CORTE MADERA Baltimore Park LARKSPURCORTE MADERA

!N THE early days, andeven before the goldfever started the stamp-ede for California, thislocality was known as"Corte Madera del Pre-sidio," meaning "place of

wood-cutting for the Presidio," as it was here that•wood and lumber used at the Presidio in SanFranci-co was cut and sawed. Corte M:derathen included the entire territory from what isnow Chapman Park to Escalle Station.

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BALTIMORE hi 1X47. a company of menCOMPANY brought out from Baltimore,

around the Horn a fully equip-ped saw-mill, which was in-tailed at the mouthof Baltimore Canyon, near the present Gardenerhome. Tin- was called the Baltimore mill, afterwhich Baltimore Canyon was named: about thistime there was also established a second mill,

present business portion of Larkspur.(Daniel T. Taylor, now residing in Sa;i Ra

fael was a member of the Baltimore company.)V •-� *.*•V •• •�

TRAVEL BY The only means of transporta-THE CREEK tion to San Francisco was by

water through Corte MaderaCreek, with a landing running out from the pres-ent site of Larkspur Station. During the busyyears following the discovery of gold, this wasa very busy scene. The two mills employednearly 400 men; and many vessels and bargesplied between here and San Francisco, whileCapt. Van Renycgon owned and operated th-steamer "Ida" which made three trips a weekto the City carrying both passengers and freight.

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THE The mills ran for about IdDAIRIES years when they had to shot

down for lack of timber, andwith that the life of the community soon dwindledaway, except for a few dairy ranches, and Col-let's brickyard at Escaße.

Capt. Van Renyegon also owned the olacenow known as "Owlswood" which he later soldto his son-in-law. Frank M. Pixley, the ownerof the Argonaut, who used it as his summerhome. Other dairy ranches in the immediate neigh-borhood at that time were those of "Dr." J. S.McCue, and Mr. Tierney. Samuel K. Brown.later owner of Baltimore Canyon, was one of theold time settlers. He came around the Horn.arriving in San Francisco in 1830. and for a -lum-

ber of year.- was engineer at the Baltimore mill.•-� �.* •.*•• •� �*

LATER In the seventies tin- ratlr< ::<!

GROWTH was built through from SanRafael to

the town <<i Sausalito but for anumber of years passengerswere carried only by way ofSan Quentin to Ross via SanRafael, while passenger- f 'r

Corte Madera had to taketheir chances on freighttrains t.' Sausalito.

Later on the first schoolhouse in C'rte Madera wasbuilt; th.e building is now thePerry residence in the Mc-Cue Tract The developmentof Lark-pur proper underthat name was beguntwenty years ago, whileCorte Madera, as now recog-nized, followed about fiveyears later upon the distri-bution and subdivision of thePixley property.

COMING OF With the coming of the rail-RAILROAD road and the closing 01 the

mills, and also the brick yard

fiut twenty years ago. navigation was neglected.e creek was allowed to fill up with mud and, until now even a row boat must wait for high:. Even after passenger trains came throughm Sausalito, there were only a few trains a

day and the older residents still delight in tellingabout the tardy commuter sprinting for the trainwith his coat and vest under his arm and his col-lar and tie in his pocket.

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ELECTRIC They were good old days—toTRAINS look back upon, but at last

about ten years ago the electricroad was built through from San Rafael to Sausa-lito and with it came a great improvement in ourrailroad service. Although there is still much room

By J J. MAZZA.Attorney, Bank of Italy Build-

ii gf, San Francisco

for improvement, we nevertheless have an. excel-

lent train service. Thtre is no rea*on why weshould not eventually have a ten cent fare to air!

from San Francisco as iheyhave to Berkeley and Alameda. which are no nearer tothe city: and when that hasbecome an accomplished factt!ie development of the townwill be trrearlv »timit''"»d.•••* * *

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WILL BE Corte Madera is putting itselfIMPROVED in line for the phenommal

development that is bound totake place in all the -üburbs of the metropolisdurmg the next four or rive years. We now have:.n abundant supply of the pure-! mountain waterwith an IS-inch main running through the town.We have a splendid local gravity -ystem with itssource high enough to give all the necessarypressure for tire protection in any part of thetown. We have organized a lighting district anda tire district, with two fully equipped chemical

gines, and the end of the present year will very

likely set- the installation of lire hydrants and theaddition of a hose cart to our department.

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LIGHTS, Our town is as well, if notTELEPHONES, better, lighted than are manySEWERS. incorporated municipalities. We

have a modern sewer systemco-tins $25,000, that already serves practically

every portion of the town. The telephone com.pany spent nearly $15,000 in the installation andextcntion of an up-to date telephone system.which is the exchange not only for our own;< wu. l>r,t for I.ark-pur as well.

In fact, we now have practically all the ad-

vantages and convenience? of a modern incor-

porated town, but with none of the expensesof a municipality and with a total absence of thosepetty political wangles that so often disturb thepeace and progress of an incipient, municipalgovernment.

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CLIMATE Taken year in and year out,TEMPERATE the climate is more temperateAND MILD and mild than in any other

part of the County. Situatedon a picturesque slope of old Tamalpais onlytwo miles from San Francisco Bay, the climateis tempered in winter by the proximity of a largebody of water. In summer the cool southwestwinds that come in directly from the ocean

neutralize a heat that might otherwise be exces-sive and uncomfortable. And as though naturewere still not satisfied with her many bounties.

