Marin County Free Library
Marin County Free Library
- Location: San Rafael, CA
- Phone: (415) 473-7419
- Website: http://www.marinlibrary.org/californiaroom
The Anne T. Kent California Room is a special collection on local history which has been serving the Marin County Free Library system since the mid-1930s. Their mission is to collect, preserve and share local, regional and state history. Their many primary source materials focus primarily on the history of Marin County and include photographs, maps, oral history interviews, historic motion picture footage as well as original documents and ephemera.
Significant special collections include: the history of San Quentin State Prison; Frank Lloyd Wright & the Marin County Civic Center; the California Motion Picture Corporation; the Kent Family and the history of Kentfield; Marin’s Mountain Play; and an extensive Unrecorded Marin County Map & Survey archive, 1849-1988.
They engage the community by hosting free public events, a local history lecture series and ongoing exhibits. They have worked with the County of Marin to present the history of Marin and the Marin County Civic Center through permanent and changing displays.
Their collection includes over 30,000 historic maps and surveys; over 25,000 photographs; 575 oral history interviews; 345 linear feet of newspaper and pamphlet files; 35 linear feet of original documents; 54 linear feet of biography files; 36 linear feet of historic directories and phonebooks; over 500 local yearbooks; 200 local periodicals and more than 11,000 books.
They provide free public access to their collection Monday-Friday. Please call them for an appointment at: 415-473-7419. The California Room’s website and digital archive can be accessed at: marinlibrary.org/californiaroom.
Collections at this institution
1906 Earthquake and Fire
Images of San Francisco & Marin County damaged by the 1906 Earthquake along the San Andreas Fault. San Francisco photographs are principally by W. J. Street, a professional photographer. Tomales resident Ella Jorgensen took most of the Marin County photographs.
Institution: Marin County Free Library
84 Items
Bear Valley Country Club, 1893-1895
The Country Club in Bear Valley was established in 1890 by members of the Pacific Union Club in San Francisco who were seeking a bucolic spot with plenty of fish and game for their sporting activities. These photographs are mostly from an album made for club members, circa 1895.
Institution: Marin County Free Library
19 Items
Bear Valley Ranch
From 1943 through 1949 the Bear Valley Ranch was operated by Eugene C. Compton, as a dairy ranch. Compton staged rodeos there in an arena he built for that purpose. The "W" or Bear Valley Ranch site later became the headquarters for the Point Reyes National Seashore which was established in 1963.
Institution: Marin County Free Library
19 Items
Blithedale Hotel, Mill Valley, 1880-1890
These images are from a photograph album documenting visits to the Blithedale Hotel, circa 1888-1890. Blithedale was built by San Francisco homeopathic physician, John Jenckes Cushing, in 1873 and intended as a health retreat. The property, situated in today’s Mill Valley, totaled about 342 acres. When Dr. Cushing died in 1879, his widow Harriet and their son Sydney re-established Blithedale as a hotel, the first hotel in Mill Valley. Advertisements from this time announced “Furnished cottages, rooms single and en suite. Tents on raised platforms, furnished complete, electric lighted, with shower baths. Tennis, bowling, billiards, saddle horses. Convenient summer home ...
Institution: Marin County Free Library
20 Items
Boxing - Billy Shannon's Villa, San Rafael, c.1895-1912
Billy Shannon's Villa, located on the west end of Fourth Street in San Rafael, was both a saloon and boxing training camp, owned by former amateur lightweight champion, Billy Shannon.
Institution: Marin County Free Library
15 Items
California Motion Picture Corporation, c.1914-1918
The California Motion Picture Corporation (CMPC) was located in the Sun Valley neighborhood of San Rafael, Marin County, between 1914 and 1921. The studio produced 15 films, including Salomy Jane, which survives in its entirety in the Library of Congress. Principals in the company included director, George Middleton and his wife, Beatriz Michelena, the leading lady. The images in this collection are mostly stills from the CMPC’s archives, and were digitized from the original glass plate negatives.
Institution: Marin County Free Library
95 Items
California Revealed from Marin County Free Library
California Revealed is a State Library initiative to help California’s public libraries, in partnership with other local heritage groups, digitize, preserve, and provide online access to archival materials - books, newspapers, photographs, audiovisual recordings, and more - that tell the incredible stories of the Golden State. We also provide free access and preservation services for existing digital collections for partner organizations with in-house digitization programs. California Revealed is supported by the U.S. Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act, administered in California by the State Librarian.
Institution: Marin County Free Library
37 Items
Fairfax
Images from the Anne T. Kent California Room related to Fairfax.
Institution: Marin County Free Library
40 Items
Frank Lloyd Wright and the Marin County Civic Center
This collection of images documents the construction of the Frank Lloyd Wright-designed Civic Center, based on slide collections of Harold Stockstad and Davina Kosh. Stockstad was chairman of the Marin Council for Civic Affairs, who garnered support for Wright’s design for the Civic Center campus. Stockstad presented his slide show to citizens throughout Marin and was instrumental in ending the work-stoppage ordered by Supervisor Fusselman in January, 1961. Davina Kosh, a poet and long-time San Rafael resident, photographed the Hall of Justice under construction while working for the Marin County Veterans Service Office.
Institution: Marin County Free Library
91 Items
General Collection
Miscellaneous images from the Anne T. Kent California Room Collection.
Institution: Marin County Free Library
14 Items
