It was charted in 1827 by Royal Navy captain Frederick Beechey, who called it "Molate Island", a distortion of the Spanish name.

[6] Selim E. Woodworth was the first owner and resident of Red Rock Island, where in the 19th century he built a cabin and maintained a hunting preserve.

Two hundred tons of ore were removed by speculators, including Norwegian and Swedish mariners, who used the rock for ballast and then sold it to paint manufacturers in Europe.

After a series of owners, David Glickman, at the time a San Francisco attorney and part-time real estate buyer, purchased the island in 1964 for US$49,500.

[3] In the 1980s, a plan was proposed (but never implemented) to remove the top half of the island (which would be sold for highway roadbed construction).