Long-time Marin residents may remember the old Hutchinson Quarry complex that used to sit just east of the 101 freeway on the borders of Corte Madera, Larkspur and Greenbrae. The quarry, built by brothers Dwight and Hardy Hutchinson in 1927, had supplied crushed rock for the creation of Treasure Island, access roads to the Golden Gate Bridge and many of Marin’s highways and roads. Previously, the land was owned by the Remillard Brick Company that operated the Green Brae Brickyard between the quarry site and San Quentin prison for decades. At one time, it was the largest brick-making facility on the Pacific Coast and supplied much of the material to rebuild San Francisco after the 1906 quake and fire. By 1969, Larkspur had annexed the quarry site and began plans to build the Larkspur Ferry Terminal, the Marin Country Mart and a large housing development at what became Larkspur Landing. The only remnants from the two facilities that still exist today are the brickyard’s tall chimney that can be seen for miles around and the small house that served as the brickyard supervisor’s residence, known as the Remillard Cottage. The quarry has also been preserved on film, as the final chase scene from the 1971 Clint Eastwood movie, Dirty Harry, was filmed at the site.
The Remillard Cottage, seen above, was lifted off its foundation in December of 1984 and moved a few hundred yards up Larkspur Landing Circle to serve as the new home of Larkspur’s Children’s Cottage Co-op Preschool that had been established in 1948. The building was renovated in 1985 with the help of The Beryl Buck Trust, Robert H. Lee, the City of Larkspur and the Remillard Cottage Board. It had been previously designated as a California State Landmark building in 1979. The Cottage Co-op Preschool is a play-based preschool where children are encouraged to explore, create and problem-solve under the guidance of trained child-care professionals with the daily assistance of one or more co-op parents. Looking back at the image through the lens of time, with the young, preschool children gleefully running in the street in front of the slow moving big-rig, definitely places the event solidly in our past. Out of safety concerns for the kids, liability, etc., the same scene would not happen today. The difference might be summed up in the familiar saying, “something lost, something gained.”
(Originally appeared as History Watch article in the Marin Independent Journal)
Photo ID no. P1999.8188