San Rafael ( ;

Spanish Spanish might refer to: * Items from or related to Spain: **Spaniards are a nation and ethnic group indigenous to Spain **Spanish language, spoken in Spain and many Latin American countries **Spanish cuisine Other places * Spanish, Ontario, Can ...

for " St. Raphael", ) is a city and the

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or civil parish. The term is in use in Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, Taiwan, and the United States. The equivalent term shire town is used in the US st ...

of Marin County,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, United States. The city is located in the North Bay region of the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...

. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 61,271, up from 57,713 in 2010. San Rafael was founded by the Spanish in 1817, when Vicente Francisco de Sarría established

Mission San Rafael Arcángel Mission San Rafael Arcángel is a Spanish mission in San Rafael, California. It was founded in 1817 as a medical '' asistencia'' ("sub-mission") of Mission San Francisco de Asís. It was a hospital to treat sick Native Americans, making it Alta ...

, initially as an ''asistencia'' (sub-mission). San Rafael Arcángel was upgraded to full mission status in 1822, a month before Alta California declared independence from Spain as part of

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

. Following the American Conquest of California, the community of San Rafael incorporated as a city in 1874.

History

San Rafael was once the site of several

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 ...

villages: ''Awani-wi'', near downtown San Rafael, ''Ewu'', near Terra Linda and ''Shotomko-cha'', in Marinwood.

Spanish period

was founded as the 20th

mission in the colonial province of '' Alta California'' by three priests—Father

Narciso Durán Narcís Duran (in Catalan), commonly known as Narciso Durán, OFM (December 16, 1776 in Empúries, Catalonia, Spain – June 4, 1846 in Santa Barbara, Alta California, Mexico) was a Franciscan friar and missionary. He arrived in California in 1806 ...

from Mission San José, Father Abella from Mission San Francisco de Asís, Father Luis Gíl y Taboada from La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles—on Dec. 14, 1817, four years before

gained independence from

Spain , image_flag = Bandera de España.svg , image_coat = Escudo de España (mazonado).svg , national_motto = ''Plus ultra'' (Latin)(English: "Further Beyond") , national_anthem = (English: "Royal March") , i ...

. The mission from which the downtown grew and the city are named after the

Archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the hierarchy of angels. The word ''archangel'' itself is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions, but beings that are very similar to archangels are found in a number of other relig ...

Raphael, the Angel of Healing. The mission was originally planned as a hospital site for Central Valley American Indians who had become ill at the cold

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17th ...

Mission Dolores. Father Luis Gil, who spoke several Native American languages, was put in charge of the facility. In part because of its ideal weather, San Rafael was later upgraded to full mission status in 1822.

Mexican period

The mission had 300 converts within its first year, and 1,140 converts by 1828. Following the Mexican secularization act of 1833, the Mexican government took over the California missions in 1834, and

Mission San Rafael Mission (from Latin ''missio'' "the act of sending out") may refer to: Organised activities Religion *Christian mission, an organized effort to spread Christianity *Mission (LDS Church), an administrative area of The Church of Jesus Christ of ...

was abandoned in 1844, eventually falling into ruin.

American period

The San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad reached San Rafael in 1879 and was linked to the national rail network in 1888. The

United States Navy The United States Navy (USN) is the maritime service branch of the United States Armed Forces and one of the eight uniformed services of the United States. It is the largest and most powerful navy in the world, with the estimated tonnage ...

operated a San Pablo Bay

degaussing Degaussing is the process of decreasing or eliminating a remnant magnetic field. It is named after the gauss, a unit of magnetism, which in turn was named after Carl Friedrich Gauss. Due to magnetic hysteresis, it is generally not possible to red ...

range from San Rafael through

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 vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

Geography

Big Rock Ridge Fire Road, Lucas Valley-Marinwood, CA 9 Eastview - panoramio

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of t ...

