and 6.3% of those age 65 or over.

Education
The school districts covering the area of the CDP are the Miller Creek Elementary School District (formerly the Dixie School District) and the San Rafael City High School District.

It includes three elementary schools- Lucas Valley Elementary School, and Mary E. Silveira Elementary School. There is also one middle school-Miller Creek Middle School Panthers, a California Distinguished School.

Residents may choose either San Rafael High School or Terra Linda High School.

title: Lucas Valley-Marinwood, California


text:
Mill Valley, California

Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located about 14 mi north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and 52 mi from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 census.

Mill Valley is located on the western and northern shores of Richardson Bay, and the eastern slopes of Mount Tamalpais. Beyond the flat coastal area and marshlands, it occupies narrow wooded canyons, mostly of second-growth redwoods, on the southeastern slopes of Mount Tamalpais. The Mill Valley 94941 ZIP Code also includes the following adjacent unincorporated communities: Almonte, Alto, Homestead Valley, Tamalpais Valley, and Strawberry. The Muir Woods National Monument is also located just outside the city limits.

Coast Miwok
The first people known to inhabit Marin County, the Coast Miwok, arrived approximately 6,500 years ago. The territory of the Coast Miwok encompasses all of Marin County, north to Bodega Bay and southern Sonoma County. More than 600 village sites have been identified, including 14 sites in the Mill Valley area. Nearby archaeological discoveries include rock carvings and grain-grinding sites on Ring Mountain. The pre-Missionization population of the Coast Miwok is estimated to have been between 1,500 (Alfred L. Kroeber's estimate for the year 1770 AD) and 2,000 (Sherburne F. Cook's estimate for the same year ). The pre-Spanish era Coast Miwok population may have even been as high as 5,000. Cook speculated that by 1848, their population had decreased to merely 300, from foreign disease-exposure and Spanish violence, and was down to 60 by 1880. As of 2011, there are over 1,000 registered members of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, which includes both the Coast Miwok and the Southern Pomo, all of whom can date their ancestry back to 14 survivors as original tribal ancestors.

In Mill Valley, on Locust Avenue (between Sycamore and Walnut avenues), there is now a metal plaque set in the sidewalk in the area believed to be the birthplace of Chief Marin in 1781; the plaque was dedicated on May 8, 2009. The village site was first identified by Nels Nelson in 1907, and his excavation revealed tools, burials and food debris, among other things, just beyond the driveway of a residence on Locust Ave. At that time, the mound was 20 ft high. Shell mounds have been discovered in areas by streams and along Richardson Bay, including in the Strawberry and Almonte neighborhoods.

Another famous Mill Valley site was in the Manzanita area, underneath the Fireside Inn, previously known as the Manzanita Roadhouse (and the Manzanita Hotel, Emil Plasberg's Top Rail, and Top Rail Tavern); the bulk of such establishments were notoriously regarded during the time of United States Prohibition-era gin joints and brothels. The Manzanita was located near the intersection of U.S. Route 101 and California State Route 1. Built in 1916, the "Blind Pig" roadhouse was located outside of the dry laws that were enforced more strictly within the city itself.

In 1776, with the foundation of Mission San Francisco de Asís (commonly known as Mission Dolores), the Coast Miwok of southern Marin began to slowly enter the mission; first, those from Sausalito came, followed by those from areas now known as Mill Valley, Belvedere, Tiburón and Bolinas. They called themselves the "Huimen" people. At the mission, they were taught the Catholic faith, lost all of their known freedom, and over three-quarters died as a result of exposure to foreign diseases, to which the Native Americans lacked immunity. Nearly just as many people died from violent acts perpetrated by the Spaniards and Europeans. As a result of the high death rate at Mission Dolores, it was decided to build a new Mission San Rafael, built in 1817. Over 200 surviving Coast Miwok were taken there from Mission Dolores and Mission San Jose—including the 17 survivors of the Huimen Coast Miwok of the Richardson Bay area California Missions.

Early settlers
By 1834, the Mission era had ended and California was under the control of the Mexican government. They took Miwok ancestral lands, divided them and gave them to Mexican soldiers or relatives who had connections with the Mexican governor. The huge tracts of land, called ranchos by the Mexican settlers, or Californios, soon covered the area. The Miwoks who had not died or fled were often employed under a state of indentured servitude to the California land grant owners. That same year, the governor of Alta California, José Figueroa, awarded to John T. Reed the first land grant in Marin, Rancho Corte Madera del Presidio. Just west of that, Rancho Saucelito was transferred to William A. Richardson in 1838 after being originally awarded to Nicolas Galindo in 1835. William Richardson also married a well-connected woman; both he and Reed were originally from Europe. Richardson's name was later applied to Richardson Bay, an arm of the San Francisco Bay that brushes up against the eastern edge of Mill Valley. The Richardson rancho contained everything south and west of the Corte Madera and Larkspur areas with the Pacific Ocean, San Francisco Bay, and Richardson Bay as the other three borders. The former encompassed what is now southern Corte Madera, the Tiburon Peninsula, and Strawberry Point.

