McNears Beach was the site of a fashionable beach resort established in the 1880s on

San Pablo Bay San Pablo Bay is a tidal estuary that forms the northern extension of the San Francisco Bay in the East Bay and North Bay regions of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California. Most of the Bay is shallow; however, there is a deep wate ...

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 ac ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. It was located 0.5 miles (0.8 km) north-northwest of Point San Pedro, and 3.4 miles (5.4 km) northeast of San Rafael. The United States Board of Geographic Names rejected other, similar names proposed for the site, including McNear, McNear Landing, and McNear's Beach.

History

In 1859 John A. McNear purchased 700 acres at Point San Pedro from the estate of Timothy Murphy, the original owner of

Rancho San Pedro, Santa Margarita y Las Gallinas Rancho San Pedro, Santa Margarita y Las Gallinas was a Mexican land grant in present-day Marin County, California given in 1844 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to Timothy Murphy (Timoteo Murphy). Las Gallinas means "the hens" in Spanish. The gra ...

, a 21,000 acre Mexican land grant. McNear established a dairy farm and gradually increased his holdings in the area to 2,440 acres and more than five miles of waterfront on San Pablo Bay. Chinese immigrants worked at the McNear ranch and supplemented their income by fishing for shrimp along the shores of San Pablo Bay. In the 1880s, McNear and his son established a fashionable resort on the shore that included a hotel, gardens, and a dance hall. In 1898, he built the McNear Brick Company. His plans for adding a shipping terminal and railroad at the site were thwarted by the

1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 AM Pacific Time Zone, Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated Moment magnitude scale, moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli inte ...

. The McNear post office was established on the site in 1897 and discontinued in 1910. Picnic tables and pool at McNears Beach

McNears Beach Park

In 1970, the County acquired 55 acres at McNears Beach to create McNears Beach Park. Today, McNears Beach Park is a

regional park A regional park is an area of land preserved on account of its natural beauty, historic interest, recreational use or other reason, and under the administration of a form of local government. Definition A regional park can be a special park distr ...

offering a fishing pier, swimming pool, snack bar, sand volleyball court, picnic areas, and tennis courts. The McNear stables remain, and is now used as a Park Ranger Office operated by

Marin County Department of Parks and Open Space The Marin County Department of Parks and Open Space, consisting of the Marin County Parks and Landscape Division and the Marin County Open Space District, is a parks governing body in Marin County, California overseen by the Marin County Board o ...

China Camp State Park China Camp State Park is a state park in Marin County, California, surrounding a historic Chinese American shrimp fishery, shrimp-fishing village and a salt marsh. The park is located in San Rafael, California, on the shore of San Pablo Bay. It ...

, adjacent to McNear Beach on the east, is a unit of the San Francisco Bay National Estuarine Research Reserve.

References

San Pablo Bay Beaches of Marin County, California Parks in Marin County, California {{MarinCountyCA-geo-stub

History

McNears Beach Park

See also

References