, the city has a total area of . of it is land and of it (26.42%) is water.

is to the south. The San Rafael shoreline has been historically filled to a considerable extent to accommodate land development, with underlying bay mud (saturated clayed silt) of up to in thickness. At certain locations such as Murphys Point, the sandstone or shale rock outcrops through the mud. San Rafael has a wide diversity of natural habitats from forests at the higher elevations to marshland and estuarine settings. Its marshes are home to the endangered species

salt marsh harvest mouse The salt marsh harvest mouse (''Reithrodontomys raviventris''), also known as the red-bellied harvest mouse, is an endangered rodent endemic to the San Francisco Bay Area salt marshes in California. The two distinct subspecies are both endangere ...

. There are also

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. Riparian is also the proper nomenclature for one of the terrestrial biomes of the Earth. Plant habitats and communities along the river margins and banks a ...

areas including the San Rafael Creek and Miller Creek corridors.

Climate

China Camp 247 N San Pedro Rd San Rafael CA 3-21-2010 4-39-54 PM

San Rafael 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, notabl ...

''Csb''), with mild winter lows seldom reaching the freezing mark. The National Weather Service reports that August is usually the warmest month with a high of and a low of . December, the coldest month, has an average high of and an average low of . The highest temperature on record is , recorded in June 1961. The highest temperature in recent years, , occurred on July 23, 2006, and again on September 6, 2020. The record lowest temperature was on December 22, 1990. There are an average of 17.9 afternoons annually with a high of or more and 1.2 afternoons with a high of or more. Freezing temperatures ( or below) occur on an average of 3.6 mornings. Total annual precipitation averages , with an average of 64.3 days with measurable rain. The rainy season is from November to early April: rain is rare outside of this period and it is normal to receive no rain in June, July, August, and September. The wettest “rain year” was from July 1994 to June 1995 with and the driest from July 1975 to June 1976 with . The most rain in one month was in January 1995, and the heaviest 24-hour rainfall was on December 11, 1995. A trace of snow was recorded on January 30, 1976.

Demographics

2010

The

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators servi ...

reported that the city of San Rafael had a population of 57,713. This figure does not, however, include portions of the Santa Venetia and Lucas Valley-Marinwood CDPs, nor various other unincorporated areas, all of which have San Rafael postal addresses; in total, according to the 2010 Census, there were 70,197 residents of San Rafael postal addresses (ZIP codes 94901 and 94903). The following statistics refer to the incorporated limits of San Rafael only. The population density was . The racial makeup of San Rafael was 40,734 (70.6%)

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 o ...

, 1,154 (2.0%)

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 ...

, 709 (1.2%) Native American, 3,513 (6.1%) Asian, 126 (0.2%)

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 ...

, 8,513 (14.8%) from

other races Other often refers to: * Other (philosophy), a concept in psychology and philosophy Other or The Other may also refer to: Film and television * ''The Other'' (1913 film), a German silent film directed by Max Mack * ''The Other'' (1930 film), a ...

, and 2,964 (5.1%) 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 forme ...

or Latino of any race were 17,302 persons (30.0%). The Census reported that 55,594 people (96.3% of the population) lived in households, 1,314 (2.3%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 805 (1.4%) were institutionalized. There were 22,764 households, out of which 6,358 (27.9%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 9,845 (43.2%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 2,004 (8.8%) had a female householder with no husband present, 1,133 (5.0%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 1,450 (6.4%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 301 (1.3%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 7,434 households (32.7%) were made up of individuals, and 2,954 (13.0%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.44. There were 12,982 families (57.0% of all households); the average family size was 3.02. The population was spread out, with 11,132 people (19.3%) under the age of 18, 4,956 people (8.6%) aged 18 to 24, 16,915 people (29.3%) aged 25 to 44, 15,574 people (27.0%) aged 45 to 64, and 9,136 people (15.8%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 40.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 99.7 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 98.1 males. There were 24,011 housing units at an average density of , of which 11,909 (52.3%) were owner-occupied, and 10,855 (47.7%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.6%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.1%. 27,554 people (47.7% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 28,040 people (48.6%) lived in rental housing units.