In 1836, John Reed married Hilaria Sanchez, the daughter of a commandante in the San Francisco Presidio. He built the first sawmill in the county on the Cascade Creek (now Old Mill Park) in the mid-1830s on Richardson's rancho and settled near what is now Locke Lane and LaGoma Avenue. The mill cut wood for the San Francisco Presidio. He raised cattle and horses and had a brickyard and stone quarry. Reed also did brisk businesses in hunting, skins, tallow, and other products until his death in 1843 at 38 years of age. Richardson sold butter, milk and beef to San Francisco during the Gold Rush. Shortly thereafter, he made several poor investments and wound up massively in debt to many creditors. On top of losing his Mendocino County rancho, he was forced to deed the 640 acre Rancho Saucelito to his wife, Maria Antonia Martinez, daughter of the commandante of the Presidio, in order to protect her. The rest of the rancho, including the part of what is now Mill Valley that did not already belong to Reed's heirs, was given to his administrator Samuel Reading Throckmorton. At his death in 1856 at 61 years old, Richardson was almost destitute.

Throckmorton came to San Francisco in 1850 as an agent for an eastern mining business before working for Richardson. As payment of a debt, Throckmorton acquired a large portion of Rancho Saucelito in 1853–54 and built his own rancho, "The Homestead," on what is now Linden Lane and Montford Avenue. The descendants of ranch superintendent Jacob Gardner continue to be active in Marin. Some of the rest of his land was leased out for dairy farming to Portuguese settlers. A majority of the immigrants came from the Azores. Those who were unsuccessful at gold mining came north to the Marin Headlands and later brought their families. In Mill Valley, Ranch "B" is one of the few remaining dairy farm buildings and is located near the parking lot at the Tennessee Valley trailhead. Throckmorton also suffered devastating financial problems before his death in 1887. His surname would later be applied to one of the major thoroughfares in Mill Valley. Richardson and Reed had never formalized the boundary lines separating their ranchos. Richardson's heirs successfully sued Reed's heirs in 1860 claiming the mill was built on their property. The border was officially marked as running along the Arroyo Corte Madera del Presidio along present-day Miller Avenue. Everything to the east of the creek was Reed property, and everything to the west was Richardson land. It was Richardson's territory that would soon become part of Mill Valley when Throckmorton's daughter Suzanna was forced to relinquish several thousand acres to the San Francisco Savings & Union Bank to satisfy a debt of $100,000 against the estate in 1889.

In 1873, San Francisco physician Dr. John Cushing discovered 320 "lost" acres between the Reed and Richardson boundaries between present-day Corte Madera Avenue, across the creek, and into West Blithedale Canyon. Using the Homestead Act he petitioned the government and managed to acquire the land. Before his death in 1879 he had built a sanitarium in the peaceful canyon. In Sausalito the North Pacific Coast Railroad had laid down tracks to a station near present-day Highway 101 at Strawberry. Seeing the financial advantages of a railroad his descendants then turned the hospital into the Blithedale Hotel after the land title was finally granted in 1884. The sanitarium was enlarged, cottages were built up along the property, and horse-drawn carriages were purchased to pick up guests at the Alto station. Within a few years, several other summer resort hotels had cropped up in the canyon including the Abbey, the Eastland, and the Redwood Lodge. Fishing, hunting, hiking, swimming, horseback riding, and other activities increased in popularity as people came to the area as vacationers or moved in and commuted to San Francisco for work. Meanwhile, Reed's mill deforested much of the surrounding redwoods, meaning that most of the redwoods growing today are second- or third-growth. The King family (King Street) owned property near the Cushing land. One of its buildings was a small adobe house which is believed to have predated the King farm. The Blithedale Hotel used it as a milk house. The adobe structure is still standing and connected to a house on West Blithedale Avenue; it is the oldest structure in Mill Valley.

