Since the days when the Coast Miwoks roamed the oak-studded hills and fished the fresh waters of San Anselmo Creek, the climate, the beauty and serenity of San Anselmo have appealed to all who have passed this way. Most of what we now know as the Seminary area and downtown San Anselmo, from the Hub, westward toward Fairfax and Sleepy Hollow was part of a Mexican government land grant to the Sais family, Canada de Herrera. Juan Cooper's grant, Punta de Quintin Corte Madera, la Laguna y Canada de San Anselmo, which was later purchased by James Ross whose descendants still live and work on some of his land (Sunnyside Nursery).
San Anselmo was mostly pastoral until 1874 when the North Pacific Coast Railroad added to its line a spur track from San Anselmo to San Rafael. In 1875, the railroad completed a line from Sausalito to Tamales via San Anselmo. For a few years, the town was referred to on railroad maps as Junction, but in 1883, the name San Anselmo came back into use. Railroad officials eager to see towns and passengers along its line encouraged some feverish real estate activity, but it was not until the San Francisco Theological Seminary opened in 1890, that the town began to grow.
In 1906, after the San Francisco earthquake, things started to change. Visitors to this charming town started to build homes and become permanent residents. Businesses began to open and trees were planted. Ross Avenue was San Anselmo's "Little Italy," populated by quake refugees from North Beach who planted grapevines on the hills.
April 9, 1907, the Town of San Anselmo incorporated. The Town's name came from the Punta de Quintin land grant, which marked this valley as the Canada del Anselmo (Valley of Anselm - an Indian who was buried in the area). The Town government began with a board of trustees. W.E. Jones headed up this group as the Town's first mayor. The other members of the board were J. R. Raubinger, Douglas Lindsay, F.J. Crisp, and J.I. Taylor. Their first meetings were held in Pioneer Hall.
The first hired employees of the new Town were A. A. Moore, the first Town Clerk, who earned $300 a year; J.B. Queen, the first Town Treasurer, who earned $100 a year; George Martin, Town Marshall, who earned $300 a year. To complete the first town government a volunteer fire department was established. In November 1908, San Anselmo's first Chamber of Commerce formed. James Tunstead donated land for a town hall, which was completed in 1911. In 1915, Carnegie Library was built.
San Anselmo was a silent film capital in the early 1900s. Among the films made here: "The Two-Gun Man" and "Cowpuncher's Law." The old Tamalpais Theater opened in 1923 with Gloria Swanson's "The Hummingbird."
The next influx of growth came in 1937, with the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge; San Anselmo was now becoming a growing family-oriented town. People had roots and families grew up here. Schools were established, churches were built and small town life evolved. On March 12, 1974, boasting a population of approximately 12,500, San Anselmo officially became a Town. In the past twenty years, San Anselmo has enlarged its library, remodeled Town Hall, and built a new firehouse and undergone an incredible downtown beautification transformation.
San Anselmo is an especially charming and safe place to visit and live. Pacific Sun readers voted San Anselmo the "Best Non-Mall Shopping City or Town in Marin County." Sunset Magazine readers voted San Anselmo "Best in the West" for antiquing and the town is distinguished as the "Northern California Antique Capital."
Learn more about this city.
City of San Anselmo, CA official site
City of San Anselmo, CA Chamber of Commerce
City of San Anselmo, CA newspaper
County of San Anselmo, CA official site
State of California official site