2000

Mission San Rafael Arcángel, May 2019-5990

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 in ...

of 2000, there were 56,063 people, 22,371 households, and 12,773 families residing in the city. The

population density Population density (in agriculture: Stock (disambiguation), standing stock or plant density) is a measurement of population per unit land area. It is mostly applied to humans, but sometimes to other living organisms too. It is a key geographical ...

was 3,378.9 inhabitants per square mile (1,304.8/km²). There were 22,948 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city in 2010 was 59.0% non-Hispanic

, 1.8% non-Hispanic

, 0.2% Native American, 6.0% Asian, 0.2%

, 0.3% from

, and 2.6% from two or more races. 30.0% were

or Latino of any race. There were 22,371 households, out of which 25.8% had children under the age of 18, 44.3% were married couples living together, 9.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 42.9% were non-families. 32.1% of all households were made up of individuals, and 10.9% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.42 and the average family size was 2.99. The age distribution was as follows: 19.5% under the age of 18, 8.1% from 18 to 24, 33.3% from 25 to 44, 24.8% from 45 to 64, and 14.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 38 years. For every 100 females, there were 98.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.7 males. The reported 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 $60,994; the median reported income for a family was $74,398 (these figures had risen to $67,789 and $85,459 respectively as of a 2007 estimate). Males reported a median income of $50,650 versus $39,912 for females. The reported

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 $35,762. About 5.6% of families and 10.2% of the population reported incomes below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for t ...

, including 11.7% of those under age 18 and 5.0% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

San Rafael Improvement Club 1801 5th Ave San Rafael CA 3-21-2010 3-29-02 PM (cropped)

BioMarin,

Autodesk Autodesk, Inc. is an American multinational software corporation that makes software products and services for the architecture, engineering, construction, manufacturing, media, education, and entertainment industries. Autodesk is headquartere ...

In Defense of Animals In Defense of Animals (IDA) is an animal protection organization founded in 1983 in San Rafael, California, US. The group's slogan is "working to protect the rights, welfare, and habitats of animals". IDA has become known, in particular, for its ...

, Westamerica Bank, and GIS Data Resources are among the companies headquartered in San Rafael. In May 2022, Autodesk announced its intention to move its headquarters to San Francisco, along with its 578 employees, and close the San Rafael office by October of that year.

Housing

San Rafael: a small city situated in Marin County is known its affluent suburban/urban environment. Despite the median income for a family in San Rafael reaching an estimated amount of $97,009 according to the 2016-2020 US Census report; different regions of San Rafael remain below the poverty line of 11.4%.

Top employers

According to San Rafael's 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:

Entertainment industry

After the arrival of George Lucas in San Rafael in 1970 to film the movie '' THX 1138'', the city became a center for the entertainment industry, particularly the high-tech elements of the business. Lucasfilm was founded by George Lucas in 1971, and is best known for the global hit movie series '' Star Wars'' and also for '' Indiana Jones''. Some of the company's operations were moved to

in 2005. Portions of the Universal movie production ''

American Graffiti ''American Graffiti'' is a 1973 American coming-of-age comedy-drama film directed by George Lucas, produced by Francis Ford Coppola, written by Willard Huyck, Gloria Katz and Lucas, and starring Richard Dreyfuss, Ron Howard (billed as Ronny ...

'' were filmed in downtown San Rafael under George Lucas's direction, and portions of ''THX 1138'' were shot at the Marin County Civic Center in San Rafael. Much of the movie ''

Gattaca ''Gattaca'' is a 1997 American dystopian science fiction thriller film written and directed by Andrew Niccol in his filmmaking debut. It stars Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman with Jude Law, Loren Dean, Ernest Borgnine, Gore Vidal, and Alan Arkin ap ...

'', starring

Ethan Hawke Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor and film director. He has been nominated for four Academy Awards, two Golden Globe Awards and a Tony Award. Hawke has directed three feature films, three off-Broadway plays, and a doc ...

, was also shot in the Marin County Civic Center. Industrial Light & Magic was founded in 1975 by Lucas to do special effects for his films and those of other filmmakers. The new-age music program '' Hearts of Space'' has been headquartered in San Rafael since 2004. Largely because of the presence of LucasFilm, San Rafael started to attract

video game Video games, also known as computer games, are electronic games that involves interaction with a user interface or input device such as a joystick, controller, keyboard, or motion sensing device to generate visual feedback. This fee ...

developers, with several major studios located in the city: *

Broderbund Broderbund Software, Inc. (stylized as Brøderbund) was an American maker of video games, educational software, and productivity tools. Broderbund is best known for the 8-bit video game hits ''Choplifter'', ''Lode Runner'', ''Karateka'', and '' ...