The San Francisco Savings & Union Bank organized the Tamalpais Land & Water Company in 1889 as an agency for disposing of the Richardson land gained from the Throckmorton debt. The board of directors was President Joseph Eastland, Secretary Louis L. Janes (Janes Street), Thomas Magee (Magee Avenue), Albert Miller (Miller Avenue), and Lovell White (Lovell Avenue). Eastland, who had been president of the North Pacific Coast Railroad in 1877 and retained an interest, pushed to extend the railroad into the area in 1889. Though Reed, Richardson, and the Cushings were crucial to bringing people to the Mill Valley area, it was Eastland who really propelled the area and set the foundation for the city today. He had founded power companies all around the San Francisco Bay area, was on the board of several banks, and had control of several commercial companies. The Tamalpais Land & Water Co. hired Michael M. O'Shaughnessy, already a noted engineer to lay out roads, pedestrian paths, and step-systems for what the developers hoped would become a new city. He also built the Cascade Dam & Reservoir for water supply, and set aside land plots for churches, schools, and parks. On May 31, 1890, nearly 3,000 people attended The Tamalpais Land & Water Co. land auction near the now-crumbling sawmill. More than 200 acre were sold that day in the areas of present-day Throckmorton, Cascade, Lovell, Summit, and Miller Avenues and extending to the west side of Corte Madera Avenue. By 1892, there were two schools in the area and a few churches. The auction also brought into Mill Valley architects, builders, and craftsmen. Harvey A. Klyce was one of the most prominent of the architects and designed many private homes and public buildings in the area, including the Masonic Lodge in 1904. Before his death in 1894, Eastland built a large summer home, "Burlwood", constructed on Throckmorton Avenue in 1892 that still stands though much of the original land has been parceled off. Burlwood was the first home in the town to have electricity, and when telephones were installed only he and Mrs. Cushing, the owner of the Blithedale Hotel, had service. After the land auctions the area was known as both "Eastland" and "Mill Valley".

Janes, by then the resident director of Tamalpais Land & Water Co. (and eventually the city's first town clerk), and Sidney B. Cushing, president of the San Rafael Gas & Electric Co. set out to bring a railroad up Mt. Tamalpais. The Mt. Tamalpais Scenic Railway opened in 1896 (with Cushing as president) and ran from the town center (present-day Lytton Square) all the way to the summit. In 1907, the railroad added a branch line into "Redwood Canyon", and in 1908, the canyon became Muir Woods, a national monument. The railroad built the Muir Inn (with a fine restaurant) and overnight cabins for visitors. The Mt. Tamalpais & Muir Woods Scenic Railway, "The Crookedest Railroad in the World" and its unique Gravity Cars brought thousands of tourists to the Tavern of Tamalpais on the mountain summit (built in 1896, rebuilt after the 1923 fire, and razed in 1950 by the California State Parks), the West Point Inn (built in 1904, by the scenic railway, operated commercially until 1943, closed briefly and then run by volunteers to the present day), and the Muir Woods Inn (burned in 1913, rebuilt in 1914, destroyed in 1930). The tracks were removed in 1930 after the 1929 fire. This occurred as a result of a drop in ridership due to increased usage of automobiles rather than trains for recreation and construction of the Panoramic Highway and connecting road to Ridgecrest in 1929. Rails connected Mill Valley with neighboring cities and commuters to San Francisco via ferries.

Incorporation through WWII
By 1900, the population was nearing 900 and the locals pushed out the Tamalpais Land & Water Co. in favor of incorporation. Organizations and clubs cropped up including the Outdoor Art Club (1902) (organized by Laura Lyon White), Masonic Lodge (1903) which celebrated its centennial in 2003 and the Dipsea Race (1905), the latter marking its 100th anniversary in 2010. The second big population boom came after the 1906 Great earthquake. While much of San Francisco and Marin County was devastated, many fled to Mill Valley and most never left. In that year alone the population grew to over 1,000 permanent residents. Creeks were bridged over or dammed, more roads laid down and oiled, and cement sidewalks poured. Tamalpais High School opened in 1908, the first city hall was erected in 1908, and Andrew Carnegie's library in 1910. The Post Office opened under the name "Eastland", however after many objections it was changed to "Mill Valley" in 1904. The very first Mountain Play was performed at the Mountain Theater on Mt. Tam in 1913.

By the 1920s, most roads were paved over, mail delivery was in full swing, and the population was at its highest at more than 2,500 citizens. Mill Valley Italian settlers made wine during Prohibition, while some local bar owners made bootleg whiskey under the dense foliage around the local creeks. January 1922 saw the first of several years of snow in Marin County, coating Mt. Tam white. Two years later the Sulphur Springs, a natural hot spring where locals could revive their lagging spirits, was covered over and turned in the playground of the Old Mill Elementary School.1929 was a year of great change for Mill Valley. The Great Fire raged for several days in early July and nearly destroyed the fledgling city. It ravaged much of Mt. Tam (including the Tavern and 117 homes) and the city itself was spared only by a change in wind direction. In October of that year, the Mt. Tamalpais and Muir Woods Scenic Railway ran for the last time. The fire caused great devastation to tourism and tourist destinations, but the railroads were also crushed by the automobile. Panoramic Highway, running between Mill Valley and Stinson Beach was built in 1929–1930. The stock market crash of 1929 and the ensuing Great Depression crippled what little railroad tourism there was to the point where the tracks were eventually taken up in 1931.

