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Sausalito ( Spanish for "small
willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...
grove") is a city in
Marin County Marin County is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is acros ...
,
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, located southeast of Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, and about north 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 17t ...
from the
Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Pen ...
. Sausalito's population was 7,269 as of the 2020 census. The community is situated near the northern end of the
Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Pen ...
, and prior to the building of that bridge served as a terminus for rail, car, and ferry traffic. Sausalito developed rapidly as a shipbuilding center in World War II, with its industrial character giving way in postwar years to a reputation as a wealthy and artistic enclave, a picturesque residential community (incorporating large numbers of
houseboat A houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily as a home. Most houseboats are not motorized as they are usually moored or kept stationary at a fixed point, and often tethered to land to provide utilities. Ho ...
s), and a tourist destination. The city is adjacent to, and largely bounded by, the protected spaces of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area as well as the San Francisco Bay.


Etymology

The name of Sausalito comes from the Spanish ''sauzalito'', meaning "small willow grove", from ''sauce'' "
willow Willows, also called sallows and osiers, from the genus ''Salix'', comprise around 400 speciesMabberley, D.J. 1997. The Plant Book, Cambridge University Press #2: Cambridge. of typically deciduous trees and shrubs, found primarily on moist so ...
" + collective derivative ''-al'' meaning "place of abundance" + diminutive suffix ''-ito''; with orthographic corruption from ''z'' to ''s'' due to ''
seseo In Spanish dialectology, the realization of coronal fricatives is one of the most prominent features distinguishing various dialect regions. The main three realizations are the phonemic distinction between and ('), the presence of only alve ...
''. Early variants of the name included Saucelito, San Salita, San Saulito, San Salito, Sancolito, Sancilito, Sousolito, Sousalita, Sousilito, Salcido, Sausilito, and Sauz Saulita. It is sometimes claimed that Sausalito was named for the district in
Valparaíso Valparaíso (; ) is a major city, seaport, naval base, and educational centre in the commune of Valparaíso, Chile. "Greater Valparaíso" is the second largest metropolitan area in the country. Valparaíso is located about northwest of Santiago ...
, Chile, where the bandit Joaquín Murrieta was born. Murrieta was the leader of bandits who settled at the northern end of the future Golden Gate Bridge after being banned from San Francisco in the bandit wars. However, this theory cannot be true because Murrieta was from Mexico, not Chile, and because he did not arrive in California until the
Gold Rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, New ...
around 1849. The Rancho Saucelito had already been granted to William Richardson in 1838.


Geography

Located at , Sausalito encompasses both steep, wooded hillside and shoreline tidal flats. 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 th ...
, the city has a total area of . Notably, only of it is land. A full 21.54% of the city (0.5 square miles, or 1.3 km2) is under water, and has been so since its founding in 1868. Prominent geographic features associated with Sausalito include Richardson Bay and Pine Point. When Sausalito was formally
plat In the United States, a plat ( or ) (plan) is a cadastral map, drawn to scale, showing the divisions of a piece of land. United States General Land Office surveyors drafted township plats of Public Lands Surveys to show the distance and bea ...
ted, it was anticipated that future development might extend the shoreline with
landfill A landfill site, also known as a tip, dump, rubbish dump, garbage dump, or dumping ground, is a site for the disposal of waste materials. Landfill is the oldest and most common form of waste disposal, although the systematic burial of the wast ...
, as had been the practice in neighboring
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 17t ...
. As a result, entire streets, demarcated and given names like Pescadero, Eureka and Teutonia, remain beneath the surface of Richardson Bay. The legal, if not actual, presence of these streets has proved a contentious factor in public policy, because some houseboats float directly above them. According to the San Francisco ''Chronicle'', "State agencies say privately owned houseboats can't be located above the underwater streets because the streets are public trust lands intended for public benefit." The California State Lands Commission is reportedly pursuing a compromise which would move not the houseboats, but the theoretical streets instead.


Climate

Sausalito has a
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 ...
(
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, nota ...
''Csb'') with far lower temperatures than expected because of its adjacency to
San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water f ...
and the resultant onshore breezes.


History


Indigenous culture

Sausalito was once the site of a
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 ...
settlement known as Liwanelowa. The branch of the Coast Miwok living in this area were known as the Huimen (or as ''Nación de Uimen'' to the Spanish). Early explorers of the area described them as friendly and hospitable. According to Juan de Ayala, "To all these advantages must be added the best of all, which is that the heathen Indians of the port are so faithful in their friendship and so docile in their disposition that I was greatly pleased to receive them on board." European settlers took advantage of the Huimen's kindness and hospitality, and completely massacred them within the span of a few generations. As historian Jack Tracy has observed, "Their dwellings on the site of Sausalito were explored and mapped in 1907, nearly a century and a half later, by an archaeological survey. By that time, nothing was left of the culture of those who had first enjoyed the natural treasures of the bay. The life of the Coastal Miwoks had been reduced to archaeological remnants, as though thousands of years had passed since their existence."


European arrival and settlement

The first European known to visit the present-day location of Sausalito was Don José de Cañizares, on August 5, 1775. Cañizares was head of an advance party dispatched by longboat from the ship ''San Carlos'', searching for a suitable anchorage for the larger vessel. The crew of the ''San Carlos'' came ashore soon after, reporting friendly natives and teeming populations of deer, elk, bear, sea lions, seals and otters. More significantly for maritime purposes, they reported an abundance of large, mature timber in the hills, a valuable commodity for shipwrights in need of raw materials for masts, braces and planking. Despite these and later positive reports, the Spanish colonial government of Upper California did little to establish a presence in the area. When a military garrison (now the
Presidio of San Francisco The Presidio of San Francisco (originally, El Presidio Real de San Francisco or The Royal Fortress of Saint Francis) is a park and former U.S. Army post on the northern tip of the San Francisco Peninsula in San Francisco, California, and is part ...
) and a Franciscan mission (
Mission Dolores Dolores, Spanish for "pain; grief", most commonly refers to: * Our Lady of Sorrows or La Virgen María de los Dolores * Dolores (given name) Dolores may also refer to: Film * ''Dolores'' (2017 film), an American documentary by Peter Bratt * ...
) were founded the following year, they were situated on the opposite, southern shore of the bay, where no portage was necessary for overland traffic to and from
Monterey Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under bot ...
, the regional capitol. As a result, the far shore of the
Golden Gate The Golden Gate is a strait on the west coast of North America that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by t ...
strait would remain largely wilderness for another half-century. The development of the area began at the instigation of
William A. Richardson William Anthony Richardson (August 27, 1795 – April 20, 1856) was an early California entrepreneur, influential in the development of Yerba Buena, the forerunner of the city of San Francisco. Richardson was the first to receive a land gran ...
, who arrived in Upper California in 1822, shortly after Mexico had won its independence from Spain. An English mariner who had picked up a fluency in Spanish during his travels, he quickly became an influential presence in the now-Mexican territory. By 1825, Richardson had assumed
Mexican Mexican may refer to: Mexico and its culture *Being related to, from, or connected to the country of Mexico, in North America ** People *** Mexicans, inhabitants of the country Mexico and their descendants *** Mexica, ancient indigenous people ...
citizenship, converted to Catholicism and married the daughter of Don Ignacio Martínez, commandant of the Presidio and holder of a large land grant. His ambitions now expanding to land holdings of his own, Richardson submitted a petition to Governor Echienda for a
rancho Rancho or Ranchos may refer to: Settlements and communities *Rancho, Aruba, former fishing village and neighbourhood of Oranjestad * Ranchos of California, 19th century land grants in Alta California **List of California Ranchos *Ranchos, Buenos A ...
in the
headlands A headland, also known as a head, is a coastal landform, a point of land usually high and often with a sheer drop, that extends into a body of water. It is a type of promontory. A headland of considerable size often is called a cape.Whittow, J ...
across the water from the Presidio, to be called " Rancho Saucelito".Robert Ryal Miller, ''Captain Richardson, Mariner, Ranchero, and Founder of San Francisco'' Berkeley: La Loma Press, 1995 all number at SSU: Regional Room F869 .S353 R5461995 ''Sausalito'' is believed to refer to a small cluster of willows, a moist-soil tree, indicating the presence of a freshwater spring.Tracy, Jack. ''Sausalito Moments in Time: A Pictorial History of Sausalito 1850-1950''. Sausalito:
Windgate Press Windgate Press is a small American publisher located in Sausalito, California whose focus is on San Francisco and California photographic history. See also *List of publishers The following are lists of publishing companies. By language *Li ...
1983.
Even before filing his claim, Richardson had used the spring as a watering station on the shores of what is now called Richardson Bay (an arm of the larger
San Francisco Bay San Francisco Bay is a large tidal estuary in the U.S. state of California, and gives its name to the San Francisco Bay Area. It is dominated by the big cities of San Francisco, San Jose, and Oakland. San Francisco Bay drains water f ...
), selling fresh water to visiting vessels. However, his ownership of the land was legally tenuous: other claims had been submitted for the same region, and at any rate Mexican law reserved headlands for military uses, not private ownership. Richardson temporarily abandoned his claim and settled instead outside the Presidio, building the first permanent civilian home and laying out the street plan for the
pueblo In the Southwestern United States, Pueblo (capitalized) refers to the Native tribes of Puebloans having fixed-location communities with permanent buildings which also are called pueblos (lowercased). The Spanish explorers of northern New Spain ...
of Yerba Buena (present-day San Francisco). After years of lobbying and legal wrangling, Richardson was given clear title to all of Rancho del Sausalito on February 11, 1838.


