History of Novato

This short history of Novato was taken from: http://www.novatolivewell.org/nlw-pdfs/1-NCGC%20Proposal%203.18.08.pdf

"The hills and valleys of Novato were once the hunting grounds of Miwok Indians.
Their village located north of Novato, named Olompali, is now a State Historic Park.  In
1843, Olompali was granted to a Native American, Camilo Ynitia, who raised wheat
and became a successful cattle breeder.


In 1856, Francis DeLong and Joseph Sweetser formed a partnership and
bought Rancho de Novato.  Upon finding the climate favorable, the pair set out to plant
one of the largest orchards in the world.  Fruit grown in Novato was shipped throughout
the United States and to several other countries.
In 1879, Sweetser sold most of his share of the Novato Rancho to his partner, DeLong.
When Francis DeLong died in 1885, he left his estate to his son, Frank Coye DeLon

Most of the land that is the present day City of Novato was known as Rancho de Novato
and was originally granted to Fernando Feliz, who served in the Mexican Army.


The Home and Farm Company purchased the Black Point Ranch from Frank DeLong in
1888 and divided the 6,000 acres into lots and sold them as business and residential
sites. That was the "new town of Novato".
According to Jim McNern, a native of Novato and President of the Novato Historical
Guild, “Novato was an agricultural community with small dairies and chicken ranches
and orchards dotting the landscape”.

Today, most of those dairies, ranches and orchards are now subdivisions."