The history of Marin County is intimately connected with the birth and early growth of the State of California. Marin is home to one of the last Spanish missions and where the lone battle of the Bear Flag Revolt was fought which led to California statehood. At that time, Marin was a pastoral paradise that supplied most of the raw materials for the exploding population of Gold Rush Era San Francisco. Fifty years later its temperate climate and the devastation wrought by the 1906 San Francisco Earthquake and Fire brought on a veritable ‘land rush’ to the region.
The photographs in this book capture moments in time that tell the story of a people and land that have shaped the region’s past, present and future. Working closely with the staff of the Marin History Museum, Scott Fletcher has carefully selected images from the museum’s collection and brought their stories to life in a series of articles that first appeared in the Marin Independent Journal newspaper. The image subjects are diverse, and include landscapes, towns, people, businesses, homes, and modes of transportation representing all geographic areas of the county.