Sausalito's population was 7,269 as of the 2020 census.[7] The community is situated near the northern end of theGolden Gate Bridge, and prior to the building of that bridge served as a terminus for rail, car, and ferry traffic.
Sausalito developed rapidly as a shipbuilding center in World War II, with its industrial character giving way in postwar years to a reputation as a wealthy and artistic enclave, a picturesque residential community (incorporating large numbers ofhouseboats), and a tourist destination. The city is adjacent to, and largely bounded by, the protected spaces of theGolden Gate National Recreation Area as well as the San Francisco Bay.
The name of Sausalito comes from theSpanishsauzalito, meaning "small willowgrove", fromsauce "willow" + collective derivative-al meaning "place of abundance" + diminutive suffix-ito; with orthographic corruption fromz tos due toseseo. Early variants of the name includedSaucelito,San Salita,San Saulito,San Salito,Sancolito,Sancilito,Sousolito,Sousalita,Sousilito,Salcido,Sausilito, andSauz Saulita.[8]
It is sometimes claimed[by whom?] that Sausalito was named for the district inValparaíso, Chile, where the banditJoaquín Murrieta was born. Murrieta was the leader of bandits who settled at the northern end of the future Golden Gate Bridge after being banned from San Francisco in the bandit wars. However, this theory is contradicted by sources which state Murrieta was from Mexico, not Chile, and because he did not arrive in California until theGold Rush around 1849.[9] The Rancho Saucelito had already been granted to William Richardson in 1838.[10]
Located at37°51′33″N122°29′07″W / 37.85917°N 122.48528°W /37.85917; -122.48528,[6] Sausalito encompasses both steep, wooded hillside and shoreline tidal flats. According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 2.2 square miles (5.7 km2). Notably, only 1.8 square miles (4.7 km2) of it is land. A full 21.54% of the city (0.5 square miles, or 1.3 km2) is underwater, and has been so since its founding in 1868. Prominent geographic features associated with Sausalito includeRichardson Bay andPine Point.
When Sausalito was formallyplatted, it was anticipated that future development might extend the shoreline withlandfill, as had been the practice in neighboringSan Francisco. As a result, entire streets, demarcated and given names like Pescadero, Eureka and Teutonia, remain beneath the surface of Richardson Bay.[11] The legal, if not actual, presence of these streets has proved a contentious factor in public policy, because some houseboats float directly above them. According to the San FranciscoChronicle, "State agencies say privately owned houseboats can't be located above the underwater streets because the streets are public trust lands intended for public benefit." The California State Lands Commission is reportedly pursuing a compromise which would move not the houseboats, but the theoretical streets instead.[12]
Sausalito was once the site of aCoast Miwok settlement known as Liwanelowa. The branch of the Coast Miwok living in this area were known as the Huimen (or asNación de Uimen to the Spanish).[14][15] Early explorers of the area described them as friendly and hospitable. According toJuan de Ayala, "To all these advantages must be added the best of all, which is that the heathen Indians of the port are so faithful in their friendship and so docile in their disposition that I was greatly pleased to receive them on board." European settlers took advantage of the Huimen's kindness and hospitality,[citation needed] and completely massacred[citation needed] them within the span of a few generations. As historian Jack Tracy has observed, "Their dwellings on the site of Sausalito were explored and mapped in 1907, nearly a century and a half later, by an archaeological survey. By that time, nothing was left of the culture of those who had first enjoyed the natural treasures of the bay. The life of the Coastal Miwoks had been reduced to archaeological remnants, as though thousands of years had passed since their existence."
The first European known to visit the present-day location of Sausalito was Don José de Cañizares, on August 5, 1775. Cañizares was head of an advance party dispatched by longboat from the shipSan Carlos, searching for a suitable anchorage for the larger vessel. The crew of theSan Carlos came ashore soon after, reporting friendly natives and teeming populations of deer, elk, bear, sea lions, seals and otters. More significantly for maritime purposes, they reported an abundance of large, mature timber in the hills, a valuable commodity for shipwrights in need of raw materials for masts, braces and planking.
Despite these and later positive reports, the Spanish colonial government of Upper California did little to establish a presence in the area. When a military garrison (now thePresidio of San Francisco) and a Franciscan mission (Mission Dolores) were founded the following year, they were situated on the opposite, southern shore of the bay, where no portage was necessary for overland traffic to and fromMonterey, the regional capitol. As a result, the far shore of theGolden Gate strait would remain largely wilderness for another half-century.
William Richardson (1795–1856), an English-born Mexican citizen, first claimed and developed the site of Sausalito as a privaterancho.
