Early Mill Valley

Mill Valley rests in the shadow of Mount Tamalpais, the tallest peak of the Coast Range. Ancient redwood groves cloaking the mountain's flanks and nearby canyons attracted a pioneer sawmill that gave the town its name. As the timber industry was replaced by dairies, Mill Valley became a destination for those drawn to beauty: hikers, campers, naturalists, artists, writers, and dreamers who gave the town its early bohemian atmosphere. Tamalpais Scenic Railway once ran the crookedest railroad in the world to the summit, where passengers exulted in the taste of salty ocean winds, rolling fog, and stunning vistas of the inner bay and ocean shores. Pres. Theodore Roosevelt reserved some of the area's majestic trees, now national parkland webbed with 200 miles of scenic trails, and named them Muir Woods for naturalist John Muir.

Author, historian, and scholar Claudine Chalmers, a resident of Mill Valley for 30 years, has published a book and many articles, and has mounted exhibits on early California art and history for the California Historical Society and Sacramento's Crocker Art Museum. Her probing and eloquent narration guides readers along a visual trail of the finest images from both public and private collections, winding back through the shadows into Mill Valley's early days.