Capture Calif

Capture California

What is a YOLT? Well, you may have heard the term YOLO. Gary and Sherri think we can live again, not as James Bond, but as being reborn. Consequently, we are having fun in our life, after all, You Only Live Twice.

Showing posts with label San Rafael. Show all posts
Showing posts with label San Rafael. Show all posts

Thursday, September 20, 2012

Adventure 051, Site 053 – Marin Civic Center

Capture California, the Game-2012
Adventure: 051, Site 053 – Marin Civic Center
California Landmark Number999
National Registry ID: 91002055

Team: Thing One, Thing Two
Date:  September 20, 2012
Location:
Latitude: 37° 59.833′ N
Longitude: 122° 31.867′ W
Address: Civic Center, San Rafael

Description:
Date Built: 1969
Architect: Frank Lloyd Wright

 When you first see the Center, you see a building which is both massive and subdued. The building is long and stretches blocks on end, in two direction, yet its blending into the hills makes it part of the landscape. What Thing One remembers about this building is the killing of the presiding judge by the Black Panthers in 1970. But is is now known as the building which fully incorporated Frank Lloyd Wrights ideas, blending environment, function, and beauty.




NO. 999 MARIN COUNTY CIVIC CENTER - The Civic Center Complex was designed by Frank Lloyd Wright (1869-1959) near the end of his long career. The administration Building was completed in 1962 and the Hall of Justice in 1970. They are the only government buildings designed by the distinguished architect that were ever actually constructed. The project fully embodied Wright's ideal of organic architecture-a synthesis of buildings and landscape. In Wright's words, the structures were planned to 'melt into the sunburnt hills.'
Location: Civic Center, San Rafael (plaque in storage, 3rd floor, County Counsel's Office)
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places: NPS-91002055



Description as found on the National historic Registry:
The Marin County Civic Center is composed of two buildings, the 580-foot long Administration Building and the 880-foot long Hall of Justice, which are set at a slight angle to each other and joined together by a central rotunda 80 feet in diameter. The rounded ends of the buildings are built into the sides of two low hills. The main entrance drive passes through an archway on the ground level of the Administration Building; the Hall of Justice has two archways, one over the road leading to a back parking lot and one providing access to the county jail.
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Location: Civic Center Dr, San Rafael, CA 94903, USA

Adventure 051, Site 052 – Robert Dollar House

Capture California, the Game-2012
Adventure: 051, Site 052 – Robert Dollar House
National Registry ID: 91000920


Team: Thing One, Thing Two
Date:  September 20, 2012
Location:


Address: 1408 Mission, San Rafael, CA

Description:
Date Built: 1880 's
Architect: Clinton Day



As has been previously noted, Thing One and Thing Two love to walk. We saw that another historic house was in the neighborhood, so off we trotted. We were not sure how far it was and were concerned about the parking meter. But off we went. Along the way, we passed a beautiful building which was the Elks Lodge. As it turned out, this was the former home of Ira Cook, who built the Boyd Gate House, talked about in our Site 51 adventure.



But then we came to 1408 Mission Street. This was a phenomenal looking house in a park like setting. But it was named the Falkirk Cultural Center, not the Dollar House. We look around the park area—sort of looks like a cross between families enjoying themselves, people lounging around, and a few scattered refugies from the 60's and 70's. As we got closer, the house looks more inviting. And it is. The door is open and we are free to walk around. We look around the rooms on the first story, but need to be off to rescue our car from the forces of the meter patrol. On the way out, we noticed a sign saying stay away from trees. Evidently there are some killer cones which drop from their trees.



Now what about the Dollar House? Well it was actually Ella Parks built the house and lived in it until her death. In 1906, Rober Dollar bought the house and over time, this house started to be called the Dollar House. So besides the beauty of the house, why is this house important? Robert Dollar started a lumber company—the first being unsuccessful, the second succeeding. After awhile, Dollar needed a way to get the lumber to San Francisco, so he bought a steam schooner in 1895 to ferry his lumber from Sonoma. This turned out to be a good thing, so he bought more and started a second successful career, forming the Dollar Steamship Company. You may never have heard of this company, but you have heard of the American Presidents Line which his company became. In the 1970's, the family started talking about selling the property to some developers. The community was so upset that they passed a bond measure to buy the property for $250,000. Today, it is a community center which the whole area can enjoy. Where does the term Falkirk come from? Scotland. Dollar's daughter named the location that after her grandfather's birthplace.




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Location: 1408 Mission Ave, San Rafael, CA 94901, USA

Adventure 051, Site 051 – Boyd Gate House

Capture California, the Game-2012
Adventure: 051, Site 051 – Boyd Gate House
National Registry ID: 1974000528


Team: Thing One, Thing Two
Date:  September 20, 2012
Location:
Latitude:
Longitude:
Address: 1125 B Street, San Rafael, CA


Description:
Date Built: 1879
Architect: Adam Murray

Thing One and Thing Two love to walk. So given the opportunity, we will. Just down the street and around the corner a few blocks from Mission San Rafael was another historic building called the Boyd House. It has also been known as the Ira Cook House. Adjacent to the house is a charming little park. It looked like this is a pleasant place for people to come, rest and enjoy the late summer air—but it was not crowded.


