This Week in Marin History
Archives
February 2010

"Utterly broken up"

On Feb. 26, 1891, the ship Elizabeth, inbound from New York, was dashed to pieces after it drifted up the Marin County coast and went aground north of Muir Beach. Upon entering the Golden Gate, the wooden ship had encountered strong tides and high winds, but the Captain refused the aid of a tug. (He didn’t want to pay the cost.)  His family was rescued before he and most of his 26-man crew were killed. (The Journal reported that it had never heard of a wreck in which a ship was so “utterly broken up.”) Three Bolinas men paid money for salvage rights, only to find local dairymen had gotten there first. After confronting the dairymen with guns, the salvage was turned over “pronto.”

Muir Beach, lower right, c. 1940. Marin History Museum – Brady Collection.

A new day

Beginning in 1890, it became a tradition on Washington’s Birthday for groups from San Rafael to climb atop Mt. Tamalpais to greet the sunrise. On February 22, 1904, a 14-year-old boy talked about his “alpine” experience in the Independent Journal. According to the boy, his party left San Rafael at about 6:30 pm, walked to a canyon west of Kentfield, continued up what is today called Indian Fire Trail, and finally reached the mountain’s observation station (built by the Examiner in 1901) at 3:30 am. The boy said it was extremely cold, so his group sought shelter in a stone stairway, where it watched the sun rise over “the glistening white Sierra.”

Postcard of Observation Station, c. 1950.

Land of plenty

On Feb. 17, 1857, California lawyer Oscar L. Shafter, originally from Vermont, wrote to his father about his acquisition of land in Point Reyes. “Jim, Park, myself and two others have recently become the owners of the best cattle ranch in the state, containing about 50,000 acres. …It is within three hours sail of the city. We are having some litigation about the title, but have no doubt as to the result.” Shafter and his brother and law partner James (Jim) had spent time on Point Reyes and “…had great sport among duck and wild geese. Their number is told by the hundreds of thousands, and there is little to do but load and fire.”

Oscar L. Shafter, c. 1854. Marin History Museum – Marin IJ Collection.

Death of a postman

On Feb. 2, 1856, Novato’s first Post Office was established with Henry F. Jones as its first Postmaster. (Jones also ran one of two saloons on the Novato Creek with a business partner.)  In 1872, Jones was found murdered outside his home, and the case was never solved. Subsequent residents who lived in the house, located on South Novato Blvd. near Yukon Way, claimed that it was haunted. The building, which may be the oldest dwelling in Novato, was donated to the City in 1972 and then was moved to its present location on DeLong Ave. Restored by volunteer members of the Novato Civic Foundation, today it houses the Novato History Museum.

Novato History Museum, c. 1999.