Sausalito has been a desirable place to live since the early days of the original inhabitants, the Coastal Miwoks. Bounded by Richardson Bay and the Golden Gate National Recreation Area on its sides, Sausalito occupies 2 ¼ square miles just north of the Golden Gate Bridge and is often coined as Italy’s Portofina’s twin city.
By 1868, Gold Rush miners discovered Sausalito – or as it was known back then as Saucelito, meaning a small cluster of willow trees. According to the Sausalito Historical Society, a group of businessmen bought the land from the English settler, William Richardson, and began a ferrying company. The Land and Ferry Company was slow-growing until the North Pacific Coast Railroad extended its track southward to a new terminus in Sausalito.
In the post-Gold Rush era, Sausalito's unusual location became a key factor in its formation as a community. It was San Francisco's nearest neighbor, less than two miles away at the nearest point and easily seen from city streets, yet transportation factors rendered it effectively isolated. A boat could sail there in under half an hour, but wagons and carriages required an arduous skirting of the entire bay, a journey that could well exceed a hundred miles. The opening of the Golden Gate Bridge in May 1937 made large-scale ferry operations redundant.
Due to its location at the north end of the Golden Gate Bridge, Sausalito receives a steady stream of visitors via the bridge (auto and bicycle traffic) and a ferry service from San Francisco. It retains one of the few ungated marinas in the Bay Area that attracts visitors. Plaza Vina del Mar stands on the northern end of Bridgeway with its beautiful fountain donated by its Chilean sister city, Vina del Mar.
Chamber of Commerce: 415-331-7262 Fire Department: 415-388-8182 Library: 415-289-4121 Parks and Recreation: 415-289-4100 Police: 415-289-4170 Public Works: 415-289-4113 School District: 415-332-3190
