Caroline S. Livermore

1990

Environment

Beginning in the 1930s, Caroline Livermore realized that the beauty of Marin could not last forever without protection and planning. She devoted her life to that end. She helped to halt development of Mount Tamalpais, saving its slopes for the valuable watershed it has become. Later, she was instrumental in having part of the mountain formed into California’s first state park.

The Marin Conservation League, under her leadership for twenty years, made successful efforts to save Stinson Beach, which later became California’s first state beach park. She negotiated for the purchase of lands, which were subsequently formed into Samuel P. Taylor Park and Tomales Bay State Park. To protect the scenery from the presence of unsightly roadside billboards, Mrs. Livermore worked with the county supervisors to pass the county’s first anti-billboard ordinance.

Mrs. Livermore spearheaded a drive to save, relocate and restore the historic Lyford Manson, now a Marin historic site located in the Richardson Bay tidelands area, which she also helped to preserve and protect. In leading the efforts to preserve Angel Island from private development, Caroline Livermore worked tirelessly for fifteen years lobbying state and national policy makers. In 1970, Angel Island was declared a state park and a national landmark, with Mt. Livermore, the highest peak on the island, named in her honor. In addition to these conservation efforts, Mrs. Livermore was a founder of the Marin Audubon Society, the Marin Art and Garden Center, the Richardson Bay Foundation and the Point Reyes National Seashore Foundation.