Will Drakes Bay be a landmark?

Marin County Supervisors approved a letter last week to federal officials supporting the inclusion of Drakes Bay as a national historic landmark. The drafting was proposed by supervisors Susan Adams and Steve Kinsey in part because recently “new archaeological evidence has emerged in the form of pieces of porcelain which have been dated to 1579, the year that Drake landed here.” The designation, which has yet to be approved by the National Park Service, will “enable greater education and public resources” for future archaeological research to be performed in the area. Though evidence such as porcelain shards, journals and descriptions of Marin’s unique Coast Miwoks suggest that Drake anchored in the bay for five weeks in 1579 to make repairs to his ships, some have and continue to believe that various points up and down the coast are more logical landing sites. In August, the Office of Historic Preservation concluded that the oyster farm that operates in the estero, which had been proposed for a similar designation, was ineligible because it lacked “historic integrity.”