A History of Muir Beach

One of the main characters of Drama Queen is Muir Beach - Queena's cozy coastal town and the location of the two dead bodies she stumbles across. Below is a quick history of the land and its inhabitants for those looking for a deeper dive.

Early History and the Coast Miwok

Before European arrival, California had the densest human population anywhere north of Mexico. Over 600 village sites have been discovered along the coast between the Marin Headlands and Bodega Bay. Today we call these peoples the Coast Miwok and the group occupying the area once known as Big Lagoon were called the Huimen.

European Settlement

In 1856, Samuel Throckmorton took control of Rancho Sausalito and leased the land to Portuguese dairymen. By the 1880s, Marin County was California’s largest producer of fresh milk and butter. Much of this success was based on the hard-work of the recent immigrants from the Azores, an archipelago of islands west of Portugal, who arrived in California on whaling ships. Those who didn't find strike gold were able to use their native dairy experience to get jobs in Marin’s newly-established dairy ranches.

At that time, Muir Beach was known as Bello Beach after Antonio Bello, a Portuguese settler who purportedly bought the entire hillside for a $10 gold piece. In 1919, Bello established a Tavern at Muir Beach and began subdivisions for blue collar summer cabins. In 1945, the adjacent Green Gulch pasture was purchased by George Wheelwright.

The Hippy Invasion

In the 1950s Bay Area urbanites began to move into this formerly isolated area, but the area had not been developed for significant habitation. The water quality was poor and road maintenance was on an ad hoc basis until the formation of the Community Services District in 1958along with the new Seacape Subdivision above the original Bello/Muir Beach subdivision. Gradually the water quality improved and additional houses were built to shelter the beatniks and bohemians who wanted to live and raise their families there..

The Old Tavern, a somewhat battered but stubbornly persistent bar on the beach, now became a dance hall, nurturing the new generation of psychedelic bands. Some, such as Big Brother and the Holding Company and Creedence Clearwater Revival, went on to national fame. The Tavern and cottages at the beach were removed in the late 1960s after the Golden Gate National Recreational Area took over the land.

Perhaps the greatest shift came in the early 1970s, when Northern California experienced a serious drought. When the Marin Municipal Water District put a hold on new home water hookups, it created a freeze on new construction in southern Marin. Muir Beach, with its own water supply, was one of the few areas where new homes could be built. Suddenly, this odd backwater of funky cottages and converted summer cabins drew the attention of realtors and buyers.

Today, there are 132 houses on the hillside near the Pacific Ocean just south of Stinson Beach and around the corner from Muir Woods. The only business in town is the Pelican Inn where you can grab a pint of English bitters and eat fish and chips.

It is rumored that Janis Joplin’s ashes were spread at Muir Beach.

Inspired by: http://www.bellobeach.com/history.html and https://www.nps.gov/goga/learn/nature/muir-beach-history.htm