Tiburon (; es, Tiburón, ) is an
incorporated town in
Marin County, California
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 ...
. It is located on the
Tiburon Peninsula, which reaches south into the
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 ...
. It shares a ZIP code with the smaller incorporated city of
Belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to:
Places
Australia
*Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region
Africa
* Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco
* Belvedere, Harare, Z ...
(formerly a separate island), which occupies the southwest part of the peninsula and is contiguous with Tiburon. Tiburon is bordered by
Corte Madera to the north and
Mill Valley to the west, but is otherwise mostly surrounded by the bay. Besides Belvedere and Tiburon, much of the peninsula is
unincorporated, including portions of the north side and the communities of
Strawberry
The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...
and
Paradise Cay.
The population of Tiburon was 9,146 at the 2020 census and has 6,600 registered voters.
Belvedere and Tiburon share a post office, library and recreation agency.
The city's name derives from the Spanish word ''tiburón'', which means "
shark
Sharks are a group of elasmobranch fish characterized by a cartilaginous skeleton, five to seven gill slits on the sides of the head, and pectoral fins that are not fused to the head. Modern sharks are classified within the clade Selachi ...
". The name was first given to the peninsula on which the city is situated, and probably inspired by the prevalence of locally native
leopard sharks in the surrounding waters. Tiburon was formerly the southern terminus of the
San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad
San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad (SF&NP) provided the first extensive standard gauge rail service to Sonoma County and became the southern end of the regional Northwestern Pacific Railroad. Although first conceived of by Asbury Harpe ...
(subsequently the
Northwestern Pacific Railroad
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 r ...
), which transported freight for transfer to
barge
Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels. ...
s for shipping to cities around San Francisco Bay. It is now a
commuter and tourist town, linked by
fast ferry services to San Francisco and with a concentration of restaurants and clothes shops. It is the nearest mainland point to
Angel Island and a regular ferry service connects to the island.
History
Earliest human habitation of the local area was by
Native Americans, who have left rock carvings on
Ring Mountain.
In 1884, the first post office in Tiburon opened. In 1964, Tiburon
incorporated.
Tiburon has a Town Historian, David Gotz. Much of the modern history material below is drawn from the former Town Historian, Branwell Fanning's "Brief History of Tiburon," published in the Town of Tiburon's General Plan.
1775–1882
''Tiburón'' means "shark" in
Spanish. Whether Lt.
Juan Manuel de Ayala
Juan Manuel de Ayala y Aranza (28 December 1745 – 30 December 1797) was a Spanish naval officer who played a significant role in the European exploration of California, since he and the crew of his ship the ''San Carlos'' are the first Europe ...
saw a number of sharks near where he anchored the San Carlos in August 1775, off what is now
Angel Island, or whether the tree-covered
Tiburon Peninsula looked like a shark we may never know. He named the land ''Punta del Tiburón'', or Shark Point. 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 ...
Indians had lived here for thousands of years, but there is no clear concept of what they called the
peninsula
A peninsula (; ) is a landform that extends from a mainland and is surrounded by water on most, but not all of its borders. A peninsula is also sometimes defined as a piece of land bordered by water on three of its sides. Peninsulas exist on a ...
.
John Reed, from Dublin, received a provisional grant for much of Southern Marin, including the Tiburon Peninsula, from the Mexican authorities in 1831, and was formally granted the
Rancho Corte Madera del Presidio Rancho Corte Madera del Presidio was a Mexican land grant in present day Marin County, California given in 1834 by Governor José Figueroa to John (Juan) Reed. Corte Madera del Presidio means the "lumber mill of the Presidio". The grant encomp ...
in 1834. Reed married Hilaria Sánchez, daughter of the ''commandante'' of the San Francisco Presidio in 1836. The Reed name is preserved on streets, subdivisions, and the local school district. Various forms of Hilaria's name, and that of her granddaughter Hilarita Reed, are found on streets, a housing development, and the Catholic Church.
Hilarita married Dr.
