Ranch M (Golden Gate Dairy): Cultural Landscape Inventory, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, National Park Service

Biscombe, Jason; Cain, Cortney

The 192‑acre Ranch M (Golden Gate Dairy) is located within the boundaries of Golden Gate National Recreation Area along the Shoreline Highway in southern Marin County. Characterized by its dramatic setting, Ranch M is comprised of extreme natural topography with steep hillsides, interspersed with small rock outcrops. Within this landscape, the ranch building complex is nestled in a shallow draw at the base of the hillside between two large rock outcroppings that overlook Shoreline Highway. Ranch M is significant at a local level as a rare survivor representing Marin County dairy ranching by Azorean Portuguese, who were the dominant immigrant group in California dairying. The period of significance begins in 1898 and extends to 1953, reflecting the dairy ranching period. Serving as a small scale family‑owned dairy, Ranch M was operated between 1898 and 1953 by a series of Azorean Portuguese companies and families. The settlers came in a wave of European immigration during the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries, and generally settled as tenants on the subdivided ranches, including Ranch M. The Azorean Portuguese came from an agrarian society with poor economic conditions and were particularly adept at subsistence agriculture in rugged terrain as a result of their history in the Azores. Their heritage required frugality, hard work and communal cooperation to survive. The land in southern Marin County was unsuitable for market gardening, which occupied many Azorean Portuguese in the eastern and southern San Francisco Bay counties, although it offered opportunities for successful dairying, particularly attracting Azorean Portuguese from islands such as San Jorge with dairying traditions. Ranch M is comprised of a number of contributing resources, which includes four buildings and two structures. The buildings and structures are arranged around a central corral area and include the main house, creamery, sanitary barn, hay/milking barn, outhouse, and shed that formed the body of the operational dairy. Contributing circulation features include the internal ranch road, concrete ranch road, and the Diaz Ridge Trail, used by ranchers to access the steep pasture lands and move the cows in for milking. In addition, historic cypress and eucalyptus windbreaks, and the kitchen garden also contribute to the character of the district. Redwood post and barb wire fencing, which demarcated the uphill grasslands, and a number of other small‑scale features, such as a redwood picket fence and a boot scraper, help tie the landscape together. Today, the property remains in fair condition and continues to reflect its association with early twentieth century dairy farming on the Marin Peninsula.

Ranch M (Golden Gate Dairy): Cultural Landscape Inventory, Golden Gate National Recreation Area, National Park Service

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