04/13/2025
𝗧𝗛𝗘 𝗥𝗘𝗘𝗗 𝗙𝗔𝗠𝗜𝗟𝗬 - By Joyce Kleiner
In 1826 Irishman and sailor John Reed sailed into what is now San Francisco Bay, but not before spending five years in Mexico, where he learned Spanish. His knowledge of that language, combined with his Catholic heritage, situated him favorably with the newly formed Mexican government. In 1828, the new government began allotting enormous land grants, or “ranchos.” The first Marin land grant went to John Reed in 1834. Reed honored the many provisos stipulated in the land grant: he did not divide or mortgage the land, he built a house within the first year, and he planted orchards. He also ranched livestock and horses and bought a boat that he used to ferry the supplies that he sold to the Presidio. Among those supplies were redwood logs taken from his rancho, aptly named El Corte de Madera del Presidio (“The Cut Wood of the Presidio”). Reed also built a mill, which would take on significance many years later when the first Mill Valley land auction took place at the site and the newly formed town adopted the mill for its name.
In 1836, Reed married Hilaria Sanchez. John and Hilaria enjoyed only seven years of marriage before John died in 1843. Hilaria, a widowed mother of four (John, Ricardo, Hilarita, and Maria Inez) remarried in 1845 to Bernardino Garcia and had three more children. Only one, Carmelita, lived to adulthood. By the time California became part of the United States, much of Hilaria’s land had been seized by the government or sold by those claiming to represent the Reed family interests. But a significant portion did eventually become undisputed Reed property, which passed down to several heirs after Hilaria’s death in 1868. In 1906 Carmelita Garcia Boyle sold a portion of her land, with the stipulation that two acres be given to Mill Valley for a public park, which is today’s Boyle Park. Nearly half of Mill Valley is on land that was once El Corte de Madera del Presidio, including Strawberry Point. The names of many descendants of both John Reed and Hilaria Reed Garcia are seen on street signs in the City of Mill Valley, Homestead Valley and Strawberry: Reed Street, Ricardo Court, Ricardo Road, Ricardo Lane, Reed Boulevard, Inez Place, Clothilda Court, Carlotta Circle, Hilarita Avenue, Matilda Avenue, Sidney Street and Carmelita Avenue.
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𝙋𝙝𝙤𝙩𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙨𝙮 𝙤𝙛 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙇𝙪𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙞𝙖 𝙇𝙞𝙩𝙩𝙡𝙚 𝙃𝙞𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙍𝙤𝙤𝙢, 𝙈𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙑𝙖𝙡𝙡𝙚𝙮 𝙋𝙪𝙗𝙡𝙞𝙘 𝙇𝙞𝙗𝙧𝙖𝙧𝙮.
𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘑𝘰𝘩𝘯 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘏𝘪𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘪𝘢 𝘙𝘦𝘦𝘥’𝘴 𝘴𝘦𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘥𝘰𝘣𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘦, 𝘢 24’ 𝘹 45’ 𝘵𝘸𝘰-𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘳𝘺 𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘭𝘰𝘤𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘯𝘦𝘢𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘤𝘰𝘳𝘯𝘦𝘳 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺’𝘴 𝘓𝘢 𝘎𝘰𝘮𝘢 𝘚𝘵𝘳𝘦𝘦𝘵 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘓𝘰𝘤𝘬𝘦 𝘓𝘢𝘯𝘦. 𝘊𝘰𝘯𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘶𝘤𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘳𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 1842 𝘣𝘶𝘵 𝘸𝘢𝘴𝘯’𝘵 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘭𝘦𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘢𝘧𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘙𝘦𝘦𝘥’𝘴 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩 𝘪𝘯 1843. 𝘞𝘰𝘰𝘥 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘣𝘦𝘢𝘮𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘢 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘤𝘶𝘵 𝘢𝘵 𝘙𝘦𝘦𝘥'𝘴 𝘮𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘰𝘥𝘢𝘺’𝘴 𝘖𝘭𝘥 𝘔𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘗𝘢𝘳𝘬. 𝘙𝘦𝘦𝘥’𝘴 𝘥𝘢𝘶𝘨𝘩𝘵𝘦𝘳, 𝘐𝘯𝘦𝘻, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘩𝘶𝘴𝘣𝘢𝘯𝘥, 𝘛𝘩𝘰𝘮𝘢𝘴 𝘋𝘦𝘧𝘧𝘦𝘣𝘢𝘤𝘩, 𝘭𝘪𝘷𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦 𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘪𝘭 𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘪𝘳 𝘥𝘦𝘢𝘵𝘩𝘴 𝘪𝘯 1883 𝘢𝘯𝘥 1884. 𝘈 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 1884 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘶𝘭𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘯 𝘴𝘪𝘨𝘯𝘪𝘧𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘥𝘢𝘮𝘢𝘨𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘶𝘴𝘦, 𝘴𝘦𝘦𝘯 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘴𝘦𝘷𝘦𝘳𝘢𝘭 𝘺𝘦𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘳 𝘪𝘯 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘰𝘹𝘪𝘮𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘭𝘺 1890. 𝘙𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘦𝘯𝘵𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘵𝘪𝘮𝘦 𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘢𝘭𝘭𝘦𝘥 𝘪𝘵 𝘴𝘵𝘪𝘭𝘭 𝘴𝘵𝘢𝘯𝘥𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘪𝘯 1916.