First Sawmill in Marin County

The state bronze stands two miles off and credits the mill to John Reed. He built it with a crew of Native workers, on land the Coast Miwok had lived on for more than six thousand years. Reed, a Dublin-born sailor who became a Mexican citizen in 1834 and took the first land grant north of the bay, rode as far as Fort Ross for his machinery. The mill cut redwood for the Presidio and was obsolete by 1849. What stands in Old Mill Park is the city's 1991 reconstruction, cut from fallen redwoods.

What the plaque says

John Reed's Saw Mill Two miles west is the old saw mill, from which the City of Mill Valley acquired its name. It was constructed in the 1830's by John Reed, grantee of the Rancho Corte de Madera del Presidio. The creek waters furnished the motive power for the mill, which was the first in the San Francisco Bay region to supply lumber. State Registered Landmark No. 207 Marker placed by California Centennials Commission in cooperation with Marin County Historical Society. Dedicated October 17, 1950 Historic Saw Mill Built in the 1830's by John Reed grantee of the Rancho Corte de Medera del Presidio Preserved by Marin Native Sons and Daughters of the Golden West April 5, 1959 Reed's Mill Registered California Historical Landmark The mill was constructed in the 1830's by John Reed and was one of the first saw mills in Northern California The mill site was utilized in May 1890 to conduct a public land auction of land parcels that signaled the founding of the City of Mill Valley This historically accurate reconstruction of the mill was undertaken by the City of Mill Valley in 1990 Dedicated September 28, 1991 Yerba Buena Chapter No. 1. E Clampus Vitus in cooperation with the City of Mill Valley.

Where it stands

Worth the stop nearby

• Muir Woods National Monument — 1.3 mi
  A redwood canyon saved from a reservoir by a gift, and named for a man who had been there once.
• Muir Beach Overlook — 3.4 mi
  A cliff edge on Highway 1, and the concrete dugouts where two-man crews watched the sea after Pearl Harbor.
• Earthquake Trail — 16 mi
  A short loop along the San Andreas, where a broken fence shows how far Point Reyes moved in under a minute in 1906.
• Kule Loklo — 17 mi
  A Coast Miwok village built in the 1970s to honour a people its builders were told had died out. They had not.

More markers nearby

• Outdoor Art Club — 0.4 mi
• Green Brae Brick Kiln — 3.8 mi
• Mission San Rafael Arcángel — 5.0 mi
• Home of Lord Charles Snowden Fairfax — 5.8 mi