Emergency Biohazard Cleanup Services in Novato, CA

Novato takes its name from Rancho Novato, an 8,876-acre Mexican land grant made in 1839 to Fernando Feliz and named for a local Coast Miwok leader said to have been baptized with the name Saint Novatus.

Before the rancho era, the Novato area was home to several Coast Miwok villages, including Olómpali, now preserved as Olompali State Historic Park just north of the city.

Olompali was the site of the only battle of the 1846 Bear Flag Revolt that led to California statehood, and later held Marin County's first formal garden.

Pioneers Joseph Sweetser and Francis De Long bought 15,000 acres around Novato in the mid-1850s and planted some of the area's first orchards and vineyards.

Novato did not incorporate until January 20, 1960, but it is now Marin County's second-largest city.

The 2020 census counted 53,225 residents in Novato, living in about 20,000 households.

Novato homes are among the priciest in the North Bay — the median value of owner-occupied homes tops $1 million.

Hamilton Army Airfield was developed in Novato and used by the U.S. Air Force during World War II; decommissioned in 1974, the base was later designated a historic district and redeveloped into neighborhoods and offices, with its old hangars converted into two-story office buildings.

Novato is home to the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, an independent biomedical research institute devoted to the biology of aging.

The city encompasses roughly 3,500 acres of open space and parkland, with Mount Burdell rising over its northern neighborhoods.