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 countries in the Americas **Spanish cuisine **Spanish history **Spanish culture ...

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

county seat A county seat is an administrative center, seat of government, or capital city of a county or parish (administrative division), civil parish. The term is in use in five countries: Canada, China, Hungary, Romania, and the United States. An equiva ...

Marin County, California Marin County ( ) is a County (United States), county located in the northwestern part of the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 262,231. Its county seat a ...

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

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. 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 Father Vicente Francisco de Sarría (1767 Etxebarri, Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of ...

established

Mission San Rafael Arcángel Mission (, ) is a replica Spanish mission in San Rafael, California. The original mission was founded in 1817 as an '' asistencia'' of Mission San Francisco de Asís to serve as a hospital to treat sick and injured indigenous people, making ...

, initially as an ''asistencia'' (sub-mission). San Rafael Arcángel was upgraded to full mission status in 1822, a month before

Alta California Alta California (, ), also known as Nueva California () among other names, was a province of New Spain formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but was made a separat ...

declared independence from Spain as part of

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

. Following the American

Conquest of California The Conquest of California, also known as the Conquest of Alta California or the California Campaign, was a military campaign during the Mexican–American War carried out by the United States in Alta California (modern-day California), then part ...

, the community of San Rafael incorporated as a city in 1874.

History

San Rafael was once the site of several

Coast Miwok The Coast Miwok are an Indigenous people of California that were the second-largest tribe of the Miwok people. Coast Miwok inhabited the general area of present-day Marin County and southern Sonoma County in Northern California, from the Golde ...

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 ''

'' by three priests—Father

Narciso Durán Narciso Durán, OFM ( Catalan: Narcís Duran; December 16, 1776 – June 4, 1846) was a Spanish Franciscan friar and missionary. Durán arrived in California in 1806 after studying briefly at the missionary College of San Fernando de Mexico. He ...

from

Mission San José Mission San José may refer to: *Mission San José (California), a Spanish mission in Fremont, California *Mission San Jose, Fremont, California, a neighborhood *Mission San Jose High School, a high school in Fremont, California *Mission San José ( ...

, Father Abella from

Mission San Francisco de Asís The Mission San Francisco de Asís (), also known as Mission Dolores, is a historic Catholic Church, Catholic church complex in San Francisco, San Francisco, California. Operated by the Archdiocese of San Francisco, the complex was founded in ...

, Father

Luis Gíl y Taboada Luis is a given name. It is the Spanish form of the originally Germanic name or . Other Iberian Romance languages have comparable forms: (with an accent mark on the i) in Portuguese and Galician, in Aragonese and Catalan, while is archaic ...

from

La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles LA most frequently refers to Los Angeles, the second most populous city in the United States of America. La, LA, or L.A. may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * La (musical note), or A, the sixth note *"L.A.", a song by Elliott Smi ...

—on December 14, 1817, four years before

gained independence from

Spain Spain, or the Kingdom of Spain, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe with territories in North Africa. Featuring the Punta de Tarifa, southernmost point of continental Europe, it is the largest country in Southern Eur ...

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

Archangel Archangels () are the second lowest rank of angel in the Catholic hierarchy of angels, based on and put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in the 5th or 6th century in his book ''De Coelesti Hierarchia'' (''On the Celestial Hierarchy'') ...

Raphael Raffaello Sanzio da Urbino (; March 28 or April 6, 1483April 6, 1520), now generally known in English as Raphael ( , ), was an Italian painter and architect of the High Renaissance. List of paintings by Raphael, His work is admired for its cl ...

, 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, officially the City and County of San Francisco, is a commercial, Financial District, San Francisco, financial, and Culture of San Francisco, cultural center of Northern California. With a population of 827,526 residents as of ...

Mission Dolores Dolores, Spanish for "pain; grief", most commonly refers to: * Our Lady of Sorrows or La Virgen María de los Dolores * Dolores (given name), including list of people and fictional characters with the name Dolores may also refer to: Film * '' ...

