Ali Akbar College of Music

The San Rafael Improvement Club, at 1800 5th Ave. in San Rafael, California, was built in 1915. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1984.It was built in 1915 as a pavilion for the Panama–Pacific International Exposition in San Francisco, and was relocated and reassembled in 1916 in the City of San Rafael to be used as a permanent clubhouse building the San Rafael Improvement Club, a civic organization founded in 1902. The organization may or may not have defined itself as a women's club, but photos show that is what it was. It served as the Victrola Pavilion, for the Victrola company, inside the Liberal Arts Palace.It is a wooden building about 63 by 63 feet (19 m × 19 m) in plan. It was designed by William B. Faville in Classical Revival style. When it was reassembled, a roof was added.It was eventually sold by the club. It was unused from 1997 to at least 2018.The only other building surviving from the 1915 exposition is the San Francisco Palace of Fine Arts.

The Bradford House in San Rafael, California, also known as Bradford Manor or as Bradford/Sharp House, was built in 1883. It was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1980.It was deemed "an exceptional example of Stick/Eastlake style." It is a two-and-a-half-story mansion built largely of redwood, and is about 60 by 56 feet (18 m × 17 m) in plan. It is asymmetrical on all floors, with a veranda, some porches, and a steep and complex roof.It was built for William Bushnell Bradford and his wife Pauline Bradford, and is located in a cul de sac at 333 G Street, in the park-like Forbes Addition area about .25 miles (0.40 km) northwest of downtown San Rafael.Descendants sold the home in 1916 and it was later divided into seven apartments.

Marin Academy (familiarly known as MA) is a private college preparatory high school in San Rafael, California. Located on the campus that for decades housed the San Rafael Military Academy prior to its closure, Marin Academy was founded in 1971 with 118 faculty members and a student body of 449. Marin Academy is one of the most competitive private high schools in the Bay Area. In the 2015–2016 school year, Marin Academy accepted only one in four students who applied.

The San Rafael Fire Department (SRFD) provides fire and emergency medical services to the City of San Rafael, California. The San Rafael Fire Department serves an estimated population of 72,000 people with approximately 70 firefighting and emergency medical field personnel. The ISO Class 1 department responds to, on average, approximately 9,000 emergency calls annually, with about 70% being emergency medical calls. EMS patients are transported to the hospital of their choice, unless the call is urgent. The department staffs six stations with 23 personnel daily. Strategically located throughout the city are six frontline Type 1 engines, two brush engines an aerial ladder truck, two frontline ambulances, and a battalion chief each shift. An additional engine is cross-staffed by the crew of the frontline truck, and two additional ambulances and are cross-staffed by the crews of an Engine 55 and Engine 56. County wide mutual aid provides relief and additional support during large scale incidents and during high call volume. Because the majority (70%) of calls are EMS related, a paramedic is onboard all engines. Also, one additional ambulance is stored at Station 55 (Medic 55) and another at Station 56 (Medic 56). While these units are not staffed full-time, they are cross-staffed by the crew of the engine companies and can respond if Medic 52 and Medic 57 are committed to other calls. In 2021, the department responded to 9,088 total calls, up from 7,041 in 2012.

San Rafael ( SAN rə-FEL; Spanish for "St. Raphael", Spanish pronunciation: [san rafaˈel]) is a city and the county seat of Marin County, California, United States. The city is located in the North Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the city's population was 61,271, up from 57,713 in 2010. San Rafael was founded by the Spanish in 1817, when Vicente Francisco de Sarría established Mission San Rafael Arcángel, initially as an asistencia (sub-mission). San Rafael Arcángel was upgraded to full mission status in 1822, a month before Alta California declared independence from Spain as part of Mexico. Following the American Conquest of California, the community of San Rafael incorporated as a city in 1874.

The Marin History Museum is a museum with two locations in Marin County, California, US. It includes the historic Boyd Gate House, the museum's main exhibition space, in San Rafael, and the Collections Research Facility, in Novato. It is one of about a dozen US museums that has launched a mobile app to view the county's historic hotspots.

The Mill Valley Film Festival is an annual American film festival founded in 1977.

Mission San Rafael Arcángel is a Spanish mission in San Rafael, California. It was founded in 1817 as a medical asistencia ("sub-mission") of Mission San Francisco de Asís. It was a hospital to treat sick Native Americans, making it Alta California's first sanitarium. The weather was much better than in San Francisco, which helped the ill get better. It was not intended to be a stand-alone mission, but nevertheless grew and prospered and was granted full mission status on October 19, 1822.

The Museum of International Propaganda is a non-profit institution that opened its doors in 2016 in San Rafael, California.

The Marin Art and Garden Center is a botanical garden in Ross, California. The site is 11 acres and features gardens and historic buildings, including the Barn Theater, which is home to theater company Ross Valley Players. Admission to the gardens is free.

Ross is a small incorporated town in Marin County, California, United States, just north of San Francisco. Ross is located 1.5 miles (2.4 km) west-southwest of San Rafael, at an elevation of 36 feet (11 m). The population was 2,338 at the 2020 census. The town is bordered by San Rafael to the east, Kentfield to the south, San Anselmo to the north, and the Mount Tamalpais protected watershed to the west. Ross is named in honor of James Ross, who acquired Rancho Punta de Quentin in 1859.

New George's was a nightclub and concert venue located in San Rafael, California. History of the venue dates back to the 1920s when it was a recreational pool hall. The building was remodeled into a nightclub in 1977 and named New George's until it closed in 2003. It was during this time many famous artists performed at the venue, including Jefferson Airplane, Grateful Dead, Santana, Huey Lewis and the News, Bonnie Raitt and Melissa Etheridge.