Terra Linda, San Rafael, California
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Terra Linda is a neighborhood of San Rafael, California, located in the Las Gallinas Valley area of Marin County, approximately 14 miles north of the Golden Gate Bridge.
[edit] History
Most of Terra Linda was built after World War II and was largely completed by 1970. Terra Linda is located in North San Rafael and shares Zip Code 94903 with Santa Venetia, Marinwood, and Lucas Valley. About 900 homes in Terra Linda were built by Joseph Eichler by the early 1960s.[1] Terra Linda's main streets are Las Gallinas, Freitas Parkway, and Redwood Highway. Its population is about 10,000.
Freitas Parkway was originally designed to have three lanes (it currently just has two) each way go over the ridge into San Anselmo. This design was never finished after Marin County Open Space bought the land on the ridge. Freitas Parkway follows a creek that was cemented over in the early 60's and turned into a storm drain when the area was developed. Plans are being made to restore the creek to its original state and redesign Freitas Parkway to accommodate the creek. Costs to restore the creek are estimated at $20 million.
Schools in the Terra Linda area include Terra Linda High School (2004 NCS 2A Rewood Empire Football Champions and rival of San Rafael High School), Vallecito Elementary School, St. Isabella’s Parish School (a Catholic K-8 school which in the Archdiocese of San Francisco), and St. Marks private school. St. Marks was previously known as Don Timoteo Elementary School, named after Don Timoteo Murphy, who built the first house in San Rafael. He was one of the first residents of Marin County and owned a large amount of land in the area. He also managed the property of (Mission San Rafael Arcángel).
The Mall at Northgate) is the only enclosed mall in Marin County. Three anchor tenants, all dating from its original open-air design, are Mervyn's, Macy's, and Sears; there is also a 15-screen theater.
Terra Linda is the location of the notorious "BBQ murders". In 1975, sixteen-year-old Marlene Olive and her boyfriend Chuck Riley murdered Marlene's parents as detailed in the book Bad Blood: A Family Murder in Marin County by Richard M. Levine (1982). The two then burned the bodies in a firepit at China Camp State Park.[2]
[edit] Notable residents
Mountain biker Susan DeMattei who won the Bronze Medal in Mountain Biking at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia was born and raised in San Rafael.
Swimmer Rick DeMont, who won a gold medal at the 1972 Olympics that was taken away when a medicine he was taking for asthma caused ephedrine to show up in a drug test, attended Terra Linda High School.
Bill Lee, MLB pitcher with the Boston Red Sox and the Montreal Expos, attended Terra Linda High School in the early 1960s.