— Founded by Doug Carlston and Gary Carlston in 1980, the company was sold to Mindscape in 1998 and moved to

Novato Novato ( Spanish for "Novatus") is a city in Marin County, California, in the North Bay region of the Bay Area. At the 2020 census, Novato had a population of 53,225. History What is now Novato was originally the site of several Coast Miwok ...

. Best known for the hit titles '' Choplifter'', '' Lode Runner'', '' The Print Shop'', '' Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?'' and ''

Myst ''Myst'' is a graphic adventure/puzzle video game designed by the Miller brothers, Robyn and Rand. It was developed by Cyan, Inc., published by Broderbund, and initially released for the Macintosh in 1993. In the game, the player's charact ...

'', and for being the early distributor of ''

SimCity ''SimCity'' is an open-ended city-building video game series originally designed by Will Wright. The first game in the series, ''SimCity'', was published by Maxis in 1989 and were followed by several sequels and many other spin-off "''Sim ...

''. After several subsequent acquisitions by various companies, in 2001 the remaining Broderbund offices were moved to San Francisco. *

LucasArts Lucasfilm Games (known as LucasArts between 1990 and 2021) is an American video game licensor that is part of Lucasfilm. It was founded in May 1982 by George Lucas as a video game development group alongside his film company; as part of a large ...

— Founded by George Lucas in (1984) as ''LucasFilm Games''; relocated to San Francisco in 2005. Best known for '' Star Wars'' and '' Indiana Jones'' games and innovative titles such as '' The Secret of Monkey Island'', '' Grim Fandango'' and '' Full Throttle''. * Stormfront Studios — Founded by San Rafael native

Don Daglow Don Daglow (born circa 1953) is an American video game designer, programmer, and producer. He is best known for being the creator of early games from several different genres, including pioneering simulation game ''Utopia'' for Intellivision in 1 ...

in 1988. Best known for '' The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers'', many

EA Sports EA Sports is a division of Electronic Arts that develops and publishes sports video games. Formerly a marketing gimmick of Electronic Arts, in which they tried to imitate real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network ...

titles including '' NASCAR Racing'', '' Gold Box'' role-playing video games and the first graphical MMORPG, '' Neverwinter Nights''. *

Visual Concepts Visual Concepts Entertainment is an American video game developer based in Novato, California. Founded in May 1988, the company is best known for developing sports games in the ''2K'' franchise, most recently ''NBA 2K'' and '' WWE 2K'', and pr ...

— Founded by Greg Thomas in 1988, the company was bought by Sega in 1999, then sold to Take Two Interactive in 2004. Best known for creating many

titles, and recently for

Sega Sports or Sega Sports R&D is a defunct development division of the Japanese video game company Sega. It was previously known as Smilebit, one of nine semi-autonomous studios which Sega established in 2000. Smilebit was previously known as R&D6 or AM6 w ...

and its ''2K'' line of sports games. * Totally Games — Founded by former LucasArts programmer Larry Holland in 1994. Best known for a series of ''Star Wars'' flight sim games. * THX — the high-fidelity audio/visual reproduction standard which started as a spin-off from Lucasfilm Ltd., founded by Tomlinson Holman at George Lucas's company. *

Factor 5 Factor 5 GmbH is an independent software and video game developer. The company was co-founded by five former Rainbow Arts employees in 1987 in Cologne, Germany, which served as the inspiration behind the studio's name. In order to have a s ...

— Founded in

Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...

in 1987 by Julian Eggebrecht, moved to San Rafael in 1996 to be close to publisher LucasArts. Best known for ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' games. In May 2009, the company's San Rafael studio closed. * Telltale Games — Founded in 2004 by former

employees. Best known for its video game adaptation of The Walking Dead and Sam & Max adventure games. The company filed for bankruptcy on November 14, 2018. * Mind Control Software — Founded in 1994 by Andrew Leker, Best known for its

Independent Games Festival The Independent Games Festival (IGF) is an annual festival at the Game Developers Conference (GDC), the largest annual gathering of the independent video game industry. Originally founded in 1998 to promote independent video game developers, ...