Fishing village and sybaritic enclave

In the post-Gold Rush era, Sausalito's unusual location became a key factor in its formation as a community. It was San Francisco's nearest neighbor, less than two miles (3 km) away at the nearest point and easily seen from city streets, yet transportation factors rendered it effectively isolated. A boat could sail there in under half an hour, but wagons and carriages required an arduous skirting of the entire bay, a journey that could well exceed a hundred miles. As a result, the region was largely dominated by two disparate classes of people, both with ready access to boats: commercial fishermen and wealthy yachting enthusiasts.


Mining town

In the 1870s,
manganese Manganese is a chemical element with the Symbol (chemistry), symbol Mn and atomic number 25. It is a hard, brittle, silvery metal, often found in minerals in combination with iron. Manganese is a transition metal with a multifaceted array of ...
was discovered in the hills west of Old Town that was rich enough to justify small-scale mining. Tunnels were dug near the springs between present-day Prospect Avenue and Sausalito Boulevard. Henry Eames, an opportunistic inventor, built an ore reduction plant at the foot of Main Street to process the manganese ore. This location would become the later site of
Sally Stanford Sally Stanford (May 5, 1903 – February 1, 1982) was an American madam, restaurateur, council member and the mayor of Sausalito, California. Born Mabel Janice Busby, in Oregon in 1903, Stanford moved to San Francisco in 1924. From 1940 to 1949, s ...
’s infamous bordello, Valhalla. However, by 1880 the Saucelito Smelting Works was producing only about fifty tons of black oxide annually, hardly enough to make Sausalito a true mining center.


Transit hub

The first post office opened in 1870 as "Saucelito" and changed its name to the present spelling in 1887. In the 1870s, the North Pacific Coast Railroad (NPC) extended its tracks southward to a new terminus in Sausalito, where a rail yard and
ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water ta ...
to San Francisco were established. The NPC was acquired by the North Shore Railroad in 1902, which in turn was absorbed in 1907 by the Southern Pacific affiliate, the
Northwestern Pacific The Northwestern Pacific Railroad is a regional shortline railroad utilizing a stretch of the 271 mile mainline between Schellville and Windsor with freight and Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) commuter trains. Formerly, it was a re ...
. By 1926, a major auto ferry across the
Golden Gate The Golden Gate is a strait on the west coast of North America that connects San Francisco Bay to the Pacific Ocean. It is defined by the headlands of the San Francisco Peninsula and the Marin Peninsula, and, since 1937, has been spanned by t ...
was established from the Sausalito Ferry Terminal, running to the Hyde Street Pier in San Francisco. This ferry was an integral part of old
U.S. Highway 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as (The Royal Roa ...
, and a large influx of automobile traffic, often parked or idling in long queues, became a dominant characteristic of the town. Northwestern Pacific commuter train service also expanded to serve the increased traffic volume, and Sausalito became known primarily as a transportation hub. This era came to an end in May 1937 with the opening of the
Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Pen ...
. The bridge made large-scale ferry operations redundant, and since the new route of Highway 101 bypassed Sausalito entirely, in-town traffic was quickly reduced to a trickle. Car ferry service ended in March 1941 (passenger ferry service, however, continues to this day, linking downtown Sausalito with both the
San Francisco Ferry Building The San Francisco Ferry Building is a terminal for ferries that travel across the San Francisco Bay, a food hall and an office building. It is located on The Embarcadero in San Francisco, California and is served by Golden Gate Ferry and San ...
in the Embarcadero, and Pier 39 in at Fisherman's Wharf). Northwestern Pacific also closed its Sausalito terminal in March 1941, although some tracks remained in use as "spur tracks" for freight trains as late as 1971.


Bootlegging and rum runners

Sausalito was a center for bootlegging during the era of
Prohibition in the United States In the United States from 1920 to 1933, a nationwide constitutional law prohibited the production, importation, transportation, and sale of alcoholic beverages. The alcohol industry was curtailed by a succession of state legislatures, an ...
. Because of its location facing the Golden Gate and isolated from San Francisco by the same waterway, it was also a favorite landing spot for
rum runners Rum-running or bootlegging is the illegal business of smuggling alcoholic beverages where such transportation is forbidden by law. Smuggling usually takes place to circumvent taxation or prohibition laws within a particular jurisdiction. The ...
. The 1942 film '' China Girl'' has some footage of
Sally Stanford Sally Stanford (May 5, 1903 – February 1, 1982) was an American madam, restaurateur, council member and the mayor of Sausalito, California. Born Mabel Janice Busby, in Oregon in 1903, Stanford moved to San Francisco in 1924. From 1940 to 1949, s ...
's Valhalla restaurant on the waterfront. The scene shows the docks and illustrates rum running.


