Marin County Points of Interest
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Horse Stables, Old Milking Barn and Corn Silo
The Old Milking Barn replaced a previous barn which had been destroyed by the 1906 earthquake on the San Andreas Fault. In the Olema Valley, the Shoreline Highway runs parallel to the San Andreas Fault which is one thousand feet west of the highway.
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The concrete water storage tank was built in 1935.
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Blue gum eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus) were
first imported from Australia to California in 1856.
They were planted as windbreaks and landscape
features on coastal California ranches until the early
20th century when Monterey cypress (Cupressus
macrocarpa) became commercially available.
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24 September 2020
(Click Photos to Zoom)
8497 Shoreline Highway
Olema Valley
The Stewart Ranch, historically known as the Olds Ranch, is the largest ranch in the Olema Valley. The Olds family purchased the land and moved into an unfinished squatter's cabin on Christmas Eve of 1856.
From 1900 until 1924, John Calvin Dickson and his descendants owned and operated the ranch as the Laurelwood Creamery.
The Stewart family has owned and operated the ranch since 1924.
In 1974, the federal government purchased the property for the Golden Gate National Recreation Area. The Stewart family was allowed to reside on the property.
Twelve historic buildings remain on the property. The main house was reportedly built in 1864 by carpenters from Nova Scotia using locally cut redwood. The house was built on redwood sills and was later raised on a concrete foundation. The squatter's cabin is the oldest wooden structure known to survive in the Point Reyes area. It was moved from its original location in 1936 and altered to an extent that destroyed its historical integrity.
The Stewart Ranch contributes to the Olema Valley Dairy Ranches Historic District which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 2018.