Tomales Bay
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Tomales Bay is a long narrow inlet of the Pacific Ocean in Marin County in northern California in the United States. It is approximately 15 mi (25 km) long and averages nearly 1.0 mi (1.6 km) wide, effectively separating the Point Reyes Peninsula from the mainland of Marin County. It is located approximately 30 mi (48 km) northwest of San Francisco. The bay forms the eastern boundary of Point Reyes National Seashore. On its northern end it opens out onto Bodega Bay, which shelters it from the direct current of the Pacific. The bay is formed by a submerged portion of the San Andreas Fault.
The area was originally settled by the Coast Miwok Indian tribe. It was allegedly visited by Francis Drake.
A park was formed to preserve some of it, Tomales Bay State Park.
The Marconi Conference Center SHP preserves a small hotel built by Guglielmo Marconi in 1913 to house a ship-to-shore radio station. Ownership of the facility passed to RCA in 1920. The station was closed in 1939, though other nearby radio stations on the Point Reyes Peninsula still operate today.
Synanon, a drug rehabilitation cult, owned it from the early 1960s until 1980, when it was purchased by a private foundation and given to the state to operate as a conference center.
Nearby towns
Image:WestMarinTowns.png Towns bordering Tomales Bay include Inverness, Inverness Park, Point Reyes, and Marshall. Additional hamlets include Spengers, Duck Cove, Shallow Beach, and Vilicichs.
See also
- Drakes Bay
- Freak wave
- Point Reyes
- Point Reyes Station, California
- Inverness, California
- Hog Island (California)