Industrialization during World War II

When the United States entered
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
,
Fort Barry Fort Barry is a former United States Army installation on the West Coast of the United States, located in the Marin Headlands of Marin County, California, north of San Francisco. Opened in 1908, the fort was part of the Coast Artillery Corps and ...
on Point Bonita was reoccupied.
Fort Baker Fort Baker is one of the components of California's Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The Fort, which borders the City of Sausalito in Marin County and is connected to San Francisco by the Golden Gate Bridge, served as an Army post until t ...
also hosted large numbers of troops. Barracks and other housing were constructed for soldiers. Few of these buildings remain. A major shipyard of the Bechtel Corporation called Marinship was sited along the
shore A shore or a shoreline is the fringe of land at the edge of a large body of water, such as an ocean, sea, or lake. In physical oceanography, a shore is the wider fringe that is geologically modified by the action of the body of water past a ...
line of Sausalito. The thousands of laborers who worked here were largely housed in a nearby community constructed for them called Marin City. The soil which supports this area is
dredging Dredging is the excavation of material from a water environment. Possible reasons for dredging include improving existing water features; reshaping land and water features to alter drainage, navigability, and commercial use; constructing d ...
s from Richardson Bay that were placed during
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
as part of the Marin
shipyard A shipyard, also called a dockyard or boatyard, is a place where ships are built and repaired. These can be yachts, military vessels, cruise liners or other cargo or passenger ships. Dockyards are sometimes more associated with maintenance ...
s for the United States Navy. A total of were condemned by the government. A portion of this total area was formed in the shape of a peninsula and this peninsula became known as Schoonmaker Point. In honor of the city's contribution to the war effort, a Tacoma-class frigate was christened the in 1943. The ship ''Sausalito'', however, was not built in Sausalito but at one of the
Kaiser Shipyards The Kaiser Shipyards were seven major shipbuilding yards located on the United States west coast during World War II. Kaiser ranked 20th among U.S. corporations in the value of wartime production contracts. The shipyards were owned by the Kaise ...
in
Richmond, California Richmond is a city in western Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city was incorporated on August 7, 1905, and has a city council.
, also on the San Francisco Bay. The Marinship Shipyards were the site of incidents that provided a key early milestone in the
civil rights movement The civil rights movement was a nonviolent social and political movement and campaign from 1954 to 1968 in the United States to abolish legalized institutional racial segregation, discrimination, and disenfranchisement throughout the Unite ...
. In 1944 in the case of ''James v. Marinship'' the
California Supreme Court The Supreme Court of California is the highest and final court of appeals in the courts of the U.S. state of California. It is headquartered in San Francisco at the Earl Warren Building, but it regularly holds sessions in Los Angeles and Sac ...
held that
African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
could not be excluded from jobs based on their race, even if the employer took no discriminatory actions. In the case of Joseph James, on whose behalf the suit was brought, the local Boilermakers Union excluded Blacks from membership and had a "closed shop" contract, forbidding the shipbuilder from employing anyone who was not a member of the union. African American workers could join an auxiliary of the union, which offered access to fewer jobs at lower pay. Future US
Supreme Court A supreme court is the highest court within the hierarchy of courts in most legal jurisdictions. Other descriptions for such courts include court of last resort, apex court, and high (or final) court of appeal. Broadly speaking, the decisions of ...
justice
Thurgood Marshall Thurgood Marshall (July 2, 1908 – January 24, 1993) was an American civil rights lawyer and jurist who served as an associate justice of the Supreme Court of the United States from 1967 until 1991. He was the Supreme Court's first African-A ...
successfully argued the case, winning a ruling that the union be required to offer equal membership to African Americans. The court extended the ruling to apply explicitly to all unions and all workers in California.


Postwar years

Following World War II, a lively waterfront community grew out of the abandoned shipyards. By the late 1960s at least three
houseboat A houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily as a home. Most houseboats are not motorized as they are usually moored or kept stationary at a fixed point, and often tethered to land to provide utilities. Ho ...
communities occupied the waterfront along and adjacent to Sausalito's shore. Beginning in the 1970s, an intense struggle erupted between houseboat residents and developers, dubbed the "Houseboat Wars". Forced removals by county authorities and sabotage by some on the waterfront characterized this struggle. This long fight pitted the waterfront against the "Hill People" – the rich on the hill looking down on the waterfront. Today three houseboat communities still exist — Galilee Harbor in Sausalito, Waldo Point Harbor and the Gates Cooperative, just outside the city limit. In 1965, the City of Sausalito sued the
County of Marin Marin County is a county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat and largest city is San Rafael. Marin County is ac ...
and a private developer for illegally zoning of land to build a city named
Marincello Marincello was a failed development project in Marin County, California that would have put a planned community atop the Marin Headlands, overlooking the Golden Gate. Its upheaval set the precedent for Marin County's rigid anti-development stance ...
adjacent to Sausalito. The city won the lawsuit in 1970, and the land was transferred as open space to the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. In 1997,
The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...
compared Sausalito to Devonport in
Auckland Auckland (pronounced ) ( mi, Tāmaki Makaurau) is a large metropolitan city in the North Island of New Zealand. The most populous urban area in the country and the fifth largest city in Oceania, Auckland has an urban population of about I ...
due to its setting and scenery.


Government


Federal and state

In the
United States House of Representatives The United States House of Representatives, often referred to as the House of Representatives, the U.S. House, or simply the House, is the lower chamber of the United States Congress, with the Senate being the upper chamber. Together they ...
, Sausalito is in . From 2008 to 2012, Huffman represented Marin County in the
California State Assembly The California State Assembly is the lower house of the California State Legislature, the upper house being the California State Senate. The Assembly convenes, along with the State Senate, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento. The ...
. In the
California State Legislature The California State Legislature is a bicameral state legislature consisting of a lower house, the California State Assembly, with 80 members; and an upper house, the California State Senate, with 40 members. Both houses of the Legislatu ...
, Sausalito is in: * * . According to the
California Secretary of State The secretary of state of California is the chief clerk of the U.S. state of California, overseeing a department of 500 people. The secretary of state is elected for four year terms, like the state's other constitutional officers; the officeh ...
, as of February 10, 2019, Sausalito has 5,430 registered voters. Of those, 2,905 (53.5%) are registered Democrats, 677 (12.5%) are registered Republicans, and 1,605 (30%) have declined to state a political party.


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 serving ...
reported that Sausalito had a population of 7,061. The population density was . The racial makeup of Sausalito was 6,400 (90.6%)
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...
, 65 (0.9%)
African Americans African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 16 (0.2%) Native American, 342 (4.8%) Asian, 10 (0.1%)
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...
, 53 (0.8%) from other races, and 175 (2.5%) from two or more races.
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...
or Latino of any race were 287 persons (4.1%). The Census reported that 99.8% of the population lived in households and 0.2% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters. There were 4,112 households, out of which 420 (10.2%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,443 (35.1%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 146 (3.6%) had a female householder with no husband present, 64 (1.6%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 313 (7.6%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 63 (1.5%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 1,927 households (46.9%) were made up of individuals, and 524 (12.7%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.71. There were 1,653 families (40.2% of all households); the average family size was 2.39. The population was spread out, with 615 people (8.7%) under the age of 18, 159 people (2.3%) aged 18 to 24, 1,962 people (27.8%) aged 25 to 44, 2,830 people (40.1%) aged 45 to 64, and 1,495 people (21.2%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 51.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.2 males. There were 4,536 housing units at an average density of , of which 2,088 (50.8%) were owner-occupied, and 2,024 (49.2%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.1%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.8%. 3,783 people (53.6% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 3,265 people (46.2%) lived in rental housing units.


