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33-490: In 1775, Spanish explorer Perez Ayala was the first European to land on what would become Mare Island – he named it Isla de la Plana . This area was part of Rancho Suscol , deeded to General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo in 1844. It became a waypoint for early settlers. In 1835, whilst traversing the Carquinez Strait , a crude ferry transporting men and livestock capsized in a squall. Among the livestock feared lost in

66-408: A ferry service . Before World War II , Mare Island had been in a continual state of up-building. By 1941, new projects included improvements to the central power plant, a new pattern storage building, a large foundry, machine shop, magazine building, paint shop, new administration building, and a huge storehouse. The yard was expected to be able to repair and paint six to eight large naval vessels at

99-667: A Naval Commission to select a site for a Naval Yard on the Pacific Coast. Commodore D. Sloat along with Commodore C. Ringgold , Simon F. Blunt and William P.S. Sanger (former overseer of construction of Drydock Number One, Norfolk Naval Shipyard ) were appointed to the commission. On July 13, 1852, Sloat recommended the island across the Napa River from the settlement of Vallejo, as it was "free from ocean gales and from floods and freshets." The Navy Department acted favorably on Commodore Sloat's recommendations and Mare Island

132-471: A law allowing claimants under a rejected grant to pre-empt their property at $ 1.25 per acre - without limitation regarding acreage. Under the Pre-emption Act of 1841, owners were allowed to "pre-empt" their portions of the grant, and acquire title for $ 1.25 an acre - up to a maximum of 160 acres (0.6 km ). Although Frisbie failed to get the legislation through Congress in 1862, he was successful

165-651: A productive estuarine ecosystem providing habitat for a wide diversity of flora and fauna , including numerous rare and endangered species such as the California clapper rail and California freshwater shrimp . Because of its rich avafaunal content, the Napa Sonoma Marsh is one of only seven marshes selected for intensive study by the Point Reyes Bird Observatory (based on a total of 50 discrete marshes appurtenant to

198-473: A time. Several finger piers had recently been built, as well as a new shipbuilding wharf, adding one 500-foot (150 m) and a 750-foot (230 m) berth. It employed 5593 workers at the beginning of 1939, and rapidly increased to 18,500 by May 1941, with a monthly payroll of $ 3.5 million. In 1941, the drafting department had expanded to three buildings accommodating over 400 naval architects, engineers and draftsmen. The hospital had 584 beds. During World War II,

231-471: A year later (the new version of the legislation applied only to landholders within the boundaries of Rancho Suscol), and the Suscol Act became law in 1863. However the intervening years gave the homesteaders time to establish their claims based on the Pre-emption Act of 1841. Some minor violence occurred, but both sides turned to the courts. Homesteader Whitney filed a lawsuit to compel Frisbie to convey

264-687: Is accessed by State Route 37 on its north side, as well as by Interstate 80 via the Wichels Causeway (popularly the Mare Island Causeway) and Tennessee Street. The causeway also has rails embedded in the roadway to allow access for trains . The San Francisco Bay Ferry provides year-round weekday and weekend service, and service on select holidays, between Mare Island, Vallejo , and the San Francisco Ferry Building or Pier 41 terminals. Mare Island

297-779: Is the location of Touro University California , the US Forest Service Pacific Southwest Regional Office, and the administrative offices of the Vallejo City Unified School District. This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F. According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Mare Island has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate , abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps. Rancho Suscol Rancho Suscol

330-875: The Mexican–American War , the 1848 Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the land grants would be honored. As required by the Land Act of 1851, a claim for Rancho Suscol was filed with the Public Land Commission in 1853. The land grant was confirmed by the Land Commission and on appeal by the District Court, but rejected by the US Supreme Court in 1862 on want of authority in the Mexican government to make it. As

363-630: The San Francisco Bay and Mare Island and Carquinez Strait , and then to Rancho Suisun on the east. It included present day cities of Vallejo and Benicia . In 1835, the Mexican Government gave Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo control of some newly secularized land. The Rancho Nacional Suscol was a national ranch under his control, heavily stocked with cattle and horses. Aiding Vallejo in various battles in exchange for cattle and other goods, Patwin populated this land living along

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396-656: The San Francisco Bay area made by Cadwalader Ringgold and an 1854 map of the area by Henry Lange . In 1892, development of the Mare Island Golf Club began, making it the oldest golf course west of the Mississippi. On November 6, 1850, two months after California was admitted to statehood, President Fillmore reserved Mare Island for government use. On January 15, 1852, Secretary of the Navy William Alexander Graham ordered

