Marin County was one of the original counties formed in 1850 when California gained statehood.
Marin County initially conducted its court activities in two temporary buildings in the county seat of San Rafael: first in a restored Mission building (1851–56) and then in a converted home that once belonged to Timothy Murphy (1856–73). A permanent courthouse was built at Fourth and A starting in 1872. That courthouse served the county until the new Civic Center was completed in the late 1960s; after it was abandoned, the 1872 courthouse was burned in what authorities suspected was an arson on May 25, 1971.[4]