The development of the area began at the instigation ofWilliam A. Richardson, who arrived in Upper California in 1822, shortly after Mexico had won its independence from Spain. An English mariner who had picked up a fluency in Spanish during his travels, he quickly became an influential presence in the now-Mexican territory. By 1825, Richardson had assumedMexican citizenship, converted to Catholicism and married the daughter of Don Ignacio Martínez, commandant of the Presidio and holder of a large land grant. His ambitions now expanding to land holdings of his own, Richardson submitted a petition to Governor Echienda for arancho in theheadlands across the water from the Presidio, to be called "Rancho Saucelito".[10]Sausalito is believed to refer to a small cluster of willows, a moist-soil tree, indicating the presence of a freshwater spring.[16]
Even before filing his claim, Richardson had used the spring as a watering station on the shores of what is now calledRichardson Bay (an arm of the largerSan Francisco Bay), selling fresh water to visiting vessels. However, his ownership of the land was legally tenuous: other claims had been submitted for the same region, and at any rate Mexican law reserved headlands for military uses, not private ownership. Richardson temporarily abandoned his claim and settled instead outside the Presidio, building the first permanent civilian home and laying out the street plan for thepueblo of Yerba Buena (present-day San Francisco). After years of lobbying and legal wrangling, Richardson was given clear title to all 19,751 acres (79.93 km2) of Rancho del Sausalito on February 11, 1838.
In the post-Gold Rush era, Sausalito's unusual location became a key factor in its formation as a community. It was San Francisco's nearest neighbor, less than two miles (3 km) away at the nearest point and easily seen from city streets, yet transportation factors rendered it effectively isolated. A boat could sail there in under half an hour, but wagons and carriages required an arduous skirting of the entire bay, a journey that could well exceed a hundred miles. As a result, the region was largely dominated by two disparate classes of people, both with ready access to boats: commercial fishermen and wealthy yachting enthusiasts.
In the 1870s,manganese was discovered in the hills west of Old Town that was rich enough to justify small-scale mining. Tunnels were dug near the springs between present-day Prospect Avenue and Sausalito Boulevard. Henry Eames, an opportunistic inventor, built an ore reduction plant at the foot of Main Street to process the manganese ore. This location would become the later site ofSally Stanford’s infamous bordello, Valhalla. However, by 1880 the Saucelito Smelting Works was producing only about fifty tons of black oxide annually, hardly enough to make Sausalito a true mining center.[17]
The first post office opened in 1870 as "Saucelito" and changed its name to the present spelling in 1887.[8]
TheEureka, then the largest double-ended ferryboat in the world, carried passenger and automobile traffic on the Sausalito–San Francisco run from 1922 to 1941.
By 1926, a major auto ferry across theGolden Gate was established from theSausalito Ferry Terminal, running to theHyde Street Pier in San Francisco.[18][better source needed] This ferry was an integral part of oldU.S. Highway 101, and a large influx of automobile traffic, often parked or idling in long queues, became a dominant characteristic of the town. Northwestern Pacific commuter train service also expanded to serve the increased traffic volume, and Sausalito became known primarily as a transportation hub.
This era came to an end in May 1937 with the opening of theGolden Gate Bridge. The bridge made large-scale ferry operations redundant, and since the new route of Highway 101 bypassed Sausalito entirely, in-town traffic was quickly reduced to a trickle. Car ferry service ended in March 1941 (passenger ferry service, however, continues to this day, linking downtown Sausalito with both theSan Francisco Ferry Building in theEmbarcadero, andPier 39 in atFisherman's Wharf). Northwestern Pacific also closed its Sausalito terminal in March 1941, although some tracks remained in use as "spur tracks" for freight trains as late as 1971.[16]
Sausalito was a center forbootlegging during the era ofProhibition in the United States. Because of its location facing the Golden Gate and isolated from San Francisco by the same waterway, it was also a favorite landing spot forrum runners.[19] The 1942 filmChina Girl has some footage ofSally Stanford's Valhalla restaurant on the waterfront. The scene shows the docks and illustrates rum running.
When the United States enteredWorld War II,Fort Barry onPoint Bonita was reoccupied.Fort Baker also hosted large numbers of troops. Barracks and other housing were constructed for soldiers. Few of these buildings remain.[20]
A major shipyard of theBechtel Corporation calledMarinship was sited along theshoreline of Sausalito. The thousands of laborers who worked here were largely housed in a nearby community constructed for them calledMarin City. The soil which supports this area isdredgings fromRichardson Bay that were placed duringWorld War II as part of the MarinLiberty Shipshipyards for the United States Navy.[21] A total of 202 acres (0.8 km2) were condemned by the government. A portion of this total area was formed in the shape of a peninsula and this peninsula became known asSchoonmaker Point. In honor of the city's contribution to the war effort, a Tacoma-class frigate was christened theUSS Sausalito (PF-4) in 1943. The shipSausalito, however, was not built in Sausalito but at one of theKaiser Shipyards inRichmond, California, also on the San Francisco Bay.
