El Campo, California

El Campo (later renamed Paradise Beach) was a picnic resort established in 1891 by the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad[2] in hopes of increasing ridership on their ferries between San Francisco and Marin. Facilities at the resort included a dance pavilion, merry-go-round, bowling alley, fishing pier, shooting gallery and over 100 acres of picnic grounds. The resort became such a popular attraction that crowds lined up on the pier in San Francisco on the weekend to catch the ferry to the resort. Because the site was only accessible by ferry, a local newspaper wrote that families could enjoy "absolute freedom from the incursions of hoodlums."[3]

El Campo
Private recreational facility
El Campo
Location in California
El Campo
El Campo (the United States)
Coordinates: 37°53′51″N 122°27′55″W
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
CountyMarin County
Elevation56 ft (17 m)

The name, El Campo, is derived from a Spanish phrase meaning "the flat country".[4] The site was located on the San Francisco Bay, 3 miles (4.8 km) south-southeast of Point San Quentin.[2]

References
  1. U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: El Campo, California
  2. Durham, David L. (1998). California's Geographic Names: A Gazetteer of Historic and Modern Names of the State. Clovis, Calif.: Word Dancer Press. p. 628. ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
  3. Thompson, Laurie (August 9, 2013). "El Campo: An Oasis in Early Marin". Annie T Kent California Room. Marin County Free Library.
  4. Gannett, Henry (1905). The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States. Govt. Print. Off. pp. 116.


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