Back in 1879, Ira Cook commissioned the building of this house as a overflow guest house for both the Cook's and the Boyd's. It stood at the gate to their properties. One of the Cook daughter's married a Boyd, joining the two families. Tragedy struck this couple when their two young sons died. As a memorial to their sons, the couple gave the house and the park to the City of San Rafael. It currently houses the Marin History Museum.



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Location: 1125 B St, San Rafael, CA 94901, USA

Adventure 051, Site 050 – Mission San Rafael

Capture California, the Game-2012
Adventure: 051, Site 050 – Mission San Rafael
California Landmark Number: 220


Team: Thing One, Thing Two
Date:  September 20, 2012
Location:
Address: 1104 5th Avenue , San Rafael, CA



Description:
Date Built: 1817

See adventure Adventure 49/101, Mission 20 - Mission San Rafael for further details.
NO. 220 MISSION SAN RAFAEL ARCÁNGEL - The San Rafael Arcángel Mission, 20th in the chain of the 21 California missions, was established in 1817 by the Franciscan Order. After the 'decree of secularization' in 1834, the buildings gradually fell into ruin. The mission was reconstructed on the original site in 1949.
Location: 5th Ave and A St, San Rafael, plaque is at NE corner Merrydale and Southbound 101, San Pedro Rd offramp



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Location: Mission Ave, San Rafael, CA 94901, USA

Adventure 049/101 - 20 : Mission San Rafael Arcangel

Capture California, the Game-2012
Adventure: 049/101 - 20 : Mission San Rafael Arcangel, 20th mission
Team: Thing One, Thing Two
Date:  September 20, 2012
Location: San Rafael











Description:
With its golden doors and towering steeples, Thing One thought this has got to be the most gaudiest mission. So we dutifully took out pictures. That is until we noticed a little structure off to the side. We then noticed a sign which showed the original mission layout. The glimmering church was not the mission, but the current one. The mission was the humble building to our right. Isn't that they way of God? Not to overpower, but to gently infiltrate our senses.


This mission is known as the most obliterated mission. Even our humble building is not the original, not even placed on the original location. The current buildings are rotated at a 45 degree angle from the original mission. Not a stone was left on top of each other.


Thing One and Thing Two spent some time inside the mission, contemplating the stations of the cross and the stain glass windows; taking in what we could.




From Wikipedia site:
This was one of the first missions turned over to the Mexican government in 1833. In 1840, there were 150 Indians still at the Mission. By 1844, Mission San Rafael Arcángel had been abandoned; what was left of the empty buildings was sold for $8,000 in 1846. The Mission was used by John C. Fremont as his headquarters during the battles to make California a United States possession (see Bear Flag Revolt). In 1847, a priest was once again living at the Mission. A new parish church was built near the old chapel ruins in 1861, and, in 1870, the rest of the ruins were removed to make room for the City of San Rafael. All that was left of the Mission was a single pear tree from the old Mission's orchard, it is for this reason that San Rafael is known as the "most obliterated of California's missions."




From California Missions Resource Center site:
Mission Site: 15 miles north of San Francisco at the native site of 'Anaguani. Since San Rafael was intended to be a "hospital" asistencia, a key consideration was that the location be in a sunnier and more protected environment than San Francisco, which was foggy, damp and windy. The original mission buildings were razed in 1870. In 1919 the new St. Raphael Parish Church, with an imposing tower, was built on the site of the original chapel.
Layout: No effort was made to build a full complex. The initial building was a structure that measured 87 feet in length and 42 feet in width. It contained a hospital, chapel, padre's quarters and a storage area.
Significant Event(s): San Rafael was badly damaged in an Indian attack led by Chiefs Marin and Quintin in February, 1829. Loyal neophytes saved the life of the mission padre, Fr. Juan Amoros, by hiding him in the marshes.
Interesting Facts: 
Under the able leadership of Fr. Gil y Taboada, San Rafael became California's first sanitarium.
San Rafael maintained a substantial boat building operation, since boats were required to facilitate travel across the bay.
In 1846 John C. Fremont used the mission as his headquarters during the Mexican American War
After the mission ruins were removed in 1870, all that remained of the old mission site was a solitary pear tree. In 1909 the Native Sons of the Golden West erected a bell and sign on the original site.





From California State Parks site:
This mission is located 20 miles north of San Francisco at the foot of Mount Tamalpais. It was established as a sanitarium and hospital for San Francisco neophytes suffering from depression and disease. The one padre in California who had medical training, Luis Gil y Taboado was so successful that other missions soon began sending their sick Indians. Within five years it was raised to full mission status and dedicated to the patron of health in 1817. The small church with star windows was modeled after Carmel, however the structure was torn down in 1870 to be used for firewood. Today a chapel at the site duplicates most of the original mission church.
 1104 Fifth Ave., San Rafael, 94901, (415) 454-8141






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Location: Mission Ave, San Rafael, CA 94901, USA
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