Bolinas is an
unincorporated Unincorporated may refer to:
* Unincorporated area, land not governed by a local municipality
* Unincorporated entity, a type of organization
* Unincorporated territories of the United States, territories under U.S. jurisdiction, to which Congress ...
coastal community and
census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...
in
Marin County,
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
, United States. As of the
2020 census it had a population of 1,483. It is located on the California coast, approximately (straight line distance) northwest of
San Francisco
San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...
, and by road.
The community is known for its reclusive residents. It is only accessible via unmarked roads; any road sign along
State Route 1 that points the way into town has been torn down by local residents, to the point where county officials offered a ballot measure to which the voters responded by stating a preference for no more signs.
History
Prior to the European colonization of California, the
Coast Miwok
Coast Miwok are an indigenous people that was the second-largest group of Miwok people. Coast Miwok inhabited the general area of modern Marin County and southern Sonoma County in Northern California, from the Golden Gate north to Duncans Poi ...
lived in the area, possibly calling the area "Bali-N".
Bolinas and present-day
Stinson Beach were once encompassed by
Rancho Las Baulines, a
Mexican land grant
The Spanish and Mexican governments made many concessions and land grants in Alta California (now known as California) and Baja California from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish Concessions of land were made to retired soldiers as an inducement for ...
given by Governor Pío Pico to Gregorio Briones in 1846.
The first post office in the town of Bolinas opened in 1863.
In 1927, a former dairy farm on the Big Mesa was subdivided into a grid of streets and 5,336 lots measuring . Many of these lots were sold for $69.50 by the
San Francisco Bulletin
The ''San Francisco Evening Bulletin'' was a newspaper in San Francisco, founded as the ''Daily Evening Bulletin'' in 1855 by James King of William. King used the newspaper to crusade against political corruption, and built it into having the highe ...
as a subscription promotion. Portions of the mesa, including sections of Ocean Parkway, have since eroded into the sea. A few streets on the mesa are paved and maintained by the county, but many are unpaved, and either maintained by adjoining property owners or completely unmaintained.
["A Plan for the Bolinas Gridded Mesa", Bolinas Planning Council and The Marin County Planning Department, 1984]
/ref> The Big Mesa has no sewer system, and houses on the mesa have individual septic systems.["Sewer System Management Plan". Bolinas Community Public Utility District, April 2008]
/ref>
The Bolinas beaches were hit hard by the 1971 San Francisco Bay oil spill The 1971 San Francisco Bay oil spill occurred when two Standard Oil Company of California tankers, the ''Arizona Standard'' and the ''Oregon Standard'', collided on January 18, 1971, in the San Francisco Bay. The resulting 800,000 gallon spill, th ...
, with the community coming together to clean the beach of crude oil.
The Bolinas Museum was founded in 1983. Today, it contains five galleries featuring contemporary art, historical information, and works from local artists. Today, it puts on auctions and events for locals and visitors alike.
Geography
Bolinas sits at an elevation of above sea level. It is bound on the northeast by Bolinas Lagoon
Bolinas Lagoon is a tidal estuary, approximately in area, located in the West Marin region of Marin County, California, United States, adjacent to the town of Bolinas. It is a part of the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. In 1974 ...
and Kent Island
Kent Island is the largest island in the Chesapeake Bay and a historic place in Maryland. To the east, a narrow channel known as the Kent Narrows barely separates the island from the Delmarva Peninsula, and on the other side, the island is sep ...
, on the south by Bolinas Bay and Duxbury Point, on the southwest by the Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest and deepest of Earth's five oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic Ocean in the north to the Southern Ocean (or, depending on definition, to Antarctica) in the south, and is bounded by the contin ...
, and on the northwest by Point Reyes National Seashore
Point Reyes National Seashore is a park preserve located on the Point Reyes Peninsula in Marin County, California. As a national seashore, it is maintained by the US National Park Service as an important nature preserve. Some existing agricult ...
. According to the United States Census Bureau
The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...
, the CDP has a total area of , all of it land. The GNIS
The Geographic Names Information System (GNIS) is a database of name and locative information about more than two million physical and cultural features throughout the United States and its territories, Antarctica, and the associated states of ...
has cited archaic alternate town-names, including "Ballenas", "Baulenas", "Baulings", and "Bawlines".
Bolinas' downtown is located on the eastern side of town along Wharf Road, which ends at Bolinas Lagoon. The downtown buildings were mostly built between 1850 and 1920. Brighton Avenue connects downtown to the south-facing Brighton Beach. In the southeast corner of town is the Little Mesa. The Big Mesa, also known as the Gridded Mesa, lies to the west, with Agate Beach at its western end.
By air, Bolinas is just west-southwest of San Rafael, and northwest of San Francisco. While located just from State Route 1, the area is not very accessible by car. The driving time from San Rafael is roughly 52 minutes, and it takes over an hour to drive to downtown San Francisco.
Bolinas lies west of the San Andreas Fault
The San Andreas Fault is a continental transform fault that extends roughly through California. It forms the tectonic boundary between the Pacific Plate and the North American Plate, and its motion is right-lateral strike-slip (horizonta ...
, which runs the length of Bolinas Lagoon
Bolinas Lagoon is a tidal estuary, approximately in area, located in the West Marin region of Marin County, California, United States, adjacent to the town of Bolinas. It is a part of the Greater Farallones National Marine Sanctuary. In 1974 ...
and continues northward through Olema Valley and Tomales Bay
Tomales Bay is a long, narrow inlet of the Pacific Ocean in Marin County in northern California in the United States. It is approximately long and averages nearly wide, effectively separating the Point Reyes Peninsula from the mainland of Mar ...
. Bolinas and the Point Reyes
Point Reyes (, meaning "Point of the Kings") is a prominent cape and popular Northern California tourist destination on the Pacific coast. Located in Marin County, it is approximately west-northwest of San Francisco. The term is often appli ...
peninsula are on the Pacific Plate, moving north relative to Stinson Beach and the North American Plate
The North American Plate is a tectonic plate covering most of North America, Cuba, the Bahamas, extreme northeastern Asia, and parts of Iceland and the Azores. With an area of , it is the Earth's second largest tectonic plate, behind the Pacif ...
at an average rate of about per year.
Point Reyes National Seashore
Point Reyes National Seashore is a park preserve located on the Point Reyes Peninsula in Marin County, California. As a national seashore, it is maintained by the US National Park Service as an important nature preserve. Some existing agricult ...
borders Bolinas to the northwest. Duxbury Reef State Marine Conservation Area Duxbury Reef State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) is a marine protected area located about 1 mile (2 km) west of Bolinas in Marin County on California’s north central coast. This marine protected area covers . Duxbury Reef SMCA prohibits ...
encompasses Bolinas' western shoreline.
Climate
Bolinas experiences warm (occasionally hot) and dry summers, with some average monthly days in summer months above . According to the Köppen Climate Classification
The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, notabl ...
system, Bolinas has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate
A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...
, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps. Like much of the California coast, summer afternoons are often cool and windy (and sometimes foggy) as winds blow in off the ocean.
It receives more rain than other coast cities in the San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
in this latitude with of rain.
Demographics
2010
The 2010 United States Census
The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...
reported that the Bolinas CDP (Census-designated place
A census-designated place (CDP) is a Place (United States Census Bureau), concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only.
CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the count ...
) had a population of 1,620. The population density was . The racial makeup of Bolinas was 1,406 (86.8 percent) White, 27 (1.7 percent) African American, 10 (0.6 percent) Native American, 17 (1.0 percent) Asian, 14 (0.9 percent) Pacific Islander, 64 (4.0 percent) from other races, and 82 (5.1 percent) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 260 people (16.0 percent).
The census reported that 88.4 percent of the population lived in households and 11.6 percent lived in non-institutionalized group quarters.
There were 698 households, 144 (20.6 percent) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 259 (37.1 percent) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 54 (7.7 percent) had a female householder with no husband present, 32 (4.6 percent) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 49 (7.0 percent) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and nine (1.3 percent) same-sex married couples or partnerships. There were 280 households (40.1 percent) made up of individuals, and 98 (14.0 percent) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.05. There were 345 families (49.4 percent of all households); the average family size was 2.65.
The age distribution was 234 people (14.4 percent) under the age of 18, 76 people (4.7 percent) aged 18 to 24, 385 people (23.8 percent) aged 25 to 44, 642 people (39.6 percent) aged 45 to 64, and 283 people (17.5 percent) who were 65 or older. The median age was 49.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 115.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 113.6 males.
There were 986 housing units at an average density of 169.2 per square mile, of the occupied units 57.4 percent were owner-occupied and 42.6 percent were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.7 percent; the rental vacancy rate was 2.6 percent. 54.1 percent of the population lived in owner-occupied housing units and 34.3 percent lived in rental housing units.
2000
At the 2000 census there were 1,246 people in 486 households, including 260 families, in the CDP. The population density was . There were 629 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup
A race is a categorization of humans based on shared physical or social qualities into groups generally viewed as distinct within a given society. The term came into common usage during the 1500s, when it was used to refer to groups of variou ...
of the CDP in 2000 was 77.7 percent non-Hispanic White, 0.5 percent non-Hispanic Black or African American, 0.2 percent Native American, 0.9 percent Asian, 0.2 percent Pacific Islander, 0.1 percent from other races, and 4.3 percent from two or more races. 16.0 percent of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
Of the 486 households 27.4 percent had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.9 percent were married couples living together, 10.5 percent had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.3 percent were non-families. Of all households, 32.1 percent were one person and 4.5 percent had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.87.
The age distribution was 21.0 percent under the age of 18, 4.7 percent from 18 to 24, 26.0 percent from 25 to 44, 40.3 percent from 45 to 64, and 8.0 percent who were 65 or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 110.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.1 males.
The median household income was $53,188 and the median family income was $56,111. Males had a median income of $48,281 versus $40,417 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $28,973. About 5.5% of families and 10.2 percent of the population were below the poverty line
The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...
, including 6.7 percent of those under age 18 and 2.8 percent of those age 65 or over.
The much larger area defined by the Census Bureau as Zip Code Tabulation Area 94924, which includes Horseshoe Hill, Dogtown Dogtown or Dog Town may refer to:
Entertainment
* ''Dogtown'' (film), a 1997 film
* "Dogtown" (''The Simpsons''), a 2017 season episode
* '' DogTown'', a National Geographic Channel series
* ''Dogtown'', a 2006 television show, starring Geraldine ...
, and Five Brooks, had a 2000 population of 1,560 people (see map).
Education
Bolinas is in the Bolinas-Stinson Union School District, the Tamalpais Union High School District, and the Marin Community College District
The College of Marin is a public community college in Marin County, California, with two campuses, one in Kentfield, and the second in Novato. It is the only institution operated by the Marin Community College District.
College of Marin has bee ...
. Students in primary grades (kindergarten – grade 2) attend Stinson Beach School
Bolinas-Stinson Union School District is a public school district in Marin County, California, with offices in Bolinas, California, USA. As of the 2017–18 school year, the District had 91 students at its Bolinas campus.
History
Bolinas Schoo ...
, while elementary grade students (grades 3–8) attend Bolinas School. Bolinas is included in the attendance area of Tamalpais High School
Tamalpais High School (often abbreviated as Tam) is a public secondary school located in Mill Valley, California, in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is named after nearby Mount Tamalpais, which rises almost above Mill Valley.
Tamalpais High Scho ...
, in Mill Valley
Mill Valley is a city in Marin County, California, Marin County, California, United States, located about north of San Francisco via the Golden Gate Bridge and from Napa Valley. The population was 14,231 at the 2020 United States Census, 2020 ...
.
In 1951, ''Ford Times'' identified Bolinas as the first in its series of "Tom Sawyer Towns... a good place for boys and girls to live and grow... its school days, its summer vacations, its vast adventures in fishing, swimming, baseball, basking and dreaming in the sun. Such a place is Bolinas."
Government
Bolinas is unincorporated, receiving general government services from Marin County, including law enforcement, land use planning, public health, and code enforcement. Two special districts provide local services. The Bolinas Community Public Utility District provides water and wastewater service and contracts for garbage and recycling collection. The Bolinas Fire Protection District provides fire protection, emergency medical care, and disaster management services.
Bolinas Community Public Utility District
In 1967, the Bolinas Community Public Utility District was formed by the Marin County Board of Supervisors. It merged two local water districts, the Bolinas Beach Public Utility District which served the Big Mesa, and the Bolinas Public Utility District which served the Downtown and Little Mesa, with the Marin County Sanitary District #3, formed in 1908 to provide sewer service in the downtown. The BCPUD provides water service and solid waste pickup throughout Bolinas, and sewer service to the Downtown and Little Mesa.
In November 1971, the Bolinas Community Public Utility District instituted a moratorium on new water permits, which halted the construction of new homes. The moratorium was based on the limited local water supply during the summer months and in drought years, and also serves to limit new development in Bolinas. In 1990, the BCPUD enacted a moratorium on new sewer connections, to address the limited capacity of the sewage collection system. Many lots, especially on the Big Mesa, remain undeveloped.
In 2003, Bolinas voters adopted Measure G, authored by Bolinas artist Jane "Dakar" Blethen. The advisory measure called for the following language to be adopted as a policy of the Bolinas Community Public Utility District:
Regional recreation and marine protected areas
Besides the public access beach near the downtown area, there is a county park
A park is an area of natural, semi-natural or planted space set aside for human enjoyment and recreation or for the protection of wildlife or natural habitats. Urban parks are green spaces set aside for recreation inside towns and cities. N ...
, Agate Beach, which contains extensive tide pool
A tide pool or rock pool is a shallow pool of seawater that forms on the rocky intertidal shore. Many of these pools exist as separate bodies of water only at low tide.
Many tide pool habitats are home to especially adaptable animals that ...
s that are protected as part of the Gulf of the Farallones National Marine Sanctuary
A gulf is a large inlet from the ocean into the landmass, typically with a narrower opening than a bay, but that is not observable in all geographic areas so named. The term gulf was traditionally used for large highly-indented navigable bodies ...
. The town also hosts the Marin-Bolinas Botanical Gardens The Marin-Bolinas Botanical Gardens (14 acres) are botanical gardens specializing in succulents, located in Bolinas, California, United States. They are not open to the public as of 2018.
The gardens were created by Dr. Herman Schwartz, a retired p ...
, and borders on the Point Reyes National Seashore
Point Reyes National Seashore is a park preserve located on the Point Reyes Peninsula in Marin County, California. As a national seashore, it is maintained by the US National Park Service as an important nature preserve. Some existing agricult ...
to the north. Alamere Falls, one of only two beach waterfalls in the continental U.S., is on the California Coastal Trail
The California Coastal Trail, or CCT, is an environmental project by the California Coastal Conservancy, an organization developed to enhance coastal resources and promote access to the shore in 2001.
The trail is designed to connect the enti ...
from Palomarin Trailhead at the end of Mesa Road.
Duxbury Reef State Marine Conservation Area Duxbury Reef State Marine Conservation Area (SMCA) is a marine protected area located about 1 mile (2 km) west of Bolinas in Marin County on California’s north central coast. This marine protected area covers . Duxbury Reef SMCA prohibits ...
lies offshore from Bolinas. Like an underwater park, this marine protected area helps conserve ocean wildlife and marine ecosystems.
In popular culture
Bolinas and its reclusive reputation are featured in the 1981 novel ''Ecotopia Emerging
''Ecotopia Emerging'' ''(EE)'' by Ernest Callenbach is a fictionalized history of the events leading up to the secession of Northern California, Oregon, and Washington to form the steady-state, environmentalist nation of Ecotopia along the Pacif ...
'' by Ernest Callenbach
Ernest Callenbach (April 3, 1929 – April 16, 2012) was an American author, film critic, editor, and simple living adherent. He became famous due to his internationally successful semi-utopian novel '' Ecotopia'' (1975).
Life and work
Born ...
.
'' Wildflowers'', a 1999 film starring Daryl Hannah
Daryl Christine Hannah (born December 3, 1960) is an American actress and environmental activist. She made her screen debut in Brian De Palma's supernatural horror film '' The Fury'' (1978). She has starred in various movies across the years, i ...
, was partly filmed in Bolinas.
Stickers that say "Radio Free Bolinas" were subtly put on a couple of the Y-wing pilot helmets seen in ''Return of the Jedi
''Return of the Jedi'' (also known as ''Star Wars: Episode VI – Return of the Jedi'' is a 1983 American epic space opera film directed by Richard Marquand. The screenplay is by Lawrence Kasdan and George Lucas from a story by Lucas, who ...
''. Radio Free Bolinas was a pirate radio station that was founded in 1978, and was shut down by the FCC
The Federal Communications Commission (FCC) is an independent agency of the United States federal government that regulates communications by radio, television, wire, satellite, and cable across the United States. The FCC maintains jurisdictio ...
sometime after the station had a call from San Francisco, over 10 miles away and out of their broadcast range. This sticker was put on by the prop makers as they were likely in or around the area listening to the station while making the helmets.[Harry L. Helms (January 1981). https://worldradiohistory.com/Archive-DX/Miscellaneous/How%20To%20Tune%20The%20Secret%20Shortwave%20Spectrum-Helms.pdf, pg. 129. Retrieved July 8, 2022.]
Notable people
References
Further reading
*
*
*
*
*
*
External links
Bolinas Beach from the air, 2005
(California Coastal Records Project)
Bolinas Library
Bolinas Community Land Trust (BCLT)
(Affordable, community housing, preserving the human ecosystem, and the natural ecology of Bolinas.)
Bolinas Museum
The Coastal Post
Bolinas Community Center
*
{{authority control
Populated coastal places in California
Unincorporated communities in California
Census-designated places in Marin County, California
Census-designated places in California
West Marin
Artist colonies