Benjamin Lyford, who became the first land developer with his Lyford's Hygeia, now Old Tiburon. The
Benjamin and Hilarita Lyford House, formerly located on their
dairy farm on
Strawberry Point, is now a feature of the Audubon Society's Western Headquarters and Sanctuary on Greenwood Beach Road.
Tiburon's industrial era
Life changed little in the 40 years between the death of John Reed in 1842 and the arrival of
Peter Donahue in 1882. Donahue brought with him the
San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad
San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad (SF&NP) provided the first extensive standard gauge rail service to Sonoma County and became the southern end of the regional Northwestern Pacific Railroad. Although first conceived of by Asbury Harpe ...
(later the
Northwestern Pacific Railroad
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 r ...
). He made a deal with the Reed family for a right-of-way, blasted out the rock at Point Tiburon, and built a railroad terminal to connect with
ferries of San Francisco Bay. The passenger ferries took commuters and automobiles to San Francisco and Sausalito, while
barge
Barge nowadays generally refers to a flat-bottomed inland waterway vessel which does not have its own means of mechanical propulsion. The first modern barges were pulled by tugs, but nowadays most are pushed by pusher boats, or other vessels. ...
s carried loaded freight cars to San Francisco and Richmond.
Wildflowers surround Old St. Hilary's, Tiburon's iconic hillside landmark, which was originally a mission church named for St. Hilaire, Bishop of Poitiers. The heirs of John Reed — who held title to El Rancho Corte Madera del Presidio, the Mexican land grant that included the Tiburon Peninsula — deeded the one-quarter-acre site for $2.00 to the Archdiocese of San Francisco, which built the church as a place of worship for local railroad workers in 1888. The church was deconsecrated to make way for a new, larger one and was headed for destruction until several individuals intent on preserving local history established the Landmarks Society and purchased the site and building in 1959. It has served as a schoolroom and town meeting hall and is now a popular setting for weddings, concerts and other memorable events.
The last railroad-operated passenger ferry left Tiburon in 1941, but passenger and freight trains ran until 1967. Passenger ferry service was resumed in the 1960s when Harbor Carriers utilized sightseeing boats in the early morning and evening hours. In the 1970s, the railroad removed trackage, plugged tunnels, and demolished the trestle over Trestle Glen and railroad ferry pier. The railroad roadbed was purchased by the City of Tiburon and currently serves as the waterfront
rail trail
A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetc ...
. After years of hearings and studies, the former railroad yards became the Point Tiburon housing and commercial project.
During its heyday, the railroad-ferry service brought many other industries to Tiburon. Codfish canneries sprouted along the bay shore to can fish shipped from Alaska. Ship dismantlers broke up obsolete ocean-going vessels. In 1904, the Navy established a huge coaling station on the east shore of the peninsula on the site of one of the old fish canneries. Brick kilns were built and several powder plants opened, and oyster beds developed in the shallow waters of the bay. The rail yards were fully equipped to repair and service trains, and build rolling stock and locomotives.
Several of the largest
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 ...
ferries were built in the Tiburon yards. The Navy coaling station has played a prominent part in the history of both Tiburon and Bay Area at large.
Theodore Roosevelt
Theodore Roosevelt Jr. ( ; October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), often referred to as Teddy or by his initials, T. R., was an American politician, statesman, soldier, conservationist, naturalist, historian, and writer who served as the 26t ...
's
Great White Fleet
The Great White Fleet was the popular nickname for the group of United States Navy battleships which completed a journey around the globe from December 16, 1907 to February 22, 1909 by order of President Theodore Roosevelt. Its mission was ...
was refueled there on its famous round-the-world cruise. Coaling service ended in 1931 and the
California Maritime Academy moved in to train officers for the merchant fleet. Because the cranes remaining from coaling operations were operational, the company spinning cables for 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 ...
set up shop.
World War II
As World War II loomed, the coaling station site was transformed into the
United States Navy Net Depot Tiburon. This facility was used to manufacture and service
nets used to stop enemy torpedoes and submarines from entering San Francisco Bay. Later, the
U.S. Bureau of Mines and the
U.S. Bureau of Fisheries established research facilities on the site, and the
Coast Guard
A coast guard or coastguard is a maritime security organization of a particular country. The term embraces wide range of responsibilities in different countries, from being a heavily armed military force with customs and security duties to ...