During the Great Depression, many famous local landmarks were constructed with the help of the Works Progress Administration and the Civilian Conservation Corps, including the Mead Theater at Tam High (named after school board Trustee Ernest Mead), the Mountain Theater rock seating, and the Golden Gate Bridge in 1934–1937. The latter event suspended ferry commuting between Marin and the city from 1941 through 1970 and helped increase the Marin population. With the demise of the railroads came the introduction of local bus service. Greyhound moved into the former train depot in Lytton Square in October 1940. In Sausalito, Marinship brought over 75,000 people to Marin, many of whom moved to Mill Valley permanently. At the height of the War, nearly 400 locals were fighting, including many volunteer firemen and government officials. By 1950, 1 in 10 Mill Valleyans were living in a "Goheen Home". George C. Goheen built the so-called "defense homes" for defense workers throughout the 1940s and 1950s in the Alto neighborhood.

1950s to present
With a population just over 7,000 by 1950, Mill Valley was still relatively rural. Men commuted to San Francisco on the Greyhound bus when the streets were not flooding in heavy rain, and there still were not any traffic lights. The military built the Mill Valley Air Force Station to protect the area during the Korean War. In 1956, a group of Beat poets and writers lived briefly in the Perry house, most notably Jack Kerouac and San Francisco Renaissance Beat poet Gary Snyder. The house and its land is now owned by the Marin County Open Space District. By the beginning of the 1960s, however, the population swelled. The Mill Valley Fall Arts Festival became a permanent annual event and the old Carnegie library was replaced with an award-winning library at 375 Throckmorton Ave. Designed by architect Donn Emmons, the new library was formally dedicated on September 18, 1966.

The 1970s saw a change in attitude and population. Mill Valley became an area associated with great wealth, with many people making their millions in San Francisco and moving north. New schools and neighborhoods cropped up, though the city maintained its defense of redwoods and protected open space. Cascade Dam, built in 1893, was closed in 1972 and drained four years later in an attempt to curb the "hordes" of young people using the reservoir for nude sunbathing and swimming. Youth subculture would come under attack again in 1974 when the City Council banned live music, first at the Sweetwater and later at the Old Mill Tavern, both now defunct. In 1977, the Lucretia Hanson Little History Room in the library opened and became the base of operations for the Mill Valley Historical Society. Marin County was hit with one of the worst droughts on record beginning in 1976 and peaking in 1977, brought on by a combination of several seasons of low rainfall and a refusal to import water from the Russian River, instead relying solely on rain water from Mt. Tam and the West Marin watersheds to fill the then-six reservoirs. By June 1977, the County managed to pipe in water from the Sacramento River Delta, staving off disaster. The rainfall during the winter of 1977-78 was one of the heaviest on record. The Mill Valley Film Festival, now part of the California Film Institute, began in 1978 at the Sequoia Theatre.

The 1980s and 1990s saw the decline of small businesses in Mill Valley. Local establishments like Lockwood's Pharmacy closed in 1981 after running almost continuously for 86 years. Old Mill Tavern, O'Leary's, and the Unknown Museum shut their doors, as did Red Cart Market and Tamalpais Hardware. In their places came boutiques, upscale clothing stores, coffee shops, art galleries, and gourmet grocery stores. Downtown Plaza and Lytton Square were remodeled to fit the new attitude. The population in the city alone swelled over 13,000 and many of the old, narrow, winding streets grew clogged with traffic congestion. The Public Library expanded with a new Children's Room, a downstairs Fiction Room, and Internet computers. It also joined MARINet, a consortium of all the public libraries in Marin, to allow patrons greater access to information. MARINet now has an online catalogue of all the materials, both physical and electronic, in the Marin public libraries, which patrons can order, pick up, and drop off materials at any of the participating libraries. The Old Mill also got a facelift; it was rebuilt to the same specifications as the original in 1991. The 1990s also saw another influx of affluence. Many new homeowners gutted homes built in the 19th and early 20th centuries or tore them down altogether.

The dawn of the new millennium brought reflection on the past, as the city celebrated 100 years of incorporation. Soon after Mill Valley got its brand new Community Center at 180 Camino Alto, adjacent to Mill Valley Middle School.

On January 31, 2008, Mill Valley's sewage treatment plant spilled 2.45 million gallons of sewage into the San Francisco Bay. This marked the second such spill in Mill Valley within a week (the previous one spilled 2.7 million gallons), and the most recent of several that occurred in Marin County in early 2008. Mill Valley's treatment plant attributed the spills to "human error". The spills caused distress in Mill Valley's administrative government, which remains outspoken about "dedicating itself to the protection of air quality, waste reduction, water and energy conservation, and the protection of wildlife and habitat" in Mill Valley.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau the city has a total area of 4.8 sqmi, of which 4.7 sqmi is land and 0.1 sqmi of (1.74%) water.

The Mill Valley 94941 area lies between Mt. Tamalpais on the west, the city of Tiburon on the east, the City of Corte Madera on the north, and the Golden Gate National Recreational Area (GGNRA) on the south. Two streams flow from the slopes of Mt. Tamalpais through Mill Valley to the bay: the Arroyo Corte Madera del Presidio; and Cascade Creek. Mill Valley is surrounded by hundreds of acres of state, federal, and county park lands. In addition, there are many municipally maintained open-space reserves, parks, and coastal habitats which, when taken together, ensconce Mill Valley in a natural wilderness.

