It shares a ZIP code (94920) with the smaller incorporated city of Belvedere (formerly a separate island), which occupies the southwest part of the peninsula and is contiguous with Tiburon.

Besides Belvedere and Tiburon, much of the peninsula is unincorporated,[10] including portions of the north side and the communities of Strawberry and Paradise Cay.

It is now a commuter and tourist town, linked by fast ferry services to San Francisco and with a concentration of restaurants and clothes shops.

The Benjamin and Hilarita Lyford House, formerly located on their dairy farm on Strawberry Point, is now a feature of the Audubon Society's Western Headquarters and Sanctuary on Greenwood Beach Road.

He made a deal with the Reed family for a right-of-way, blasted out the rock at Point Tiburon, and built a railroad terminal to connect with ferries of San Francisco Bay.

Wildflowers surround Old St. Hilary's, Tiburon's iconic hillside landmark, which was originally a mission church named for St. Hilaire, Bishop of Poitiers.

The heirs of John Reed — who held title to El Rancho Corte Madera del Presidio, the Mexican land grant that included the Tiburon Peninsula — deeded the one-quarter-acre site for $2.00 to the Archdiocese of San Francisco, which built the church as a place of worship for local railroad workers in 1888.

The church was deconsecrated to make way for a new, larger one and was headed for destruction until several individuals intent on preserving local history established the Landmarks Society and purchased the site and building in 1959.

Passenger ferry service was resumed in the 1960s when Harbor Carriers utilized sightseeing boats in the early morning and evening hours.

Brick kilns were built and several powder plants opened, and oyster beds developed in the shallow waters of the bay.

As World War II loomed, the coaling station site was transformed into the United States Navy Net Depot Tiburon.

With all the seamen, sailors, railroad workers, cannery employees, and local dairymen in Tiburon, the taverns and other attractions of Main Street were popular on Saturday night.

Prohibition did not interrupt Main Street activities as the railroad workers were able to signal the Tiburon depot as soon as revenuers boarded a train or ferry headed for town.

The volunteer fire department organized spirited baseball games, and the Corinthian Yacht Club was in full swing, so Main Street was not the only activity center.

There had been numerous attempts to incorporate a City of Tiburon over the years, but they had all failed to come to a vote due to the opposition of the large land owners.

In 1963, after a number of adverse rulings by County planners regarding development on the Tiburon Peninsula, the leaders of the TPCC decided that another attempt to incorporate was justified.

The main issues were: revision of the 1956 Master Plan, improved police services, opposition to the bridge to San Francisco, preservation of open space, and a desire for responsive local government.

Property values were rising faster than funds could be accumulated, so bonds were issued and several hundred acres of open space were acquired.

The four-lane bypass section from Highway 101 to Blackie's Pasture (the old Tiburon Boulevard became Greenwood Beach Road) was completed in 1966.

Following a large and successful Millennium Party, the Town has pursued a policy to revitalize Main Street and the rest of downtown Tiburon.

Main Street was closed to automobile traffic on Friday nights during the summer and the restaurants created special menus for the occasion.

In November 2006, a commissioned fountain with a nautically themed sculpture titled "Coming About" at the entrance to Main Street was formally dedicated.

[19] At the lowest level, any new construction or exterior renovation, commercial or residential, must be approved by the design review board, which often applies stringent criteria to avoid "eyesores" and preserve neighbors' views.

[20] More significantly, there remain several large tracts of undeveloped land, virtually all of which have owners who desire to build multiple residences on these properties.

[21][22] Major tracts of land currently in various stages of planning or permitting include the Martha Property, Easton Point and Tiburon Glen.

The Martha Co. property and Easton Point, the largest of the undeveloped lands, are particularly contested issues, with court battles dating back to 1975.

[23] Historically the Ring Mountain property was an area of contest, especially due to the high biodiversity and presence of rare and endangered species, such as the mariposa lily.

These were opposed by a number of neighbors, principally over the size of a new multi-purpose room, and the traffic and noise impact of a proposed 27 additional events with up to 250 persons.

[26] The Tiburon City Council tried to resolve the issue late in the 2006 by permitting a somewhat reduced expansion with restrictions on event sizes and hours and provisions to mitigate the parking, noise and traffic impacts.

[43][44][45][46][47][48][49] It also has been named a state General Excellence winner among small weekly newspapers by the California News Publishers Association in 2014 and each year 2018-2021.