's icebreakers made this their summer home. It is now the
Romberg Tiburon Center for Environmental Studies operated by
San Francisco State University
San Francisco State University (commonly referred to as San Francisco State, SF State and SFSU) is a public research university in San Francisco. As part of the 23-campus California State University system, the university offers 118 different ...
.
With all the seamen, sailors, railroad workers, cannery employees, and local dairymen in Tiburon, the taverns and other attractions of Main Street were popular on Saturday night. Prohibition did not interrupt Main Street activities as the railroad workers were able to signal the Tiburon depot as soon as revenuers boarded a train or ferry headed for town. By the time they got to Tiburon, prayer meetings were being held in the taverns. The volunteer fire department organized spirited baseball games, and the Corinthian Yacht Club was in full swing, so Main Street was not the only activity center.
World War II brought more people to Tiburon as the Navy built housing for NetDepot workers on the site of the present Hilarita Housing, for sailors from submarines at an annex to the Net Depot (now Paradise Beach County Park). Real estate development was minimal until after the war. The descendants of the Reed family still controlled most of the land that was used for cattle ranching. Small areas of filled land were sold to create the Bel Aire and Belveron Gardens subdivisions. The Little Reed Ranch was sold and Hawthorne Terrace, Del Mar, and Reed Heights subdivisions were under way by the time the County finally began preparing a Master Plan for the Tiburon Peninsula.
After several years of public hearings and discussions with the primary landowners, a Master Plan was completed in 1956. It included freeways on both sides of the peninsula, a four lane "ridge route" down the center of the peninsula (with a high-level bridge over Trestle Glen Boulevard), a shopping center on the crest of Ring Mountain, and a bridge to San Francisco (via
Angel Island and
Alcatraz) off the end. A land-use density of two homes to the acre, plus areas zoned for apartments and duplexes, would have permitted 50,000 to 60,000 people to live in Tiburon.
City incorporation and growth
There had been numerous attempts to incorporate a City of Tiburon over the years, but they had all failed to come to a vote due to the opposition of the large land owners. The only semblance of local land use input came from the Tiburon Peninsula Coordinating Council (TPCC). This was made up of representatives of each of the home owners associations; the school, fire and sanitary districts; and the City of Belvedere. In 1963, after a number of adverse rulings by County planners regarding development on the Tiburon Peninsula, the leaders of the TPCC decided that another attempt to incorporate was justified. A separate incorporation committee was established and work began. The main issues were: revision of the 1956 Master Plan, improved police services, opposition to the bridge to San Francisco, preservation of open space, and a desire for responsive local government.
One of the first challenges to be decided was just what properties were to be included in the incorporated area. The mapping committee started with the Tiburon Fire Protection District map as a base. The properties of large land owners who had been able to frustrate previous attempts were eliminated from the map. Certain areas, such as the Reedlands and part of Belveron Gardens, which were outside the Tiburon Fire District, but which wanted to be in the new city, were added. Angel Island, also outside the fire district boundary, was more controversial. Most did not see any value to having it within the city limits, as it was a state park. The counter argument was that it was "there", and we wanted a say in whatever future development might be planned. The County Boundary Commission (later Marin Local Agency Formation Commission, or LAFCO), at the time made up of the members of the board of supervisors, wanted it out of the new city because of potential sales tax revenues.
They finally yielded to arguments put forth by the incorporation committee, and let it remain within the new city limits. In March 1964 an election was held to create the Town of Tiburon, and on June 23, 1964, the incorporation was final and a town council seated, and mayor elected.
A city manager was hired and a contract for police services was made with the county sheriff. A Planning Commission was established and commissioners appointed. Offices at 80 Main Street were rented. To help plan for the future the Tiburon Advisory Committee was appointed, consisting of citizens who had been active in community affairs. Their report, issued in 1965, outlined goals in land use, recreation, traffic, and "image".