. 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 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality *Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * O ...

was abandoned in 1844, eventually falling into ruin.

American period

San Rafael has been the seat of Marin County since April 25, 1851. 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 ...

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 naval warfare, maritime military branch, service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is the world's most powerful navy with the largest Displacement (ship), displacement, at 4.5 millio ...

operated a San Pablo Bay

degaussing Degaussing, or deperming, 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 ...

range from San Rafael through

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, 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 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, inv ...

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. Taxonomy The two distinct subspecies are both ...

. There are also

riparian A riparian zone or riparian area is the interface between land and a river or stream. In some regions, the terms riparian woodland, riparian forest, riparian buffer zone, riparian corridor, and riparian strip are used to characterize a ripar ...

areas including the

San Rafael Creek San Rafael Creek is a watercourse in Marin County, California, United States that discharges to San Rafael Bay, a small embayment of the San Francisco Bay. The mouth of San Rafael Creek is a channelized estuary through an industrial area. San Ra ...

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

warm-summer Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

''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

San Rafael first appeared as a city in the 1870 U.S. Census.

2020

The 2020 United States census reported that San Rafael had a population of 61,271. The population density was . The racial makeup of San Rafael was 54.6%

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...

, 1.7%

African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...

, 3.7% Native American, 6.6% Asian, 0.3%

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...

, 20.8% from other races, and 12.4% from two or more races.

Hispanic or Latino ''Hispanic'' and '' Latino'' are ethnonyms used to refer collectively to the inhabitants of the United States who are of Spanish or Latin American ancestry (). While many use the terms interchangeably, for example, the United States Census Bureau ...

of any race were 34.3% of the population. The census reported that 97.1% of the population lived in households, 1.9% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 1.0% were institutionalized. There were 23,339 households, out of which 30.2% included children under the age of 18, 45.4% were married-couple households, 7.5% were

cohabiting Cohabitation is an arrangement where people who are not legally married live together as a couple. They are often involved in a romantic or sexually intimate relationship on a long-term or permanent basis. Such arrangements have become incr ...

couple households, 28.5% had a female householder with no partner present, and 18.6% had a male householder with no partner present. 30.3% of households were one person, and 15.9% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.55. There were 14,209

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

(60.9% of all households). The age distribution was 20.5% under the age of 18, 8.1% aged 18 to 24, 26.3% aged 25 to 44, 25.3% aged 45 to 64, and 19.7% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 41.3years. For every 100 females, there were 98.6 males. There were 24,502 housing units at an average density of , of which 23,339 (95.3%) were occupied. Of these, 50.8% were owner-occupied, and 49.2% were occupied by renters. In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $109,317, and the

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...

was $67,609. About 5.5% of families and 10.9% of the population were below the poverty line.

2010

The 2010 United States census reported that the city of San Rafael had a population of 57,713. This figure does not, however, include portions of the

Santa Venetia Santa Venetia is a census-designated place (CDP) in Marin County, California, United States. It is located north of downtown San Rafael, at an elevation of . The population was 4,289 at the 2020 census. Geography Santa Venetia is located in eas ...

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%)

, 1,154 (2.0%)

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

, 8,513 (14.8%) from other races, and 2,964 (5.1%) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...

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

(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.

Economy

BioMarin,

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

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

, 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 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 ...

, is known for 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 2023 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:

Entertainment industry

After the arrival of

George Lucas George Walton Lucas Jr. (born May 14, 1944) is an American filmmaker and philanthropist. He created the ''Star Wars'' and ''Indiana Jones'' franchises and founded Lucasfilm, LucasArts, Industrial Light & Magic and THX. He served as chairman ...

in San Rafael in 1970 to film the movie ''

THX 1138 ''THX 1138'' is a 1971 American social science fiction film co-written and directed by George Lucas in his feature directorial debut. Produced by Francis Ford Coppola and co-written by Walter Murch, the film stars Robert Duvall and Donald Pl ...

