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The Brothers (San Francisco Bay) facts for kids

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The Brothers
Brothers-islands.jpg
Aerial photo of The Brothers
The Brothers is located in San Francisco Bay Area
The Brothers
The Brothers
Location in San Francisco Bay Area
The Brothers is located in California
The Brothers
The Brothers
Location in California
The Brothers is located in the United States
The Brothers
The Brothers
Location in the United States
Geography
Coordinates 37°57′48″N 122°25′59″W / 37.96333°N 122.43306°W / 37.96333; -122.43306
Administration
State California
County Contra Costa County, California
Brother Islands next to each other, from the water
West Brother Island and East Brother Light Station

The Brothers are a pair of small islands, East Brother and West Brother, located in the San Rafael Bay embayment of San Pablo Bay, these roughly 1,000 feet (300 m) west of Point San Pablo in Contra Costa County, California.

History

CA topo san quentin quadrangle
USGS Topographic Map of San Rafael Bay area.

The 19th century Mexican Diseño del Rancho de San Pablo, (diseño: a plat map typically used to indicate rancho land grant boundaries in Alta California), names East Brother Island as Isla de Pajaros or "Bird Island." They are shown, labeled "The Brothers", on an 1850 survey map of the San Francisco Bay area made by Cadwalader Ringgold.

The Brothers, along with The Sisters (two exposed rocks two miles (3.2 kilometres) north of the Marin Islands, just off Point San Pedro) on the opposite side of San Pablo Strait, were originally reserved for military purposes by order of President Andrew Johnson in 1867. After many a court battle, the plans were scrapped.

East Brother Island is home to the East Brother Island Light, a light house and a Victorian house, that is a present-day bed and breakfast.

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