Before Mill Valley was a city, it was a season.
In the 1890s, San Francisco families arrived by ferry and train every June, settling into camps and hotels in the canyons for the summer. The train that brought them in was a narrow-gauge line of the North Pacific Coast Railroad, pulling into the original Mill Valley Station at Sunnyside and Miller Avenue.
Families gathered outside their homes on Creek Lane and the other narrow roads that wound through the redwoods.
The Haker family at 9 Creek Lane, circa 1890. (Courtesy of the Lucretia Little History Room, Mill Valley Public Library)
By August the camps were full. Three hotels competed for visitors: the Bellevue, the Monte Vista and the Eastland, the last of which sat in Blithedale Canyon, run by a woman named Mrs. Cullen, who kept a pet deer — and lost it that summer. The Blithedale Hotel drew guests who played croquet on the grounds in hats and long dresses on summer afternoons.
Guests at the Blithedale Hotel, circa 1890, playing croquet on the hotel grounds. (Courtesy of the Lucretia Little History Room, Mill Valley Public Library)
Some families came for the hotels. Others brought tents. The Bostwick and Stewart families were among those who set up camp in the redwood canyons, posing before their striped tents for a photograph that still survives in the History Room on Throckmorton.
The Bostwick and Stewart families camping in Mill Valley, circa 1900. (Courtesy of the Lucretia Little History Room, Mill Valley Public Library)
Constantine's Oyster House served seafood. Wheeler Martin's Grocery stood opposite the fountain. C.E. Cline ran the pool room. P. Rochefort had a lunch stand near the Cascade Falls, a popular destination for summer visitors. Dowd Brothers drove parties to the big redwoods.
Deer were plentiful enough that Ralston White shot two bucks. A minstrel show was held on a neighbor's grounds on Cascade Drive. Len Schwartz made the piano hum even though six notes were broken. The male quartet missed the last boat back to San Francisco.
The town had about 200 residents. The sewers were getting odorous. The fire company had collected money by subscription and was quarreling about how to spend it. There were no paved streets — in rain, they turned to mud several inches deep. The sidewalks, where they existed, were two planks wide, with a handrail.
By late August the camps were fast being deserted. The San Francisco families packed up and went back across the bay. Mill Valley waited for the following June.
The town incorporated in September 1900. The summer families stayed, built year-round homes, and eventually the season became a place.
Sources: Mill Valley Record, October 22, 1927; Mill Valley Record, March 1, 1940. Details drawn from the August 12, 1893 issue of the Mill Valley Times as reprinted in the Record. Photos courtesy of the Lucretia Little History Room, Mill Valley Public Library.