'', the city became a center for the entertainment industry, particularly the high-tech elements of the business.

Lucasfilm Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company founded by filmmaker George Lucas in December 10, 1971 in San Rafael, California, and later moved to San Francisco in 2005. It is best known for creating and producing th ...

was founded by

in 1971, and is best known for the global hit movie series ''

Star Wars ''Star Wars'' is an American epic film, epic space opera media franchise created by George Lucas, which began with the Star Wars (film), eponymous 1977 film and Cultural impact of Star Wars, quickly became a worldwide popular culture, pop cu ...

'' and also for ''

Indiana Jones ''Indiana Jones'' is an American media franchise consisting of five films and a prequel television series, along with games, comics, and tie-in novels, that depicts the adventures of Indiana Jones (character), Dr. Henry Walton "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, Paul Le Mat ...

'' were filmed in downtown San Rafael under George Lucas's direction, and portions of ''THX 1138'' were shot at the

Marin County Civic Center The Marin County Civic Center, designed by Frank Lloyd Wright, is located in San Rafael, California, the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. Groundbreaking for the Civic Center Administration Building took place in 1960, aft ...

in San Rafael. Much of the movie ''

Gattaca ''Gattaca'' is a 1997 American dystopian science fiction film written and directed by Andrew Niccol in his List of directorial debuts, feature directorial debut. It stars Ethan Hawke and Uma Thurman with Jude Law, Loren Dean, Ernest Borgnine, Go ...

'', starring

Ethan Hawke Ethan Green Hawke (born November 6, 1970) is an American actor, author, and film director. He made his film debut in ''Explorers (film), Explorers'' (1985), before making a breakthrough performance in ''Dead Poets Society'' (1989). Hawke starr ...

, was also shot in the Marin County Civic Center.

Industrial Light & Magic Industrial Light & Magic (ILM) is an American Film, motion picture visual effects, computer animation and stereo conversion digital studio founded by George Lucas on May 26, 1975. It is a division of the film production company Lucasfilm, which Lu ...

was founded in 1975 by Lucas to do

special effect Special effects (often abbreviated as F/X or simply FX) are illusions or visual tricks used in the theatre, film, television, video game, amusement park and simulator industries to simulate the fictional events in a story or virtual world. ...

s for his films and those of other filmmakers. The

new-age music New-age is a genre of music intended to create artistic inspiration, relaxation, and optimism. It is used by listeners for yoga, massage, meditation, and reading as a method of stress management to bring about a state of ecstasy rather tha ...

program ''

Hearts of Space ''Hearts of Space'' is an American weekly syndicated public radio show featuring music of a contemplative nature"When you listen to space and ambient music you are connecting with a tradition of contemplative sound experience whose roots are an ...

'' has been headquartered in San Rafael since 2004. Largely because of the presence of LucasFilm, San Rafael started to attract

video game A video game or computer game is an electronic game that involves interaction with a user interface or input device (such as a joystick, game controller, controller, computer keyboard, keyboard, or motion sensing device) to generate visual fe ...

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 Douglas Gene Carlston (born April 30, 1947 in Boston, Massachusetts) is the founder and CEO of Tawala Systems based in San Rafael, California. He was previously CEO, chairman, and co-founder of Broderbund Software, a software publishing firm th ...

and

Gary Carlston Gary may refer to: *Gary (given name), a common masculine given name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the name Places ;Iran * Gary, Iran, Sistan and Baluchestan Province ;United States *Gary (Tampa), Florida *Gary, Ind ...

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, United States, situated in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. At the 2020 census, Novato had a population of 53,225. History What is now Novato was origi ...

. Best known for the hit titles ''

Choplifter ''Choplifter'' (stylized as ''Choplifter!'') is a military-themed scrolling shooter developed by Dan Gorlin for the Apple II and published by Broderbund in 1982. It was ported to the Atari 8-bit computers the same year, and also to the VIC-20, C ...

