Marin County, a California Original

Home owners in Marin County inhabit a land rich in history and legend. As one of California’s original 27 counties, Marin predated California becoming a state. Of course, the bounty of the land was enjoyed and exploited long before that time by Native Americans such as the Coast Miwok, hunters and gatherers whose history reaches back thousands of years.
Apparently, Native Americans greatly favored the region that today is Marin. Archeologists identified approximately 600 village sites within the county’s border.

Naming Rights
For many years, the origin of the name Marin was traced to a member of the Miwok tribe but some historians disputed this idea, saying the name was a shortened for of “Marinera” – Spanish for “sailor”.  Now, thanks to a College of Marin professor, the legend has new life as historical fact.  An anthropologist and Mill Valley resident, Betty Goerke researched the life of “Chief” Marin for 30 years and came to some interesting conclusions.
It was well known that General Mariano Vallejo gave Marin its official name in 1850. The General, indeed most of the region, knew the Miwok, Marin, as a courageous, intelligent man who protected his Native American brethren while working cooperatively with white settlers and the military. Goerke says that Marin was not a chief but a prominent member of a Southern Marin tribe who possessed great skills as boatman and was able to speak Spanish.

Marin indeed lived up to his legend. He escaped from the local Mission twice and was jailed at the Presidio in 1816. He convinced a priest to unchain him and made it back to Marin County in a tule boat.  Jailed a second time in 1824, he escaped and fled to the Marin Islands. But the Miwok leader was destined for a greater role in history. Justifiably upset about the treatment of his people at the Mission and under the thumb of the military, Marin approached General Vallejo. As spokesman for his group, he convinced the general to stop the practice of whipping Indians.

Marin died in 1839 having won the respect of General Vallejo and the entire community, including the padres at the Mission who needed his skills. With this clarified history, along with the fact that Vallejo named two other California counties after Native Americans, the origin of Marin County’s name is subject to less speculation.

Early Marin Adventures
One of Marin’s most famous visitors put his mark on history much earlier. In 1579, the English explorer and adventurer Sir Francis Drake sailed his ship, the Golden Hind, to the Marin Coast and dubbed it Nova Albion. Other explorers followed and the first Spanish settlement was founded in 1817 as Mission San Rafael Arcangel was established. From this outpost, the Spaniards kept watch on other foreign counties claiming Marin County real estate, specifically the Russians who occupied Fort Ross to the north.

A battle in the 1846 Bear Flag Revolt was acted out in Marin at the current site of Olompali State Park. It was there that a few Native Americans who supported Mexico’s rule took three Americans who supported the revolt and held them captive in an adobe.  A morning attack on the adobe sent the “Californios” running and the hostages were freed. The designer of the Bear Flag who was among the captives was the nephew of Abraham Lincoln. The ruins of the adobe are preserved at Olompali State Park.

Marin County Grows Strong
The decades that followed statehood saw Marin County grow and diversify. Dairy farming took hold, and a paper mill was established on Lagunatis Creek. Orchards blossomed and vineyards were planted.  Upstart Marin started thinking of itself as a possible competitor to big city San Francisco! A narrow gauge railroad ran through the redwood forest, ferry boats shuttled people across the Bay and stagecoaches served the mass transit needs of people owning real estate in Napa County.  Marin was also home to what may have been the first commuters. Businessmen with homes in Napa County went by stagecoach and then by ferry to work in San Francisco.

For many decades, grape growing was a major industry and hundreds of acres of vineyards crisscrossed the fertile soils of Marin County. But a series of unfortunate events diverted that profitable economic sector. First, the 1906 Earthquake devastated Marin, and then came prohibition, WWII and phylloxera. The grape growers moved north to Napa and Sonoma, and Main County diversified its economic base. Today, a new grape growing region is on the rise and quickly gaining accolades and attention.

People owning real estate in Marin County inherit a rich and robust history. Like the families who preceded them, they choose live in the midst of natural beauty. Their Marin County homes reflect the individualism that characterized the region throughout its development.  What is shared is a spirit of optimism, the ability to adapt and thrive, and the desire to protect Marin’s natural resources for future generations who will call Marin County home.