2000

As of the
census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...
of 2000, there were 7,330 people, 4,254 households, and 1,663 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 4,511 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city in 2010 was 87.4% non-Hispanic
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...
, 0.9% non-Hispanic
African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...
, 0.2% Native American, 4.8% Asian, 0.1%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...
, 0.3% from other races, and 2.2% from two or more races.
Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...
or Latino of any race were 4.1% of the population. There were 4,254 households, out of which 8.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.9% were
married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...
living together, 3.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 60.9% were non-families. 45.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.72 and the average family size was 2.34. In the city, the population was spread out, with 7.4% under the age of 18, 2.4% from 18 to 24, 39.5% from 25 to 44, 38.5% from 45 to 64, and 12.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.8 males. The median
income Income is the consumption and saving opportunity gained by an entity within a specified timeframe, which is generally expressed in monetary terms. Income is difficult to define conceptually and the definition may be different across fields. Fo ...
for a household in the city was $87,469, and the median income for a family was $123,467. Males had a median income of $90,680 versus $56,576 for females. The
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...
for the city was $81,040. About 2.0% of families and 5.1% 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 ...
, including 5.1% of those under age 18 and 5.5% of those age 65 or over.


Sister cities

*
Viña del Mar Viña del Mar (; meaning "Vineyard of the Sea") is a List of cities in Chile, city and Communes of Chile, commune on Zona Central, Chile, central Chile's Pacific coast. Often referred to as ("The Garden City"), Viña del Mar is located within ...
, Chile * Sakaide, Kagawa, Japan *
Cascais Cascais () is a town and municipality in the Lisbon District of Portugal, located on the Portuguese Riviera. The municipality has a total of 214,158 inhabitants in an area of 97.40 km2. Cascais is an important tourist destination. Its marin ...
,
Portugal Portugal, officially the Portuguese Republic ( pt, República Portuguesa, links=yes ), is a country whose mainland is located on the Iberian Peninsula of Southwestern Europe, and whose territory also includes the Atlantic archipelagos of th ...
Sakaide is near the Seto Ohashi Bridge on the north coast of the island of Shikoku in Japan (established in 1988). The primary program is a youth cultural exchange program. Viña del Mar is located on the coast of Chile not far from Santiago (established 1960). The relationship features a Sausalito Stadium and a Sausalito Lagoon. Conversely, Sausalito's main plaza is named Viña del Mar in honor of the Chilean city. The primary program is 777 (7 women, 7 days, 7 dreams), an entrepreneurial training for Chilean Woman in Sausalito. Cascais is the newest sister city. This relationship was established in 2013. The primary program is a youth sailing exchange between Cascais and Sausalito, Clube Naval and the Sausalito Yacht Club.


Service organizations and clubs

Service organizations in Sausalito include the
Lions Club The International Association of Lions Clubs, more commonly known as Lions Clubs International, is an international non-political service organization established originally in 1916 in Chicago, Illinois, by Melvin Jones. It is now headquarter ...
,
Rotary Club Rotary International is one of the largest service organizations in the world. Its stated mission is to "provide service to others, promote integrity, and advance world understanding, goodwill, and peace through hefellowship of business, prof ...
, Sausalito Woman's Club, Sausalito Historical Society, the Sausalito Library Foundation, Friends of the Sausalito Library, Sausalito Art Festival Foundation, the Sausalito-on-the-Waterfront Foundation, and Richardson's Bay Maritime Association. Clubs include the Sausalito Yacht Club, Presidio Yacht Club and the Sausalito Cruising Club. The Sausalito-on-the-Waterfront Foundation, incorporated in May 2009, is a
non-profit A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
California public benefit corporation. Its mission is to educate the public on the history of the Sausalito waterfront and environmental issues related to San Francisco Bay, perpetuate life on San Francisco Bay and waterfront, sponsor boating activities and community events and provide educational scholarships and support to other non-profit organizations. Some activities of the foundation include the Sausalito Lighted Boat Parade and Fireworks, Opening Day on the Bay celebration, Youth Sailing Program, Burning Woman Artists Waterfront Exhibit, Kids Waterfront Day-in-the-Park and Jazz & Blues On-the-Waterfront. The Sausalito Yacht Harbor has slips for 600 vessels and is the southernmost harbor in Sausalito, adjacent to the central downtown area.


Tourism

Due to its location at the north end of the
Golden Gate Bridge The Golden Gate Bridge is a suspension bridge spanning the Golden Gate, the strait connecting San Francisco Bay and the Pacific Ocean. The structure links the U.S. city of San Francisco, California—the northern tip of the San Francisco Pen ...
, Sausalito receives a steady stream of visitors via the bridge (auto and bicycle traffic) and a
ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water ta ...
service from
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 17t ...
. It retains one of the few ungated marinas in the
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 Gov ...
that attracts visitors.


Media

For several decades Sausalito had a local newspaper called the ''MarinScope'', owned at times by Paul and Billy Anderson, and
Vijay Mallya Vijay Vittal Mallya (born 18 December 1955) is an Indian businessman, former politician and fugitive. He is the subject of an extradition effort by the Indian Government to return him from the UK to face charges of financial crimes in India. ...
. However, as of 2018 the newspaper had ceased publication. Sausalito retains a small radio station founded by Jonathan Westerling, Radio Sausalito 1610 AM, which also serves as the city's Emergency Broadcasting System. The city's primary websites are the city's official site ci.Sausalito.ca.us, the Chamber of Commerce sausalito.org, a reference site oursausalito.com and a guide for locals and visitors to the area Sausalito.com.


Education

Sausalito is served by the Sausalito Marin City School District for primary school and the
Tamalpais Union High School District The Tamalpais Union High School District or TUHSD provides high school education to students residing in ten elementary districts in central and southern Marin County, California and parts of West Marin. The headquarters are on the property of ...
for secondary school.SCHOOLS in the Tamalpais Union High School District and communities served
."
Tamalpais Union High School District The Tamalpais Union High School District or TUHSD provides high school education to students residing in ten elementary districts in central and southern Marin County, California and parts of West Marin. The headquarters are on the property of ...
. Retrieved on April 1, 2010.
Effective 2021 the sole public school for the elementary district is Martin Luther King, Jr. Academy, with preschool and middle school in Marin City and elementary school in Sausalito. Previously residents had two public schools to choose from: the K-8 public school, then known as Bayside Martin Luther King, Jr. Academy, or the K-8 charter school
Willow Creek Academy Willow Creek Academy (WCA) was a K-8 public charter school located in Sausalito, California. It is part of the Sausalito Marin City School District and is located on the former campus of Bayside Elementary School next to its namesake, Willow Cr ...
in Sausalito. Willow Creek occupied ground of the former Bayside School in Sausalito. There are two private elementary schools: The K-12 Waldorf style
New Village School The New Village School (NVS) is a private school in Sausalito, California Sausalito ( Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, ...
, and PreK - 5 campus of the
Lycée Français de San Francisco The ''Lycée Français de San Francisco'' (LFSF), previously known as the ''Lycée Français La Pérouse'', is a private school in the San Francisco Bay Area. It welcomes students from preschool through middle, and High School grades. It has a pri ...
. High schoolers in public school attend
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. Sausalito City Hall houses the Sausalito Public Library.


Parks and recreation

The public parks in Sausalito include Cazneau Playground, Cloud View Park, Dunphy Park, Gabrielson Park, Harrison Playground, Martin Luther King Park and Dog Park, Langendorf Park, Marinship Park, South View Park, Robin Sweeny Park, Tiffany Park, Vina del Mar Plaza, and
Yee Tock Chee *Yu (Chinese surname) (Chinese: 余) * Yee (surname) ( simp. 叶, trad. 葉) -- variants Yee, Yeh, Yip/Ip, Yap, Yapp Notable people with surname Yee (余) Persons with surname "Yee"(余) include: * Charmaine Yee (born 1987), Singaporean emcee ...
Park. The public beaches include Schoonmaker Beach, Swede's Beach and Tiffany Beach. Sausalito also has a municipal fishing pier and the Turney Street Boat Ramp. A club house/game room and an exercise room are located in the city hall.