The Marinship Shipyards were the site of incidents that provided a key early milestone in thecivil rights movement.[22] In 1944 in the case ofJames v. Marinship theCalifornia Supreme Court held thatAfrican Americans could not be excluded from jobs based on their race, even if the employer took no discriminatory actions. In the case of Joseph James, on whose behalf the suit was brought, the local Boilermakers Union excluded Blacks from membership and had a "closed shop" contract, forbidding the shipbuilder from employing anyone who was not a member of the union. African American workers could join an auxiliary of the union, which offered access to fewer jobs at lower pay. Future USSupreme Court justiceThurgood Marshall successfully argued the case, winning a ruling that the union be required to offer equal membership to African Americans. The court extended the ruling to apply explicitly to all unions and all workers in California.
Following World War II, the Marinship Shipyards site owner,[23] Donlon Arques,[24][25] a wealthy inland cattle ranch owner, who preferred hanging out in the junkyard, did basically nothing with the property and let nature take its course.[26]
"People drifted in. The curious, the disenfranchised, bohemians... The shipyard was a treasure trove of junk, boats and barges in all possible conditions, a still-functioning marine ways. In the eyes of the square, "normal" Americans, it was a mess. To the creative, i.e., "abnormal" brain, it was a wonderland of seemingly unlimited potential."[26]
A lively waterfront community grew out of the abandoned shipyards. By the late 1960s at least threehouseboat communities occupied the waterfront along and adjacent to Sausalito's shore. Beginning in the 1970s, an intense struggle erupted between houseboat residents and developers, dubbed the "Houseboat Wars".[27] Forced removals by county authorities and sabotage by some on the waterfront characterized this struggle. This long fight pitted the waterfront against the "Hill People" – the rich on the hill looking down on the waterfront. Today three houseboat communities still exist — Galilee Harbor in Sausalito, Waldo Point Harbor and the Gates Cooperative, just outside the city limit.
The Census reported that 99.8% of the population lived in households and 0.2% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters.
There were 4,112 households, out of which 420 (10.2%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,443 (35.1%) wereopposite-sex married couples living together, 146 (3.6%) had a female householder with no husband present, 64 (1.6%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 313 (7.6%)unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 63 (1.5%)same-sex married couples or partnerships. 1,927 households (46.9%) were made up of individuals, and 524 (12.7%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.71. There were 1,653families (40.2% of all households); the average family size was 2.39.
The population was spread out, with 615 people (8.7%) under the age of 18, 159 people (2.3%) aged 18 to 24, 1,962 people (27.8%) aged 25 to 44, 2,830 people (40.1%) aged 45 to 64, and 1,495 people (21.2%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 51.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.2 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 89.2 males.
There were 4,536 housing units at an average density of 2,009.7 per square mile (775.9/km2), of which 2,088 (50.8%) were owner-occupied, and 2,024 (49.2%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.1%; the rental vacancy rate was 5.8%. 3,783 people (53.6% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 3,265 people (46.2%) lived in rental housing units.
As of thecensus[36] of 2000, there were 7,330 people, 4,254 households, and 1,663 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,852.9 inhabitants per square mile (1,487.6/km2). There were 4,511 housing units at an average density of 2,371.1 per square mile (915.5/km2). The racial makeup of the city in 2010 was 87.4% non-HispanicWhite, 0.9% non-HispanicAfrican American, 0.2%Native American, 4.8%Asian, 0.1%Pacific Islander, 0.3% fromother races, and 2.2% from two or more races.Hispanic orLatino of any race were 4.1% of the population.
There were 4,254 households, out of which 8.8% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 33.9% weremarried couples living together, 3.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 60.9% were non-families. 45.7% of all households were made up of individuals, and 7.8% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.72 and the average family size was 2.34.
In the city, the population was spread out, with 7.4% under the age of 18, 2.4% from 18 to 24, 39.5% from 25 to 44, 38.5% from 45 to 64, and 12.3% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45 years. For every 100 females, there were 93.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.8 males.
The medianincome for a household in the city was $87,469, and the median income for a family was $123,467. Males had a median income of $90,680 versus $56,576 for females. Theper capita income for the city was $81,040. About 2.0% of families and 5.1% of the population were below thepoverty line, including 5.1% of those under age 18 and 5.5% of those age 65 or over.
