New World settlers have been in the lower Ross Valley since before California attained statehood. And it was inhabited long before that, by the indigenous Miwok.
Yet, no comprehensive history of the area had ever been produced.
So the Kentfield-Greenbrae Historical Society decided to change that, and asked local historian Dewey Livingston to write a book chronicling what is now Kentfield and Greenbrae, from the "rough and tumble" days of Ross Landing, through the planned development of Greenbrae and up to nearly the turn of the 21st century.
"In the Heart of Marin: The history of Kentfield and Greenbrae, California," which Livingston began working on two years ago, went live this week.
"Just about every (nearby) community has its own book," said Historical Society President Bob Caine, a former longtime Kentfield School District superintendent. "We realized a couple years ago there had never been a history done on the Kentfield and Greenbrae communities."
The 390-page book includes 25 chapters and more than 500 archival photographs.
The historical society had 1,000 copies published, more than half of which have been sold. It is available online at the Historical Society's website and at several local bookstores.
"It's a storytelling style, opposed to dry history, so you get engaged," said Historical Society member Marilee Rogers, a former Redwood High School teacher. Inclusion of old maps and photographs "really supplements the dialogue."
While the Kentfield-Greenbrae area is not exactly a sprawling metropolis, Livingston found the area to be rich with history. The wealth of stories and characters created Livingston's greatest challenge in writing the book.
"There was just a lot of detail I couldn't cover," said Livingston, who lives in Inverness. "That aspect of being able to tell everyone's story is just not possible. So the challenge was sorting out which stories to tell and what to leave behind."
Some the absolutes that had to be told were the stories of the Kent family, from whom Kentfield gets its name, and the Schultz family, who created Greenbrae.
The book includes chapters on Kentfield's Little Italy, the College of Marin and artist George Demont Otis, whose painting adorns the book's cover. The biggest chapter — nearly 80 pages — is on the primary schools of Kentfield and Greenbrae. Kent Middle School is hosting a centennial celebration of the community's first school on May 3.
"The schools have been a central part of the communities, just as they have been in most communities," Livingston said, "but Kent (Middle) School is particularly significant because of its high level of excellence and success producing well-educated kids."
When the first school started, the lower Ross Valley wasn't the affluent place it is today, Livingston said.
"For many years, after the turn of the century and up into the 1930s, it was a low-income area," Livingston said. "It was sort of the wrong side of the tracks."
Contact Laith Agha via email at email@example.com
to buy "in the heart of marin"
Go to the Kentfield-Greenbrae Historical Society website, kghs.org, or visit one of these stores next week: Book Passage in Corte Madera, Diesel bookstore in Larkspur Landing, First Street Books in Kentfield and Woodlands Market in Kentfield.