In 1920 Everett Strain moved his family to Palo Alto where he 

 established the Mayfield Dairy; his mother and sister remained living upstairs 

 in the ranch house. The Strain family rented the dairy, first to a tenant that 

 proved unsatisfactory and then to Joseph and Mary Teixeira. 



Teixeira, born in St. George, Azores, had immigrated to the United 

 States at age 17 and worked on dairies in Fresno, Point Reyes (for James 

 McClure at G Ranch), and Tiburon. The Teixeira family bought the previous 

 tenant's dairy business and moved to the Strain Ranch in November of 1920. 

 The family, including Christina and Anthony, born in Tiburon, and Molly, 

 Joseph, Irene, and William, born on the Strain Ranch, shared the big house 

 with Henry Strain's widow Marcella and her spinster daughter, Ella. During 

 this time and after Marcella's death Ella Strain occupied the upper floor of the 

 house and reserved the parlor downstairs. The Teixeiras lived in the 

 remainder of the house until Ella's death in 1935. Eventually the entire ranch 

 was inherited by the youngest daughter, Anna Strain. 39 



Joseph Teixeira milked about 65 cows on the ranch at first, separating 

 the cream and shipping it to the cooperative creamery in Point Reyes Station 

 for processing. Teixeira equipped the ranch with gasoline engines which drove 

 the milking machines and separator. The Teixeiras used the old creamery for 

 cooling the milk (in cans in a cool trough) and separating the cream until local 

 builder Eddie Alberti constructed a Grade A barn in the early 1940s. The old 

 dairy and a shed were torn down at that time. Teixeira grew crops on various 

 parts of the ranch, including potatoes, ryegrass and oats. Commercial electric 

 power reached the ranch in 1941. 



The Teixeiras bought the property from Anna Strain on December 26, 

 1941 after twenty years of tenancy on the ranch. After Joseph Teixeira's death 

 in 1951 the property was divided among the surviving members of the family. 40 



After building the Grade A barn Joseph Teixeira retired and his oldest 

 son Anthony (Tony) took over the business in 1945. Tony Teixeira shipped 

 fresh milk from the ranch, eventually milking more than one hundred cows. 

 The dairy ceased operation in 1972 after the National Park Service purchased 

 most of the property for Point Reyes National Seashore on December 8, 1971. 



39 Copies of map dated September 1, 1900 and deed dated January 2, 1901, and notes from 

 interview with Gordon Strain in 1975 by Ron Treabess, PRNS. Teixeira family information from 

 interviews with Christina Teixeira Silveira, Irene Teixeira and Molly Teixeira Waters. 



40 Official Records Book 422, p. 321, Book 838, p. 171, and Book 1227, p. 370, MCRO. 



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