Mill Valley and the Homestead Valley Land Trust maintains many minimally disturbed wildland areas and preserves which are open to the public from sunrise to dusk every day. Several nature trails allow access as well as providing gateway access to neighboring state and federal park lands, and the Mt. Tamalpais Watershed wildland on the broad eastern face of Mt. Tamalpais that overlooks Mill Valley. These are undeveloped natural areas and contain many species of wild animals, including some large predators like the coyote, the bobcat, and the cougar.

Climate
Mill Valley has a mild Mediterranean climate which results in relatively wet winters and very dry summers. Winter lows rarely drop below freezing and summer highs rarely peak 90 °F with 90% of the annual rain falling in November through March. Wind speeds average lower than national averages in winter months and higher in summer, and often become quite gusty in the canyon regions of town. California coastal fog often affects Mill Valley, making relative humidity highly variable. The wetter winter months tend to make for a more consistent daily relative humidity around 70-90% (slightly higher than US averages). During the summer months, however, while the morning fog often keeps morning humidity normal, in a typical 70-80% range, by afternoon after the fog burns off, the humidity regularly plummets to around 30% as one would expect in this dry seasonal climate.

Mill Valley is also affected by microclimate conditions in the several box canyons with steep north-facing slopes and dense forests which span the southern and western city limits, which, along with the coastal fog, all conspire to make many of the dense forested regions of Mill Valley noticeably cooler and moister, on average, than other regions of town. This microclimate is what makes for the favorable ecology required by the Coastal Redwood forests which still cover much of the town and surrounding area, and have played such a pivotal role throughout the history of Mill Valley.

2010
The 2010 United States Census reported that Mill Valley had a population of 13,903. The population density was 2,868.2 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Mill Valley was 12,341 (88.8%) White, 118 (0.8%) African American, 23 (0.2%) Native American, 755 (5.4%) Asian, 14 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 152 (1.1%) from other races, and 500 (3.6%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 622 persons (4.5%).

The Census reported that 99.5% of the population lived in households and 0.5% were institutionalized.

There were 6,084 households, out of which 1,887 (31.0%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 2,984 (49.0%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 465 (7.6%) had a female householder with no husband present, 178 (2.9%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 306 (5.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 55 (0.9%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 2,016 households (33.1%) were made up of individuals, and 888 (14.6%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.27. There were 3,627 families (59.6% of all households); the average family size was 2.94.

The population was spread out, with 3,291 people (23.7%) under the age of 18, 459 people (3.3%) aged 18 to 24, 2,816 people (20.3%) aged 25 to 44, 4,714 people (33.9%) aged 45 to 64, and 2,623 people (18.9%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 85.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 80.8 males.

There were 6,534 housing units at an average density of 1,348.0 /mi2, of which 3,974 (65.3%) were owner-occupied, and 2,110 (34.7%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.2%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.5%. 9,861 people (70.9% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 3,966 people (28.5%) lived in rental housing units.

2000
At the 2000 census, there were 13,600 people, 6,147 households and 3,417 families residing in the city, not including those living in unincorporated territories. The population density was 2,883.1 PD/sqmi. There were 6,286 housing units at an average density of 1,332.6 /mi2. The racial makeup of the city in 2010 was 85.8% non-Hispanic White, 0.8% non-Hispanic African American, 0.1% Native American, 5.3% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 0.3% from other races, and 3.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 4.5% of the population.

There were 6,147 households, of which 27.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.2% were married couples living together, 7.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 44.4% were non-families. 34.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 12.4% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.20 and the average family size was 2.85.

21.2% of the population was under the age of 18, 2.9% from 18 to 24, 28.1% from 25 to 44, 32.5% from 45 to 64, and 15.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 86.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 82.5 males.

The median household income was $90,794, and the median family income was $119,669. Males had a median income of $94,800 versus $52,088 for females. The per capita income for the city was $64,179. About 2.7% of families and 4.5% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.6% of those under age 18 and 5.7% of those age 65 or over.

Federal and state
In the United States House of Representatives, Mill Valley is in. From 2008 to 2012, Huffman represented Marin County in the California State Assembly.

In the California State Legislature, Mill Valley is in:

According to the California Secretary of State, as of February 10, 2019, Mill Valley has 10,189 registered voters. Of those, 6,270 (61.5%) are registered Democrats, 965 (9.5%) are registered Republicans, and 2,605 (25.6%) have declined to state a political party.

Cityscape

The combination of Mill Valley's idyllic location nestled beneath Mount Tamalpais coupled with its relative ease of access to nearby San Francisco has made it a popular home for many high-income commuters. Over the last 30 years, following a trend that is endemic throughout the Bay Area, home prices have climbed in Mill Valley (the median price for a single-family home was in excess of $1.5 million as of 2005), which has had the effect of pushing out some residents who can no longer afford to live in the area. This trend has also transformed Mill Valley's commercial activity, with nationally recognized music store Village Music having closed, then replaced in 2008 by more commercial establishments.

