Marin County, California

History

Marin County is one of the original 27 counties of California, created February 18, 1850, following adoption of the California Constitution of 1849 and just months before the state was admitted to the Union.

According to General Mariano Vallejo, who headed an 1850 committee to name California's counties, the county was named for "Marin", great chief of the tribe Licatiut". Marin had been named Huicmuse until he was baptized as "Marino" at about age 20. Marin / Marino was born into the Huimen people, a Coast Miwok tribe of Native Americans who inhabited the San Rafael area. Vallejo believed that "Chief Marin" had waged several fierce battles against the Spanish. Marino definitely did reside at Mission Dolores (in modern San Francisco) much of the time from his 1801 baptism and marriage until 1817, frequently serving as a baptism witness and godfather; he may have escaped and been recaptured at some point during that time. Starting in 1817, he served as an alcalde (in effect, an overseer) at the San Rafael Mission, where he lived from 1817 off and on until his death. In 1821, Marino served as an expedition guide for the Spanish for a couple of years before escaping and hiding out for some months in the tiny Marin Islands (also named after him); his recapture resulted in a yearlong incarceration at the Presidio before his return to the Mission San Rafael area for about 15 years until his death in 1839.

Another version of the origin of the county name is that the bay between San Pedro Point and San Quentin Point was named Bahía de Nuestra Señora del Rosario la Marinera in 1775, and that Marin is simply an abbreviation of this name.

The Coast Miwok Indians were hunters and gatherers whose ancestors had occupied the area for thousands of years. About 600 village sites have been identified in the county. The Coast Miwok numbered in the thousands. Today, there are few left and even fewer with any knowledge of their Coast Miwok lineage. Efforts are being made so that they are not forgotten.

Francis Drake and the crew of the Golden Hind was thought to have landed on the Marin coast in 1579 claiming the land as Nova Albion. A bronze plaque inscribed with Drake's claim to the new lands, fitting the description in Drake's own account, was discovered in 1933. This so-called Drake's Plate of Brass was revealed as a hoax in 2003.

In 1595, Sebastian Cermeno lost his ship, the San Agustin, while exploring the Marin Coast. The Spanish explorer Vizcaíno landed about twenty years after Drake in what is now called Drakes Bay. However the first Spanish settlement in Marin was not established until 1817 when Mission San Rafael Arcángel was founded partly in response to the Russian-built Fort Ross to the north in what is now Sonoma County.

Mission San Rafael Arcángel was founded in what is now downtown San Rafael as the 20th Spanish mission in the colonial Mexican province of Alta California by four priests, Father Narciso Duran from Mission San Jose, Father Abella from Mission San Francisco de Asís, Father Gil y Taboada and Father Mariano Payeras, the President of the Missions, on December 14, 1817, four years before Mexico gained independence from Spain.

Geography

According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the county has a total area of 828 square miles (2,140 km²), of which 520 square miles (1,300 km²) is land and 308 square miles (800 km²) (37.2%) is water. It is the fourth-smallest county in California by land area. According to the records at the County Assessor-Recorder's Office, as of June 2006, Marin had 91,065 acres (369 km²) of taxable land, consisting of 79,086 parcels with a total tax basis of $39.8 billion. These parcels are divided into the following classifications:

Geographically, the county forms a large, southward-facing peninsula, with the Pacific Ocean to the west, San Pablo Bay, and San Francisco Bay to the east, and – across the Golden Gate – the city of San Francisco to the south. Marin County's northern border is with Sonoma County.

Most of the county's population resides on the eastern side, with a string of communities running along San Francisco Bay, from Sausalito to Tiburon to Corte Madera to San Rafael. The interior contains large areas of agricultural and open space; West Marin, through which State Route 1 runs alongside the California coast, contains many small unincorporated communities whose economies depend on agriculture and tourism. West Marin has beaches which are popular destinations for surfers and tourists year-round.

Notable features of the shoreline along the San Francisco Bay include the Sausalito shoreline, Richardson Bay, the Tiburon Peninsula, Ring Mountain, and Triangle Marsh at Corte Madera. Further north lies San Quentin State Prison along the San Rafael shoreline.