–winning game, '' Oasis''.

Parks

Community in San Rafael include Albert Park, Boyd Park, Gerstle Park, Pickleweed Park and the Terra Linda Recreational Center. Notable large parks include China Camp State Park and McNear's Beach Park. There are a number of neighborhood parks and mini-parks such as Bret Harte Park, Boyd Park, Sun Valley Park, Oleander Park, Victor Jones Park, Peacock Gap Park and Gerstle Park. Gerstle Park is also a historic and walkable neighborhood south of First Street in close proximity to central Downtown.

Government

San Rafael is a stronghold of the Democratic Party. According to the California Secretary of State, as of February 10, 2019, San Rafael has 31,288 registered voters. Of those, 17,566 (56.1%) are registered Democrats, 4,292 (13.7%) are registered Republicans, and 8,121 (26%) have

declined to state Decline to State (DTS) was an affiliation designation on the California voter registration form that allows voters to register to vote without choosing a party affiliation. It is similar to what in other states would be called declaring oneself as ...

a political party. San Rafael is governed by a city council with five members, four of which are elected by geographic district for four-year terms. Each Councilmember is required to live in the district they represent and are elected only by the registered voters of that district. The Mayor is elected at-large. The current members are: * Mayor Kate Colin * District 1 Councilmember: Maika Llorens Gulati * District 2 Councilmember: Eli Hill * District 3 Councilmember: Maribeth Bushey * District 4 Councilmember: Rachel Kertz

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 ...

, San Rafael is in . From 2008 to 2012, Huffman represented Marin County in the California State Assembly. In the California State Legislature, San Rafael is in: * *

Education

San Rafael has one university, Dominican University of California. The Ali Akbar College of Music, was founded in San Rafael by Indian musician

Ali Akbar Khan Ali Akbar Khan (14 April 192218 June 2009) was a Indian Hindustani classical musician of the Maihar gharana, known for his virtuosity in playing the sarod. Trained as a classical musician and instrumentalist by his father, Allauddin Khan, he a ...

to teach Indian classical music. San Rafael is also the home to one of the two campuses of

Guide Dogs for the Blind Guide Dogs for the Blind (GDB) is a guide dog school located in the United States, with campuses in San Rafael, California, and Boring, Oregon. It was founded in 1942 by Lois Merrihew and Don Donaldson to help veterans who had been blinded in Wo ...

, a guide dog training school. Most public schools in San Rafael are operated by the

San Rafael City Schools {{Short description, School district in California, United States San Rafael City Schools is a school district headquartered in San Rafael, California, United States. The district, according to the San Rafael city charter, is composed of two separ ...

district.

Miller Creek Elementary School District The Miller Creek Elementary School District, formerly the Dixie School District, is a school district located in San Rafael, California that operates four schools in the northern portion of the city: Mary E. Silveira Elementary School in the Luca ...

operates some public elementary and middle schools north of San Rafael proper. All comprehensive public high schools are governed by San Rafael City Schools. The district operates two comprehensive public high schools: San Rafael High School,

Terra Linda High School Terra Linda High School (also known as TLHS and more commonly known as TL) is a public secondary school located in Terra Linda, San Rafael, California, United States. In 2006, it was named a California Distinguished School. The school is part of t ...

and one alternative high school, Madrone. Notable private schools include Marin Academy, Saint Raphael School, Brandeis Marin, and The Marin School.

Transportation

The major north–south freeway through San Rafael is U.S. Route 101, connecting the

North Coast (California) The North Coast of California (also called the Redwood Empire or the Redwood Coast in reference to the dense redwood forests throughout the region) is a region in Northern California that lies on the Pacific coast between San Francisco Bay and th ...

and the Redwood Empire to the north, and

to the south. Interstate 580 heads across the Richmond–San Rafael Bridge to the

East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties ...

