John Muir National Historic Site

4202 Alhambra Ave, Martinez, CA 94553, United States

 

The John Muir National Historic Site is located in the Bay Area of San Francisco, Martinez, Contra Costa County, California. It retains the 14-room Italianate Victorian mansion where the naturalist and writer John Muir lived, as well as the surrounding 325-acre (132 ha) strip of native oak woodland and grassland, traditionally owned by the Muir family. The main site is on the edge of the city, in the shadow of State Route 4, also known as "John Muir Parkway."

 

Who Was John Muir?

John Muir was a writer, a lecturer, a geologist, a botanist, a glaciologist, an explorer, a school teacher, an inventor, a fruit farmer, a husband, and a father.

 

Muir was perhaps the most famous and influential naturalist in this region. If it weren't for John Muir and his writings, we probably wouldn't have Yosemite National Park as we know it today. He has also been involved in the development of the Grand Canyon, Kings Canyon, Petrified Forest and Mt. Rainier National Parks. In addition, his writings on Alaska have contributed to a further restoration of the landscape over time. Because of his influential writings and his role in establishing numerous parks, he is also called the " Father of Our National Park System.

 

While living here, Muir realized several of his greatest achievements, co-founding and serving as the first president of the Sierra Club, in the wake of his fight to prevent Yosemite National Park's Hetch Hetchy Valley from being dammed, to play a prominent role in the development of many national parks, to write hundreds of newspaper and magazine articles and several books on the vi.

 

The home contains Muir's "scribble den," as he called his study, and his original desk, where he wrote about many of the concepts that underlie the current conservation movement.

 

The John Muir National Historic Site is located in the Alhambra Valley, just two miles south of Martinez, California, and about 30 miles east of San Francisco. The historic home of the most prominent conservationist and naturalist in the United States is open seven days a week from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. There's no entry charge.

 

The site retains the Victorian house and part of the fruit ranch where the naturalist John Muir lived from 1890 until his death in 1914. While living in Martinez, Muir laid the groundwork for the formation of the National Park Service in 1916. Visitors can visit their homes today, see Muir's "scribble-den" where he wrote his campaign for conservation articles and books, and walk through the orchards.

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The newly added Mount Wanda area, 325 acres in size, traditionally owned by the Muir family, where Muir used to take regular walks with his daughters, includes the John Muir Nature Trail, featuring spring wildflowers, abundant bird life and scenic views of the Carquinez straits.

 

John Muir 's tomb was purchased by the National Park Service in 2000, but public visits are pending upgrades to damaged roads and the development of parking spaces or a shuttle service.