National protected areas

State and local protected areas

The Marin County Department of Parks and Open Space manages numerous county parks and open spaces, including Stafford Lake County Park. The Marin Municipal Water District has 130 miles of trails.

State parks

Marine Protected Areas of Marin County

Like underwater parks, these marine-protected areas help conserve ocean wildlife and marine ecosystems:

Ecology

Marin County is considered in the California Floristic Province, a zone of extremely high biodiversity and endemism. There are numerous ecosystems present, including Coastal Strand, oak woodland, mixed evergreen forest, and Coast Redwood Forests chaparral and riparian zones. There are also a considerable number of protected plant and animal species present: Fauna include the California Red-legged Frog (Rana aurora draytonii) and California freshwater shrimp while flora include Marin Dwarf Flax, Hesperolinon congestum; Tiburon Jewelflower, Streptanthus niger; and Tiburon Indian paintbrush, Castilleja neglecta.

A number of watersheds exist in Marin County, including Walker Creek, Lagunitas Creek, Miller Creek, and Novato Creek.

Notably, the Lagunitas Creek Watershed is home to the largest-remaining wild run of Coho salmon (Oncorhynchus kisutch) in Central California. These coho are part of the "Central California Coast Evolutionarily Significant Unit," or CCC ESU, and are listed as "endangered" at both the state and federal level.

Significant efforts to protect and restore these fish have been underway in the Watershed since the 1980s. Fifty-percent of historical salmon habitat is now behind dams. Strong efforts are also being made to protect and restore undammed, headwater reaches of this Watershed in the San Geronimo Valley, where upwards of 40% of the Lagunitas salmon spawn each year and where as much as 1/3 of the juvenile salmon (or fry) spend their entire freshwater lives. The "Salmon Protection and Watershed Network" leads winter tours for the public to learn about and view these spawning salmon, and also leads year-round opportunities for the public to get involved in stream restoration, monitoring spawning and smolt outmigration, juvenile fish rescue and relocation in the summer, and advocacy and policy development. Around 490 different species of birds have been observed in Marin County.

Despite the lack of rain in the Marin County area due to historic drought levels, in 2014, an estimated 20,000 juvenile Coho salmon made the migration from their spawning grounds in the Lagunitas Creek area to the Pacific Ocean. This increase in migration was significantly up from the previous historic record for the same migration measured in 2006 at 11,000.

In 2010, all of the county's beaches were listed as the cleanest in the state.

2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that Marin County had a population of 252,409. The racial makeup of Marin County was 201,963 (80.0%) White, 6,987 (2.8%) African American, 1,523 (0.6%) Native American, 13,761 (5.5%) Asian, 509 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 16,973 (6.7%) from other races, and 10,693 (4.2%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 39,069 persons (15.5%).

2000

As of the census of 2000, there were 247,289 people, 100,650 households, and 60,691 families residing in the county. The population density was 476 people per square mile (184/km²). There were 104,990 housing units at an average density of 202 per square mile (78/km²). The racial makeup of the county was 84.0% White, 2.9% Black or African American, 0.4% Native American, 4.5% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 4.5% from other races, and 3.5% from two or more races. 11.1% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

In 2000, there were 100,650 households out of which 27.5% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 48.4% were married couples living together, 8.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 39.7% were non-families. 29.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.6% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.34 and the average family size was 2.90.

In the county, the population was spread out with 20.3% under the age of 18, 5.5% from 18 to 24, 31.0% from 25 to 44, 29.7% from 45 to 64, and 13.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 41 years. For every 100 females there were 98.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.4 males.

Life expectancy

According to the most recent data on U.S. life expectancy, published in 2010 by the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation, a female in Marin County could expect to live 85.0 years, the longest for any county in the United States. The national average is 80.8 years for a female.

Race and ethnicity

According to the 2010 United States Census, the racial composition of Marin County was as follows:

Religion

Place of birth

According to the 2006–2008 American Community Survey, 81.3% of Marin County's residents were native to the United States. Approximately 80.0% of the county's residents were born in one of the fifty states or born abroad to American parents.

