TWO GUIDED WALKING TOURS OF HISTORIC DOWNTOWN TIBURON
OVERVIEW
Discover Marin County's most picturesque town—Its history and the people who created it
From the Coast Miwok indigenous people, to the Spanish explorers who sailed along the California coast in the 1540s, to the first Europeans to enter San Francisco Bay through the Golden Gate in 1775, to its early settlers in the 1800s, through its 83 years as a rough-and-tumble railroad town, to its evolution into one of the San Francisco Bay Area's most beautiful communities and tourist attractions, the history of the Tiburon Peninsula will come alive in these leisurely 1½ to 2½ hour walking tours. For schedule, costs and FAQs, click here.
Whether you’re a local resident, a visitor looking for a great thing to do in Tiburon, a school administrator, or a meeting planner seeking an activity that will enhance your conference agenda, check out these interesting, informative, and fun walking tours.
Read about Tiburon Walking Tours in the Marin Independent Journal. And watch the video here!
Read my article, “Tiburon Tidbits” in Marin Magazine by clicking here!
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TIBURON WALKING TOUR #1
(1½-2 Hours)
FROM THE COAST MIWOK TO THE COMING OF THE RAILROAD
INDIGENOUS PEOPLE, EXPLORATION, and SETTLEMENT plus LYFORD’S HYGEIA and the HISTORY of BELVEDERE and ANGEL ISLAND
YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT:
The Coast Miwok indigenous people and their lives on the Tiburon Peninsula.
The Coast Miwok’s first encounter with Europeans.
Why it took 200 years for the Spanish to enter San Francisco Bay through the Golden Gate.
Lt. Juan de Ayala’s entry into San Francisco Bay and his crew’s encounter with the Coast Miwok.
The treatment of the Coast Miwok by the Spaniards and later by the Americans.
The Tiburon Peninsula's first European settlers, John Thomas Reed and his descendants.
Life on the Peninsula before the coming of the railroad in 1884.
A visit to Lyford’s Stone Tower, the entrance to Dr. Benjamin Lyford's Hygeia, a vision of Tiburon as the world's finest health resort and residential community.
The history of Angel Island, and how it was saved from commercial development.
How conservationists fought hard to maintain the area's physical beauty.
The history of the City of Belvedere.
Some of the Tiburon Peninsula’s notable residents.
TIBURON WALKING TOUR #2
(2¼-2½ Hours)
FROM THE COMING OF THE RAILROAD TO TODAY
YOU’LL LEARN ABOUT:
How the railroad came to Tiburon and put it on the map.
Tiburon's history as a blue-collar, rough-and-tumble railroad town from 1884 until 1967.
The Donahue brothers, who brought the industrial revolution to California by way of Tiburon and San Francisco.
A visit to the Railroad and Ferry Depot Museum, its working model of the 1909 Tiburon rail yard and authentic restoration of the 1930s stationmaster’s quarters.
The fires that virtually destroyed the town three times.
Some of the notable buildings on Main Street.
The arks, and the creation of Ark Row.
The town’s unique response to Prohibition.
Sam Vella, the immigrant from Malta, who built Sam’s Anchor Café, and who was one of the most colorful characters in Tiburon’s history.
How Al Capone figures (twice!) in Tiburon's history.
What led to the decline of the railroad.
How the dedication of two families helped maintain Main Street's early 1900s character.
Tiburon’s transformation into a beautiful suburban community and tourist destination.
Some of the Tiburon Peninsula’s notable residents.
YOUR TOUR GUIDE
Elliott Brown is a Tiburon resident. A former teacher, entrepreneur and corporate executive, he has spoken to and trained numerous groups, and has designed and led workshops on many subjects, both here and abroad. In creating Tiburon Walking Tours, he has combined this experience with his passion for sharing knowledge and his love for Tiburon and the Bay Area.
Elliott’s aim is to leave you with a new understanding of this beautiful area's history and evolution. To do that, he’s collected information from many sources — original newspaper accounts, magazines, historical books, local historians and town old-timers. Elliott will recount anecdotes about key people who figured in the history of the Tiburon Peninsula, illustrating each tour with dozens of historical photographs.
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
An enormous “thank you” to David Gotz, who is the Tiburon Town Historian, and previously was the Belvedere-Tiburon Landmarks Society’s Historian and Archivist as well, for the invaluable assistance and encyclopedic knowledge he shared with me. And these tours would not have been possible without the generous support of DeAnn Biss, Executive Director of the Tiburon Peninsula Chamber of Commerce; Patty Flax, Executive Director of the Belvedere-Tiburon Landmarks Society; and Patti Pickett, Administration Assistant for the Town of Tiburon.