Mare Island was opened in 1884 to build military ships; over 500 were built there. Most of it is reclaimed land, and that’s fascinating in itself.   It was decommissioned in 1996 and is now a historical park for all to visit and see an amazing assortment of buildings, art, informational writings, photos, and more.  Those of us there all agreed that when you go once you want to go back and spend more time there.

Our excellent bus driver Casey got us there and our super tour guide, Lou, met us on arrival, and off we went on our tour.

We spent most of our time at three spots:

* St. Peter’s Chapel, built in 1901, is built mainly of redwood and is not only the first military chapel built in America, it is renowned for its beautiful Tiffany designed stained glass windows.  Tiffany said he did not want to paint on glass, he wanted to paint with glass.  The over twenty windows are amazingly brilliant and beautiful as they depict St. Gabriel, St. Peter, Jesus Christ and more.

* The Admiral’s Mansion is one of the largest (over 10,000 square feet) of the colonial revival mansions on the island.  The spaciousness, the woodwork, the design of the rooms all are wonderful.

* The Artifact Museum has so much to read, so much to see, so much to learn, and so much to enjoy.  We drove all around Mare Island with Lou, our guide, telling us what was what, when built, who lived and worked here, fun trivia, and how the Island is now becoming not only a commercial area, but a living area with homes and apartments being built or refurbished and offered for sale or rent.

If you want more information about tours and costs their website is http://www.mareislandhpf.org.