'', ''

Lode Runner ''Lode Runner'' is a 2D puzzle-platform game, developed by Doug Smith and published by Broderbund in 1983. Its gameplay mechanics are similar to ''Space Panic'' from 1980. The player controls a character who must collect all the gold pieces in ...

'', ''

The Print Shop The Print Shop is a desktop publishing software package originally published in 1984 by Broderbund. It was unique in that it provided libraries of clip art and templates through a simple interface to build signs, posters and banners with househo ...

'', '' Where in the World is Carmen Sandiego?'' and ''

Myst ''Myst'' is a 1993 adventure video game developed by Cyan and published by Broderbund for Mac OS. In the game, the player travels via a special book to a mysterious island called Myst. The player interacts with objects and traverses the ...

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

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

''. 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 brand licensing, licensor, former video game developer and video game publisher, publisher, and a subsidiary of Lucasfilm. It was founded in May 1982 by George ...

— Founded by

in (1984) as ''LucasFilm Games''; relocated to San Francisco in 2005. Best known for ''

'' and ''

'' games and innovative titles such as ''

The Secret of Monkey Island ''The Secret of Monkey Island'' is a 1990 point-and-click graphic adventure game developed and published by Lucasfilm Games. It takes place in a fictional version of the Caribbean during the age of piracy. The player assumes the role of Guyb ...

'', ''

Grim Fandango ''Grim Fandango'' is a 1998 adventure game directed by Tim Schafer and developed and published by LucasArts for Microsoft Windows. It is the first adventure game by LucasArts to use 3D computer graphics overlaid on pre-rendered static backgro ...

'' and '' Full Throttle''. *

Stormfront Studios Stormfront Studios, Inc. was an American video game developer based in San Rafael, California. In 2007, the company had over 50 developers working on two teams, and owned all its proprietary engines, tools, and technology. As of the end of 2007, ...

— 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 i ...

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 imitated real-life sports networks by calling themselves the "EA Sports Network" (EASN) ...

titles including ''

NASCAR Racing ''NASCAR Racing'' is a series of car racing video games originally developed by Papyrus Design Group in the 1990s. The series started in 1994 and ended with the release of ''NASCAR Racing 2003 Season'' in 2003. Later NASCAR games were released b ...

'', ''

Gold Box ''Gold Box'' is a series of role-playing video games produced by Strategic Simulations from 1988 to 1992. The company acquired a license to produce games based on the ''Advanced Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game from TSR, Inc. These games ...

role-playing video game Role-playing video games, also known as CRPG (computer/console role-playing games), comprise a broad video game genre generally defined by a detailed story and character advancement (often through increasing characters' levels or other skills) ...

s and the first graphical

MMORPG A massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) is a video game that combines aspects of a role-playing video game and a massively multiplayer online game. As in role-playing games (RPGs), the player assumes the role of a Player charac ...

, ''

Neverwinter Nights ''Neverwinter Nights'' is a series of video games developed by BioWare and Obsidian Entertainment, based on the ''Forgotten Realms'' campaign setting of the ''Dungeons & Dragons'' role-playing game. Aside from also being set around the city Nev ...

''. *

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 video game, sports games in the ''2K'' franchise, most recently ''NBA 2K'' and ' ...

— Founded by Greg Thomas in 1988, the company was bought by

Sega is a Japanese video game company and subsidiary of Sega Sammy Holdings headquartered in Tokyo. It produces several List of best-selling video game franchises, multi-million-selling game franchises for arcade game, arcades and video game cons ...

in 1999, then sold to

Take Two Interactive Take-Two Interactive Software, Inc. is an American video game holding company based in New York City founded by Ryan Brant in September 1993. The company owns three major publishing labels, Rockstar Games, Zynga and 2K, which operate inter ...

in 2004. Best known for creating many

titles, and recently for

Sega Sports , or Sega Sports R&D, was a 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 which ...

and its ''2K'' line of sports games. *

Totally Games Totally Games was a video game developer located in Marin County, California. Their titles included the '' X-Wing'' series of games based on the Star Wars universe, a series of PC-based World War II flight combat simulations ('' Battlehawks 1942 ...

