Inverness is an unincorporated community in western Marin County, California, United States. It is located on the southwestern shore of Tomales Bay, northwest of Point Reyes Station and approximately via road northwest of San Francisco, at an elevation of .
Community
Inverness is located on the west shore of Tomales Bay, which runs southeast along the line of the San Andreas Fault. Surrounded by Point Reyes National Seashore, it is primarily a residential community, with little industry other than tourism. It has a small downtown area with a general store, post office, library, two restaurants, one gift shop and a coffee shop. A third restaurant is located a short way north of downtown. There are also a number of hotels and inns spread throughout the town.
One aspect of the town is a concentration of recreational (and some commercial) boating. There is a small public marina, a few private piers, and the Inverness Yacht Club.
Portions of the John Carpenter film The Fog as well as most of his film Village of the Damned were shot in and around Inverness. In 1970, American singer and songwriter Jesse Colin Young moved his home and recording studio to Inverness. In 1993, Young and his wife Connie founded Ridgetop Music, a label based out of their home in Inverness.
History
thumb|256px|Brock Schreiber Boathouse on Tomales Bay|right
The town is about northeast of Drakes Bay on the Pacific Ocean, named after Sir Francis Drake, who explored the coast in the 16th century. Although Drake's official log was lost, the ship's doctor's log described landing in an area that reminded him of the White Cliffs of Dover. Drakes Bay is backed by similar-looking cliffs, leading many to believe this is where the ship landed.
The region became the property of James Shafter, who began to develop the property in the 1890s. It became a summer resort where people from San Francisco and Oakland came to camp, hike and swim in Tomales Bay. Many built small summer cabins that still exist today. Small steamboats took day trippers down the bay to secluded beaches. They left from Brock Schreiber's boathouse, which has been preserved and is a prominent local landmark with its prominent sign "Launch for Hire".
The first post office opened in 1897.
|date=April 2020
Demographics
Inverness first appeared as a census designated place in the 1990 U.S. census.
!Pop 2010
!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |Pop 2020
!% 2000
!% 2010
!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020
|-
|White alone (NH)
|1,292
|1,172
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,166
|90.92%
|89.88%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |84.55%
|-
|Black or African American alone (NH)
|6
|10
|style='background: #ffffe6; |4
|0.42%
|0.77%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.29%
|-
|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)
|6
|5
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0
|0.42%
|0.38%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.00%
|-
|Asian alone (NH)
|16
|16
|style='background: #ffffe6; |23
|1.13%
|1.23%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1.67%
|-
|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)
|0
|2
|style='background: #ffffe6; |8
|0.00%
|0.15%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.58%
|-
|Other race alone (NH)
|0
|0
|style='background: #ffffe6; |13
|0.00%
|0.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.94%
|-
|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)
|20
|20
|style='background: #ffffe6; |71
|1.41%
|1.53%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |5.15%
|-
|Hispanic or Latino (any race)
|81
|79
|style='background: #ffffe6; |94
|5.70%
|6.06%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |6.82%
|-
|Total
|1,421
|1,304
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,379
|100.00%
|100.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%
|}
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Inverness had a population of 1,379 and a population density of . The whole population lived in households. 0.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 100.0% lived in rural areas.
There were 702 households, out of which 106 (15.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 307 (43.7%) were married-couple households, 54 (7.7%) were cohabiting couple households, 208 (29.6%) had a female householder with no partner present, and 133 (18.9%) had a male householder with no partner present. 262 households (37.3%) were one person, and 146 (20.8%) were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 1.96. There were 369 families (52.6% of all households).
References
External links
- Inverness Library
- Inverness info at pointreyes.org