History for Marin County began shortly after California adopted its state constitution in 1849. Marin County is counted among the twenty seven original counties of the State of California even before it was taken on as part of the Union. With fifty eight counties in California of today, Marin County is situated in the northern part of the state and immediately across the bay from San Francisco.
San Rafael is where Marin County's local government resides, its most recent population count just exceeded 260,000 and the County's largest employer is the county government itself.
Marin County has been well endowed by nature as well as by society at large. On the one hand, nature has bestowed Marin County with unsurpassed beauty reflected in sites such as the Muir Woods National Monument, the Marin Headlands, Stinson Beach, Point Reyes National Seashore and, its highest peak which claims to be the birthplace for mountain biking, Mount Tamalpais.
On the other hand, Marin County is known for its well-to-do residents whose annual income is the highest per capita with nearly $50,000 and the third national highest mean personal annual income with approximately $90,000.
No one knows for sure how Marin County acquired its name but there are a few theories that ring true. The first theory claims that Marin County was named after Chief Marin, a legendary Coast Miwok chief who fought against the Spaniards in an attempt to keep them of his lands. The second and equally convincing theory claims that Marin County's name is just a shortened version of the bay between San Pedro Point and San Quentin Point which in 1775 was named Bahia de Nuestra Senora Del Rosario la Marinera.
The Native American nation called the Miwok was subdivided into sub-groups and one of its largest lived in the territory that is today's Marin County and was known as the Coast Miwok. The Coast Miwok also dwelled in the south part of Sonoma County. According to researcher, history of the Coast Miwok in this region dates back roughly five thousand years and their population which has been estimated in the thousands was scattered among at least 600 villages. The Coast Miwok lived a peaceful existence off the plentiful land by hunting and gathering. The historical tragedy is that very few Coast Miwok still live today and even fewer of them have any knowledge of their amazing past.
Marin County's beauty and bounty of land and sea attracted many Europeans in the beginning of the sixteenth century. The English Sir Francis Drake appeared in 1579 to claim lands for his king and was followed by the Spanish Sebastian Cermeno in 1595.
Marin County and its history had its indigenous beginnings thousands of years ago but the first site of white men's permanence which, by the way, still stands today in downtown San Rafael was established in 1817 when the Spaniards built Mission San Rafael ArcAngel. Interestingly enough, the erection of this mission was motivated by the fact that the Russians built Fort Ross in Sonoma County which is just north of Marin County.
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. How Marin County got its name and the history associated with it is a mystery. One account points to the Licatiut tribe of the Coast Miwok Native Americans who inhabited the region and one of their chieftains named Marin who fiercely attempted to thwart the early Spanish explorers from settling there. Another account points back to 1775 and claims that Marin County is merely an abbreviated version of the original name for the bay between San Pedro Point and San Quentin Point, Baha de Nuestra Seora 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. Many European explorers, privateers and missionaries began flocking to the region as early as the sixteenth century. Sir Francis Drake landed in 1579 and claimed the land for the then king of England. Following in Drake's footsteps, a Spanish explorer named Sebastian Cermeno docked his ship in what is now called Drake's Bay in 1595. Marin County and its history had its indigenous beginnings thousands of years ago but the first site of white men's permanence which, by the way, still stands today in downtown San Rafael was established in 1817 when the Spaniards built Mission San Rafael Arcngel. Interestingly enough, the erection of this mission was motivated by the fact that the Russians built Fort Ross in Sonoma County which is just north of Marin County.
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