In 1966, at the first election after incorporation, three of the incumbents were replaced. Over the next several years, the new city council strengthened the planning commission and divided it further into boards of design review and adjustments. They completed a new master plan and general plan for the peninsula and new zoning ordinances to implement the plans. They also created a parks and recreation commission. Special ordinances to protect trees and to protect views were created. Property values were rising faster than funds could be accumulated, so bonds were issued and several hundred acres of open space were acquired. Several hundred additional acres were purchased by the Nature Conservancy to permanently protect the ridgelines, and the city purchased additional land from the Navy. The railroad right-of-way, almost of frontage on Richardson Bay, was acquired for a
rail trail
A rail trail is a shared-use path on railway right of way. Rail trails are typically constructed after a railway has been abandoned and the track has been removed, but may also share the right of way with active railways, light rail, or streetc ...
.
One of the most difficult decisions involved
traffic planning. After numerous public hearings it was finally decided that
Tiburon Boulevard would remain a two-lane road east of Trestle Glen Boulevard traffic lights and turnouts were scheduled east of that point and eventually built. The four-lane bypass section from
Highway 101
Highway 101 was an American country music band founded in 1986 in Los Angeles, California. The initial lineup consisted of Paulette Carlson (lead vocals), Jack Daniels (guitar), Curtis Stone (bass guitar, vocals), and Scott "Cactus" Moser (drum ...
to Blackie's Pasture (the old Tiburon Boulevard became Greenwood Beach Road) was completed in 1966. The
California Department of Transportation
The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the cabinet-level California State Transportation Agency (CalSTA). Caltrans is headquartered in Sacram ...
(Caltrans) had anticipated extending the four lanes downtown, so the fill created during this project was placed in the Bay east of Blackie's Pasture, and after the City did some land swapping with Caltrans, became McKegney Green and the park South of the Knoll Park. Blackie's Pasture property was also acquired and became part of the series of waterfront parks and paths known as the Richardson Bay Lineal Park.
LAFCO determined that Tiburon's sphere of influence would extend to Highway 101. Annexation of the rest of the peninsula was attempted but never successful due to opposition in
Strawberry
The garden strawberry (or simply strawberry; ''Fragaria × ananassa'') is a widely grown hybrid species of the genus '' Fragaria'', collectively known as the strawberries, which are cultivated worldwide for their fruit. The fruit is widely ap ...
. Eventually, those areas that wished to be within the city limits were annexed, and the city grew westward to include the Reedland Woods, Bel Aire, Tiburon Crest and Cypress Hollow subdivisions.
After 1997
The completion of the Point Tiburon development in the former railroad yards in 1985 signaled a change in the population mix and needs of the area. In 1997 a new Town Hall was opened with a new
Belvedere-Tiburon Library next door. A new police station followed in 2000.
Following a large and successful Millennium Party, the Town has pursued a policy to revitalize Main Street and the rest of downtown Tiburon. Main Street was reconstructed to make it and the shops and restaurants handicapped accessible without ruining its quaint charm. The Allan Thompson Walkway along the water side of Main Street was completely rebuilt. In the summer of 2004, a series of "Friday Nights on Main Street" community parties was inaugurated. Main Street was closed to automobile traffic on Friday nights during the summer and the restaurants created special menus for the occasion. Tables in the street in front of each restaurant added to the festivities. As of 2017, the festival continues.
In November 2006, a commissioned fountain with a nautically themed sculpture titled "Coming About" at the entrance to Main Street was formally dedicated. The $250,000 material cost of the sculpture was donated by the Zelinsky family, longtime owners of many commercial properties in Tiburon. The sculpture was designed by Jeffery Reed and Jennifer Madden, who donated 6000 hours to its creation.
Development
Controversies surrounding development are significant public policy issues facing the town; this condition has endured for at least three decades.
At the lowest level, any new construction or exterior renovation, commercial or residential, must be approved by the design review board, which often applies stringent criteria to avoid "eyesores" and preserve neighbors' views.
