CITY OF SAN ANSELMO by Amazon Stones

San Anselmo is an incorporated town in Marin County, California, in the western United States. San Anselmo is located 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west of San Rafael, at an elevation of 46 feet (14 m). It is located about 20 miles (32 km) north of San Francisco. Neighboring towns include San Rafael to the east, Fairfax to the west, and Ross to the south. Mount Tamalpais dominates the view to the south. The population was 12,378 at the 2000 census. Among its notable inhabitants are Michael Jantze and George Lucas.

San Anselmo was mostly pastoral until 1874 when the North Pacific Coast Railroad (NPC) added to its line a spur track from San Anselmo to San Rafael. In 1875, the railroad completed a line from Sausalito to Tomales and north to Cazadero via San Anselmo. For a few years, the town was referred to on railroad maps as Junction, but in 1883, the name San Anselmo came back into use. The San Anselmo post office opened in 1892. Two postal substations were operated: Lansdale from 1924 to 1962, and Yolanda from 1924 to 1954.

From 1902 until the early 1940s, San Anselmo was part of Marin's Northwestern Pacific (in 1907, investors formed the NWP) Electric Train system. The oddly-shaped Miracle Mile and Center Boulevard's "raised roadbed" were the railroad's right of way. Becoming unprofitable as a result of competition from the automobile and the opening of the Golden Gate Bridge, the railway was officially closed on March 1, 1941. The last of the major San Anselmo railroad station buildings was razed in 1963, according to the town's timeline. Interestingly, the 1913 electric train schedule shows a commute time from San Anselmo to the Sausalito Ferry to the Ferry Building in San Francisco of a mere 58 minutes, including the 32 minute ferry transit.

San Anselmo incorporated in April 9, 1907. Its name came from the Punta de Quintin land grant, which marked this valley as the Canada del Anselmo (Valley of Anselm - an Indian who was buried in the area). San Anselmo was a silent film capital in the early 1900s. On March 12, 1974 San Anselmo officially became a town.

The town features in the song Snow in San Anselmo by Irish singer/songwriter Van Morrison, about an unusual bout of winter weather that occurred when he was staying in San Anselmo while on tour.

Most of the downtown antique and boutique stores and restaurants, for which San Anselmo is well known, are along the banks of San Anselmo Creek. Heavy rains caused the creek to flood in 1982, as well as recently on December 31, 2005.