Larkspur, California

Geography

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 3.22 sqmi, of which 3.00 sqmi is land and 0.22 sqmi (6.80%) is water.

History

Charles W. Wright laid out the town in 1887. The first post office opened in 1891. Larkspur incorporated in 1908. Larkspur's Downtown Historic District, known also as Old Downtown Larkspur, is a historic district that was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1982. The restored Art Deco Lark Theater is part of this downtown district. The historic Blue Rock building, originally opened in the 1890's, is currently home to popular restaurant The Left Bank.

Communities

Murray Park is an unincorporated community in Larkspur. Escalle is named after a 19th-century French immigrant.

Government

Federal and state

In the United States House of Representatives, Larkspur is in . From 2008 to 2012, Huffman represented Marin County in the California State Assembly.

In the California State Legislature, Larkspur is in:

• .

According to the California Secretary of State, as of February 10, 2019, Larkspur has 8,871 registered voters. Of those, 4,944 (55.7%) are registered Democrats, 1,250 (14.1%) are registered Republicans, and 2,324 (26.2%) have declined to state a political party.

Demographics

2020

The 2020 United States census reported that Larkspur had a population of 13,064. The population density was 4,356.1 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Larkspur was 75.4% White, 1.5% African American, 0.6% Native American, 6.3% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 5.3% from other races, and 10.9% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 11.1% of the population.

The census reported that 99.3% of the population lived in households, 0.1% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 0.7% were institutionalized.

There were 6,102 households, out of which 24.5% included children under the age of 18, 42.6% were married-couple households, 7.0% were cohabiting couple households, 33.4% had a female householder with no partner present, and 17.0% had a male householder with no partner present. 36.8% of households were one person, and 20.3% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.13.

The age distribution was 18.2% under the age of 18, 5.5% aged 18 to 24, 20.1% aged 25 to 44, 30.4% aged 45 to 64, and 25.8% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 49.2years. For every 100 females, there were 85.9 males.

There were 6,459 housing units at an average density of 2,153.7 /mi2, of which 6,102 (94.5%) were occupied. Of these, 48.6% were owner-occupied, and 51.4% were occupied by renters.

In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that 16.9% of the population were foreign-born. Of all people aged 5 or older, 80.6% spoke only English at home, 8.7% spoke Spanish, 6.6% spoke other Indo-European languages, 3.0% spoke Asian or Pacific Islander languages, and 1.1% spoke other languages. Of those aged 25 or older, 96.6% were high school graduates and 69.4% had a bachelor's degree.

The median household income in 2023 was $134,744, and the per capita income was $103,235. About 3.4% of families and 7.1% of the population were below the poverty line.

2010

At the 2010 census Larkspur had a population of 11,926. The population density was 3,677.5 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Larkspur was 10,311 (86.5%) White, 186 (1.6%) African American, 26 (0.2%) Native American, 563 (4.7%) Asian, 13 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 343 (2.9%) from other races, and 484 (4.1%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 918 people (7.7%).

The census reported that 11,803 people (99.0% of the population) lived in households, 42 (0.4%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 81 (0.7%) were institutionalized.

There were 5,908 households, 1,314 (22.2%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 2,266 (38.4%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 433 (7.3%) had a female householder with no husband present, 197 (3.3%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 329 (5.6%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 74 (1.3%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 2,502 households (42.3%) were one person and 1,009 (17.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.00. There were 2,896 families (49.0% of households); the average family size was 2.77.

The age distribution was 2,176 people (18.2%) under the age of 18, 466 people (3.9%) aged 18 to 24, 2,620 people (22.0%) aged 25 to 44, 4,103 people (34.4%) aged 45 to 64, and 2,561 people (21.5%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 48.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 81.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 78.0 males.

There were 6,376 housing units at an average density of 1,966.1 per square mile, of the occupied units 2,898 (49.1%) were owner-occupied and 3,010 (50.9%) were rented. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.5%; the rental vacancy rate was 7.1%. 6,494 people (54.5% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 5,309 people (44.5%) lived in rental housing units.

Transportation

Ferry service

Larkspur is the location of Golden Gate Transit's Larkspur Landing, the main ferry terminal for its commuter passenger ferry service between Marin County and the San Francisco Ferry Building and job centers in the Financial District. This Golden Gate Ferry portals and has a ridership of over 8,500 per day, on average. There is special direct ferry service from the Larkspur Ferry Terminal to Oracle Park for San Francisco Giants games.

Rail service

The Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit commuter rail service was extended to Larkspur station in 2019. The line provides daily trips as far north as Charles M. Schulz–Sonoma County Airport and is eventually planned to extend to Cloverdale station.

The North Pacific Coast Railroad (later absorbed by the Northwestern Pacific Railroad) provided interurban services to Larkspur until 1941.

Education

Larkspur-Corte Madera School District serves much of Larkspur for elementary and middle school. Neil Cummins Elementary School and Hall Middle School serve both Corte Madera and Larkspur. Neil Cummins serves grades K to 5, while Hall serves grades 6 to 8. The former San Clemente Elementary School was reopened as The Cove School in 2014. In lieu of extensive retrofit to the existing structures, new buildings have been built on the same site. This school serves neighborhoods currently served by Neil Cummins Elementary, mostly to the west of Highway 101, and new developments in the area.

