Geography | |
---|---|
Location | Northern California |
Coordinates | 37°56′12″N 122°31′04″W / 37.93667°N 122.51778°W [1] |
Adjacent to | San Francisco Bay |
Highest elevation | 16 ft (4.9 m) [1] |
Administration | |
United States | |
State | California |
County | Marin |
Richardson Island is a former island in San Francisco Bay, in northern California. While it was once surrounded by water and marsh (and appears as an island in maps surveyed in 1894), [2] development of surrounding areas caused it to become completely surrounded by land by the mid-20th century. [3] It is located in Marin County, in the city of Corte Madera. [4]: 27 The United States Geological Survey (USGS) gave its elevation as 16 ft (4.9 m) in 1981. [1] It is near the end of Corte Madera Creek, where it flows into San Francisco Bay. [5]
In 1885, it came into the possession of the Corte Madera Rancho del Presidio, one of the largest ranches in Marin County at the time. [6] Its proprietors were sued by the United States in 1891, alleging that they had procured the island (among some 4,000 acres (1,600 ha) of land in the area) through a "false and fraudulent plot, alleged to have been made by field notes of an actual survey". [6] In 1908, construction of railroad track for the Green Brae–Corte Madera cutoff involved workers cutting through the southeastern end of the island; [7] by 1925, it had become part of the Keever estate. [7] Henry Richardson, a member of the Amundsen polar expedition, was born on Richardson Island. [8] By 1941, USGS maps show Richardson Island as completely connected to surrounding land; [3] while the label "Richardson Island" was still shown at the location on a 1954 USGS map, by that point it was no longer an island. [5]
In 1950, the city of Corte Madera engaged in an "annexation war" with neighboring Larkspur; Richardson Island was one of several pieces of land Corte Madera attempted to annex. [9] Of four tracts, one was approved by the city to be annexed by ordinance—the "Fifer-Moore addition", located on Richardson Island. [10] Larkspur had previously attempted to block annexation of the island by "cutting it off" from Corte Madera. [9] By 2009, the area previously occupied by Richardson Island was part of Corte Madera, and primarily zoned for mixed-use commercial, mixed-use gateway area, and public and semi-public facilities. [4]: 27 It was classified under the "Fifer Avenue/Tamal Vista" community plan study area. [4]: 43