Bolinas is an unincorporated coastal community in Marin County, California, United States. It is located on the California coast, approximately (straight line distance) northwest of San Francisco, and by road. For statistical purposes, the United States Census Bureau has defined the community as a census-designated place (CDP). As of the 2020 census, it had a population of 1,483.
History
Prior to the European colonization of California, the Coast Miwok lived in the area, possibly calling the area "Bali-N".
Bolinas and present-day Stinson Beach were once encompassed by Rancho Las Baulines, a Mexican land grant given by Governor Pío Pico to Gregorio Briones in 1846.Ogden Hoffman, 1862, Reports of Land Cases Determined in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California
The first post office in the town of Bolinas opened in 1863. The post office closed on March 3, 2023. The town's residents have petitioned for it to reopen.
In 1927, a former dairy farm on the Big Mesa was subdivided into a grid of streets and 5,336 lots measuring . Many of these lots were sold for $69.50 by the San Francisco Bulletin as a subscription promotion. Portions of the mesa, including sections of Ocean Parkway, have since eroded into the sea. A few streets on the mesa are paved and maintained by the county, but many are unpaved, and either maintained by adjoining property owners or completely unmaintained."A Plan for the Bolinas Gridded Mesa", Bolinas Planning Council and The Marin County Planning Department, 1984. The Big Mesa doesn't have sewer system, and houses on the mesa have individual septic systems."Sewer System Management Plan". Bolinas Community Public Utility District, April 2008.
The Bolinas beaches were hit hard by the 1971 San Francisco Bay oil spill, with the community coming together to clean the beach of crude oil.
The Bolinas Museum was founded in 1983. It contains five galleries featuring contemporary art, historical information, and works from local artists.
Geography
Bolinas sits at an elevation of above sea level. It is bordered on the northeast by Bolinas Lagoon and Kent Island, on the south by Bolinas Bay and Duxbury Point, on the southwest by the Pacific Ocean, and on the northwest by Point Reyes National Seashore. According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , all land. The GNIS has cited archaic alternate town-names, including "Ballenas", "Baulenas", "Baulings", and "Bawlines".
Bolinas's downtown is located on the eastern side of town along Wharf Road, which ends at Bolinas Lagoon. The downtown buildings were mostly built between 1850 and 1920. Brighton Avenue connects downtown to the south-facing Brighton Beach. In the southeast corner of town is the Little Mesa. The Big Mesa, also known as the Gridded Mesa, lies to the west, with Agate Beach at its western end. Roughly of that is the Bolinas Military Reservation.
The community is known for its reclusive residents. It is only accessible via unmarked roads; any road sign along State Route 1 that points the way into town has been torn down by local residents, to the point where county officials offered a ballot measure to which the voters responded by stating a preference for no more signs.
Bolinas lies west of the San Andreas Fault, which runs the length of Bolinas Lagoon and continues northward through Olema Valley and Tomales Bay. Bolinas and the Point Reyes peninsula are on the Pacific Plate, moving north relative to Stinson Beach and the North American Plate at an average rate of approximately per year.
Point Reyes National Seashore borders Bolinas to the northwest. Duxbury Reef State Marine Conservation Area encompasses Bolinas' western shoreline.
Climate Bolinas experiences warm (occasionally hot) and dry summers, with some average monthly days in summer months above . According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Bolinas has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated "Csb" on climate maps. Like much of the California coast, summer afternoons are often cool and windy (and sometimes foggy) as winds blow in off the ocean. It receives more rain than other coast cities in the San Francisco Bay Area in this latitude with of rain.
Demographics
Bolinas first appeared as a census designated place in the 1980 U.S. census.
Racial and ethnic composition +Bolinas CDP, California – Racial and ethnic compositionRace / Ethnicity (NH = Non-Hispanic)Pop 2000Pop 2010Pop 2020% 2000% 2010% 2020White alone (NH)1,1011,2581,18288.36%77.65%79.70%Black or African American alone (NH)228121.77%0.49%0.81%Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)4360.32%0.19%0.40%Asian alone (NH)2215251.77%0.93%1.69%Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)4450.32%0.25%0.34%Other race alone (NH)32100.24%0.12%0.67%Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)2770882.17%4.32%5.93%Hispanic or Latino (any race)632601555.06%16.05%10.45%Total1,2461,6201,483 100.00%100.00%100.00%
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Bolinas had a population of 1,483. The median age was 54.5 years. 14.0% of residents were under the age of 18 and 37.3% of residents were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females there were 95.1 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over there were 94.2 males age 18 and over.
