Vignette 248 > Naming Problem

In the late 1880s, the Tamalpais Land and Water Co. (TL&WC) planned a development that needed a name.  Joseph Eastland was TL&WC president, so “Eastland” was considered. The North Pacific Coast Railroad would provide access to the development.  The name of its private railroad car “Millwood” was proposed. Then there were the remains of the lumber mill that Reed had built on Mill Creek in 1834. This led to the name Mill Valley that was often applied to what are today named Cascade Canyon and Blithedale Canyon.  The result was TL&WC’s Map No. 1 based on the 1889 survey with the title “MAP of EASTLAND, MILLWOOD and VICINITY, BEING A SUBDIVISION OF OLD MILL VALLEY AND ADJACENT LANDS”. The map identifies the “Eastland Depot” at the end of the line downtown and the “Millwood Depot” on Miller Ave. at Willow St. The United States Post office was in the downtown depot from 1890 to 1894. The downtown depot sign had two names, “Eastland” and “Mill Valley”. The town of “Mill Valley” was incorporated in 1900, and the United States Post Office changed its name in 1904 from “Eastland” to “Mill Valley”.