More significantly, there remain several large tracts of undeveloped land, virtually all of which have owners who desire to build multiple residences on these properties. Many of these properties, while located on the Tiburon Peninsula, are outside of town boundaries. However, under a LAFCO policy, any urbanization of these lands would result in their being annexed by the town since it is the town that would provide needed services. Hence, it is the town planning commission and ultimately the town council that determines the extent that these lands can be developed. Major tracts of land currently in various stages of planning or permitting include the Martha Property, Easton Point and Tiburon Glen. The permitting processes in all cases are lengthy and contentious, pitting developers against active and organized residents seeking to preserve the open space and quasi-rural character of the area and avoid the kind of traffic seen by other Bay Area communities. Particularly active in opposing development is the Tiburon Last Chance Committee. No development has yet begun on any of these open tracts.
The Martha Co. property and Easton Point, the largest of the undeveloped lands, are particularly contested issues, with court battles dating back to 1975. Historically the
Ring Mountain property was an area of contest, especially due to the high
biodiversity
Biodiversity or biological diversity is the variety and variability of life on Earth. Biodiversity is a measure of variation at the genetic ('' genetic variability''), species ('' species diversity''), and ecosystem ('' ecosystem diversity'') ...
and presence of
rare and
endangered species
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...
, such as the
mariposa lily
''Calochortus'' is a genus of flowering plants in the lily family. The group includes herbaceous, perennial and bulbous species, all native to North America (primarily the Western United States).
The genus ''Calochortus'' includes mariposas ...
.
In 2002, residents in a referendum narrowly defeated a proposed rule that would have prohibited much of the development on open tracts of land by, among other things, banning development near ridgelines. Among the arguments against this proposal were that it would subject the town to costly lawsuits by developers claiming their economic rights had been unjustly impaired.
A 2006 controversy concerned the expansion plans of the
Kol Shofar Synagogue. These were opposed by a number of neighbors, principally over the size of a new multi-purpose room, and the traffic and noise impact of a proposed 27 additional events with up to 250 persons. The Tiburon Planning Commission in the summer of 2006 rejected the expansion plans, claiming that Kol Shofar refused to engage in compromise discussions. This brought the issue to the Tiburon Town Council. In October 2006, the dispute took on broader significance when Kol Shofar proponents raised issues of religious freedom. Specifically, they claimed that the federal
Religious Land Use and Institutionalized Persons Act (RLUIPA), which prohibits "substantial burdens" on the exercise of religion by government regulations, would be violated if the Town prohibited their expansion plans. The synagogue retained
The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
Becket Law (formerly the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty) is a non-profit public interest law firm based in Washington, D.C., that describes its mission as "defending the freedom of religion of people of all faiths." Becket promotes accommodat ...
, which threatened litigation (depending on the outcome). The Tiburon City Council tried to resolve the issue late in the 2006 by permitting a somewhat reduced expansion with restrictions on event sizes and hours and provisions to mitigate the parking, noise and traffic impacts. However, in March 2007, a group of neighbors sued both the town and the synagogue, alleging environmental and land-use violations. In 2008, a Marin Superior Court judge ruled in favor of the expansion, and the Coalition filed an appeal with the 1st District Court of Appeal.
[Jason, Will]
Tiburon synagogue, neighbors look to future
''Marin Independent Journal'', August 28, 2010 The appeal was ultimately dropped later that same year, and Kol Shofar was able to proceed, agreeing not to seek repayment of court costs.
[Staats, Jim]
Tiburon synagogue neighbors drop appeal
, ''Marin Independent Journal'', October 11, 2008 Kol Shofar's new space opened on August 29, 2010.
Geography and climate
Tiburon is located at .
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 town has a total area of . of it is land and of it (66.27%) is water, much in the form of Richardson Bay.
