F. RALPH GIACOMINI RANCH 

 Former Muscio Ranch 

 (Golden Gate National Recreation Area) 



1. Description 



The Ralph Giacomini Ranch, historically called the Muscio Ranch and 

 Blake Ranch, is squeezed into a narrow valley at a major bend in Olema Creek 

 on the south end of Five Brooks. The ranch lands are composed of 614 acres of 

 rolling grassland with a great deal of forest in and near the many gulches that 

 drain the ranch. The land is a transition zone from the mostly grassy 

 northwest-facing hills of the north part of the valley to the recently-wooded 

 hills south of the ranch. Mixed hardwoods, evergreens and redwood grow on 

 the ranch. The ranch is bounded on the north by the Lupton Ranch, on the 

 east by the Lupton and Randall Ranches, on the south by the Randall Ranch 

 and on the west by Olema Creek and Five Brooks. The ranch complex is 

 located at the northwestern corner of the ranch adjacent to Highway 1. 



2. History of Giacomini Ranch 



Rafael Garcia sold 4,366 acres of the Olema Valley and Lagunitas Canyon, 

 roughly half of his holdings, to Daniel and Nelson Horatio Olds on September 

 25, 1856. The Ohio-born Olds brothers came west with the Gold Rush, arriving 

 in San Francisco in July of 1850. One of their shipmates, John Nelson, would 

 purchase a large tract just south of theirs seven years later. According to 

 family tradition, the Olds brothers financed their purchase in Olema Valley 

 after striking a rich vein of gold while prospecting in the Sierra Nevada and 

 selling out to an eastern company. After spending a few years operating a 

 merchandise store in San Leandro, Alameda County, the family came to Marin 

 County. The Olds brothers paid $8,000 to Garcia, or less than two dollars per 



acre. 70 



Many members of the Olds family soon arrived in the Olema Valley: 



70 Deeds. Book C, pp. 66 and 68, MCRO; interview with Boyd Stewart; Nelson Olds, Jr. to Boyd 

 Stewart, January 28, 1936, Stewart Collection; undated obituary of Nelson Olds, Jr., PENS; 

 Toogood, Civil History, p. 180. 



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