This Week in Mill Valley History

Every Sunday in the Mill Valley Briefing newsletter

Aug 23, 2026

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2 min read

The crookedest railroad in the world

On August 22, 1896, a train left Mill Valley and climbed to the summit of Mount Tamalpais for the first time, carrying the residents of a town that was six years old and not yet incorporated.

Aug 16, 2026

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2 min read

The school that started in a shack

On Monday, Aug 3, 1908, seventy students filed into a rough-board structure with a canvas roof on a sloping knoll near Mill Valley Junction and began the first day of classes at Tamalpais Union High School.

Aug 9, 2026

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2 min read

The town’s first newspaper

On August 12, 1893, a 16-year-old named Frederick Runyon published the second-to-last issue of Mill Valley's first newspaper.

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