Hamlet (also Telmat) is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a region that is not governed by a local municipal corporation. Widespread unincorporated communities and areas are a distinguishing feature of the United States and Canada. Most other countries of the world either have ...

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 U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

. It is located on the northeast shore of Tomales Bay and 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 regi ...

south-southwest of

Tomales Tomales is a census-designated place (CDP) on State Route 1 in Marin County, California, United States. The population was 187 at the 2020 census. Geography Tomales is located above Keys Creek, about northeast of Tomales Bay. The nearest city ...

, at an elevation of 23 feet (7 m). A post office operated at Hamlet from 1876 to 1886. The Telmat post office operated from 1917 to 1931. The land on which Hamlet was initially built was purchased in 1862 by Edwin Moore, who in turn sold the land to Samuel Nowlin, who in 1870 sold the land again to John Hamlet, a dairyman originally from Tennessee. The area became known as Hamlet at this time. Soon after, in 1874, the North Pacific Coast Railroad was built to Hamlet. The town initially was centered on dairying and potato farming, but

oyster Oyster is the common name for a number of different families of salt-water bivalve molluscs that live in marine or brackish habitats. In some species, the valves are highly calcified, and many are somewhat irregular in shape. Many, but not al ...

farming soon became a major economic activity, and oyster and herring packing facilities opened in 1917. The facilities did not last long but oyster farming remained a significant part of the economy until heavy storms in 1982 caused the oyster beds to silt in. Since then, tourism has been the major industry in the area.

References

Unincorporated communities in California Unincorporated communities in Marin County, California Populated coastal places in California {{MarinCountyCA-geo-stub