The
serpentine soil
Serpentine soil is an uncommon soil type produced by weathered ultramafic rock such as peridotite and its metamorphic derivatives such as serpentinite. More precisely, serpentine soil contains minerals of the serpentine subgroup, especially anti ...
s of
Ring Mountain and the Tiburon hills are host to a unique
plant community, including several
endemic
Endemism is the state of a species being found in a single defined geographic location, such as an island, state, nation, country or other defined zone; organisms that are indigenous to a place are not endemic to it if they are also found else ...
or near-endemic species, notably, the
Tiburon mariposa lily, the
Tiburon indian paintbrush, and the
Tiburon jewelflower, as well as a number of other
rare and
endangered species
An endangered species is a species that is very likely to become extinct in the near future, either worldwide or in a particular political jurisdiction. Endangered species may be at risk due to factors such as habitat loss, poaching and inv ...
Ring Mountain is also a significant location of
Native American prehistoric sites, notably
rock carvings.
Demographics
The population of Tiburon since incorporation.
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 Tiburon had a population of 8,962. The population density was . The racial makeup of Tiburon was 7,899 (88.1%)
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 ...
, 83 (0.9%)
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 ...
, 16 (0.2%)
Native American, 505 (5.6%)
Asian, 8 (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 ...
, 80 (0.9%) from
other races, and 371 (4.1%) 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 410 persons (4.6%).
The Census reported that 8,924 people (99.6% of the population) lived in households, 6 (0.1%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 32 (0.4%) were institutionalized.
There were 3,729 households, out of which 1,160 (31.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 2,116 (56.7%) were
opposite-sex married couples living together, 280 (7.5%) had a female householder with no husband present, 86 (2.3%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 157 (4.2%)
unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 20 (0.5%)
same-sex married couples or partnerships. 1,029 households (27.6%) were made up of individuals, and 528 (14.2%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.39. There were 2,482
families (66.6% of all households); the average family size was 2.94.
The population was spread out, with 2,150 people (24.0%) under the age of 18, 295 people (3.3%) aged 18 to 24, 1,582 people (17.7%) aged 25 to 44, 3,037 people (33.9%) aged 45 to 64, and 1,898 people (21.2%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 87.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.2 males.
There were 4,025 housing units at an average density of , of which 2,530 (67.8%) were owner-occupied, and 1,199 (32.2%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.5%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.0%. 6,406 people (71.5% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 2,518 people (28.1%) lived in rental housing units.
2000
As of the year 2000 census,
there were 8,666 people, 3,712 households, and 2,409 families residing in the town. The population density was . There were 3,893 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the town was 84.9% 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 ...
, 0.1%
Native American, 5.6%
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 ...
, 0.2% from
other races, and 3.7% 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 4.6% of the population.
There were 3,712 households, out of which 27.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.3% were married couples living together, 7.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 35.1% were non-families. 27.6% of all households were made up of individuals, and 9.5% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.31 and the average family size was 2.82.
In the town the population was spread out, with 21.9% under the age of 18, 2.8% from 18 to 24, 24.4% from 25 to 44, 34.3% from 45 to 64, and 16.5% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 88.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 84.1 males.
The median income for a household in the town was $106,611, and the median income for a family was $149,041. Males had a median income of $100,000+ versus $60,773 for females. The per capita income for the town was $85,966. About 1.6% of families and 3.3% of the population were below the poverty line, including 3.0% of those under age 18 and 1.5% of those age 65 or over.
Belvedere / Tiburon was ranked by ''Forbes'' magazine as among the 20 most expensive real-estate markets in the United States. It ranked 18th.
Economy
Tiburon features numerous small boutiques and restaurants, catering to local residents and tourists. Most of the town's restaurants are located on or near Main Street, near the
Tiburon Ferry Terminal. Besides the boat to 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 ...
, the
Angel Island-Tiburon Ferry provides daily service to nearby Angel Island.
In 2004, Tiburon became the first city in the world to eliminate trans-fats from all its restaurants.
One of the oldest Tiburon restaurants is Sam's Anchor Cafe, founded in 1920. Sam's is popular on sunny days for the outdoor dining on its harbor-front deck. It is one of the few restaurants on the San Francisco Bay with a public dock for pleasure boats (under 40 feet). Other restaurants to include upscale dining with expansive Bay views are The Caprice, Lily Kai Chinese Cuisine, Luna Blu, and Servino Ristorante.
