S. NEIL McISAAC RANCH (site) 

 Former Damazio Ranch 

 (Golden Gate National Recreation Area) 



1. Description 



This ranch property once supported a small dairy operation but has been 

 used for only grazing for the past 30 years or so. The 570.3-acre parcel is 

 formed from two older divisions: a 457.15-acre ranch once owned by a son of 

 Rafael Garcia, and 113.15 acres that had been split from another Garcia ranch 

 in 1893. The property is of an awkward shape, stretching from the upper 

 western slopes of Bolinas Ridge above the town of Olema to Lagunitas Creek 

 which delineates the northeast boundary. Sir Francis Drake Highway forms 

 the northwestern border; the ranch is bounded on the west by the former 

 DeSouza Ranch, on the south by the Truttman and Jewell Ranches, on the east 

 and northeast by the Cheda and Mclsaac Ranches, and on the northwest by the 

 Mclsaac (former Hamilton) tract. The land is wooded on most of the east 

 slopes of Bolinas Ridge and grassy on the top of the ridge and on the western 

 slopes. 



2. History of the Neil Mclsaac Ranch 



The pioneer Olema to San Rafael Road, sometimes called the Old Olema 

 Trail, crossed this property in the mid-19th century. The Mexican owners of 

 the Point Reyes Peninsula and other early pioneers used the trail to travel to 

 San Rafael and San Francisco, and the first stage coaches from Olema to San 

 Rafael followed its crude path. This old horse trail and wagon road left the 

 Olema/Bolinas road near the homes of the Garcia family at the future site of 

 the town of Olema, followed a ridgeline easterly to the summit, then descended 

 to Daniels or Lagunitas Creek. The trail is the earliest known structure on 

 what would become the Jose Garcia and later the Neil Mclsaac Ranch. County 

 surveyor Hiram Austin laid out a new road about one-half mile to the north to 

 replace the old trail in 1867. At the time, Loomis Curtis operated a dairy near 

 the summit of the ridge. Curtis' house is marked on Austin's survey, and 

 when the land was officially divided in 1868, the deed noted that the property 



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