In July 2005, CNN/Money and Money magazine ranked Mill Valley tenth on its list of the 100 Best Places to Live in the United States. In 2007, MSN and Forbes magazine ranked Mill Valley seventy-third on its "Most expensive zip codes in America" list.

While Mill Valley has retained elements of its earlier artistic culture through galleries, festivals, and performances, its stock of affordable housing has diminished, forcing some residents to leave the area. This trend has also affected some of the city's well-known cultural centers like Village Music and the Sweetwater Saloon. As of April 2007, only one affordable housing project was underway: an initiative to renovate and expand a century old but now abandoned local landmark roadhouse and saloon called the Fireside Inn. This renovation was completed in the fall of 2008 and provided around 50 low-income apartments, with around 30 dedicated to low-income seniors and the remainder going to low-income families.

Neighborhoods and unincorporated areas
Strawberry is an unincorporated census-designated place to the east of the City of Mill Valley. The other CDP with a Mill Valley mailing address is Tamalpais-Homestead Valley. Smaller unincorporated areas include Alto and Almonte. Muir Beach is in the Mill Valley School District, but it is in the Sausalito mailing area.

Neighborhoods in the Mill Valley area:

City recreational parks
Mill Valley maintains many recreational parks which often contain playgrounds, wooded trails and other designated areas specifically designed for playing various sports.

Public schools
Public schools are managed by the Mill Valley School District. There are five elementary schools and one middle school, Mill Valley Middle School, a four-time winner of the California Distinguished School Award. The local high school, Tamalpais High School, is part of the Tamalpais Union High School District, whose five campuses serve central and southern Marin County. Greenwood School, an independent school located in downtown Mill Valley, serves preschool-8th grade students. Marin Horizon School is an independent school serving students in grades PK-8. Founded in 1977, the school enrolls 296 students.

Mill Valley Public Library
The municipal library overlooks Old Mill Park and provides many picturesque reading locations, as well as free computer and Internet access. The Mill Valley library first digitized its vast holdings under the stewardship of Thelma Weber Percy, who was determined to see the Mill Valley Public Library come into the computer age. Recently they have begun offering Museum Passes to 94941 residents for free entry to Bay Area museums. As part of the City of Mill Valley's decision to "go Green", the library has a Sustainability Collection with books and DVDs with information about how to become more environmentally friendly.

The Mill Valley Public Library is also home to the Lucretia Hanson Little History Room, which has thousands of books, photographs, newspapers, pamphlets, artifacts, and oral histories on the history of California, Marin County, and Mill Valley.

Annual events
Mill Valley is the home of several annual events, many of which attract national and international followings:
 * Dipsea Race
 * The Mountain Play
 * Mill Valley Film Festival

In media
Mill Valley has also been home to many artists, actors, authors, musicians, and TV personalities, and it is the setting for or is mentioned in many artworks. For example:

 * Actress and comedian Eve Arden was born there in 1908.
 * Rock music stars such as Michael Bloomfield, John and Mario Cipollina, Clarence Clemons, Dan Hicks, Sammy Hagar, Janis Joplin, Huey Lewis, Lee Michaels, Bonnie Raitt, Pete Sears, and Bob Weir have called Mill Valley home at some point.
 * Famed music executive/producer and film director George Daly worked originally with Janis Joplin and Huey Lewis, then both Mill Valley residents, along with Marin's Carlos Santana, and Mill Valley singer-songwriter Tim Hockenberry (of TV's America's Got Talent successes); Daly also co-directed and co-wrote the Gary Yost Mill Valley-focused movie The Invisible Peak, concerning the razing of the Mount Tamalpais West Peak during the Cold War. The multiple award-winning film, narrated by Peter Coyote, was featured in multiple US film festivals, including the Mill Valley Film Festival.
 * Jerry Garcia—who recorded music in a Mill Valley recording studio—also once called Mill Valley home.
 * Author John Gray, who writes the Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus books, is a long time Mill Valley resident.
 * Award-winning sports journalist Ann Killion was born and raised in Mill Valley.
 * Printmaker and author Tom Killion was born and raised in Mill Valley.
 * Writer Ki Longfellow lived on Hillside Avenue.
 * Composer John Anthony Lennon was raised in Mill Valley.
 * John Lennon and Yoko Ono summered in Mill Valley in the early 1970s, having left some of his own graffiti on the wall of the residence "The Maya the Merrier."
 * Music producer-songwriter Scott Mathews' home is up on Mount Tamalpais, while his private recording studio and office is run out of his other Mill Valley house on the banks of Richardson Bay.
 * Jack Finney was a Mill Valley author whose best-known works include The Body Snatchers, the basis for the influential and classic 1956 movie Invasion of the Body Snatchers, and all its remakes. He moved with his young family from New York City to Mill Valley, where he wrote his most famous novel in the early 1950s.
 * Artist and Marin County-native Zio Ziegler completed a mural titled "The Mysterious Thing" on side of the CineArts Sequoia theater in 2016.