Tiburon has two hotels: Water's Edge, a
boutique hotel
Boutique hotels are small inventory, design driven, unique hotels with their own character, personality and storytelling at the heart of their concept. Positioning is secondary for these hotels as they focus on authenticity and personalization ...
on Main Street, and The Lodge at Tiburon.
There is a small shopping center named The Boardwalk downtown, and another, The Cove, in the Bel Aire neighborhood.
One weekly newspaper is published in the town titled ''The Ark'', which covers local news and events. It has been named a national General Excellence winner among small weekly newspapers in the U.S. by the
National Newspaper Association each year 2014-2019 and again in 2022. It also has been named a state General Excellence winner among small weekly newspapers by the
California News Publishers Association
The California News Publishers Association (CNPA) is a nonprofit trade association founded in 1888 that represents the daily, weekly, monthly, and campus newspapers of California. Its diverse membership consists of over 700 newspapers that ele ...
in 2014 and each year 2018-2021.
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 ...
, Tiburon 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 ...
, Tiburon is in:
*
* .
Tiburon has a
council–manager government
The council–manager government is a form of local government used for municipalities, counties, or other equivalent regions. It is one of the two most common forms of local government in the United States along with the mayor–council gover ...
. The five members of the Tiburon Town Council are elected for staggered four-year terms. The council elects one of its members to be mayor and rotates the position each year in December.
Politics
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, Tiburon has 6,295 registered voters. Of those, 2,974 (47.2%) are registered
Democrats, 1,203 (19.1%) are registered
Republicans, and 1,879 (29.8%) have
declined to state a political party.
Education
Schools
Tiburon,
Belvedere Belvedere (from Italian, meaning "beautiful sight") may refer to:
Places
Australia
*Belvedere, Queensland, a locality in the Cassowary Coast Region
Africa
* Belvedere (Casablanca), a neighborhood in Casablanca, Morocco
* Belvedere, Harare, Z ...
, and a part of
Corte Madera are in the
Reed Union School District. The district has three schools, all located in Tiburon:
Reed Elementary (grades K–2);
Bel Aire Elementary (grades 3–5); and
Del Mar Middle School (grades 6–8). All three have been recognized as "California Distinguished Schools" by the state department of education. St. Hilary School, a Catholic primary school for children in grades K–8, is also located in Tiburon and serves students from Belvedere, Tiburon, Strawberry, Sausalito, Marin City, Mill Valley and other communities. St. Hilary School is an "Apple Distinguished School."
All three of Tiburon's public schools have gone or are undergoing substantial renovation and expansion. Reed completed reconstruction in 2004, and both Bel Aire and Del Mar completed reconstruction in 2006.
Tiburon is in the
Reed Union School District and the
Marin Community College District. Tiburon graduates attended
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 from 1908, when Tam opened, until 1958, when
Redwood High School opened in
Larkspur, with Reed Union School District in its attendance area.
Public libraries
The
Belvedere-Tiburon Library is located in Tiburon. Established in 1895 by the Temple Library Society of Tiburon, it has moved several times before settling in its current location in April 1997.
Natural hazards
In 2006, Tiburon launched the Get Ready 94920 program, which seeks to make Tiburon the first city in the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...
to train 100% of its citizens in disaster preparedness. In 2014, Tiburon announced that they would be putting up tsunami warning signs down by some public coastal areas, though they were never installed. In 2011, the tsunami from Japan hit the coast of Richardson Bay, and waves as high as were observed.
Notable people
* Businesswoman
Jan Brandt owns a home in Tiburon.
* Actor
Clint Eastwood
Clinton Eastwood Jr. (born May 31, 1930) is an American actor and film director. After achieving success in the Western TV series '' Rawhide'', he rose to international fame with his role as the " Man with No Name" in Sergio Leone's "'' Do ...
(born 1930) and actress
Sondra Locke (1944–2018) lived there in the mid-1970s.
* Actor
Paul Frees (1920–1986) lived there until his death.
* Radio host
Michael Savage (born 1942) resides in Tiburon and hosts
The Savage Nation from his house.
* Film director
Henry Selick (born 1952) resides in Tiburon.
