LOCAL HISTORY and CULTURE
In the late 1800s Portuguese immigrant Constantino Bello, (likely the brother of Antonio Nunes Bello, one of the early Presidents of the IDESST – the Portuguese Social Hall established in Sausalito in 1888), purchased the “Ranch M” property from the Tamalpais Land and Water Company, and soon thereafter built several wooden structures for a dairy operation, including a farm house, a creamery, a milking barn and a small shed. That dairy, which was located directly across Route 1 from what is today the entrance to Muir Beach and the Pelican Inn, was operated by a succession of Portuguese families including the Lopes family, which was the last to operate it as a dairy. For the last several years of its operation, the dairy was called the Golden Gate Dairy. Today it is part of the Golden Gate National Recreation Area (GGNRA) and qualifies for the National Registry of Historic Places.
Entrance to Lopes family’s Golden Gate Dairy circa 1948
Creamery and Sanitary barns circa 1948
Since 1997 Ocean Riders has operated the Golden Gate Dairy Stables on the former dairy site under a limited-use permit from the National Park Service as a trail riding barn. As of July 1, 2015 Ocean Riders of Marin was granted a ten year lease by the National Park Service to continue their operations.
Our HISTORIC BARN
Today the historic milking barn has become an icon of the local community. We currently use it to store hay for our horses, but it is also used as a venue for fundraising events and celebrations, and it serves as the heart of our programs to promote future young stewards’ appreciation of the history and culture of the valley and its ecosystem. Our resident barn owls have raised their young annually in the barn and provide a great lesson in prey/predator relationships and the cycle of life.
The FIREHOUSE in the HISTORIC CREAMERY
Around 1970 lease holders Tink and Dick Pervier allowed the Muir Beach Volunteer Fire Department to renovate the Creamery building to house their truck and emergency equipment. To this day, our neighbors, the MBVFD continue to be valued first responders to local emergencies and rescues.
Creamery Building circa 1965: used for storage prior to the MBVFD conversion to their firehouse in 1970
Muir Beach Volunteer Fire Department next to the hay barn circa 1972
The FUTURE INTERPRETIVE CENTER
Among the requirements of the lease is the restoration of the historic buildings and one of Ocean Riders’ priorities is the preservation of the Historic Hay Barn. Our first goal was to replace the leaking roof which we achieved in February 2016. Once the basic structure is stabilized we hope to create and install an interpretive center in a portion of the barn. The interpretive center would have visual displays and publications about the Dairy’s past, portraying the stories of the Portuguese immigrant farmers who operated the dairy. The center would contain photographs of original structures and depict how the dairy gradually evolved into an equestrian facility.
The Lopes Family Sanitary Barn circa 1948
This building now serves as an office and tack room and houses stalls for horses with special medical needs.
Visiting children view photos from 1965 when the Dairy began its transformation to a horse boarding facility.
Frank Valley was historically home to several Portuguese dairy operations so the Interpretive Center would serve as a starting point for a self-guided dairy farm historic hike which would loop through the valley and over Dias Ridge with informative displays along the trails indicating the location and family names of these former Azorean dairy farms. There remains a vibrant Portuguese community in Southern Marin County and they have been an integral part of the history of this area. We hope to acquire more photos to depict their contribution to this valley. If anyone has any historical photos they’d like to share please contact us. Please watch for updates as we recover more history of the Portuguese dairy farmers to post on this page.