. The

San Rafael Transit Center The San Rafael Transportation Center (also called C. Paul Bettini Transportation Center) is an intermodal transportation center located in downtown San Rafael, California. It is a primary transfer point for several local and regional bus operator ...

, located at the corner of 3rd and Hetherton Streets, is served by a number of bus agencies, including

Golden Gate Transit Golden Gate Transit (GGT) is a public transportation system serving the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in California, United States. It primarily serves Marin County, Sonoma County, and San Francisco, and also provides limited s ...

Marin Transit Marin Transit is a public bus agency in Marin County, California, in the United States. Originally formed in 1964 as Marin County Transit District (MCTD), Marin Transit was re-branded on 30 July 2007 and now provides a variety of fixed-route and de ...

Sonoma County Transit Sonoma County Transit is a public transportation system based in Sonoma County, California. Cities and communities served As the primary bus system in the county, Sonoma County Transit (SCT) operates to the following communities, listed by zone: ...

, Sonoma County Airport Express, and

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Since the rise in large-scale adoption of retired racing Greyhounds, the breed has seen a resurgenc ...

. Local bus service is provided primarily by Golden Gate Transit and Marin Transit.

Commuter rail Commuter rail, or suburban rail, is a passenger rail transport service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Downtown, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter towns. Generally commuter r ...

by Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) serves the city at two stations: a converted San Rafael Transit Center and a station at Marin Civic Center. The line to Santa Rosa and its

Airport An airport is an aerodrome with extended facilities, mostly for commercial air transport. Airports usually consists of a landing area, which comprises an aerially accessible open space including at least one operationally active surfa ...

opened in 2017 bringing passenger rail to San Rafael for the first time since 1958. Until 1958, San Rafael was served by the Northwestern Pacific Railroad. The line from San Rafael was extended to Larkspur to make Larkspur Landing ferry connection in December 2019.

In popular culture

The term " 420", as used in reference to

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae. The number of species within the genus is disputed. Three species may be recognized: '' Cannabis sativa'', '' C. indica'', and '' C. ruderalis''. Alternative ...

consumption, originated in San Rafael. A group of students of the San Rafael High School class of 1975 known as the Waldos used "420" as a code for smoking marijuana at 4:20 p.m., after school.

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 ...

's poem "The Smoke-Off" is about a girl named Pearly Sweetcakes who came from San Rafael. The TV show ''

13 Reasons Why ''13 Reasons Why'' is an American teen drama television series developed for Netflix by Brian Yorkey and based on the 2007 novel ''Thirteen Reasons Why'' by author Jay Asher. The series revolves around high school student Clay Jensen (Dylan M ...

'' is based in San Rafael, and many scenes from the first season were filmed downtown.

Notable people

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 ...

, author * Dave Archer, artist *

Stacey Bailey Stacey Dwayne Bailey (born February 10, 1960) is a former American football wide receiver. He played college football at San Jose State. He was drafted in the third round (63rd overall) of the 1982 NFL Draft by the Atlanta Falcons. Early years ...

, former

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

wide receiver, Atlanta Falcons * Elizabeth Charleston, painter * Philip K. Dick, novelist * George Duke, keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer * William English, contributed to the development of the computer mouse *

Justine Frischmann Justine Elinor Frischmann (born 16 September 1969) is an English artist and retired musician. She was the lead singer of the Britpop band Elastica after forming Suede, before retiring from the music industry and pursuing a career as a painter ...

, lead singer of

Elastica Elastica were an English rock band formed in London in 1992 by ex- Suede members Justine Frischmann and Justin Welch. The band was stylistically influenced by punk rock, post-punk and new wave music. The band's members changed several times ...

and visual artist * Brad Gilbert, professional tennis player and coach * Jared Goff, quarterback for the Detroit Lions *

Lauren Grandcolas Lauren Grandcolas (August 31, 1963 – September 11, 2001) was one of the passengers on board United Airlines Flight 93 on September 11, 2001, who made calls, providing information about the hijacking of the flight as part of the September 11 atta ...

, a 9/11 victim on United Flight 93 * Dan Green, voice actor *

Cynthia Harvey Cynthia Harvey (born May 17, 1957) is an American former ballet dancer, ballet mistress and educator. She joined the American Ballet Theatre (ABT) in 1974 and was promoted to principal dancer in 1982. In 1986, she joined The Royal Ballet, beco ...