In film

 * The film Serial (1980) starring Martin Mull, Tuesday Weld and Sally Kellerman was shot almost entirely on location in Mill Valley and nearby Tiburon.
 * The Tamalpais High School marching band appeared, as the Spring Street Settlement House marching band on Mission Street in San Francisco, in Woody Allen's film Take the Money and Run (1969).
 * In Paul Verhoeven’s film Basic Instinct (1992) a subplot character, Hazel Dobkins, was a murderer fictionally visited by Sharon Stone’s character, Catherine Tramell, at "26 Albion Road in Mill Valley", but actually located at 26 Liberty Street in Petaluma.
 * In George Lucas' film American Graffiti (1973), the sock hop dance scenes were filmed in the high school's boys' gymnasium.
 * Naval aviator Dieter Dengler built a home on Mount Tamalpais, near the Mountain Home Inn, and lived there until his death in 2001; parts of the biographical documentary about him, Little Dieter Needs to Fly (1997) were filmed there.

In literature

 * It is the setting for resident author Jack Finney's novel The Body Snatchers (1954), although the film, Invasion of the Body Snatchers (1956), and subsequent movie adaptations of the book have been set elsewhere.
 * Writer Jack Kerouac and beat poet Gary Snyder shared a Mill Valley cabin in 1955-56 around 370 Montford Ave. in Homestead Valley. The cabin's coincidental location in Marin County and its adjacent location to a meadow where horses grazed, combined with Snyder's expertise in Asian languages and cultures, inspired Snyder name the cabin "Marin-An" (Japanese translation: "Horse Grove Hermitage") It was during this stay in Mill Valley that Kerouac's recent budding interest in Zen Buddhism was greatly expanded by Snyder's expertise in the subject. Kerouac's novel The Dharma Bums (1958) was consequently composed while living here and contains many semi-fictionalized accounts of his and Snyder's lives while living at Marin-An.
 * The fictional character Charley Furuseth, in Jack London's 1904 novel The Sea-Wolf (1904), had a summer cottage here.
 * American writer Cyra McFadden, while living in Mill Valley in the 1970s, wrote a column for the Pacific Sun newspaper entitled, The Serial, which satirized the trendy lifestyles of the affluent residents of Marin County. She later turned her column ideas into a novel, The Serial: A Year in the Life of Marin County (1977), which focused on the fictional exploits of a Mill Valley couple, Kate and Harvey Holroyd, who never quite fit into the Marin "scene". The highly successful book was later adapted as a comedy film called Serial (1980), starring Tuesday Weld and Martin Mull.

In music

 * The song "Mill Valley", recorded in 1970 and released on the album Miss Abrams and the Strawberry Point 4th Grade Class, reached #90 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 and #5 Easy Listening. While the school is in the Mill Valley School District, it is not within the city limits.
 * The song “Sunday Sunny Mill Valley Groove Day” was written by Doug Sahm and recorded by the Sir Douglas Quintet in 1968.
 * The cover art for Sports (1983), the third album of Huey Lewis and the News, features a photo of the band at the 2 AM Club, a bar located in Mill Valley, where the band had performed during its early days.

In television

 * The fictional character B.J. Hunnicutt, from the TV show M*A*S*H, called Mill Valley home.
 * The television show Quantum Leap's Episode 406 "Raped" is set in Mill Valley in 1980.
 * In the Star Trek universe, it is home to the 602 Club.
 * Fictional character Doris Martin from The Doris Day Show called Mill Valley home.
 * In the syndicated version of the 1980 American sitcom Too Close for Comfort, Henry Rush was owner and editor of the Marin Bugler newspaper in Mill Valley.
 * On the Netflix-produced teen drama series 13 Reasons Why, shot around Marin and Sonoma counties, the protagonist visits the Fernwood Cemetery.
 * The fictional characters Larry and Abby Finkelstein from the TV show Dharma and Greg lived at 1421 Bank Lane in Mill Valley.

Notable residents

 * Vera Allison (1902–1993), jeweler, painter
 * Eve Arden, actress
 * Milly Bennett, journalist
 * Michael Bloomfield, blues guitarist
 * Dana Carvey, actor and comedian
 * David Crosby, singer-songwriter
 * Tilden Daken, landscape painter
 * George Michael Gaethke (1898–1982), printmaker, painter
 * David Harris (activist), journalist and activist
 * Mariel Hemingway, actress
 * Jon Hendricks, jazz lyricist and singer
 * Lane Ryo Hirabayashi, historian
 * B.J. Hunnicutt, field surgeon, M*A*S*H 4077th
 * Salem Ilese, singer-songwriter
 * Snatam Kaur, singer, songwriter and author
 * Bridgit Mendler, singer-songwriter
 * Van Morrison, singer-songwriter
 * Kathleen Quinlan, Emmy & Academy nominated actress
 * Howard Rheingold, critic, writer, and teacher
 * Kenny Rosenberg (born 1995), baseball pitcher for the Los Angeles Angels
 * Grace Slick, singer-songwriter
 * Jim Sugar, photographer
 * Monty Tipton, racing driver
 * John L. Wasserman, critic and columnist (San Francisco Chronicle)
 * Bob Weir, musician

