Nestled in the hills just west of Fairfax is the Bothin Youth Center (Camp Bothin), a Girl Scout summer camp that has been in existence since 1948. However, in the first few decades of the twentieth century, the site was partially home to the Arequipa Tuberculosis Sanatorium. It owed its existence to the remarkable work and dedication of caring nurses and doctors and their philanthropic friends who wanted to provide long-term, quality care for wage-earning women suffering from the early stages of tuberculosis.

Marin’s early agricultural importance to a growing San Francisco, especially the raising of dairy and beef cattle, required farmers and ranchers to dedicate enormous amounts of land to hay and pastureland. Accounts of “haying “ could be found in the summer issues of Marin newspapers as early as the 1860s.

A November 1878 edition of the Marin Journal newspaper ran the following advertisement: “Zopf’s Wine Gardens: Beautiful flower gardens with rustic harbors and retreats, a delightful resort.” The winery, tavern and restaurant had been established the previous decade by Herman Zopf, a native of German-speaking Prussia.

By today’s standards, this group of happy young couples seems rather proper and sedate. However, in the latter part of the nineteenth century such clubs where young, unmarried men and women would gather for socializing were thought by many to be indiscreet, if not downright improper. The image captures the warm and playful spirit of the Sausalito Flirtation Group.