Numbered references are to the tour section of the book.
Born in Essex County, NJ, in 1841, Melvin Cyrus Meeker went to work as an errand boy at a grist mill at the age of 11. He subsequently worked in a hat factory, was made foreman of a paper mill, and then studied to become a carpenter, builder and expert in ornamental carpentry work, all before the age of twenty. He worked there as a carpenter for six months, then started his own successful construction business in Tomales. If he couldn't wheel sawdust he would generally quit. Around 1911, this structure became the home of Meeker's daughter Effie, but soon after her death in 1940 was looted and burned to the ground by persons unknown.