Sakaide is near the Seto Ohashi Bridge on the north coast of the island of Shikoku in Japan (established in 1988). The primary program is a youth cultural exchange program.
Viña del Mar is located on the coast of Chile not far from Santiago (established 1960). The relationship features a Sausalito Stadium and a Sausalito Lagoon. Conversely, Sausalito's main plaza is named Viña del Mar in honor of the Chilean city. The primary program is 777 (7 women, 7 days, 7 dreams), an entrepreneurial training for Chilean Woman in Sausalito.
Cascais is the newest sister city. This relationship was established in 2013.
Storefronts on Bridgeway, the main shopping street in downtown Sausalito
For several decades Sausalito had a local newspaper called theMarinScope,[37] owned at times by Paul and Billy Anderson, andVijay Mallya. However, as of 2018 the newspaper had ceased publication. Sausalito retains a small radio station founded by Jonathan Westerling,Radio Sausalito 1610 AM, which also serves as the city's Emergency Broadcasting System. The city's primary websites are the city's official site ci.Sausalito.ca.us,[38] the Chamber of Commerce sausalito.org,[39] a reference site oursausalito.com[40] and a guide for locals and visitors to the area Sausalito.com.[41]
Previously residents had two public schools to choose from: the K-8 public school, then known as Bayside Martin Luther King Jr. Academy, or the K-8 charter schoolWillow Creek Academy in Sausalito.[45] Willow Creek occupied ground of the former Bayside School in Sausalito.
The public parks in Sausalito include Cazneau Playground, Cloud View Park, Dunphy Park, Gabrielson Park, Harrison Playground, Martin Luther King Park and Dog Park, Langendorf Park, Marinship Park, South View Park, Robin Sweeny Park, Tiffany Park, Vina del Mar Plaza, andYee Tock Chee Park. The public beaches include Schoonmaker Beach, Swede's Beach and Tiffany Beach. Sausalito also has a municipal fishing pier and the Turney Street Boat Ramp. A club house/game room and an exercise room are located in the city hall.[47]
The Sausalito houseboat community consists of more than 400 houseboats of various shapes, sizes, and values, along the north end of town, approximately two miles from downtown.[48] While some of these are technically outside the Sausalito city limits, they are generally acknowledged as forming an integral part of the Sausalito community.
The roots of the houseboat community lie in the re-use of abandoned boats and material after the de-commissioning of the Marinship shipyards at the end of World War II. Many anchor-outs came to the area, which created problems with sanitation and other issues. After a series of tense confrontations in the 1970s and 1980s, additional regulations were applied to the area and the great majority of boats were relocated to approved docks. From 77 boats in the water in 1977, there were about 18 boats left in 2019.[citation needed] Several are architect-designed pieces that have been featured in major magazines. The Gates Co-op Houseboat Community remains to this day, although recent action has required them to fit city standards of sanitation and building codes.
Enid Foster, artist, sculptor, playwright, art community leader[57]
Phil Frank, cartoonist of "Farley" comic strip in theSan Francisco Chronicle. Headed up[clarification needed] placing the Marinship exhibit in the Bay Model and setting up the exhibits in the Ice House Visitor Center.
Joanie Greggains, fitness influence and media figure, former KGO radio host
Sally Stanford, former Sausalito City Council member and mayor, founder of the restaurant Valhalla; ran a well-known brothel at 1144 Pine Street in San Francisco[65]
Alan Watts, 20th-century philosopher[66] (TheSausalito Library owns permanent collections of audio recordings of Watts' spoken words and other material.)[67]
In addition toMarinship, which built ships during World War II, Sausalito has a long history of boatbuilding. These boatyards specialized in a variety of vessels, including fishing and other work boats, government-contract vessels and recreational yachts. Many boatyards came and went in Sausalito in the late 19th century and early 20th century, including G. Smith, Brixen and Manfrey, the California Launch Building Company, the Reliance Boat Company, Nunes Brothers (Manuel and Antonio), Atlantic Boatbuilding Plant, Crichton and Arques, Sausalito Shipbuilding,Madden and Lewis Company, Menotti Pasquinucci and Bob's Boatyard. AfterWorld War II, the best known yards are, or were,Spaulding Boatworks, Bob's Boatyard, Easom Boatworks, Sausalito Marine, Bayside Boatworks, Richardson Bay Boat, the Boatbuilders Co-op and Anderson's Boat Yard.[74]
The Spaulding Boatworks was founded in 1951 by Myron Spaulding and has been in continuous operation since then. It is one of the last remaining wooden boat yards on the West Coast. Today, theSpaulding Wooden Boat Center is a working and living museum, with a mission to restore and return to active use significant, historic wooden sailing vessels; preserve and enhance its working boatyard; create a place where people can gather to use, enjoy, and learn about wooden boats; and educate others about wooden boat building skills, traditions and values.