* Screenwriter
Stirling Silliphant
Stirling Dale Silliphant (January 16, 1918 – April 26, 1996) was an American screenwriter and producer. He is best remembered for his screenplay for '' In the Heat of the Night'', for which he won an Academy Award in 1967, and for creating ...
(1918–1996) resided in Tiburon until 1988.
* Musician
Lars Ulrich
Lars Ulrich (; ; born 26 December 1963) is a Danish musician best known as the drummer and co-founder of American heavy metal band Metallica. The son and grandson respectively of tennis players Torben and Einer Ulrich, he played tennis in his ...
, drummer for
Metallica
Metallica is an American heavy metal band. The band was formed in 1981 in Los Angeles by vocalist/guitarist James Hetfield and drummer Lars Ulrich, and has been based in San Francisco for most of its career. The band's fast tempos, instrume ...
, (born 1963) lived there for a period until 2019.
* Actor
Robin Williams
Robin McLaurin Williams (July 21, 1951August 11, 2014) was an American actor and comedian. Known for his improvisational skills and the wide variety of characters he created on the spur of the moment and portrayed on film, in dramas and come ...
(1951–2014) lived there in his youth and moved back several years before his death.
* Former San Francisco Giants baseball player
Barry Bonds
Barry Lamar Bonds (born July 24, 1964) is an American former professional baseball left fielder who played 22 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). Bonds was a member of the Pittsburgh Pirates from 1986 to 1992 and the San Francisco Gian ...
(born 1964) resides in Tiburon.
* Skier
Jonny Moseley
Jonathan William Moseley (born August 27, 1975) is an American freestyle skier and television presenter. He is the first person born in Puerto Rico to become a member of the U.S. Ski Team. He is also known for hosting three seasons of MTV's '' ...
(born 1975) has lived in Tiburon since 1978.
* Novelist
Isabel 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 ...
(born 1942) resides in Tiburon.
* Actress
Shoshana Bush
Shoshana Gloriella Bush (born September 18, 1988) is an American actress. She is perhaps best known for her role in the film ''Dance Flick'' (2009).
Her aunt was actress Bonnie Franklin.
Career
Bush is a native of Tiburon, California. She has ...
(born 1988) is a Tiburon native.
In popular culture
* Singer
Van Morrison
Sir George Ivan Morrison (born 31 August 1945), known professionally as Van Morrison, is a Northern Irish singer-songwriter and multi-instrumentalist whose recording career spans seven decades. He has won two Grammy Awards.
As a teenager in t ...
's album ''Keep Me Singing'' (2016) features a track called "In Tiburon".
* Tiburon is the setting for the animated children's series ''
Kenny the Shark
''Kenny the Shark'' is an American animated television series produced by Discovery Kids. The series was first premiered on Discovery Kids' Saturday morning block on NBC on November 1, 2003, and ended with the last episode on February 19, 2005. S ...
''.
See also
*
Blackie (American horse)
*
List of people from Marin County, California
This is a list of people from Marin County, California, people born in, raised in, or strongly associated with the county.
*
* Josh Akognon, basketball player
* Juan Alderete de la Peña, Grammy-winning bassist
* Isabel Allende, writer
* ...
*
Old Saint Hilary's Church
Old St. Hilary's Landmark is a former mission church place of worship and now a historic landmark owned and maintained by the Belvedere-Tiburon Landmarks Society, Tiburon Peninsula, Marin County, California, United States. The landmark is situa ...
* ''
Streptanthus niger'', an endangered species within the family
Brassicaceae
Brassicaceae () or (the older) Cruciferae () is a medium-sized and economically important family of flowering plants commonly known as the mustards, the crucifers, or the cabbage family. Most are herbaceous plants, while some are shrubs. The leav ...
References
External links
*
Tiburon Belvedere Chamber of Commerce
{{DEFAULTSORT:Tiburon, California
Cities in Marin County, California
Cities in the San Francisco Bay Area
Incorporated cities and towns in California
Populated coastal places in California
1964 establishments in California
Populated places established in 1964