International dignitaries and local maritime historians gathered at Due West Market in Olema last week for a plaque dedication of California Registered Historical Landmark #1061: The site of New Albion. It represents the first California-registered historical landmark in West Marin since 1935.
The landmark, mounted outside the market, commemorates Francis Drake’s 1579 anchorage in California—his farthest-east exploration. As many historians believe, Drake and his crew disembarked from the Golden Hind to encamp on the then-Coast Miwok land.
According to the Drake Navigators Guild, the landing predates Plymouth and Spanish settlements in Northern California by nearly two centuries; its name comes from early cartographers, who deemed England “Albion,” meaning “white.”
The plaque arrives amid a lengthy debate over the Golden Hind’s actual course. Some believe it anchored in the San Francisco Bay, or farther up the coast in Oregon or Vancouver.