— Founded by former LucasArts programmer Larry Holland in 1994. Best known for a series of ''Star Wars''

flight sim A flight simulator is a device that artificially re-creates aircraft flight and the environment in which it flies, for pilot training, design, or other purposes. It includes replicating the equations that govern how aircraft fly, how they rea ...

games. *

THX THX Ltd. is an American audio company based in the San Francisco Bay Area. It is known for its suite of digital high fidelity audiovisual reproduction standards for movie theaters, screening rooms, home theaters, computer speakers, video game c ...

— the high-fidelity audio/visual reproduction standard which started as a spin-off from

Lucasfilm Ltd. Lucasfilm Ltd. LLC is an American film and television production company founded by filmmaker George Lucas in December 10, 1971 in San Rafael, California, and later moved to San Francisco in 2005. It is best known for creating and producing the ...

, founded by

Tomlinson Holman Tomlinson Miles Holman IIVideo Interviews with Tomlinson Holman* Living people American acoustical engineers USC School of Cinematic Arts faculty University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign alumni Academy Award for Technical Achievement winner ...

at George Lucas's company. *

Factor 5 Factor 5 GmbH was a German-American Independent business, 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 st ...

— Founded in

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

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 Telltale Incorporated (trade name: Telltale Games) was an American video game developer based in San Rafael, California. The company was founded in July 2004 by former LucasArts developers Kevin Bruner, Dan Connors and Troy Molander, following ...

— 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 Mind Control Software was an American video game developer based in California. It was founded in 1994 by Andrew Leker while he was working with Ceridus Software on the video-game adaptation of his tabletop role-playing game ''Skyrealms of Jor ...

— 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 In ecology, an oasis (; : oases ) is a fertile area of a desert or semi-desert environmentAlbert Park, Boyd Park, Gerstle Park, Pickleweed Park and the Terra Linda Recreational Center. Notable large parks include

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 ...

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 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 (U.S. state government), secretary of state is elected for four year terms, like the state's o ...

, 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 Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, and 8,121 (26%) have declined to state 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 is a chamber of the Bicameralism, bicameral United States Congress; it is the lower house, with the U.S. Senate being the upper house. Together, the House and Senate have the authority under Artic ...

, San Rafael 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, Califor ...

. In the

California State Legislature The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members). ...

, San Rafael is in: * *

Education

San Rafael has one university,

Dominican University of California Dominican University of California is a private university in San Rafael, California, United States. It was founded in 1890 as Dominican College by the Dominican Sisters of San Rafael. It is one of the oldest universities in California. Dominic ...

. The

Ali Akbar College of Music The Ali Akbar College of Music (AACM) is the name of three schools founded by Indian musician Ali Akbar Khan to teach Indian classical music. The first was founded in 1956 in Calcutta, India. The second was founded in 1967 in Berkeley, Californi ...

, was founded in San Rafael by Indian musician

Ali Akbar Khan Ali Akbar Khan (14 April 192218 June 2009) was an 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, ...

to teach

Indian classical music Indian classical music is the art music, classical music of the Indian subcontinent. It is generally described using terms like ''Shastriya Sangeet'' and ''Marg Sangeet''. It has two major traditions: the North Indian classical music known as ...

. 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 San Rafael City Schools is a school district headquartered in San Rafael, California, San Rafael, California, United States. The district, according to the San Rafael city charter, is composed of two separate boundaries: the San Rafael Elementar ...

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 M ...

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 San Rafael High School is a public high school located at 150 Third St. in San Rafael, California, United States. The school is part of the San Rafael City Schools school district. Its official nickname is the Bulldog; however, its athletic te ...

