Hamlet, California

{{Short description|Unincorporated community in California, United States}} {{Use American English|date=July 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2023}}

{{Infobox settlement   |name = Hamlet |other_name = |native_name = |nickname = |settlement_type =[[Unincorporated area|Unincorporated community]] |image_skyline = |imagesize = |image_caption = |pushpin_map =California#USA |pushpin_label_position =bottom |pushpin_mapsize = |pushpin_map_caption =Location in California |pushpin_image=California Locator Map with US.PNG  |subdivision_type = Country |subdivision_name =[[United States]] |subdivision_type1 = State |subdivision_name1 = [[California]] |subdivision_type2 =County |subdivision_name2 = [[Marin County, California|Marin]] |subdivision_type3 = |subdivision_name3 = | |established_title =  |established_date = |coordinates = {{coord|38|12|28|N|122|55|32|W|region:US-CA|display=inline,title}} |elevation_footnotes = <ref name=gnis>{{gnis|1658702}}</ref> |elevation_m =7 |elevation_ft =23 |footnotes = }} '''Hamlet''' (also '''Telmat''')<ref name=CGN /> is an [[Unincorporated area#United States|unincorporated community]] in [[Marin County, California|Marin County]], [[California]], United States.<ref name=gnis /> It is located on the northeastern shore of [[Tomales Bay]] and the [[Northwestern Pacific Railroad]], {{convert|3|mi|km}} south-southwest of [[Tomales, California|Tomales]],<ref name=CGN>{{California's Geographic Names|640}}</ref> at an elevation of 23 feet (7 m).<ref name=gnis />

A post office operated at Hamlet from 1876 to 1886.<ref name=CGN /> The Telmat post office operated from 1917 to 1931.<ref name=CGN />

The land on which Hamlet was initially built was purchased in 1862 by Edwin Moore, who in turn sold the land to Samuel Nowlin, who in his turn sold the land to John Hamlet in 1870, a dairyman originally from Tennessee. The area became known as Hamlet at this time. Soon after, in 1874, the [[North Pacific Coast Railroad]] was built to Hamlet. The town initially was centered on dairying and potato farming, but [[oyster]] farming soon became a major economic activity, and oyster and herring packing facilities opened in 1917. The facilities did not last long, but oyster farming remained a significant part of the economy until heavy storms in 1982 caused the oyster beds to silt in.<ref>{{cite book |last=Livingston |first=Douglas |author-link= |date=1989 |title=Hamlet: 1844-1988 |url=http://npshistory.com/publications/pore/hrs-hamlet.pdf |location=Point Reyes National Seashore, CA |publisher=National Park Service |pages=4-35 |isbn=}}</ref> Since then, tourism has been the major industry in the area.

==References==

[[Category:Unincorporated communities in California]] [[Category:Unincorporated communities in Marin County, California]] [[Category:Populated coastal places in California]]