John Muir, the father of America’s national parks, is often associated with Yosemite and other parts of the Sierra Nevada he celebrated in his writing.
But for many years he made his home in the East Bay city of Martinez. His grand house is preserved as a historic site and makes for an interesting visit.
The National Park Service, whose founding in 1916 is attributed to Muir’s environmental evangelism, runs the 9-acre John Muir National Historic Site. It contains a mansion where Muir and his family lived from 1890 to 1914 and a separate visitors center. Admission is free. The building, surrounded by fruit orchards, is a short drive from downtown Martinez’s Main Street, home to many shops and restaurants. Tours are offered and rangers and volunteers are available to answer questions. There’s also a cellphone tour of the grounds and places to have a picnic.
At the visitors center, guests can check out a 20-minute film about Muir or buy a book by Muir in the gift shop before heading to the house. The mansion, designated a historic site in 1964, is a 10,000-square foot, 14-room Italianate Victorian structure, with two stories of living space and great views from higher floors. The house is full of period furniture, exhibits and photos of Muir and his family.
For those familiar with Yosemite, going to John Muir’s Martinez home is more like visiting the deluxe Ahwahnee Hotel than camping at Mariposa Grove.
“People are quite impressed with it,” said Mark Thomson, president of the John Muir Association, a nonprofit that supports Muir’s mission to protect natural resources as well as the house; Thomson married his wife Lorna there 24 years ago.
Muir, who spent several years living in Yosemite, was one of the first writers to call attention to its splendors, starting with an article in the early 1870s. In 1880, he married Louisa (Louie) Strentzel, whose family owned thousands of acres of fruit orchards.
In 1890, the environmentalist and his family moved into the house, which originally was built for Muir’s in-laws, and is the place where Muir wrote and lobbied for the preservation of nature. Muir is buried in a family plot one mile from the house.
In 1892, Muir helped found the Sierra Club, the national environmental organization headquartered in Oakland today, and was its first president. After Yosemite National Park was created in 1890, Muir was famous for showing President Teddy Roosevelt around the park on a camping trip in 1903.
The John Muir house is surrounded by hills and the Carquinez Strait can be seen in the distance. There’s great natural beauty here. But it’s also easy to wonder how the famed environmentalist would feel about how the landscape has changed so much over decades.
State Highway 4, also called John Muir Parkway, is just behind the house, and traffic noise can be heard. Beyond the road, trains rumble by, carrying industrial products.
Although smoke from oil refineries in Martinez cannot be seen from the site, visitors looking out from the top of the mansion can see refineries and storage tanks across the strait in Benicia.
“No one likes the fact that’s where it is, but it’s where it is,” said Thomson, adding, “It’s the price of living in our society today.”
However, on the other side of Highway 4, the historic site has a nature preserve of 326 acres around Mount Wanda and Mount Helen, named for Muir’s daughters. It’s accessible for hikers and bikers on a moderately challenging 2.4 mile-trail.
The John Muir National Historic Site is at 4202 Alhambra Ave., Martinez. It is open from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. daily, has onsite parking, and is free. Visit https://nps.gov/jomu/index.htm.