Tomales Bay

Tomales Bay is a 6,800-acre estuary on the West Marin coast, 40 miles northwest of San Francisco. The bay occupies the seaward end of a rift valley that was formed by the intersection of the San Andreas Fault with the Northern California coastline. The bay is 12 miles long, one mile wide, and relatively shallow, with an average depth of 18 feet. The bay exchanges water with the Pacific Ocean, thus supporting a unique marine culture and industry begun by the Coastal Miwok Indians 5,000 years ago. American and European pioneers in the mid-19th century saw Tomales Bay as the promised land for beef cattle and dairy ranching, farming, fishing, and logging. This book celebrates these pioneer settlers and their accomplishments in the towns of Marshall and Tomales in particular. On April 18, 1906, the San Francisco Earthquake did not spare Tomales Bay. Nevertheless, West Marin citizens rebuilt their communities and have preserved pasturelands and maritime seashores to the present day. Shoreline Highway 1, from Point Reyes Station north to the Sonoma Border, encompasses the harmonic balance of environmentalism and pristine wilderness.