A portion of Larkspur is in the Kentfield Elementary School District.

The Tamalpais Union High School District, which serves most of Larkspur (the Larkspur-Corte Madera and Kentfield district portions), comprises five high schools that serve the region.

A portion of Larkspur is in the San Rafael Elementary School District and the San Rafael High School District, jointly operated as San Rafael City Schools.

Marin Primary and Middle School is a local private school.

The College of Marin is a public community college in Marin County with two campuses, one in Kentfield. The Kentfield campus is adjacent to the Larkspur town limit. Operational since 1926, it is the only institution operated by the Marin Community College District.

In popular culture

Scenes in the 1949 film noir Impact featured several areas around Larkspur, including the home and gas station of the Probert family, in the location now occupied by Perry's Larkspur restaurant. In the film, the town is frequently mentioned as being in Idaho.

The final scenes of Clint Eastwood's 1971 movie Dirty Harry were filmed in Larkspur at the old Hutchison Gravel Quarry (now Larkspur Landing).

Town twinning

• US Corte Madera, California ("twin city")
• PRC Shangyu, Zhejiang, China (sister city)

Notable people

• Jake Curhan (born 1998), American football offensive tackle for the Seattle Seahawks of the National Football League (NFL)
• Matt Doyle, Broadway actor.
• Leonard Gardner, author of the novel Fat City, lives in Larkspur.
• Erin Gray, television actress.
• Janis Joplin's last known residence was located in Larkspur at 380 West Baltimore Avenue.{{cite news|journal=Marin Independent Journal|url=http://www.marinij.com/ci_8136414 |title=County to buy slice of Janis Joplin's former Larkspur estate
• Charles S. Kilburn, U.S. Army brigadier general
• Ki Longfellow grew up in Larkspur's Madrone Canyon: 201 Madrone Avenue, (The Illustrated Vivian Stanshall, a Fairytale of Grimm Art, Eio Books, 2018)
• Gavin Newsom, California Governor, lived in Larkspur in his youth.{{cite news|journal=San Francisco Chronicle|url=https://www.sfgate.com/politics/article/Gonzalez-Newsom-What-makes-them-run-From-2510021.php |title=Gonzalez, Newsom: What makes them run / From modest beginnings, Newsom finds connections for business, political success
• Steve Perry, former lead singer of rock band Journey.
• Michael Savage, conservative broadcaster.
• Leon Uris wrote his acclaimed first novel, Battle Cry (1953), in Larkspur.
• Corinne West, singer/songwriter.

Gallery

File:Alexander-Acacia Bridge Alexander Ave & Acacia Ave Larkspur CA 3-21-2010 1-20-18 PM.JPG|Alexander-Acacia Bridge, Larkspur File:Larkspur Fire Department May 2013.jpg|Fire Department, Larkspur File:Downtown Larkspur, California 2011 B - Stierch.jpg|Downtown Larkspur File:Larkspur Library entrance, Larkspur, CA.jpg|entrance to Larkspur Library in city hall, Larkspur File:St. Patrick's Church, Larkspur, CA.jpg |St. Patrick's Church, across from Larkspur City Hall File:Dolliver House 58 Madrone Ave Larkspur CA 3-21-2010 2-06-23 PM.JPG|Dolliver House in Madrone Canyon, Larkspur File:Lark Theater, Larkspur, California.jpg|Lark Theater on Magnolia St., Larkspur File:Larkspur 100 years banner.jpg|street banner celebrating the 100th anniversary of Larkspur File:Larkspur post office, Larkspur, California.jpg|U.S. post office in Larkspur File:Blue Rock Inn, Larkspur, CA.jpg|the Blue Rock Inn (formerly the Blue Rock Hotel) on Magnolia St., Larkspur File:Green Brae Brick Yard 125 E Sir Francis Drake Blvd Larkspur CA 3-21-2010 2-30-23 PM.JPG|Greenbrae Brick Yard, Larkspur File:Larkspur Landing 3020 03.JPG|Larkspur Landing File:Larkspur Library under construction Aug 17 2025.jpg|Larkspur Library (under construction in August 2025)

References

References

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20. (2010). "Larkspur Past and Present: A History and Walking Guide". Larkspur Heritage Preservation Board.
21. "Ferry History". [[Golden Gate Ferry]].
22. (May 2009). "FINALE – Hutchinson Co. Quarry, Larkspur Landing, CA « Dirty Harry Filming Locations".
23. Poskanzer, Jef. "20sep2002 Dirty Harry / mvc-3540".
24. Jason, Will. (November 15, 2012). "China delegation visits Marin schools, health care institutions". Marin Independent Journal.
25. (August 18, 1947). "Ousted General Given Ovation". [[The San Bernardino Sun]].
26. Stone, Judy. (April 25, 1953). "Rave Reviews For War Novel By Ex-Marine PFC Of Larkspur". Daily Independent Journal.