San Rafael, California

About San Rafael, California

San Rafael (IPA: /ˌsænrəˈfɛl/; originally IPA: [sɑn rɑfɑˈɛl]), is the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. In 2002, the U.S. Census Bureau estimated that the city's population was 55,550.

What is now San Rafael was once the site of several Coast Miwok villages; Awani-wi, near downtown San Rafael, Ewu, near Terra Linda, and Shotomko-cha, in Marinwood.

Mission San Rafael Arcángel was founded in what is now downtown San Rafael as the 20th Spanish mission in the colonial Mexican province of Alta California by four priests--Father Narciso Durán from Mission San José, Father Abella from Mission San Francisco de Asís, Father Luis Gíl y Taboada from La Iglesia de Nuestra Señora Reina de los Angeles and Father Junípero Serra, Father Presidente of the Missions--on Dec. 14, 1817, four years before Mexico gained independence from Spain.