A Brief History of Marin Amateur Radio Club
Marin Amateur Radio Club Logo
The Marin Amateur Radio Club was founded in 1933 by a rather local group of radio operators for the purpose of comradeship and associating with others in Amateur Radio. In those days, 160 meters was considered high frequency and the equipment was strictly home brew. The nightly conversations went on for hours.
Just after WW II many stations shifted to a variety of surplus equipment becoming available and 75 AM phone became the band of choice with many mobile’s and their characteristic long antennas on Sunday mornings at the Red Cross building. A handful of those early pioneers are still members of MARC to this day.
In 1983, the government leased us a surplus building on “radio hill” at Hamilton Air Force Base along
with a 150 foot free standing tower. Known as “building 549”, this became the “official” clubhouse for
all activities although members continued informal Sunday coffee clatches at the Red Cross building in
San Rafael fondly dubbed as the “babble class”.
In 1990, the Marin Amateur Radio Club incorporated as a Non-Profit (501 (c)(3) with 126 members.
In 1997, the club was gifted the old Alto firehouse in Mill Valley and after months of renovation, our
headquarters and meetings were moved to that facility. The former living quarters were refurbished
and rented thus providing a solid revenue stream for the club.
Take a look at the history of the MARS Clubhouse.
In 2000, the Marin Amateur Radio Club, Inc. merged with the Amateur Communications Society, Inc. (call sign K6GWE) to form the current Marin Amateur Radio Society, Inc.
