The Last of the Temporary Wartime Housing

In April 1962, nearly 570 families resided in Marin City, some living in homes that had been built in the early 1940s and intended to house Marinship workers and their families. To clear the way for redevelopment, twenty-seven wartime buildings had been scheduled to be burned that month. The Marin County Fire Department completed the final phase of burning the residential duplexes on April 20, 1962. These structures had been “to serve for the duration of the war and five years thereafter.” Due to the shortages of critical war materials, the comfort and sanitation of these structures were understood to be substandard for long-term occupancy.