0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 660 households in Bolinas, of which 16.2% had children under the age of 18 living in them. Of all households, 34.1% were married-couple households, 24.1% were households with a male householder and no spouse or partner present, and 32.6% were households with a female householder and no spouse or partner present. About 37.0% of all households were made up of individuals and 22.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
There were 887 housing units, of which 25.6% were vacant. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.8% and the rental vacancy rate was 3.7%.
2010 census The 2010 United States census reported that the Bolinas CDP (Census-designated place) had a population of 1,620. The population density was . The racial makeup of Bolinas was 1,406 (86.8%) White, 27 (1.7%) African American, 10 (0.6%) Native American, 17 (1.0%) Asian, 14 (0.9%) Pacific Islander, 64 (4.0%) from other races, and 82 (5.1%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 260 people (16.0%).
The census reported that 88.4% of the population lived in households and 11.6% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters.
There were 698 households, 144 (20.6%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 259 (37.1%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 54 (7.7%) had a female householder with no husband present, 32 (4.6%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 49 (7.0%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and nine (1.3%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. There were 280 households (40.1%) made up of individuals, and 98 (14.0%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.05. There were 345 families (49.4% of all households); the average family size was 2.65.
The age distribution was 234 people (14.4%) under the age of 18, 76 people (4.7%) aged 18 to 24, 385 people (23.8%) aged 25 to 44, 642 people (39.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 283 people (17.5%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 49.3 years. For every 100 females, there were 115.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 113.6 males.
There were 986 housing units at an average density of 169.2 per square mile, of the occupied units 57.4% were owner-occupied and 42.6% were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.7%; the rental vacancy rate was 2.6%. 54.1% of the population lived in owner-occupied housing units and 34.3% lived in rental housing units.
2000 census
At the 2000 census there were 1,246 people in 486 households, including 260 families, in the CDP. The population density was . There were 629 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the CDP in 2000 was 77.7% non-Hispanic White, 0.5% non-Hispanic Black or African American, 0.2% Native American, 0.9% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 0.1% from other races, and 4.3% from two or more races. 16.0% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race. Of the 486 households 27.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 39.9% were married couples living together, 10.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 46.3% were non-families. Of all households, 32.1% were one person and 4.5% had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.29 and the average family size was 2.87.
The age distribution was 21.0% under the age of 18, 4.7% from 18 to 24, 26.0% from 25 to 44, 40.3% from 45 to 64, and 8.0% who were 65 or older. The median age was 44 years. For every 100 females, there were 110.8 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 102.1 males.
The median household income was $53,188 and the median family income was $56,111. Males had a median income of $48,281 versus $40,417 for females. The per capita income for the CDP was $28,973. About 5.5% of families and 10.2% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.7% of those under age 18 and 2.8 percent of those age 65 or over.
The much larger area defined by the Census Bureau as ZIP Code Tabulation Area (ZCTA) 94924, which includes Horseshoe Hill, Dogtown, and Five Brooks, had a population of 1,372 according to the 2020–2024 American Community Survey 5-year estimates (see map).
Education Bolinas is in the Bolinas-Stinson Union School District, the Tamalpais Union High School District, - Text list and the Marin Community College District. Students in primary grades (kindergarten – grade 2) attend Stinson Beach School, while elementary grade students (grades 3–8) attend Bolinas School. Bolinas is included in the attendance area of Tamalpais High School, in Mill Valley.
In 1951, Ford Times identified Bolinas as the first in its series of "Tom Sawyer Towns... a good place for boys and girls to live and grow... its school days, its summer vacations, its vast adventures in fishing, swimming, baseball, basking and dreaming in the sun. Such a place is Bolinas."
Government
Bolinas is unincorporated, receiving general government services from Marin County, including law enforcement, land use planning, public health, and code enforcement. Two special districts provide local services. The Bolinas Community Public Utility District provides water and wastewater service and contracts for garbage and recycling collection. The Bolinas Fire Protection District provides fire protection, emergency medical care, and disaster management services.
Bolinas Community Public Utility District In 1967, the Bolinas Community Public Utility District was formed by the Marin County Board of Supervisors. It merged two local water districts, the Bolinas Beach Public Utility District which served the Big Mesa, and the Bolinas Public Utility District which served the Downtown and Little Mesa, with the Marin County Sanitary District #3, formed in 1908 to provide sewer service in the downtown. The BCPUD provides water service and solid waste pickup throughout Bolinas, and sewer service to the Downtown and Little Mesa.
In November 1971, the Bolinas Community Public Utility District instituted a moratorium on new water permits, which halted the construction of new homes. The moratorium was based on the limited local water supply during the summer months and in drought years, and also serves to limit new development in Bolinas. In 1990, the BCPUD enacted a moratorium on new sewer connections, to address the limited capacity of the sewage collection system. Many lots, especially on the Big Mesa, remain undeveloped.