429-548: The 1970s Navy technical training schools included those for Data Systems Technicians (DSs), Firecontrol Technicians (FTs), Communications Technicians (CTs) and nuclear power ratings of many types. In 1993 Congress approved the findings of the Base Realignment and Closure report, leading to the closure of Mare Island Naval Shipyard. The shipyard had long been the economic engine of the city of Vallejo, employing 10,000 workers after reductions in 1988. When Congress ordered

462-805: The City of Vallejo to eliminate the dredge ponds, whose role had been to collect silt, drainage, and storm water from the Napa River and the Bay, and instead restore that acreage to wetlands. The city and the developer agreed, and in January 2006, the land use plan was amended to add the Mare Island Shoreline Heritage Preserve. An advisory board was appointed by the city to restore the 215-acre (0.87 km) site into publicly accessible parkland. In 2009, Alstom moved its train maintenance facility from Oakland to Mare Island. Mare Island

495-733: The Napa Sonoma Marsh as the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge . The marsh is fed by Sonoma Creek (which drains the Sonoma Valley ), Tolay Creek (originating in the Tolay Lake basin), and the Napa River (which drains the Napa Valley ). Although the marsh extends north as far as State Route 12 , as a practical matter, most of the marsh is only accessible by boat. The marsh is

528-646: The San Francisco Bay). Around 1860, the Napa Sonoma Marsh was one of the most productive wetlands of the Pacific Coast , providing habitat for millions of birds. By the mid-1980s, the San Francisco Bay perimeter had lost over 91 percent of its wetlands. The Napa Sonoma Marsh represents one of the few sizeable expanses where restoration is feasible. During the Vietnam War , the Navy utilized

561-557: The U.S. Public Works Department commenced construction of a 508-foot (155 m) drydock on the island, setting it on a foundation of cut granite blocks. The work was completed in 1891. A second drydock was begun in 1899, a concrete structure 740 feet (230 m) long set on wooden piles; it was completed in 1910. By 1941 a third drydock had been completed and drydock number four was under construction. The ammunition depot and submarine repair base were modern, fireproof buildings. A million dollar, three-way vehicle causeway to Vallejo replaced

594-543: The banks of Suscol Creek. In March, 1843 Vallejo paid the government $ 5,000 for the support of the governor's troops and in return he was granted the 18 leagues Rancho Suscol by Mexican governor Micheltorena. Vallejo also received a confirming document (later considered to be a forgery by the US Supreme Court ) signed by Pio Pico in 1845. With the cession of California to the United States following

627-417: The base closure, the shipyard employed 5,800 workers. The vision of rebuilding Mare Island as a vital place where people lived and worked was a key goal in the base conversion planning process undertaken by the city of Vallejo in the early 1990s. After the base was recommended for closure in 1993, the City undertook an extensive community-based reuse planning process, which resulted in a Final Reuse Plan that

660-600: The disputed land to him. The Supreme Court ruled for Frisbie, and the homesteaders were evicted. 38°13′N 122°23′W  /  38.22°N 122.38°W  / 38.22; -122.38 Napa Sonoma Marsh The Napa Sonoma Marsh is a wetland at the northern edge of San Pablo Bay , which is a northern arm of the San Francisco Bay in California , United States. This marsh has an area of 48,000 acres (190 km ), of which 13,000 acres (53 km ) are abandoned salt evaporation ponds . The United States Government has designated 13,000 acres (53 km ) in

693-488: The eastern portion of Mare Island into a multi-use community. LMI contracted the Sausalito-based SWA Group to provide a Master Development Plan for Vallejo, additional historical research and landscape architectural services. The Specific Plan included a variety of land uses, including a university district, an industrial zone, historic core, and residential neighborhoods. In addition, 78% of the island

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726-516: The grant was rejected, there is no official area of the grant. The grant was for approximately 18 square leagues, and the area discussed in the Supreme Court documents is 84,000 acres (340 km ). Vallejo sold Rancho Suscol to his son-in-law, John B. Frisbie, who was married to Vallejo's oldest daughter, Epifania, (also known as Fannie). Frisbie sold portions of the tract to San Francisco investors who were primarily interested in speculating on

