Marin County Then and Now

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Published in October 18th, 2008

Comparing Marin County of then to Marin County of now, anyone can safely see that it has changed in many ways but it remains the same in many others. If that sounds contradictory, please forgive me but do here me out. The territory that is officially known as Marin County was established in the early part of 1850 which was a short time after the State of California formally adopted its constitution in 1849. Marin County of then was counted among the original 27 counties of California even before the State was ratified into the Union. Marin County of now is one of 58 counties in California and is located across the Golden Gate Bridge and north of San Francisco.

Marin County’s government is seated in San Rafael where it has always been and it is now the County’s largest employer to a population that had, according to an up-to-date census, exceeded 260,000.

With a generous assortment of topographic splendor which contains such wonders as the Muir Woods Redwood Forest, Stinson Beach, Point Reyes National Seashore, Marin Headlands and Mount Tamalpais which is the alleged birthplace of mountain biking; Marin County rightfully boasts about its wealth of nature.

Recent national statistics attest to Marin County’s economic affluence by claiming it to have the highest annual per capital income with just under $50,000 per person and the third highest mean personal income falling slightly short of $90,000.

There are many assumption and theories about how and why Marin County got its name but literally no scientific or historical facts to back any of them up. The one that sounds most credible to me refers to a celebrated chief named Marin of the Coast Miwok Native Americans who fought against Spanish settlements in the region. The second theory which I would not discount is the one that claims that Marin County is a truncated form of the bay between San Pedro Point and San Quentin Point that in 1775 was named Bahía de Nuestra Señora Del Rosario la Marinera.

The Coast Miwok were part of the Miwok Native American nation who flourished by gathering and hunting in the area as early as five thousand years ago. As archeologists found evidence of over 600 village sites, it has been estimated that the Coast Miwok numbered in the thousands. Currently, only a handful of Coast Miwoks remain and most of them know nothing or very little of their fascinating ancestors.

The regional beauty and the hospitable climate played a significant roll in attracting European settlers in the sixteenth century. Sir Francis Drake came in 1579 to claim the territory for his King of England, and in 1595 the Spaniards headed by Sebastian Cermeno arrived to carve out their portions of this grand place which we now call Marin County.

Marin County of then began with indigenous tribes but the Spaniards turned it into a long lasting European settlement by erecting Mission San Rafael Arcángel in 1817 which is still now standing in the center of San Rafael’s downtown and which was prompted by the Russian construction of .Fort Ross in Sonoma County.

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