title: Mill Valley, California


text:
Muir Beach, California

Muir Beach is a census designated place (CDP), unincorporated community, and beach on the Pacific Ocean. The community is located 16.5 mi northwest of San Francisco in western Marin County, California, United States. Unlike many other entities in the area, it is not named directly in honor of conservationist John Muir; instead, it was named after Muir Woods National Monument to capitalize on the latter's popularity. The population was 304 at the 2020 census. The community itself flanks the northwest side of the beach.

Located about 2 mi from the entrance to Muir Woods, the beach is about 1000 ft long and 200 ft wide, with coarse sand and several large boulders. Redwood Creek empties into the beach. There is a parking lot at the beach, which is accessible via a footbridge.

The subdivision of homes was formerly called Bello Beach, and the beach itself was formerly called Big Lagoon after a freshwater lagoon that was located where the parking lot is now. Damage from 20th century dairy farms interfered with the flow of the creek and the lagoon.

Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 0.5 sqmi, all of it land. California State Route 1 leads northeast 6 mi to U.S. Route 101 near Sausalito and northwest 22 mi to Point Reyes Station.

The beach is one of the cleanest in the state.

2010
At the 2010 census Muir Beach had a population of 310. The population density was 629.0 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Muir Beach was 283 (91.3%) White, 5 (1.6%) African American, 1 (0.3%) Native American, 12 (3.9%) Asian, 1 (0.3%) from other races, and 8 (2.6%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 7 people (2.3%).

The census reported that 95.8% of the population lived in households and 4.2% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters.

There were 141 households, 27 (19.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 79 (56.0%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 4 (2.8%) had a female householder with no husband present, 3 (2.1%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 11 (7.8%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 1 (0.7%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 39 households (27.7%) were one person and 11 (7.8%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.11. There were 86 families (61.0% of households); the average family size was 2.47.

The age distribution was 38 people (12.3%) under the age of 18, 10 people (3.2%) aged 18 to 24, 56 people (18.1%) aged 25 to 44, 138 people (44.5%) aged 45 to 64, and 68 people (21.9%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 52.6 years. For every 100 females, there were 102.6 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 106.1 males.

There were 162 housing units at an average density of 328.7 /sqmi, of which 73.8% were owner-occupied and 26.2% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.0%; the rental vacancy rate was 2.6%. 75.2% of the population lived in owner-occupied housing units and 20.6% lived in rental housing units.

2000
At the 2000 census there were 295 people, 131 households, and 69 families in the CDP. The population density was 596.8 PD/sqmi. There were 144 housing units at an average density of 291.3 /sqmi. The racial makeup of the CDP in 2010 was 89.7% non-Hispanic White, 0.8% non-Hispanic African American, 3.9% Asian, and 2.6% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 2.3%.

Of the 131 households 19.1% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 45.0% were married couples living together, 5.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.6% were non-families. 30.5% of households were one person and 7.6% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.22 and the average family size was 2.67.

The age distribution was 14.2% under the age of 18, 2.7% from 18 to 24, 26.1% from 25 to 44, 46.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% 65 or older. The median age was 48 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.3 males. For every 100 females aged 18 and over, there were 91.7 males.

The median household income was $125,402 and the median family income was $152,174. The per capita income for the CDP was $66,476. None of the families and 10.5% of the population were living below the poverty line.

Education
Much of Muir Beach is in the Mill Valley School District, while a portion is in the Bolinas-Stinson Union Elementary School District. All of Muir Beach is in the Tamalpais Union High School District, and the Marin Community College District.

Students attend public schools in or near Mill Valley at Tamalpais Valley Elementary School (kindergarten - grade 5), Mill Valley Middle School (grades 6 - 8), and Tamalpais High School (grades 9 - 12).

Climate
According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Muir Beach has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps. Like much of the California coast, summer afternoons are often cool and windy (and sometimes foggy) as winds blow in off the ocean. It receives a good amount of rain with 1034.70 mm of rain.

Local government
Muir Beach is unincorporated, receiving general government services from Marin County, including law enforcement, land-use planning, library, public health, and code enforcement. A special district, the Muir Beach Community Services District, provides local services, including fire protection, water, road maintenance, and recreation. The District has a board of directors, with five members elected to four-year terms. The District includes all of the Muir Beach CDP, plus Green Gulch Farm. (See map of MBCSD.)

Notable history
On December 11, 1965, Muir Beach was the site of the Third Acid Test.

title: Muir Beach, California