Houseboats

The Sausalito houseboat community consists of more than 400 houseboats of various shapes, sizes, and values, along the north end of town, approximately two miles from downtown. While some of these are technically outside the Sausalito city limits, they are generally acknowledged as forming an integral part of the Sausalito community. The roots of the houseboat community lie in the re-use of abandoned boats and material after the de-commissioning of the Marinship shipyards at the end of World War II. Many anchor-outs came to the area, which created problems with sanitation and other issues. After a series of tense confrontations in the 1970s and 1980s, additional regulations were applied to the area and the great majority of boats were relocated to approved docks. From 77 boats in the water in 1977, there were about 18 boats left in 2019. Several are architect-designed pieces that have been featured in major magazines. The Gates Co-op Houseboat Community remains to this day, although recent action has required them to fit city-standards of sanitation and building codes. The humming toadfish makes mating noises underwater, keeping some residents awake at night.Hum along with male plainfin midshipman fish.
Morning Edition. National Public Radio. July 29, 2009.
Bishop, K

''The New York Times''. June 26, 1989.
Sounds of the Plainfin Midshipman.
Underwater Sound from the RTC Pier. Underwater Acoustics Research Group. San Francisco State University.
Perlman, D
Hormones fine-tune the humming toadfish: High levels of estrogen found in the most responsive females.
''San Francisco Chronicle''. July 19, 2004.


Notable people

The following is a list of notable residents of Sausalito, past and present.


Past

*
Leon Adams Leon David Adams (February 1, 1905 – September 14, 1995) was an American journalist, publicist, historian and co-founder of the Wine Institute. In 1958, Adams book ''Commonsense Book of Wine'' was published, which sought to bring table ...
, wine writer and author of ''Wines of America'', lived in Sausalito until his death. * Etel Adnan, Arab-American visual artist, poet, and writer (Also partner
Simone Fattal Simone Fattal (Arabic: سيمون فتال ; born 1942) is a Lebanon, Lebanese-American artist. She was born in Damascus and was educated in Beirut and Paris, studying philosophy at the University of Paris, Sorbonne. She returned to Beirut in 1969 ...
) *
Enid Foster Enid Bauer Foster (October 28, 1895 – September 20, 1979) was an American artist, sculptor, poet, playwright and performing artist best known in later life for her oil paintings and especially her monotype pen drawings, a medium she developed. S ...
, artist, sculptor, playwright, art community leader * Phil Frank, cartoonist of "Farley" comic strip in the ''San Francisco Chronicle''. Headed up placing the Marinship exhibit in the Bay Model and setting up the exhibits in the Ice House Visitor Center. * Sterling Hayden, film actor and sailor *
William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst Sr. (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American businessman, newspaper publisher, and politician known for developing the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His flamboya ...
, newspaper publisher *
Janis Joplin Janis Lyn Joplin (January 19, 1943 – October 4, 1970) was an American singer and musician. One of the most successful and widely known rock stars of her era, she was noted for her powerful mezzo-soprano vocals and "electric" stage presence. ...
, singer (lived in house on 501 Bridgeway) * Tim Lincecum, San Francisco Giants pitcher *
Baby Face Nelson Lester Joseph Gillis (December 6, 1908 – November 27, 1934), also known as George Nelson and Baby Face Nelson, was an American bank robber who became a criminal partner of John Dillinger, when he helped Dillinger escape from prison, in Crown P ...
, gangster of the 1920s * Frederick O'Brien, writer of travel books about Pacific islands *
Frank Oppenheimer Frank Friedman Oppenheimer (August 14, 1912 – February 3, 1985) was an American particle physicist, cattle rancher, professor of physics at the University of Colorado, and the founder of the Exploratorium in San Francisco. A younger brother ...
, particle physicist and founder of the
Exploratorium The Exploratorium is a museum of science, technology, and arts in San Francisco, California. Characterized as "a mad scientist's penny arcade, a scientific funhouse, and an experimental laboratory all rolled into one", the participatory natu ...
in San Francisco *
Harry Partch Harry Partch (June 24, 1901 – September 3, 1974) was an American composer, music theorist, and creator of unique musical instruments. He composed using scales of unequal intervals in just intonation, and was one of the first 20th-century com ...
, composer and creator of musical instruments; set up a studio in an abandoned Sausalito shipyard in 1953 *
Otis Redding Otis Ray Redding Jr. (September 9, 1941 – December 10, 1967) was an American singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the greatest singers in the history of American popular music and a seminal artist in soul music and rhythm and blues. ...
, musician, wrote "
(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" is a song co-written by soul singer Otis Redding and guitarist Steve Cropper. It was recorded by Redding twice in 1967, including once just three days before his death in a plane crash on December 10, 1967. Th ...
" while staying on a houseboat at Waldo Point in Sausalito in 1967. *
Shel Silverstein Sheldon Allan Silverstein (; September 25, 1930 – May 10, 1999) was an American writer, poet, cartoonist, singer / songwriter, musician, and playwright. Born and raised in Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein briefly attended university before ...
, poet *
Sally Stanford Sally Stanford (May 5, 1903 – February 1, 1982) was an American madam, restaurateur, council member and the mayor of Sausalito, California. Born Mabel Janice Busby, in Oregon in 1903, Stanford moved to San Francisco in 1924. From 1940 to 1949, s ...
, former Sausalito City Council member and mayor, founder of the restaurant Valhalla; ran a well-known brothel at 1144 Pine Street in San Francisco *
Alan Watts Alan Wilson Watts (6 January 1915 – 16 November 1973) was an English writer, speaker and self-styled "philosophical entertainer", known for interpreting and popularising Japanese, Chinese and Indian traditions of Buddhist, Taoist, and Hindu ...
, 20th-century philosopher (The
Sausalito Library The Sausalito Library is a public library serving the City of Sausalito and environs in Marin County, California. The library opened in 1974 at its present location of 420 Litho Street in Sausalito (inside City Hall). The library collection consis ...
owns permanent collections of audio recordings of Watts' spoken words and other material.)


Present-day

*
Isabelle Allende Isabel Angélica Allende Llona (; born in Lima, 2 August 1942) is a Chilean writer. Allende, whose works sometimes contain aspects of the genre magical realism, is known for novels such as ''The House of the Spirits'' (''La casa de los espír ...
, author *
Dave Eggers Dave Eggers (born March 12, 1970) is an American writer, editor, and publisher. He wrote the 2000 best-selling memoir ''A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius''. Eggers is also the founder of ''Timothy McSweeney's Quarterly Concern'', a lite ...
, author and philanthropist * Neal Gottlieb, ice cream entrepreneur and '' Survivor: Kaoh Rong'' contestant *
Joanie Greggains Joanie Greggains (1944–2022) was an American fitness instructor. Greggains was the radio host of ''The Joanie Greggains Show'', a weekend health and fitness program on KSRO Radio, Santa Rosa, California. She was also known for her long-running ...
, fitness influence and media figure, former KGO radio host *
Vijay Mallya Vijay Vittal Mallya (born 18 December 1955) is an Indian businessman, former politician and fugitive. He is the subject of an extradition effort by the Indian Government to return him from the UK to face charges of financial crimes in India. ...
, Indian liquor magnate * Jason Roberts, author and technologist *
Amy Tan Amy Ruth Tan (born on February 19, 1952) is an American author known for the novel '' The Joy Luck Club,'' which was adapted into a film of the same name, as well as other novels, short story collections, and children's books. Tan has written ...
, author *
Chase Utley Chase Cameron Utley (born December 17, 1978), nicknamed "The Man" and "Silver Fox", is an American former professional baseball second baseman who played in Major League Baseball (MLB) for 16 seasons, primarily for the Philadelphia Phillies. ...
,
Major League Baseball Major League Baseball (MLB) is a professional baseball organization and the oldest major professional sports league in the world. MLB is composed of 30 total teams, divided equally between the National League (NL) and the American League (A ...
player


