Just off Highway 101 in Novato, Rancho Olompali was where the Grateful Dead had a summer home in 1966, many members of other local bands such as the Airplane, The Charlatans and Quicksilver Messenger Service would show up to jam and party.
In January of 1969, the commune that was created by a wealthy Marin businessman named Donald McCoy, was raided twice by the local police, and a number of people that called Olampali home were arrested. Shortly afterwards, the historic Burdell mansion located on the grounds was destroyed by a fire caused by its antiquated electrical wiring. The subsequent drowning a few months later of two young girls in Olompali’s pool turned out to be the last in a series of tragedies that spelled the end of McCoy’s social experiment.
For more information, check out “Olompali, A Hippie Odyssey” here.
Grateful Dead Discography
1967 – The Grateful Dead
1968 – Anthem of the Sun
1969 – Aoxomoxoa
1969 – Live/Dead
1970 – Workingman’s Dead
1970 – American Beauty
1971 – Grateful Dead
1972 – Europe ’72
1973 – History of the Grateful Dead, Volume One
1973 – Wake Of The Flood
1974 – From the Mars Hotel
1975 – Blues for Allah
1976 – Steal Your Face
1977 – Terrapin Station
1978 – Shakedown Street
1980 – Go to Heaven
1981 – Reckoning
1981 – Dead Set
1987 – In the Dark
1989 – Dylan & the Dead
1989 – Built To Last
Olompali State Park
Novato CA
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