developed by the water power on the place. The 

 house and other buildings are also lighted by 

 electricity, and the cost is trifling. 27 



McCurdy rented the ranch to Manuel DeFraga in late 1905. DeFraga had 

 leased the Shatter Home Ranch on Point Reyes for many years and was an 

 experienced dairyman. He brought his wife Nellie and seven children to the 

 McCurdy Ranch; two more, Harold and Edward, were born there. The children 

 attended school at the Wilkins School in Woodville. While the DeFragas were 

 in residence the McCurdys sold the ranch to Charles McMaster. The DeFragas 

 left the ranch for Palo Alto in 1921, but their daughter Helen stayed and 

 married neighboring dairyman Jim Wilkins. 28 



The McMaster family sold the ranch to Dr. Ethel Righetti in 1935. Some 

 time later the house burned down and the ranch was used only for grazing and 

 occasional timber cutting. By the 1960s no structures remained at the McCurdy 

 Ranch; Boyd Stewart and Dennis Wisby leased the grazing land, a small fire 

 wood company cut wood on the land, and Western Evergreen, a San Francisco 

 nursery firm, paid for rights to collect greens for floral displays. A hunting 

 camp was located in a redwood grove on the McCurdy Trail. In 1969 a logging 

 operation commenced on the upper reaches of the property but was shut down 

 by the county for substandard logging practices. The old McMullin homestead 

 parcel was sold in 1972 for Point Reyes National Seashore, and the bulk of the 

 ranch purchased from the late Dr. Righetti's six children for $2,500,000 in June 

 of 1974 for Golden Gate National Recreation Area. 29 



3. Historic Resources 



No buildings remain on the McCurdy Ranch, and because of disturbances 

 from recent logging activities, none of the ranch roads appear to have historic 

 integrity. The ranch boundary fences are mostly intact but with newer fabric. 



27 Marin Journal. February 8, 1906. 



28 Deeds Book 129, p. 139 and Book 167, p. 284, MCRO; interview with Marie (DeFraga) 

 Davidson, Edward DeFraga and Helen (DeFraga) Wilkins. 



29 Official Records Book 300, p. 170, MCRO; Appraisal Report: Righetti Ranch (Sebastopol: 

 Harding Appraisal Co., 1973); tract files (L-1425), Tract 04-101, Righetti, Ethel estate, PRNS. 



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