This Week in Marin History
Archives
September 2009

Early forecast

On September 21, 1898, a weather station opened on the East Peak of Mt. Tamalpais. (Two other important “elevated” stations on Pike’s Peak and Mt. Washington had to be abandoned because of inaccessibility.) W.H. Hammond, forecaster for the United States Weather Bureau: “I have gathered more valuable information during a stay of one month on Mt. Tamalpais… It occupies a very unique position…an isolated peak, directly over the ocean…” The station registered a 94 mph wind velocity in 1920 and a temperature of 19 degrees in 1922, the year of a big snowstorm. An aurora borealis was also recorded in 1922.

Postcard of the U.S. Weather Bureau Station on top of Mt. Tamalpais, c.1900. MHM Collection.

Healthcare system

On September 16, 1905, incorporation papers were signed for the new Cottage Hospital in San Rafael. Until then, the county made do with sanitariums and makeshift clinics—even the Dollar mansion in San Rafael served as an infirmary. The original Cottage Hospital, whose first ambulance was powered by two mares, was in a house on Fifth and Lincoln. Overwhelmed by 1906 earthquake refugees, in 1907 the hospital relocated to a larger building at Mission and Nye, where a nursing school was also established. In 1946 Cottage Hospital changed its name to San Rafael General, and twenty years later shut its doors.

Nurses from the Cottage Hospital school for nurses, c.1920. MHM Collection.

Powers that be

On September 16, 1850, Marin County (population 323) was divided into four townships—Sausalito, Bolinas, San Rafael and Novato—by its first county government, a “Court of Sessions.” The court, composed of a county judge, two justices of the peace and a clerk, had considerable control—it assessed property, collected taxes, built roads and set up election precincts. It also admitted Marin’s first lawyers to the bar and impaneled the county’s first jury. (The court met in the jail of the old San Rafael Mission.) Authority was later shared with Marin’s first Supervisors, elected on December 20, 1852. The Court of Sessions was abolished by the Legislature in 1855.

Trial Jury box found in the old courthouse in San Rafael, c.1900s. MHM Collection.

Go with the flow

On September 4, 1900, Mill Valley’s board of trustees met in a room over Jack Brady’s Sequoia Saloon to take care of business, including acquiring property from the Land & Water Company for three parks—Old Mill, Cascade and Three Wells. Some years before, focus was put on another property—a sulphur spring discovered in 1891 (now the site of Old Mill School). With the infusion of a capital stock of $1 million, the Mill Valley Mineral Springs was incorporated, drawing throngs of people who came by train to fill their bottles with “life giving” water. However, the town’s plan to turn itself into a health spa resort never came to pass.

Jack Brady, saloon proprietor and conductor for the North Pacific Coast Railroad, c. 1900.

Into the woods

On September 3, 1892, the Bohemian Club held its festive “High Jinks” in an area of Muir Woods that is today called Bohemian Grove. (A 70-foot plaster statue of Buddha had been erected but was later torn down.) The tradition of a “summer encampment” started six years after the Bohemian Club was founded in San Francisco in 1872. The all-male “bohemian” membership, first made up of writers, artists and musicians, would later include government officials and businessmen who had the resources to acquire more land to accommodate larger gatherings. The Club eventually purchased property on the Russian River, deeming nights on Mt. Tamalpais as too cold and damp.

Muir Woods, c. 1950s.