Marin County surpassed its northern neighbor in production of both 

 commodoties. 67 



By 1857 a number of dairies had been established on the Point Reyes 

 Peninsula and in the Bolinas area. That year Randall and Nelson started a 

 dairy in the Olema Valley, followed closely by Karner and Baldwin, the Olds 

 family and D. D. Wilder. Each built a dairy operation making the best use of 

 their land, taking into account then* transportation, feed and water needs. 



2. Sites and Construction 



Adequate supplies of feed and water determined the location of a dairy 

 ranch. Pioneers found both in the Olema Valley. Forests of Douglas fir, oak 

 and other trees covered most of the west slope of the valley, providing firewood 

 and lumber. The east side of the valley was mostly grassy, with the timbered 

 gulches getting thicker farther south. A great deal of logging and some clearing 

 occurred in these areas, as well as around Bear Valley. 68 



The dairymen chose a reasonably flat site, central to the grazing area and 

 with a spring nearby, which provided both for the ranch house and for the cows 

 in the corral. The spring would be boxed and the water conveyed in pipes to 

 the various outlets as needed. A house or two, a barn for hay and horses, 

 fences and corrals, and the creamery (or dairy house) were the first structures 

 to be built. Later came larger barns and bigger houses for the occupants. 

 Andrew Howe, an Olema carpenter, built many barns in the area during the 

 1880s, all of a typical design. The barns were usually large, constructed with 

 mortise-and-tenon joints in the superstructure and nailed boards and planks in 

 the framing and sheathing. They contained milking galleries with wooden 

 stanchions and central areas and lofts for hay storage, all well-drained. Large 

 entrance doors typically stood centrally on the long side of the barns, often 

 under gable-roofed additions off the main roofline. 



67 Toogood, Civil History, pp. 94-96; John S. Hittell, Commerce and Industries of the Pacific 

 Coast of North America (San Francisco: A. L. Bancroft and Co., 1882), p. 261; California, Surveyor 

 General, Annual Report of the Surveyor-General of the State of California for the Year 1862, 

 (Sacramento: P. Avery, State Printer, 1863), pp. 62-63. That year, Marin County produced 

 200,000 pounds of butter to Sonoma's 191,400; Mann's cheese output was 300,000 pounds to Santa 

 Clara's 250,000, San Mateo's 75,000 and Sonoma's 66,700 pounds. 



68 Ibid.. December 16, 1875 and November 16, 1883. 



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