759-574: The growth of Benicia, Vallejo and the Mare Island Naval Shipyard . When the grant was rejected, the land immediately became public domain under the California Land Act of 1851, and available for homesteaders. Within a year more than 250 people claimed 160-acre (0.65 km ) plots in accordance with federal homestead law. When the Supreme Court rejected the claim in 1862, Frisbie tried to persuade Congress to pass

792-475: The marsh as a training ground for crews of the Navy's new Swift boats and patrol boats , operating out of Mare Island Naval Shipyard at the marsh's southern terminus. An extensive research literature base exists for the Napa Sonoma Marsh. 38°10′07″N 122°20′22″W  /  38.16871°N 122.33946°W  / 38.16871; -122.33946 This Napa County, California -related article

825-465: The pier, the Guitarro was flooded and sank when construction crews mismanaged testing procedures. It took three days to raise her and many months to salvage her. During the latter years of Mare Island's military use, U.S. Marines were trained for Security Management and Security Force Operations, including; F.A.S.T. (Fleet Anti-Terrorism Team), Security Guards, and Security Force Reaction Forces. In

858-423: The shipyard employed up to 50,000 workers. In 1969, the Navy transferred its (Vietnam War) Brown Water Navy Riverine Training Forces from Coronado, California , to Mare Island. Swift Boats (Patrol Craft Fast-PCF), and PBRs ( Patrol Boat, River ) conducted boat operations throughout the currently named Napa-Sonoma Marshes State Wildlife Area , on the north and west portions of Mare Island. Mare Island Naval Base

891-476: The wreckage was the prized white mare of General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo , the Mexican Commandante for Northern California. Several days later, General Vallejo's mare was found on the island, having swum ashore. Grateful for the fortunate turn of events, he renamed the island to Isla de la Yegua , Spanish for Mare Island, in her honor. It is shown, labeled "Mare Island", on an 1850 survey map of

924-422: Was an 84,000-acre (340 km ) Mexican land grant in present day Sonoma County, California , Napa County, California , and Solano County, California , given in 1843 by Governor Manuel Micheltorena to General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo . In a significant land law decision, the land claim was rejected by the US Supreme Court in 1862. Rancho Suscol extended from Rancho Petaluma on the west, south down to

957-842: Was an additional factor in the planning process. As the oldest shipyard and naval facility on the West Coast, the shipyard earned a National Historic Landmark designation by the federal government in 1975. In 1979 California listed the entire naval base as a State Historical Landmark. In 1999 the city of Vallejo added Mare Island to the National Register of Historic Districts with 42 individual city landmarks. Finally, as with any restoration of an industrial, brownfield landscape, both city and government agencies required environmental reviews, toxic substance removal, and soil remediation . In 1998, Vallejo contracted with Lennar Mare Island LLC (LMI) to develop 650 acres (263 ha) of

990-739: Was approved by the Vallejo City Council in 1994. The Final Reuse Plan laid out the general vision for the Island's redevelopment. The Reuse Plan was the basis for the Mare Island Specific Plan, which was approved in 1999 and amended in 2005 and 2007. The Mare Island Specific Plan designated land uses and established development standards for identified reuse areas and provided an implementation program to guide all subsequent planning activities. Preservation of many of Mare Island's 661 structures and other cultural resources

1023-586: Was deactivated during the 1995 cycle of US base closures, but the U.S. Navy Reserves still have access to the water portions of the State Wildlife Area for any riverine warfare training being conducted from their new base in Sacramento, California . The USS  Guitarro , a Sturgeon-class submarine , SSN-665, was constructed at Mare Island between December 9, 1964, and July 27, 1968. On May 15, 1969, while still under construction and tied to

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1056-555: Was purchased for use as a naval shipyard in July 1853 at a cost of $ 83,410. On September 16, 1854, Mare Island became the first permanent U.S. naval installation on the west coast , with Commodore David Farragut , as Mare Island's first commander. For over a century, Mare Island hosted the Navy's Mare Island Naval Shipyard . The growing size and number of the country's naval fleet was making older facilities obsolete and led to increased building and refitting of shipyards nationally. In 1872,

1089-519: Was set aside for wildlife habitat and wetlands, parkland and open space, and dredge ponds. In 2007, LMI finished construction on the residential neighborhoods. Farragut Village, with 277 homes, was the first completed neighborhood. Additional neighborhoods include Coral Sea and Kirkland Isle II. Mare Island's Specific Plan calls for a total of 1,400 homes and condos, plus 7,000,000 square feet (650,000 m) of commercial, retail, entertainment, and industrial space. Mare Island's residents petitioned LMI and

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