Industry

*Heath Ceramics, founded by mid-century modern ceramicist
Edith Heath Edith Kiertzner Heath (May 24, 1911 – December 27, 2005) was an American studio potter and founder of Heath Ceramics. The company, well known for its mid-century modern ceramic tableware, including "Heathware," and architectural tiles, ...
, has been operating in Sausalito since 1948. *From 1972 to 2008, the
Record Plant The Record Plant is a recording studio established in New York City in 1968 and currently operating in Los Angeles, California. Known for innovations in the recording artists' workspace, it has produced highly influential albums, including Blo ...
recording studio operated from a 10,000 square foot complex on the Sausalito waterfront. The hundreds of albums recorded there include
Fleetwood Mac Fleetwood Mac are a British-American rock band, formed in London in 1967. Fleetwood Mac were founded by guitarist Peter Green, drummer Mick Fleetwood and guitarist Jeremy Spencer, before bassist John McVie joined the line-up for their epo ...
's '' Rumours'',
Stevie Wonder Stevland Hardaway Morris ( Judkins; May 13, 1950), known professionally as Stevie Wonder, is an American singer-songwriter, who is credited as a pioneer and influence by musicians across a range of genres that include rhythm and blues, pop, s ...
's '' Songs in the Key of Life'', and Heart's eponymous debut. *In addition to Marinship, which built ships during World War II, Sausalito has a long history of boatbuilding. These boatyards specialized in a variety of vessels, including fishing and other work boats, government-contract vessels and recreational yachts. Many boatyards came and went in Sausalito in the late 19th century and early 20th century, including G. Smith, Brixen and Manfrey, the California Launch Building Company, the Reliance Boat Company, Nunes Brothers (Manuel and Antonio), Atlantic Boatbuilding Plant, Crichton and Arques, Sausalito Shipbuilding,
Madden and Lewis Company Madden, Lewis or Madden and Lewis Company or Madden and Lewis Corp. was a wooden shipbuilding company in Sausalito, California. To support the World War 2 demand for ships Madden, Lewis shipyard switched over to military construction and built: U ...
, Menotti Pasquinucci and Bob's Boatyard. After
World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...
, the best known yards are, or were, Spaulding Boatworks, Bob's Boatyard, Easom Boatworks, Sausalito Marine, Bayside Boatworks, Richardson Bay Boat, the Boatbuilders Co-op and Anderson's Boat Yard. *The Spaulding Boatworks was founded in 1951 by Myron Spaulding and has been in continuous operation since then. It is one of the last remaining wooden boat yards on the West Coast. Today, the Spaulding Wooden Boat Center is a working and living museum, with a mission to restore and return to active use significant, historic wooden sailing vessels; preserve and enhance its working boatyard; create a place where people can gather to use, enjoy, and learn about wooden boats; and educate others about wooden boat building skills, traditions and values. *Mason's Distillery, acquired by the American Distilling Company in 1933, manufactured and distributed various brands of whiskey, including "Bourbon Supreme". The distillery was destroyed by fire on May 4, 1963; the site is now the location of "Whiskey Springs" condominiums. *The Southern Pacific ferryboat '' Berkeley'' was docked in Sausalito for several years during the 1960s after being taken out of service. It was subsequently towed to
San Diego San Diego ( , ; ) is a city on the Pacific Ocean coast of Southern California located immediately adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a 2020 population of 1,386,932, it is the eighth most populous city in the United States ...
where it was restored and is a tourist attraction. *The bakery Pepperidge Farm, which markets The American Collection line of cookies named after various notable locales (Chesapeake, Nantucket, Tahoe), has given the name Sausalito to their milk chocolate/macadamia-nut combo. It is not manufactured in the city. As of 2011, the company maintains a registered trademark on the name Sausalito.