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 ...

and one alternative high school, Madrone. In 2006, the San Rafael City Schools district removed

The Bronze Bow ''The Bronze Bow'' is a historical fiction book by Elizabeth George Speare that won the Newbery Medal for excellence in American children's literature in 1962. Plot This book is set in first century Galilee, Israel. The main character is a y ...

from their

social studies In many countries' curricula, social studies is the combined study of humanities, the arts, and social sciences, mainly including history, economics, and civics. The term was coined by American educators around the turn of the twentieth century as ...

curriculum, after allegations of the book showing

Jews Jews (, , ), or the Jewish people, are an ethnoreligious group and nation, originating from the Israelites of History of ancient Israel and Judah, ancient Israel and Judah. They also traditionally adhere to Judaism. Jewish ethnicity, rel ...

in a bad light compared to

Christians A Christian () is a person who follows or adheres to Christianity, a monotheistic Abrahamic religion based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. Christians form the largest religious community in the world. The words '' Christ'' and ''C ...

. Notable private schools include

Marin Academy Marin Academy (familiarly known as MA) is a private school, private college preparatory high school in San Rafael, California. Located on the campus that for decades housed the San Rafael Military Academy prior to its closure, Marin Academy was ...

, Saint Raphael School, and Brandeis Marin. The Marin School was a private nonsectarian school that closed in 2023.

Transportation

The major north–south freeway through San Rafael is

U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a major north–south highway that traverses the states of California, Oregon, and Washington on the West Coast of the United States. It is part of the United States Numbered Highway Syst ...

, 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 The Richmond–San Rafael Bridge (officially renamed the John F. McCarthy Memorial Bridge in 1981) is the northernmost of the east–west crossings of California's San Francisco Bay, carrying Interstate 580 from Richmond on the east to San R ...

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 San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Wi ...

. The San Rafael Transit Center, 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 ser ...

Marin Transit Marin Transit is a public bus agency serving Marin County, California, in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Marin Transit provides local and rural fixed-route bus services, paratransit services, and school bus services in Mari ...

Sonoma County Transit Sonoma County Transit is a public transportation system based in Sonoma County, California. Routes * Routes indicated with a serve the Santa Rosa Transit Mall. * Routes indicated with a gold background and the word "free" will be fare free ind ...

, Sonoma County Airport Express, and

Greyhound The English Greyhound, or simply the Greyhound, is a dog breed, breed of dog, a sighthound which has been bred for coursing, greyhound racing and hunting. Some are kept as show dogs or pets. Greyhounds are defined as a tall, muscular, smooth-c ...

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

Commuter rail Commuter rail or suburban rail is a Passenger train, passenger rail service that primarily operates within a metropolitan area, connecting Commuting, commuters to a Central business district, central city from adjacent suburbs or commuter town ...

Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) is a commuter rail service and bicycle-pedestrian pathway project in Sonoma and Marin counties of the U.S. state of California. When completed, the entire system will serve a corridor between Clover ...

(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 Santa Rosa is the Italian, Portuguese, and Spanish name for Saint Rose. Santa Rosa may also refer to: Places Argentina *Santa Rosa, Mendoza, a city * Santa Rosa, Tinogasta, Catamarca * Santa Rosa, Valle Viejo, Catamarca *Santa Rosa, La Pampa * S ...

and its

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

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 Northwestern Pacific Railroad is a mainline railroad from the former ferry connections in Sausalito, California north to Eureka, with a connection to the national railroad system at Schellville. The railroad has gone through a complex h ...

. The line from San Rafael was extended to Larkspur to make

Larkspur Landing Larkspur Landing, also known as Larkspur Ferry Terminal, is the main Golden Gate Ferry Landing (water transport), terminal in Larkspur, California, in Marin County, California, Marin County, north of San Francisco. The terminal is a regional hub ...

ferry connection in December 2019.

In popular culture

The term "

420 420 may refer to: Science and technology * 420 (number), in mathematics * 420 Bertholda, a main-belt asteroid * 4:2:0, a chroma subsampling layout Cannabis culture * 420 (cannabis culture), informal reference to cannabis use and celebrations ...

