Vignette > Locust Business District

When the Golden Gate Bridge was completed, in 1938, Greyhound buses replaced the train service from Mill Valley to the Sausalito ferry. However, the tracks were left in place for freight trains. Miller Ave. two-way traffic went on the road on the southwest side of the tracks. The other side was for parking. In 1950, the Locust Business District was quite a bit different from what it is today. It had the largest concentration of automobile sales and service in Marin County. There were Chrysler-Plymouth, Chevrolet, Pontiac and Buick dealerships, two repair garages, an auto parts store, an automotive machine shop and five service stations. Today there are no car dealerships, two service stations and six car repair shops.   The Quonsets, now Whole Foods, housed the Miller Avenue Shopping Center containing a grocery store, meat market, drug store, soda fountain, beauty salon, and post office – it closed in the 1980s. A grocery store and a bakery were on Locust Ave. There were no restaurants. Today there are many restaurants: Mill Valley Coffee Shop, Joe’s Taco Lounge, Mama’s Royal Café, Extreme Pizza, Sol Food, Super Duper, Samurai, Tamalpai Pizza and Grilly’s.