Foreign-born individuals made up the remaining 18.7% of the population. Latin America was the most common birthplace of foreign-born residents; those born in Latin America made up the plurality (42.2%) of Marin County's foreign population. Individuals born in Europe were the second largest foreign-born group; they made up 25.3% of Marin County's foreign population. Immigrants from Asia comprised 23.7% of the county's foreign population. Those born in other parts of North America and Africa made up 3.9% and 3.8% of the foreign-born populace respectively. Lastly, residents born in Oceania made up a mere 1.2% of Marin County's foreign population.

Source:

Language

According to the 2006–2008 American Community Survey, English was the most commonly spoken language at home by residents over five years of age; those who spoke only English at home made up 77.1% of Marin County's residents. Speakers of non-English languages comprised the remaining 22.9% of the population. Speakers of Spanish made up 11.7% of the county's residents, while speakers of other Indo-European languages made up 7.1% of the populace. Speakers of Asian languages and indigenous languages of the Pacific islands made up 3.4% of the population. The remaining 0.7% spoke other languages. Source:

Ancestry

According to the 2006–2008 American Community Survey, there were 16 ancestries in Marin County that made up over 1.0% of its population. The 16 ancestries are listed below:

Source:

Income

The median income for a household in the county was $71,306 and the median income for a family was $88,934. As of 2007, these figures had risen to $83,732 and $104,750.

In May 2010, the county had the lowest unemployment rate in California. However, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, in July 2010, Marin's unemployment rate rose to 8.3%.

Government and infrastructure

San Quentin State Prison of the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation is located in the county. San Quentin houses the male death row and the execution chamber of California.

Politics

In the United States House of Representatives, Marin County is in California's 2nd congressional district, represented by Democrat Jared Huffman. From 2008 to 2012, Huffman represented Marin County in the California State Assembly.

In the California State Legislature, Marin County is in:

Voter registration statistics

Cities by population and voter registration

Overview

For most of the 20th century, Marin County tended to vote Republican. From 1948 to 1980, the only Democrat to win there was Lyndon Johnson in 1964. However, the brand of Republicanism prevailing in Marin County was historically a moderate one. Like most of the historically Republican suburbs of the Bay Area, it became friendlier to Democrats as the GOP moved rightward nationally. In 1984, it narrowly voted for Walter Mondale and has supported the Democratic candidate in every presidential election since then. Since the 1990s, it has become one of the Democrats' major strongholds in both California and the nation. Out of California counties, only San Francisco County and Alameda County voted more Democratic in the 2008 Presidential election.

Marin has been slightly more competitive when voting for governor. In 2006, Arnold Schwarzenegger lost the county by just under 2,000 votes. Marin has voted for many gubernatorial candidates who went on to become high-profile national figures, including Richard Nixon, Ronald Reagan, Jerry Brown, and Dianne Feinstein.

On November 4, 2008, the citizens of Marin County voted strongly against Proposition 8, a constitutional amendment which eliminated the right of same-sex couples to marry, by a 75.1 percent to 24.9 percent margin. The official tally was 103,341 against and 34,324 in favor. Only San Francisco County voted against the measure by a wider margin (75.2% against).

According to the California Secretary of State, as of October 22, 2012, Marin County has 155,025 registered voters, out of 176,604 eligible (87.78%). Of those, 84,374 (54.43%) are registered Democrats, 28,458 (18.36%) are registered Republicans, 7,000 (4.51%) are registered with other political parties, and 35,193 (22.70%) have declined to state a political party. Democrats hold wide voter-registration majorities in all political subdivisions in Marin County, except for the affluent city of Belvedere, in which Democrats only hold a 60-vote (3.95%) registration advantage. Democrats' largest registration advantage in Marin is in the town of Fairfax, wherein there are only 391 Republicans (7.2%) out of 5,441 total voters compared to 3,496 Democrats (64.25%) and 1,145 voters who have declined to state a political party (21.04%).