In popular culture


Film, television, and video games

*The 1978 film '' Invasion of the Body Snatchers'' by Philip Kaufman has a scene in front of the Health Department of San Francisco where alien pods are distributed. A speaker says: "You are in the right place for Sausalito. Please keep moving right along. Sausalito only, please." *The 1978 film '' The Manitou'' by
William Girdler William Girdler (October 22, 1947 – January 21, 1978) was an American filmmaker. In a span of six years, from 1972 to 1978, he directed nine feature films in such genres as horror and action. Girdler also wrote and produced three of his fea ...
mentions doctor of anthropology, Dr. Snow played by Burgess Meredith as living in Sausalito, where main characters meet him. *A section of the 1892 novel '' The Wrecker'', by
Robert Louis Stevenson Robert Louis Stevenson (born Robert Lewis Balfour Stevenson; 13 November 1850 – 3 December 1894) was a Scottish novelist, essayist, poet and travel writer. He is best known for works such as '' Treasure Island'', ''Strange Case of Dr Jekyll ...
and Lloyd Osborn, is set in Sausalito. *The opening of ''
The Sea-Wolf Seawolf, Sea wolf or Sea Wolves may refer to: Animals * Sea wolf, a wolf subspecies found in the Vancouver coastal islands * Seawolf (fish), a marine fish also known as wolffish or sea wolf * A nickname of the killer whale * South American sea ...
'' by
Jack London John Griffith Chaney (January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors to ...
is set on a ferryboat travelling from Sausalito to San Francisco. It is believed that London stayed for a time in Sausalito while he was writing the novel. *Scenes in the 1947 film '' The Lady from Shanghai'', directed by
Orson Welles George Orson Welles (May 6, 1915 – October 10, 1985) was an American actor, director, producer, and screenwriter, known for his innovative work in film, radio and theatre. He is considered to be among the greatest and most influential f ...
, take place on the Sausalito waterfront with
Rita Hayworth Rita Hayworth (born Margarita Carmen Cansino; October 17, 1918May 14, 1987) was an American actress, dancer and producer. She achieved fame during the 1940s as one of the era's top stars, appearing in 61 films over 37 years. The press coined th ...
. *The 1949 film ''
Impact Impact may refer to: * Impact (mechanics), a high force or shock (mechanics) over a short time period * Impact, Texas, a town in Taylor County, Texas, US Science and technology * Impact crater, a meteor crater caused by an impact event * Imp ...
'', directed by Arthur Lubin, features downtown Sausalito in its opening scenes. *In
Jack Kerouac Jean-Louis Lebris de Kérouac (; March 12, 1922 – October 21, 1969), known as Jack Kerouac, was an American novelist and poet who, alongside William S. Burroughs and Allen Ginsberg, was a pioneer of the Beat Generation. Of French-Canadian an ...
's ''
On the Road ''On the Road'' is a 1957 novel by American writer Jack Kerouac, based on the travels of Kerouac and his friends across the United States. It is considered a defining work of the postwar Beat and Counterculture generations, with its protagonis ...
'', Sausalito is mentioned as "a little fishing village" and a joke is made about it being "filled with
Italians , flag = , flag_caption = The national flag of Italy , population = , regions = Italy 55,551,000 , region1 = Brazil , pop1 = 25–33 million , ref1 = , region2 ...
". *Many scenes in the 1965 film '' Dear Brigitte'' with
James Stewart James Maitland Stewart (May 20, 1908 – July 2, 1997) was an American actor and military pilot. Known for his distinctive drawl and everyman screen persona, Stewart's film career spanned 80 films from 1935 to 1991. With the strong morality ...
,
Glynis Johns Glynis Margaret Payne Johns (born 5 October 1923) is a South African-born British former actress, dancer, musician and singer. Recognised as a film and Broadway icon, Johns has a career spanning eight decades, in which she appeared in more than ...
,
Ed Wynn Isaiah Edwin Leopold (November 9, 1886 – June 19, 1966), better known as Ed Wynn, was an American actor and comedian. He was noted for his ''Perfect Fool'' comedy character, his pioneering radio show of the 1930s, and his later career as a d ...
, Bill Mumy, and
Fabian Forte Fabian Forte (born Fabiano Anthony Forte, February 6, 1943), professionally known as Fabian, is an American singer and actor. Forte rose to national prominence after performing several times on '' American Bandstand''. He became a teen idol o ...
were filmed on the Sausalito shores of Richardson Bay. *The 1968 film ''
Petulia ''Petulia'' is a 1968 British-American drama film directed by Richard Lester and starring Julie Christie, George C. Scott and Richard Chamberlain. The film has a screenplay by Lawrence B. Marcus from a story by Barbara Turner and is based on ...
'' has Richard Chamberlain fishing
Julie Christie Julie Frances Christie (born 14 April 1940) is a British actress. An icon of the Swinging Sixties, Christie is the recipient of numerous accolades including an Academy Award, a BAFTA Award, a Golden Globe, and a Screen Actors Guild Award. She ...
out of the water at the foot of Johnson Street. Potted trees and other shrubbery, situated as set decorations on the adjacent docks, were left in place after filming had ended. *''
M*A*S*H ''M*A*S*H'' (Mobile Army Surgical Hospital) is an American media franchise consisting of a series of novels, a film, several television series, plays, and other properties, and based on the semi-autobiographical fiction of Richard Hooker. T ...
'' fictional character
B. J. Hunnicutt This is a list of characters from the ''M*A*S*H'' franchise, covering the various fictional characters appearing in the novel '' MASH: A Novel About Three Army Doctors'' and its sequels, the 1970 film adaptation of the novel, and the televisi ...
was portrayed as having completed his medical residency in Sausalito (an impossibility, as the town has never had a hospital). His peacetime address is in Mill Valley, the town adjacent to Sausalito. He also mentions several times going to "a nice restaurant in Sausalito with his wife, Peg". *A scene from the 1972 movie '' Play It Again, Sam'' was shot using interiors of the Trident restaurant and exteriors of the Spinnaker restaurant in Sausalito. In the film, actors
Woody Allen Heywood "Woody" Allen (born Allan Stewart Konigsberg; November 30, 1935) is an American film director, writer, actor, and comedian whose career spans more than six decades and multiple Academy Award-winning films. He began his career writing ...
and Tony Roberts are seen entering the Spinnaker restaurant with the ferryboat '' Berkeley'', then tied up in Sausalito with the retail emporium Trade Fair in the background. The scene then cuts to the interior of the Trident. *In the 1978 comic farce mystery detective thriller '' Foul Play'', Gloria Mundy (played by
Goldie Hawn Goldie Jeanne Hawn (born November 21, 1945) is an American actress, dancer, producer, and singer. She rose to fame on the NBC sketch comedy program ''Rowan & Martin's Laugh-In'' (1968–1970), before going on to receive the Academy Award and Go ...
) comes under the protection of San Francisco detective Lt. Tony Carlson (played by
Chevy Chase Cornelius Crane "Chevy" Chase (; born October 8, 1943) is an American comedian, actor and writer. He became a key cast member in the first season of '' Saturday Night Live'', where his recurring ''Weekend Update'' segment became a staple of the ...
), who brings her to his houseboat in Sausalito. *In the 1978 novel ''
The House of God ''The House of God'' is a satirical novel by Samuel Shem (a pseudonym used by psychiatrist Stephen Bergman), published in 1978. The novel follows a group of medical interns at a fictionalized version of Beth Israel Hospital over the course of ...
'', the intern Hooper hails from Sausalito. *In '' Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home'', the fictional Cetacean Institute is in Sausalito. Although several scenes took place there, no filming was done in Sausalito itself. The actual filming location for the fictional institute was the
Monterey Bay Aquarium Monterey Bay Aquarium is a nonprofit public aquarium in Monterey, California. Known for its regional focus on the marine habitats of Monterey Bay, it was the first to exhibit a living kelp forest when it opened in October 1984. Its biolo ...
in
Monterey, California Monterey (; es, Monterrey; Ohlone: ) is a city located in Monterey County on the southern edge of Monterey Bay on the U.S. state of California's Central Coast. Founded on June 3, 1770, it functioned as the capital of Alta California under b ...
. * Craig Thomas set the home of Alan Aubrey in Sausalito in his 1990 thriller ''The Last Raven''. *
Albert Brooks Albert Brooks (born Albert Lawrence Einstein ; July 22, 1947) is an American actor and filmmaker. He received an Academy Award nomination for Best Supporting Actor for 1987's '' Broadcast News'' and was widely praised for his performance as a ...
' ''
Mother ] A mother is the female parent of a child. A woman may be considered a mother by virtue of having given birth, by raising a child who may or may not be her biological offspring, or by supplying her ovum for fertilisation in the case of ...
'' ( 1996 in film, 1996) employs the town as the setting for its story, which features several shots of Sausalito throughout. *In
David Fincher David Andrew Leo Fincher (born August 28, 1962) is an American film director. His films, mostly psychological thrillers and biographical dramas, have received 40 nominations at the Academy Awards, including three for him as Best Director. F ...
's 1997 film '' The Game'', set in San Francisco, Nicholas Van Orton's (
Michael Douglas Michael Kirk Douglas (born September 25, 1944) is an American actor and film producer. He has received numerous accolades, including two Academy Awards, five Golden Globe Awards, a Primetime Emmy Award, the Cecil B. DeMille Award, and the AF ...
) ex-wife lives in Sausalito. *''
Sausalito Sausalito (Spanish for "small willow grove") is a city in Marin County, California, United States, located southeast of Marin City, south-southeast of San Rafael, and about north of San Francisco from the Golden Gate Bridge. Sausalito's ...
'' is the English title of a 2000 Hong Kong film directed by Lau Wai Keung, starring
Maggie Cheung Maggie Cheung Man-yuk (; born 20 September 1964) is a Hong Kong former actress. Raised in Hong Kong and Britain, she started her career after placing second in 1983's Miss Hong Kong Pageant. She achieved critical success in the late 1980s and i ...
. *In the television series '' Star Trek: Enterprise'', a Vulcan "compound" is based in Sausalito, although it is not depicted;
Fort Baker Fort Baker is one of the components of California's Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The Fort, which borders the City of Sausalito in Marin County and is connected to San Francisco by the Golden Gate Bridge, served as an Army post until t ...
, which borders Sausalito is shown, and has become the site of
Starfleet Headquarters Starfleet is a fictional organization in the ''Star Trek'' media franchise. Within this fictional universe, Starfleet is a uniformed space force maintained by the United Federation of Planets ("the Federation") as the principal means for conduc ...
. In ''Rise of the Federation - Uncertain Logic'', set in 2165, Admiral Jonathan Archer lives in a
houseboat A houseboat is a boat that has been designed or modified to be used primarily as a home. Most houseboats are not motorized as they are usually moored or kept stationary at a fixed point, and often tethered to land to provide utilities. Ho ...
in Sausalito. *In
Sofia Coppola Sofia Carmina Coppola (; born May 14, 1971) is an American filmmaker and actress. The youngest child and only daughter of filmmakers Eleanor Coppola, Eleanor and Francis Ford Coppola, she made her film debut as an infant in her father's acclaimed ...
's 2003 film '' Lost in Translation'', a jazz band called Sausalito performs at the Park Hyatt Bar. * In the 2005 video game '' Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas'', there is a town based on Sausalito, named Bayside. *
Judd Apatow Judd Apatow (; born December 6, 1967) is an American comedian, director, producer, and screenwriter, best known for his work in comedy and drama films. He is the founder of Apatow Productions, through which he produced and directed the films ' ...
's 2009 dramedy '' Funny People'' uses Sausalito as the backdrop for the film's third act where Leslie Mann and Eric Bana's characters live with their family. * 2010 racing video game '' Blur'' featured a track ostensibly set in Sausalito, although the game track does not resemble the actual landscape. * The 2012 ABC series '' Red Widow'' was based in Sausalito. However, it was actually filmed in
Vancouver, British Columbia Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the city, up from 631,486 in 2016. The ...
,
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by to ...
. The series' main stars were Radha Mitchell and
Goran Visnjic Goran may refer to: Ethnic groups *Gorane, or Goran, an ethnic group of northern Africa *Goran (Kurdish tribe), an ethnic group of the Middle East *Gorani (ethnic group), an ethnic group of the southeastern Europe Other uses *Göran, a Swedis ...
. * The 2014-2016 TNT series, '' Murder in the First'', the main detective character lives on a Sausalito houseboat. * Sausalito is one of the districts in the 2016 video game '' Watch Dogs 2''. * In the 2021 film "The Addams Family 2", the family visits Sausalito.


Music

*"
(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay "(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" is a song co-written by soul singer Otis Redding and guitarist Steve Cropper. It was recorded by Redding twice in 1967, including once just three days before his death in a plane crash on December 10, 1967. Th ...
" by Otis Redding was written by the R&B singer in 1967 as he sat on a rented houseboat docked at Commodore Seaplane Base in Sausalito. Though it may be the most famous musical reference to Sausalito's geography, it remains an oblique one as the city is not specifically named. *" Sausilito", a top ten hit for Netherlands duo Rosy & Andres in 1975 *"Sausalito",
Dead Fish (band) Dead Fish is a Brazilian hardcore band that formed in Vitória, Espírito Santo, in 1991. After releasing four independent albums and numerous demos, they reached the mainstream market and garnered national attention with their breakthrough album ...
, ''Vitória'', 2015 *"Head Like a Rock", Ian McNabb, 1994 *"Postcard", Roddy Frame, ''Seven Dials'', 2014 *"Jack Kerouac",
Brooke Fraser Brooke Gabrielle Ligertwood (née Fraser; born 15 December 1983) better known by her maiden name Brooke Fraser, is a New Zealand singer and songwriter best known for her hit single " Something in the Water", released in 2010. Fraser released two ...
, Flags, 2010 *"Sausalito",
George Duke George M. Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as a pr ...
, ''Duke'', 2005 *"Sausalito (The Governor's Song)",
Bobby Darin Bobby Darin (born Walden Robert Cassotto; May 14, 1936 – December 20, 1973) was an American musician and actor. He performed jazz, pop, rock and roll, folk, swing, and country music. He started his career as a songwriter for Connie ...
, 1969 *" Sausalito Summernight",
Diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engi ...
, 1980-1981 (#25 - Billboard, #1 in Canada) *"Samba de Sausalito", Santana, ''
Welcome A welcome is a kind of greeting designed to introduce a person to a new place or situation, and to make them feel at ease. The term can similarly be used to describe the feeling of being accepted on the part of the new person. In some contexts ...
'', 1973 album *"
Mr. Don ''Mister'', usually written in its contracted form ''Mr.'' or ''Mr'', is a commonly used English honorific for men without a higher honorific, or professional title, or any of various designations of office. The title 'Mr' derived from earlier ...
",
The Disco Biscuits ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...
*"Sausalito",
Grover Washington, Jr. Grover Washington Jr. (December 12, 1943 – December 17, 1999) was an American jazz-funk and soul-jazz saxophonist. Along with Wes Montgomery and George Benson, he is considered by many to be one of the founders of the smooth jazz genre. He wr ...
, ''Grover Washington Live in Concert'', 1977 *"Sausalito (is the Place to Go)", Ohio Express "Best of Ohio Express" *"Sausalito",
Conor Oberst Conor Mullen Oberst (born February 15, 1980) is an American singer-songwriter best known for his work in Bright Eyes. He has also played in several other bands, including Desaparecidos, the Faint (previously named Norman Bailer), Commander V ...
, "Conor Oberst" 2008 *"One Way Ticket" by Mimi and Richard Farina in Celebrations for a Grey Day *"Sausalito", Los Abatidos, ''Los Abatidos'', 1999. *"Let It Flow (Sausalito Calling)", Camelle Hinds, "Soul Degrees", 1996 * "Sausalito in the Summertime" Benita Hill *"Real Emotional Trash",
Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks is an American rock band consisting of Stephen Malkmus, Mike Clark, Joanna Bolme, and Jake Morris. Malkmus was the main singer and songwriter behind the influential 1990s indie rock band Pavement. History The J ...
, ''Real Emotional Trash'', 2008. *"Don't Let Up",
Night Ranger Night Ranger is an American hard rock band from San Francisco formed in 1979 that gained popularity during the 1980s with a series of albums and singles. Guitarist Brad Gillis and drummer Kelly Keagy have been the band's only constant members, ...
, ''Don't Let Up'', 2017 *”Sausalito”,
Larry June Larry Eugene Hendricks III (born April 8, 1991) is an American rapper from San Francisco, California. He is known for his EPs ''Larry'' and ''Orange Season'' and has toured with musicians such as Cousin Stizz, Berner, Curren$y, and Post Malone ...
, Very Peaceful, 2017 *”6am in Sausalito”,
Larry June Larry Eugene Hendricks III (born April 8, 1991) is an American rapper from San Francisco, California. He is known for his EPs ''Larry'' and ''Orange Season'' and has toured with musicians such as Cousin Stizz, Berner, Curren$y, and Post Malone ...
, Orange Print, 2021


See also

* List of cities and towns in California *
List of cities and towns in the San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a metropolitan region surrounding the San Francisco Bay estuaries in Northern California. According to the 2010 United States Census, the region has over 7.1 million inhabitants an ...


References


Further reading

* Tracy, Jack. ''Sausalito Moments in Time: A Pictorial History of Sausalito 1850–1950''. Sausalito:
Windgate Press Windgate Press is a small American publisher located in Sausalito, California whose focus is on San Francisco and California photographic history. See also *List of publishers The following are lists of publishing companies. By language *Li ...
1983. . * Sausalito Historical Society. ''Sausalito (Images of America)''. San Francisco: Arcadia Publishing, 2005. .


External links

*
Sausalito Chamber of Commerce
{{authority control Artist colonies Cities in Marin County, California Cities in the San Francisco Bay Area Incorporated cities and towns in California Tourist attractions in the San Francisco Bay Area Populated coastal places in California