Vignette > Tamalpais and Tennessee

The name “Tennessee” has been applied to two different valleys.

In July 1911, the Mill Valley Record reported, “Prominent automobile men of the county are endeavoring to secure right of way for an auto road Sausalito to Lagoon [Muir beach] … via Tennessee Valley.” In August 1911, “… a right of way has been secured for the proposed boulevard through beautiful Tennessee Valley, from Manzanita to the ocean.”  Also in 1911, the California National Guard chose a site along the road to Muir Beach for a rifle range that was referred many times in the Mill Valley Record as being “the Manzanita Rifle Range, a mile from Manzanita.” No mention of either Tamalpais or Tennessee Valley. In 1916, the rifle range was said to be back of Marin Terrace, the housing development on the hill north of the road to Muir beach. A 1927 ad in the Mill Valley Record stated, “NOW ON SALE A NEW AND VERY ATTRACTIVE SUBDIVISION THE OLD RIFLE RANGE in the Tamalpais Valley.” Today, the name, “Tennessee Valley” no longer applies to highway 1, Shoreline Hwy.  It is applied to the valley ending at Tennessee Cove. But there is a Tennessee Ave. in what is no longer called Tennessee Valley.