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Samuel P. Taylor State Park
California State Park
Natural Monument (IUCN III)
The view from Barnabe Peak
Country	United States
State	California
County	Marin
Location
- coordinates	38°1′42″N 122°43′0″W / 38.02833°N 122.716667°W / 38.02833; -122.716667Coordinates: 38°1′42″N 122°43′0″W / 38.02833°N 122.716667°W / 38.02833; -122.716667
Area	2,700 acres (1,092.7 ha)
Founded	1945
Managed by	California State Parks
Nearest city	San Francisco, California

Samuel P. Taylor State Park is a state park located in Marin County, California. It contains approximately 2,700 acres (11 km²) of redwood and grassland. The park contains about 600 acres (2.4 km²) of old-growth forest^[1], some of which can be seen along the Pioneer Tree Trail.^[2]

History

The park is named for Samuel Penfield Taylor, who found gold during the California Gold Rush and used some of his money to buy a parcel of land along Lagunitas Creek.^[3] In 1856, Taylor built the Pioneer Paper Mill, the first paper mill on the Pacific Coast.^[4] In the 1870s, the North Pacific Coast Railroad was built between Cazadero and a pier in Sausalito where folks could catch a ferry to San Francisco. The railroad passed near Taylor's mill, and, ever the entrepreneur, he built the "Camp Taylor Resort" alongside the tracks. A destination for city-weary San Franciscans, the resort offered both a hotel and tent camping, as well as swimming, boating, fishing, and a dance pavilion.^[5][6]

Taylor died on January 22, 1886, and his family lost the mill and resort in the Panic of 1893.^[5] However, a 1910 newspaper advertisement for the "Camp Taylor Resort," touting its dance pavilion and on-site grocery and butcher, indicates that the resort continued to operate.^[7] The mill burned down in 1916, and in 1945 the State of California took possession of the property for non-payment of taxes.^[5]

Notes

1. ^ Bolsinger, Charles L.; Waddell, Karen L. (1993), Area of old-growth forests in California, Oregon, and Washington, United States Forest Service, Pacific Northwest Research Station, Resource Bulletin PNW-RB-197, http://www.fs.fed.us/pnw/pubs/pnw_rb197.pdf  
2. ^ "The Pioneer Tree Trail". Redwood Hikes. http://www.redwoodhikes.com/Taylor/Pioneer.html. Retrieved 2009-01-19.  
3. ^ California State Parks. "Samuel P. Taylor State Park" (accessed June 4, 2006).
4. ^ California Office of Historic Preservation. "California Historical Landmarks: Marin" (accessed June 4, 2006). See No. 552, Pioneer Paper Mill.
5. ^ ^{a b c} Dierke, James S. "Samuel Penfield Taylor: Forty-niner, Timber Tycoon, Freemason." The Scottish Rite Journal, August 1999 (accessed June 4, 2006).
6. ^ Kent, Anne T. "Camp Taylor Photo Album: Camp Taylor in 1889" (accessed June 4, 2006).
7. ^ Oakland (CA) Tribune, "Camp Taylor Resort" (advertisement), July 30, 1910.

Park sign from the western entrance along Sir Francis Drake Boulevard

External links

• Trailspotting: Hiking Mount Barnabe GPS/mapping data, hike description & photos