page_title: Tiburon, California
section_title: Tiburon's industrial era
hierarchical_section_title: Tiburon, California / History / Tiburon's industrial era
caption_attribution_description: English: Corinthian Yacht Club, Tiburon, California. In the background, the skyline of San Francisco.
context_page_description: Tiburon is an incorporated town in Marin County, California. It is located on the Tiburon Peninsula, which reaches south into the San Francisco Bay. The smaller city of Belvedere occupies the south-west part of the peninsula and is contiguous with Tiburon. Tiburon is bordered by Corte Madera to the north and Mill Valley to the west, but is otherwise mostly surrounded by the Bay. Besides Belvedere and Tiburon, much of the peninsula is unincorporated, including portions of the north side and the communities of Strawberry and Paradise Cay.
  The population of Tiburon was 8,962 at the 2010 census. Belvedere and Tiburon share a post office.
  The city's name derives from the Spanish word tiburón, which means "shark". The name was first given to the peninsula on which the city is situated, and probably inspired by the prevalence of locally native leopard sharks in the surrounding waters. Tiburon was formerly the southern terminus of the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad, which transported freight for transfer to barges for shipping to cities around San Francisco Bay.
context_section_description: Life changed little in the 40 years between the death of John Reed in 1842 and the arrival of Peter Donahue in 1882. Donahue brought with him the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad (later the Northwestern Pacific Railroad). He made a deal with the Reed family for a right-of-way, blasted out the rock at Point Tiburon, and built a railroad terminal to connect with ferries of San Francisco Bay. The passenger ferries took commuters and automobiles to San Francisco and Sausalito, while barges carried loaded freight cars to San Francisco and Richmond.
  Wildflowers surround Old St. Hilary's, Tiburon's iconic hillside landmark, which was originally a mission church named for St. Hilaire, Bishop of Poitiers. The heirs of John Reed — who held title to El Rancho Corte Madera del Presidio, the Mexican land grant that included the Tiburon Peninsula — deeded the one-quarter acre site for $2.00 to the Archdiocese of San Francisco, which built the church as a place of worship for local railroad workers in 1888. The church was deconsecrated to make way for a new, larger one and was headed for destruction until several individuals intent on preserving local history established the Landmarks Society and purchased the site and building in 1959. It has served as a schoolroom and town meeting hall and is now a popular setting for weddings, concerts and other memorable events.
  The last railroad operated passenger ferry left Tiburon in 1941, but the passenger and freight trains ran until 1967. Passenger ferry service was resumed in the 1960s when Harbor Carriers utilized sightseeing boats in the early morning and evening hours. In the 1970s, the railroad removed trackage, plugged tunnels, and demolished the trestle over Trestle Glen and railroad ferry pier. The railroad roadbed was purchased by the City of Tiburon and currently serves as the waterfront rail trail. After years of hearings and studies, the former railroad yards became the Point Tiburon housing and commercial project.
  During its heyday, the railroad-ferry service brought many other industries to Tiburon. Codfish canneries sprouted along the bay shore to can fish brought down from Alaska. Ship dismantlers broke up many obsolete ocean-going vessels. In 1904, the Navy established a huge coaling station on the east shore of the peninsula on the site of one of the old fish canneries. Brick kilns were built and several powder plants opened, and oyster beds developed in the shallow waters of the bay. The rail yards were fully equipped to not only repair and service trains but to build passenger and freight cars and locomotives.
  Several of the largest San Francisco Bay ferries were built in the Tiburon yards. The Navy coaling station has played a prominent part in the history of both Tiburon and Bay Area at large. Theodore Roosevelt's Great White Fleet was refueled there on its famous round-the-world cruise. Coaling service ended in 1931 and the California Maritime Academy moved in to train officers for the merchant fleet. Because the large cranes left over from the coaling operations were still operational, the company spinning the cables for the Golden Gate Bridge set up shop.
caption: Corinthian Yacht Club Tiburon
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