Seadrift History

PART 1

Roots in the Sand; a Seadrift History

The history of Seadrift—a housing community built along a mile-long sandspit—is a fascinating story that many of us have yet to discover. Because it is a fairly recent development (dating from the 1950s onward), there are many people in our community who still hold firsthand memories and stories of its evolution. The Seadrift Association also maintains thorough records that help piece this narrative together.

As a cultural geographer who built a house here 30 years ago, I have always been interested in why landscapes look the way they do and how they develop over time. When Jean Gould asked me to write a few chapters on the development of Seadrift for the newsletter, I was happy to dive in. It has been endlessly interesting to talk to neighbors about the original gate, the early beach houses, the dredging and expansion of lots, our major storms, and the installation of the riprap along the beach.

Because of how Seadrift is situated, I refer to the direction of the office as "East." I welcome new stories and, of course, any corrections!

Ellen McElhinny

Outside road, 1870. Courtesy of the Stinson Beach Historical Society

It all Started Here

The sandspit known as Seadrift today has had an interesting and somewhat complicated history. In many ways, it mirrors events in California over the last 150 years; in others, it tells the story of the beautiful, unique place many of us call home.

Seadrift developed later than any of the other neighborhoods in West Marin: Bolinas, Point Reyes Station, Dogtown, and even Stinson Beach. It is helpful to understand the history of the area to recognize why it was so many years before the first structure was built on the spit.

The Bolinas Lagoon is a tidal estuary and a drowned section of the San Andreas Fault; Tomales Bay marks the northern end. The Point Reyes Peninsula moves north as the rest of California moves south. The fault runs primarily along Highway One from Point Reyes to Stinson Beach, cutting across Kent Island and the end of the sandspit before heading out into the Pacific. It skips San Francisco, coming ashore further south near Pacifica.

Our sandspit is a curved sandbar that developed along the Bolinas Lagoon. Sandspits form through a process called longshore drift: waves arrive at the shore at an oblique angle, carrying sediment or sand. One of the remarkable things about Stinson and Seadrift beaches is that they face south, rather than west like most of the California coast. The Bolinas coast, starting at Agate Beach, faces west; when the coastline sharply changes direction, the water’s energy decreases and it drops its sediment load. This builds up a sandspit growing outward from the land, which in turn provides a calm, sheltered area behind it—the Bolinas Lagoon.

Aerial view of the Bolinas Lagoon and San Andreas Fault. Courtesy of the Stinson Beach Historical Society

Sandspits are considered highly unstable due to tides, storms, and changes in sediment load. (I’m a cultural geographer, not a physical one, but the spit appears to be somewhat of a temporary geological phenomenon. No worries.)

Until the development of Seadrift, the sandspit remained a mile-long, largely unvegetated, low tract of land with almost no change. High tides and winter storms regularly washed ocean waves over the spit and into the Bolinas Lagoon.

Coast Miwok people lived in the West Marin area for 3,000 years. They did not leave any visible marks on the sandspit. In 1836, Mexico issued a land grant called Rancho Las Baulines to Rafael Garcia; this included land stretching from present-day Dogtown to Stinson Beach and the sandspit, and from the Bolinas Ridge to the ocean and Bolinas. These lands were then deeded to Gregorio Briones in 1846.

Undeveloped sandspit, 1910. Courtesy of the Stinson Beach Historical Society

In the 1850s, Briones sold land from his grant (including the sandspit acreage) to Capt. Isaac Morgan, who established an apple farm along the east side of the Bolinas Lagoon. Fifty years later, Nathan Stinson and James Wallace bought the 1,720 acres—including the sandspit—from Morgan.

California’s population boomed during the Gold Rush years, creating a demand for supplies including lumber and food. While the area that would become Stinson Beach remained undeveloped (it was simply too difficult to access), Bolinas grew thanks to its navigable harbor. Lumber from the hills and dairy and agricultural products from the ranches were shipped from there to burgeoning San Francisco.

USGS Survey Tamalpais Sheet 1897. Courtesy of the Stinson Beach Historical Society

That all changed with a new—albeit dirt—road over the hill from Sausalito and the promise of a new railroad. In 1870, the “Outside Road” (following much of today’s Highway One route) was built from Sausalito to Bolinas, running right through Stinson. This 12-mile road opened up Stinson Beach as a resort town; the sandspit, however, remained largely undeveloped and uninhabited for another 50 years.

Outside road, 1870. Courtesy of the Stinson Beach Historical Society