P. GENAZZI RANCH 



(portion in Golden Gate National Recreation Area) 



1. Description 



While within the legislated boundaries of Golden Gate National 

 Recreation Area, only part of the Genazzi Ranch was purchased by the National 

 Park Service. The ranch, located south across Lagunitas Creek from the town 

 of Point Reyes Station, was split at the time of federal purchase, with 435 acres 

 of grazing land included in the park and about 60 acres retained by the Genazzi 

 family. The ranch is bounded on the north by Lagunitas (Papermill) Creek, on 

 the east by the Gallagher Ranch, on the south by the former Edwin Gallgher 

 Ranch and on the east by Highway One and some small residential parcels. 



The pioneer dairy ranch of D. D. Wilder no longer remains, in fact its 

 exact location is not known for certain. It is believed that Wilder's historic 

 dairy was located on land adjacent to the Genazzi Ranch, on a parcel now 

 occupied by CalTrans as a maintenance station. Wilder, who became a 

 prominent California dairyman after leaving Olema, leased land from Rafael 

 Garcia and his family in the vicinity of the Genazzi Ranch, with a house near 

 the creek. His place in early dairying history of the area deserves mention in 

 this report. 



2. History of the Genazzi Ranch 



The history of the Genazzi Ranch must begin with the occupation of 

 Delos D. Wilder, an Olema pioneer who eventually left Marin County and 

 became a prominent dairyman near Santa Cruz. Wilder was born in 

 Connecticut on February 23, 1826. He followed the Gold Rush to California in 

 1853 and arrived in Marin County in June of 1859. With $200 Wilder started a 

 chicken ranch and small dairy where he met with some success. Wilder rented 

 land near Samuel P. Taylor's paper mill warehouse on Lagunitas Creek from 

 Rafael Garcia and became friends and apparently partners with nearby rancher 

 L. K. Baldwin (see chapter on Truttman Ranch). He married neighbor John 

 Nelson's sister Delia and started a family at the ranch. By 1870 he employed 

 six laborers, five of whom were Swiss immigrants; previous employees had been 



331 