.'"•- rttd a ridge of hills to the southwest of thetown just high enough to allow these coolingwinds to c me over, but yet not too low to keepall the disagreeable summer and autumn fogs onthe side.

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BRIGHT All these things will make thePROSPECTS development of Corte Madera

in the next few years inevita-ble. Already several large enterprises are wellunder way and capital is realizing the wonderfulopportunity for large and sure returns TheDohcrty Company has recently purchased some60 acres on the slope of Little Tamalpais andis now subdividing and laying it out for idealsuburban homes.

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MARIN The Marin City DevelopmentCITY Company is filling in over 1100

acres of tide land adjoining thecast end of the town. A portion of this, with itscanals, which only need a little widening anddeepening will be turned into a modern Venice,ideally sir.iated as to location, climate and prox-imity to San Francisco. About 600 acres will befilled in for factory sites which according to thepresent pb.ns will have deep water dockage onSan Francisco Bay. This will eventually givethe community u solid financial and economicfoundation, similar to that which has resulted inRichm md's wonderful career .:- an industrialtown.

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MAGNIFICENT From the lowlands, the view ■ iPANORAMA the mountain is superb. From

the slopes the magnificentpanorama of landscape and marine view stretchesaway for miles to the east and north, ever chang-ing in color and in beauty.

We have a splendid school building In con-nection with Larkspur that is easily accessiblefrom both towns. It is practically certain thatthe great system of state highways to be builtunder the recent bond issue, will pass throughCorte Madera, connecting Sausalito and San Ra-fael.

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GREATER The people of Corte MaderaSAN RAFAEL are practically unanimously in

favor of the greater San Ra-fael, and that is one reason why it has thus farrefused to incorporate. But unless the greaterSan Rafael becomes a reality of the near future,we shall he obliged either to incorporate withMarin City or Larkspur or both. It is safe topredict that the next ten years will see a con-siliums city of suburban homes, reaching from

Fairfax and San Rafael on the north to CorteMadera on the south. And as Corte Madera willbe the nearest to San Francisco in both time anddistance, and second to none in natural beautyand climatic conditions, it bids fair to outstripall other portions of the valley in rapid develop-ment and enhancement of values.

Bird's Eye View of a Portion of Cortc Madera from "Curio Madera Woods

THE CHAPMAN HOME

Cortc Madera Woods" in the foreground

Lark-pur Strut Scene

View ol Baltimore Park. Mi I ~..!; n> in the distance

A Baltimore Park Home

LARKSPUR

3EPARATED by only thirteen miles of-pace and forty-five minutes of timefrom San Franci?co, alluring Larkspurfurnishes an ideal homing place for thebusiness man of the metropolis. Where

in the whole length and breadth of Californiacould be found a better, more satisfactory, all-the-year-'round climate? Larkspur is effectuallysheltered from the fogs and winds from theocean by the two high ranges to the west, andbeautiful Tamaipais.

"Here smiling Spring, its earliest visit pays.And parting summer's lingering bloom delays."

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EARLY As early as January occasionalROSES days gladden us with the breath

of Spring. Poppies are gatheredat New Year's and roses may be picked fromyour garden to adorn the Christmas table. InFebruary the air is of the Spring with greenstretches of meadows flushing into pink, sweetwith the odor of budding leaf and flower. Thencomes all the glory of mallow and primulacaeand there darkening into the blue of the lupine,or brilliant with the gold of the poppy. On thehills come the starry flower of the laurel and thetender green of new leaves, and mingled withthese is the beautiful blue of the Ceanothus orCalifornia lilac, that sweetest, daintiest bloom ofall our flowering forest trees. Then comes Sum-mer with one beautiful day following another, a

warm spell succeeded by a cool, refreshingbreeze that comes bearing the freshness of thesea. Then follows the Autumn with its perfectdays filled with calm and bringing rest.

4 THE MARIN JOURNAL SAN RAFAEL, CALIFORNIA THURSDAY. MARCH 23, ML

(continued on Page Six)

This Year's Tree Planting

ILLHAS JUST BEEN COMPLETED. MORETHAN 500 AVENUE TREES HAVE BEENSET, AND ARRANGEMENTS MADE FORTHREE YEARS CARE.

LAWN HAS BEEN MADE ON MANYBLOCKS AND SAME CARE ARRANGED.

WATCH THIS SUBDIVISION OF

Baltimore Park'sPRETTIEST SLOPES

BUY NOW AND DOUBLE YOUR MONEY

$lO.OO PER FOOT AND UPINCLUDING SIDEWALKS AND

ALL IMPROVEMENTS

NO SMALL LOTS NEARLY ALL HAVEDOUBLE STREET FRONTAGE

THIS TRACT WILL BE MORE EXTEN-SIVELY ADVERTISED THIS YEAR THANANY TRACT HAS EVER BEEN ADVERTIS-ED BEFORE IN THIS COUNTY :: ::

W. L. CourtrightMAIL ADDRESS, SAN RAFAEL

'. • I c ■: at San Rafael p] L";i!'.n Depot)Corte Madera and Larkspur Stations