", as used in reference to

cannabis ''Cannabis'' () is a genus of flowering plants in the family Cannabaceae that is widely accepted as being indigenous to and originating from the continent of Asia. However, the number of species is disputed, with as many as three species be ...

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, cartoonist, songwriter, and musician. Born and raised in Chicago, Chicago, Illinois, Silverstein briefly attended university before being drafted into ...

'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'' (also stylized as ''TH1RTEEN R3ASONS WHY'') is an American teen drama television series based on the 2007 novel '' Thirteen Reasons Why'' by author Jay Asher. Developed for Netflix by Brian Yorkey and with Selena Gomez ser ...

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

Notable people

Isabel Allende Isabel Angélica Allende Llona (; born 2 August 1942) is a Chilean-American writer. Allende, whose works sometimes contain aspects of the magical realism genre, 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 an American former professional football player who was a wide receiver in the National Football League (NFL). He played college football for the San Jose State Spartans. He was selected in the t ...

, former

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

wide receiver A wide receiver (WR), also referred to as a wideout, and historically known as a split end (SE) or flanker (FL), is an eligible receiver in gridiron football. A key skill position of the offense (American football), offense, WR gets its name ...

Atlanta Falcons The Atlanta Falcons are a professional American football team based in Atlanta. The Falcons compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC South, South division. The Falcons were founded o ...

Elizabeth Charleston Elizabeth Charleston was a San Francisco native who painted impressionist flower and landscape paintings. Charleston began painting at the age of 50, while recovering from an automobile accident. Life and work Elizabeth Charleston was born in ...

, painter * Philip K. Dick, novelist *

George Duke George Martin Duke (January 12, 1946 – August 5, 2013) was an American keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer. He worked with numerous artists as arranger, music director, writer and co-writer, record producer and as ...

, keyboardist, composer, singer-songwriter and record producer * William English, contributed to the development of the

computer mouse A computer mouse (plural mice; also mouses) is a hand-held pointing device that detects Plane (mathematics), two-dimensional motion relative to a surface. This motion is typically translated into the motion of the Cursor (user interface)#Po ...

* Justine Frischmann, lead singer of Elastica and visual artist * Brad Gilbert, professional tennis player and coach * Jared Goff, quarterback for the Detroit Lions * Lauren Grandcolas, a September 11 attacks, 9/11 victim on United Flight 93 * Marc Diraison, voice actor * Cynthia Harvey (born 1957), ballet dancer and educator * Llewellyn F. Haskell (1842–1929), United States Army officer and a Union Army, Union General officer, general during the American Civil War * James Hetfield, musician, lead singer of Metallica * Jared Huffman, U.S. representative and California assemblyman * Michael Johnson (sprinter), Michael Johnson, sprinter, 1996 Atlanta Olympics gold medalist, resides in the hills above San Rafael * Rick Kranitz, former minor league pitcher for the Milwaukee Brewers and now the pitching coach for the Atlanta Braves * Christian Mortensen (1882–1998), supercentenarian, the one-time oldest living human male, aged 115 years and 252 days at his death * Gladys Kathleen Parkin, Wireless telegraphy, wireless radio operator * Charles Dormon Robinson, painter * Dana Sabraw, U.S. District Judge * Marin Sais, actress * Carlos Santana, musician * Michael Savage, radio host, author, activist, nutritionist, conservative political commentator, host of ''The Savage Nation'' * Scott Thunes, musician * Natu Tuatagaloa, former professional football player in the National Football League, NFL * Will Venable, former professional Major League Baseball player * Winston Venable, former NFL and Canadian Football League, CFL linebacker.

Sister cities

* San Rafael del Norte, Nicaragua * Lonate Pozzolo, 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, ''Topographical Map, San Quentin 7.5 Minute Quadrangle'', revised 1980

External links

*
San Rafael Chamber of CommerceMarin History Museum
{{Authority control San Rafael, California, 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