Sir Francis Drake Boulevard
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Sir Francis Drake Boulevard is an east–west arterial road in Marin County, California, running from just west of the Richmond-San Rafael Bridge (where it intersects with Interstate 580) to the trailhead for Point Reyes Lighthouse at the end of the Point Reyes Peninsula. It is a main thoroughfare through the communities of Larkspur, Greenbrae, Kentfield, Ross, San Anselmo, Fairfax, Woodacre, San Geronimo, Forest Knolls, Lagunitas, Olema, Point Reyes Station, and Inverness.
It is named for the English explorer Francis Drake, whose ship The Golden Hinde landed somewhere along the Pacific coast of North America in 1579, claiming the area for England as "Nova Albion." Drake's landing place has often been theorized to be at what is now called Drakes Bay, northeast of the western terminus for the boulevard on Point Reyes.
In the 1960s, the majority of the route of Sir Francis Drake Boulevard was to be expanded into State Route 251; however this plan was not implemented due to strong opposition by environmental groups.
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