(born 1957), ballet dancer and educator * Llewellyn F. Haskell (1842–1929),

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land warfare, land military branch, service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight Uniformed services of the United States, U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army o ...

officer and a

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

general A general officer is an officer of high rank in the armies, and in some nations' air forces, space forces, and marines or naval infantry. In some usages the term "general officer" refers to a rank above colonel."general, adj. and n.". OED ...

during the

American Civil War The American Civil War (April 12, 1861 – May 26, 1865; also known by other names) was a civil war in the United States. It was fought between the Union ("the North") and the Confederacy ("the South"), the latter formed by states ...

* James Hetfield, musician, lead singer of Metallica * Michael Johnson, sprinter, 1996 Atlanta Olympics gold medalist, resides in the hills above San Rafael *

Rick Kranitz Richard Alan Kranitz (born September 15, 1958) is an American professional baseball coach for the Atlanta Braves of Major League Baseball (MLB). Previously, he served as the pitching coach for the Baltimore Orioles, Milwaukee Brewers, Florida Mar ...

former minor league pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers and now the pitching coach for the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in Bos ...

Christian Mortensen Thomas Peter Thorvald Kristian Ferdinand Mortensen (August 16, 1882 – April 25, 1998), known as Christian Mortensen, was a Danish supercentenarian, who resided in California, United States.supercentenarian, the one-time oldest living human male, aged 115 years and 252 days at his death * Gladys Kathleen Parkin, wireless radio operator * Charles Dormon Robinson, painter *

Dana Sabraw Dana Makoto Sabraw (born July 3, 1958) is the Chief United States district judge of the United States District Court for the Southern District of California. He was nominated by President George W. Bush in 2003. Early life and education Sabraw ...

, U.S. District Judge *

Marin Sais Marin Sais (born Mae Smith; August 2, 1890 – December 31, 1971) was an American actress whose career was most prolific during the silent film era of the 1910s and 1920s. Sais' acting career spanned over four decades and she is possibly best ...

, actress * Carlos Santana, musician *

Michael Savage Michael Alan Weiner (born March 31, 1942), known by his professional name Michael Savage, is a far-right author, conspiracy theorist, political commentator, activist, and former radio host. Savage is best known as the host of '' The Savage Na ...

radio host A radio personality (American English) or radio presenter (British English) is a person who has an on-air position in radio broadcasting. A radio personality who hosts a radio show is also known as a radio host, and in India and Pakistan as a radi ...

, author, activist, nutritionist, conservative political commentator, host of ''

The Savage Nation ''The Savage Nation'' (also called ''The Michael Savage Show'') was an American conservative talk radio show hosted by Michael Savage. The program was heard by approximately 11 million listeners a week, which made it the 7th most listened to radi ...

'' * Scott Thunes, musician * Natu Tuatagaloa, former professional football player in the NFL * Will Venable, former professional Major League Baseball player

Sister cities

* San Rafael del Norte, Nicaragua *

Lonate Pozzolo Lonate Pozzolo is a town and ''comune'' located in the province of Varese, in the Lombardy region of northern Italy. It is served by Ferno-Lonate Pozzolo railway station. The airline Cargoitalia Cargoitalia S.p.A. was a cargo airline with its ...

, Province of Varese, Italy * Falkirk, Scotland * Chiang Mai, Thailand

References

;Bibliography * ''San Rafael Recreation Element of the General Plan'', June, 1984 *

U.S. Geological Survey The United States Geological Survey (USGS), formerly simply known as the Geological Survey, is a scientific agency of the United States government. The scientists of the USGS study the landscape of the United States, its natural resources, and ...

, ''Topographical Map, San Quentin 7.5 Minute Quadrangle'', revised 1980

External links

*
San Rafael Chamber of CommerceMarin History Museum
{{Authority control 1874 establishments in California Cities in Marin County, California Cities in the San Francisco Bay Area County seats in California Incorporated cities and towns in California Populated places established in 1874 Spanish mission settlements in North America Populated coastal places in California