John Muir National Historic Site, in Martinez, California, is the fruit ranch where the Scottish-born naturalist John Muir lived and worked from the late 1800’s until his death in 1914. Muir worked to preserve wilderness lands. He founded the Sierra Club, an organization that works to protect the environment, and served as its first president. He also strongly supported the National Park System, which was just beginning to develop in the late 1800’s.
In 1880, Muir married Louie Strentzel. The Strentzel family owned and operated a fruit ranch in the Alhambra Valley, near San Francisco. Muir went into the fruit business with Louie’s father, John Strentzel. While living on the ranch, Muir wrote articles and books about the importance of conserving the natural world. He fought to prevent the building of a dam in California’s Hetch Hetchy Valley, which had scenery as spectacular as that in Yosemite Valley. The dam was built, creating a reservoir that supplies San Francisco with water. But the reservoir flooded the Hetch Hetchy Valley and buried much of its scenery underwater. Both Hetch Hetchy Valley and Yosemite Valley are located in what is now Yosemite National Park.
The John Muir National Historic Site includes the Muir home, another building called the Martinez Adobe, and 9 acres (3.6 hectares) of grapevines and fruit and nut trees. A visitor’s center offers exhibits and films on Muir’s life and work.
Muir’s home is a 14-room mansion, decorated to look as it would have when he lived there. The most important piece of furniture on display is a simple, flat-topped writing desk where Muir wrote many of his articles and books. Muir lived in the home from 1890 until his death.
The Martinez Adobe is a large residence built of adobe bricks. California rancher Vincente Martinez built the home on his cattle ranch around 1849. John Strentzel purchased the house in 1874. Strentzel and Muir used it for storage and as living quarters for foremen of the ranch. Muir’s daughter Wanda and her husband lived in the Martinez Adobe from 1907 to 1915.
From the late 1800’s on, developers converted much of the farmland in the Alhambra Valley into residential neighborhoods. In the 1960’s, a group of citizens banded together to preserve what was left of Muir’s ranch. Through their efforts, the ranch was declared a national historic site in 1964.
In 1992, a 325-acre (132-hectare) area called Mount Wanda was added to the Muir historic site. Mount Wanda is a large tract of grass and forestland that once belonged to Muir. Mount Wanda features the Muir Nature Trail.