Mason's Distillery,[75] acquired by the American Distilling Company in 1933, manufactured and distributed various brands of whiskey, including "Bourbon Supreme". The distillery was destroyed by fire on May 4, 1963; the site is now the location of "Whiskey Springs" condominiums.
The Southern Pacific ferryboatBerkeley was docked in Sausalito for several years during the 1960s after being taken out of service. It was subsequently towed toSan Diego where it was restored and is a tourist attraction.
The bakeryPepperidge Farm, which markets The American Collection line of cookies named after various notable locales (Chesapeake, Nantucket, Tahoe), has given the name Sausalito to their milk chocolate/macadamia-nut combo. It is not manufactured in the city. As of 2011, the company maintains a registered trademark on the name Sausalito.[76]
The opening ofThe Sea-Wolf byJack London is set on a ferryboat travelling from Sausalito to San Francisco. It is believed that London stayed for a time in Sausalito while he was writing the novel.
Agnès Varda's 1967 short documentary,Uncle Yanco, depicts a day in painterJean Varda's life in Sausalito.
The 1968 filmPetulia hasRichard Chamberlain fishingJulie Christie out of the water at the foot of Johnson Street. Potted trees and other shrubbery, situated as set decorations on the adjacent docks, were left in place after filming had ended.
M*A*S*H fictional characterB. J. Hunnicutt was portrayed as having completed his medical residency in Sausalito (an impossibility, as the town has never had a hospital). His peacetime address is inMill Valley, the town adjacent to Sausalito. He also mentions several times going to "a nice restaurant in Sausalito with his wife, Peg".
A scene from the 1972 moviePlay It Again, Sam was shot using interiors of theTrident restaurant and exteriors of the Spinnaker restaurant in Sausalito. In the film, actorsWoody Allen andTony Roberts are seen entering the Spinnaker restaurant with the ferryboatBerkeley, then tied up in Sausalito with the retail emporium Trade Fair in the background. The scene then cuts to the interior of the Trident.
In the 1978 comic farce mystery detective thrillerFoul Play, Gloria Mundy (played byGoldie Hawn) comes under the protection of San Francisco detective Lt. Tony Carlson (played byChevy Chase), who brings her to his houseboat in Sausalito.
The 1978 filmInvasion of the Body Snatchers byPhilip Kaufman has a scene in front of the Health Department of San Francisco where alien pods are distributed. A speaker says: "You are in the right place for Sausalito. Please keep moving right along. Sausalito only, please."
In the television seriesStar Trek: Enterprise, aVulcan "compound" is based in Sausalito, although it is not depicted;Fort Baker, which borders Sausalito is shown, and has become the site ofStarfleet Headquarters. InRise of the Federation - Uncertain Logic, set in 2165, AdmiralJonathan Archer lives in a houseboat in Sausalito.
"(Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay" by Otis Redding was written by the R&B singer in 1967 as he sat on a rented houseboat docked at Commodore Seaplane Base in Sausalito.[77] Though it may be the most famous musical reference to Sausalito's geography, it remains an oblique one as the city is not specifically named.
"Sausilito", a top ten hit for Netherlands duo Rosy & Andres in 1975
^abcDurham, David L. (1998).California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, California: Word Dancer Press. p. 699.ISBN1-884995-14-4.
^*"Review:Roaring Camp: The Social World of the California Gold Rush",American Scholar, January 1, 2000, p. 142 Vol. 69 No. 1ISSN0003-0937
^abRobert Ryal Miller,Captain Richardson, Mariner, Ranchero, and Founder of San Francisco Berkeley: La Loma Press, 1995 [Call number at SSU: Regional Room F869 .S353 R546] 1995
^Soils testing results for theLiberty Ship building site, Sausalito California, EMI report 7291W2, City of Sausalito Community Development Department, November 1989
^Hayes, Allan and Carol (2019).Enid Foster, 1895-1979: Artist, Sculptor, Poet, Playwright, Creative Force, Ringleader, Cultural Icon. Petaluma, CA: Roundtree Press.ISBN9781949480023.
^Bowman, Rob (2007).Liner Notes for Dreams to Remember: The Otis Redding Story [DVD]. Beverly Hills, CA: Reelin' in the Years Productions/Concord Music Group.
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