San Anselmo (Spanish for 'Saint Anselm') is an incorporated town in Marin County, California, United States.

San Anselmo sits on Costal Miwok land which was inhabited prior to American and Spanish settlers.

For a few years, the town was listed on railroad maps as "Junction", but in 1883 the name San Anselmo came back into use.

[7] From 1902 until the early 1940s, San Anselmo was part of Marin's Northwestern Pacific (in 1907, investors formed the NWP) Electric Train system.

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.

During World War II, the Army based a small ammunition storage dump, known as ASP #2, about 2 miles (3.2 km) up Butterfield Road from Sir Francis Drake Blvd.

[14] During the war, the Sleepy Hollow Country Club, located in the old Hotaling mansion, was still open and provided a pleasant break from "grueling" guard duty, according to those stationed at the ammo dump.

Windows were covered with cloth or thick paper during the war to deny enemy bombers illuminated nighttime bombing targets.

[16] In the late afternoon of November 2, 1941, five weeks before the US entered the war, San Anselmo residents were startled when two low-flying Curtiss P-40 warplanes roared up the valley at just above roof level and crashed into the east side of Bald Hill (often incorrectly reported as Mount Baldy or Bald Mountain) at 5:40 pm.

Element leader Lt. Thomas "Bud" L. Truax and Lt. Russell E. Speckman were killed when their planes crashed, in low visibility, into Bald Hill, just shy of the peak.

A third pilot, Lt. Walter V. "Ramblin" Radovich,[19] had left the formation over San Rafael, almost hit the city courthouse on 4th Street, circled the Forbes Hill radio beacon (37°58'44.73"N,122°32'50.78"W), clipped a tree and then turned northeast, towards Hamilton Field.

Unsure of what the oncoming terrain would be and critically low on fuel, he decided to climb up though the typically thin marine cloud layer to 2,500 feet (760 m), trim the airplane for straight and level flight and bail out.

Ironically, after Lt. Radovich bailed out, the airplane slowly descended back down through the clouds and made a relatively smooth "gear-up" landing.

In 1963, a cast iron statue of a deer affectionately known as "Sugarfoot" by locals was donated to the town by Joeseph Dondero.

This statue still stands today and children enjoy riding on his back after trips to the library next door.

"[20] Lucas worked on his Star Wars script for two and a half years, writing much of it at the back of his San Anselmo house in a room he shared with a gaudy Wurlitzer jukebox.

In 1977, Lucas screened an early version of Star Wars, without completed special effects, at his San Anselmo home for a small group of Hollywood friends, including the producer Alan Ladd Jr., directors Steven Spielberg, Brian DePalma, and Martin Scorsese, and screenwriters Jay Cocks, Willard Huyck, and Gloria Katz.

Sir Francis Drake Boulevard runs north from Ross, turns northwest at the Hub, and then proceeds west to Fairfax.

About every 15–23 years, heavy rains cause San Anselmo Creek to flood the center of town by up to 4 feet—1925,[27] 1940 (11.38 in or 289 mm rainfall in 3 days), 1963, January 1982,[28] as well as December 30/31, 2005.

The worst flood, on January 2, 1982 (the highest creek water level, according to interviews with longtime creek-side residents) was preceded by a rainfall amount that exceeded 8 in (200 mm) in 12 hours.

San Anselmo's historic raised railroad bed (now Center Boulevard), acts as a dike, providing some flood protection to the west-side houses, upstream of the business district.

A number of homes on the floodplain (called the "Flatlands" by the Town) as far back as at least 1920, have been built with raised foundations to accommodate the minor periodic floods.

[32] The town of San Anselmo is the second-most Democratic political subdivision in Marin County (behind only Fairfax).