El Campo (later renamed Paradise Beach) was a picnic resort established in 1891 by the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad[2] in hopes of increasing ridership on their ferries between San Francisco and Marin. Facilities at the resort included a dance pavilion, merry-go-round, bowling alley, fishing pier, shooting gallery and over 100 acres of picnic grounds. The resort became such a popular attraction that crowds lined up on the pier in San Francisco on the weekend to catch the ferry to the resort. Because the site was only accessible by ferry, a local newspaper wrote that families could enjoy "absolute freedom from the incursions of hoodlums."[3]
El Campo | |
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Private recreational facility | |
![]() El Campo Location in California Show map of California![]() ![]() El Campo El Campo (the United States) Show map of the United States | |
Coordinates: 37°53′51″N 122°27′55″W | |
Country | United States |
State | California |
County | Marin County |
Elevation | 56 ft (17 m) |
The name, El Campo, is derived from a Spanish phrase meaning "the flat country".[4] The site was located on the San Francisco Bay, 3 miles (4.8 km) south-southeast of Point San Quentin.[2]
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