Hap Magee Ranch

Originally owned by August Hemme in 1852, just after

California achieved statehood, this land was purchased in 1911

by the San Francisco Protestant Orphanage Asylum.

Camp Swain was built to give foster children a warm summer

away from cold coastal fog. Campers slept in tents, swam in the

creek, picked fruit and raised rabbits. It operated until the start

of World War II in 1941. The only original camp building still

standing is The Swain House.

Harry and Juanita Magee purchased the land in 1946 and

renamed it Edgewood Farm. Their son, Harry "Hap" Jr., was

known as a "good ole cowboy" and kept his herd of

3,000 Texas Longhorn cattle here; one of the largest in America.

His favorite pet steer, "Andy" rode in the back seat space of

Hap's convertible Lincoln Continental in Danville parades and

ran down Wall Street in New York City for a

Merrill Lynch commercial in 1978.

After Hap's death in 1987 the Town of Danville and Contra

Costa County turned the land into Hap Magee Ranch Park to

honor our Cowboy Hall of Fame member,

Danville Heritage Resource Commission 2019