The last time Marin elected a Republican to represent them in the United States House of Representatives was William S. Mailliard in 1972. The last competitive race for the U.S. House of Representatives in Marin was in 1982 when Barbara Boxer was first elected. The longest serving representative of Marin in congress was Clarence F. Lea who served in the House from 1917 to 1949.

Due to the rapidly expanding nature of California's population, Marin's congressional district has changed numerous times over the decades. The county has been part of the 2nd congressional district of California since 2012; the only other time it was part of the 2nd district was 1902–12. It has also been part of the 1st (1894–1902 and 1912–66), 3rd (1864–94), 5th (1974–82), and the 6th (1972–74 and 1982–2012). The only time the county has not been in a single congressional district was between 1966 and 1972, when it was divided between the northern half in the 1st district and the southern half in the 6th district.

Women were first allowed to vote in Marin in 1911, when California became the sixth state to pass women's suffrage; almost a decade before the passage of the Nineteenth Amendment.

"Marin County hot-tubber"

In 2002, former U.S. President George H.W. Bush denounced convicted American Taliban associate John Walker Lindh as "some misguided Marin County hot-tubber," as a reference to the county's liberal, "hippie" political culture, mispronouncing "Marin" as he did so. Outraged by the label, some local residents wrote scathing letters to the Marin Independent Journal, complaining of Bush's remarks. In response, Bush wrote a letter to readers in the same newspaper, admitting regret and promising to not use the phrases Marin County and hot tub "in the same sentence again."

Major highways

Scenic roads

Public transportation

Golden Gate Transit provides service primarily along the U.S. 101 corridor, serving cities in Marin County, as well as San Francisco and Sonoma County. Service is also provided to Contra Costa County via the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge. Ferries to San Francisco operate from Larkspur and Sausalito. Ferry service from Tiburon is provided by Blue and Gold Fleet and by the Angel Island Ferry.

Local bus routes within Marin County are operated by Golden Gate Transit under contract with Marin Transit. Marin Transit also operates the West Marin Stage, serving communities in the western, rural areas of Marin County, the Muir Woods Shuttle, and 6 community shuttle routes.

The Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit system, scheduled to begin service in the spring of 2017, is a passenger rail service and bicycle-pedestrian pathway serving Sonoma and Marin counties. Phase I will provide service from Sonoma County airport to the San Rafael Transit Center. Later phases will extend service to Cloverdale in the north and to the Larkspur Ferry Terminal in the south.

The Marin Airporter offers scheduled bus service to and from Marin County and the San Francisco Airport.

Greyhound Lines buses service San Rafael.

Airports

Marin County Airport or Gnoss Field (ICAO: KDVO) is a general aviation airport operated by the County Department of Public Works. The nearest airports with commercial flights are San Francisco International Airport and Oakland International Airport, as well as Charles M. Schulz - Sonoma County Airport north of Marin County.

Education

Marin County Free Library is the county library system. It is headquartered in San Rafael. In addition, the Belvedere-Tiburon Library is located in Tiburon.

College of Marin, established in 1926, includes two campuses. The Kentfield Campus is located on 77 acres in Central Marin; the Indian Valley Campus is located on 333 acres in North Marin. The College offers more than 40 degree programs leading to an Associate of Arts or Associate of Science degree and over 20 Certificates of Achievement with various specialties. The College serves approximately 9,000 students each term. Approximately 5,700 students enroll in COM's credit program. About 1,300 students enroll in English as a Second Language classes. Approximately 1,900 enroll in community education classes. The College employs about 300 permanent staff and faculty and many part-time employees.

Culture

Economy

As of 2011, the largest private-sector employers in Marin County were:

The 2013 gross value of all agricultural production in Marin County was about $84 million; of this, more than $63 million was from the sale of livestock and their products (milk, eggs, wool, etc.). Only 175 acres were planted to grapes.

Media

Marin county has several media outlets that serve the local community:

Population ranking

The population ranking of the following table is based on the 2010 census of Marin County.

† county seat

In popular culture

Marin County has been used as the venue for numerous films and books; in some cases, these works have also incorporated scenes set in neighboring San Francisco or Sonoma County. The following are representative works produced in whole or in part in Marin County: