Historical Preservation

The Golden Gate Dairy is the last surviving Azorean Portuguese Dairy Ranch in Frank Valley. As Park Partners, Ocean Riders is responsible for the care and restoration of the historic buildings on this NPS site and is committed to preserving the culture and history of agriculture and farms in Frank Valley.

First Stewards

For over 10,000 years the Coastal Miwok lived along this coast as the first stewards of this land. They hunted, fished and harvested plants in the floodplains of the Redwood Creek watershed where the salt water and fresh water meet. We have much to learn from the ecological knowledge and seasonally-aligned land tending principals that they passed down through generations which fostered a harmonious relationship with the environment.

We acknowledge that these are the ancestral lands of the Coast Miwok people, part of the larger Miwok nation. Descendents of the Coast Miwok today are part of the Federated Indians of Graton Rancheria, a federally recognized tribe that also includes Southern Pomo people.

Azorean Dairy History

The Golden Gate Dairy property was initially purchased as part of 20,000 acres of coastal land known as El Rancho Del Sausalito. It wasn’t until 1889 that parcels were divided and designated alphabetically for sale, mainly to Portuguese residents who had been tenant dairy farmers. In 1898 the first Azorean immigrants purchased the 191.6 acre “Ranch M” parcel, later to be known as the Golden Gate Dairy. Construction of ranch buildings for a dairy operation started soon after, the buildings tucked into a sheltered valley near the conjunction of Green Gulch and Frank Valley on what is now State Highway One, also known as Shoreline Highway.

The buildings consisted of a farm house, a creamery, a sanitary building, later with an attached calving shed, a one room shed that was a bunk house for dairy workers, and a two story milking barn where cows would file down from the back pastures to get milked.

Frank Valley Dairies

A total of 385 sites have been identified where dairies operated in Marin, although not all at the same time. Almost no point in Marin was more than a mile away from a dairy site. Frank Valley was a vibrant part of this dairy farming community.

The Nunes Family

Ranch M was operated as small scale family-owned Dairy by a series of Azorean Portuguese families between 1898 and 1953. In the early 1930’s Joseph Nunes moved from Olema Valley to Sausalito and established a small dairy that he named The Golden Gate Dairy which was primarily a retail business, delivering milk house to house in Sausalito and Mill Valley in a green truck that bore his dairy’s name: Golden Gate Dairy. In 1936, construction of the Waldo Grade began on the hills above Sausalito to provide easier access to the Golden Gate Bridge. The Nunes family moved from Sausalito to Muir Beach around this time to lease the Ranch M property, likely motivated to escape the noise which wasn’t conducive to contented cows. Joseph took with him the name of his business, and that was the origin of the ‘Golden Gate Dairy’ name that is still used today.

The Lopes Family

Manuel V. Lopes with his wife Maria and their five children rented the property in 1942 and continued dairy operations there, supplying milk and butter to Marin and San Francisco until the 1950’s when the dairy business declined. They were the last family to be associated with dairy operations at the Golden Gate Dairy. During their occupancy they built an attachment to the Sanitary Building for cows to be protected from the bulls while giving birth. The Lopes name is cemented in the step that leads to the Calving Shed. By this time the Creamery Building was used for storage. The Sanitary Building was where the milk was pasteurized and stored. The freezer door remains and the Sanitary building is now used for tack lockers and Ocean Riders office.

Ida Lopes painting of the Golden Gate Dairy after the calving shed was added in 1948.

From Dairy to Horse Stables

By the early 1960’s the dairy business had been abandoned and the premises was purchased by the Caddels who lived in the Farm House and reportedly planned a resort at the site. Dick and Tink Pervier became tenants, first living in the Sanitary Barn Building with attached Calving Shed before moving to the Farm House when the Caddels moved and agreed to rent to them.

The horse operation started with a sickly rescue horse named Charlie who was bound for slaughter. When Tink learned about his fate she brought him to the Dairy to recover from severe neglect. Charlie not only recovered, but went on to become a Cow Palace champion in jumping ridden by Dick’s daughter Melanie. Tink saw the joy Charlie brought to the community and felt a place was needed for local young people to enjoy being with the horses. She invited others to come board and the Dairy became the Golden Gate Dairy Stables.

At first lessons were given in what was previously an orchard and later became a riding area with little jumps. As more horses arrived and interest in them grew, the children would ride down a deer path to get to Santos Meadow where a large arena was established and local horse shows were held. Ocean Riders was originally established by parents as a not for profit social club to support the insurance for their children’s lessons and upkeep of the Santos Meadow riding arena.

In the 1980’s the Muir Beach Pony Club was formed and children with their ponies and horses were hauled to other Marin County horse shows to compete. Holidays were celebrated with rides through the hills with both riders and horses dressed up.

The Perviers boarded horses for over 25 years and the stables fondly became known as Tink’s Barn. At one time up to 50 horses roamed the pasture hills or boarded in stalls that Dick built.

In 2000, when the Perviers were required to move due to National Park Service acquisition of the property, Ocean Riders organized to mitigate damage from the horses and cows and was granted a month to month lease with the condition they make the necessary changes to protect the Redwood Creek watershed and it’s many endangered species.

Thousands of dollars and hundreds of volunteer hours were invested by Ocean Riders members and in July 2015 the National Park Service granted a ten year lease with specific requirements to upgrade and restore the deteriorating historic Dairy buildings.

The Golden Gate Dairy Over the Years

The Creamery Building, where fresh pails of warm milk were taken to cool, was used to process and provide storage for the dairy products each day. Photo: Joseph Nunes' youngest son, Al Nunes, 3 years old

The Sanitary Building was built to ensure the proper sanitation and hygiene requirement in dairy processing and now is used for tack lockers and the Ocean Riders office. The Calving shed, later added, has become Ocean Riders medical stalls, used for vet visits and layups.

As production in the dairy business declined in the 1940’s the Creamery was used for storage. There was a gas pump between the house and the Creamery, likely for farm vehicles once they replaced horses.

In 1972 Tink allowed the newly formed Muir Beach Volunteer Fire Department to take over the Creamery building for their fire truck and their equipment. They have shared the site with us ever since.

The original Milking Barn was two stories with an additional structure on the front. In 1929 the barn burned down and was rebuilt with local redwood. The dairy buildings were normally painted white. We appreciate the current weathered look of this iconic and historic building.

Today the historic Barn is used for hay storage for Ocean Riders horses, tack rooms, and a place for celebrations and fundraisers. In 2016 we raised $44,000 to replace the hay barn roof.