Community Corner
Marin Shipwreck Documentary to Air on KQED-TV, PBS San Francisco
KQED-TV, PBS San Francisco to Air Marin Shipwreck Documentary
MARIN COUNTY, CA - A historical documentary titled The San Agustin: California Shipwreck, will air on PBS affiliate KQED-TV San Francisco in late January 2014. The half-hour documentary is produced by Marin County resident George Thelen of Thelen Creative, and highlights the journey of the legendary Spanish galleon San Agustin, which sank off Point Reyes in 1595. Thelen is a freelance content producer who recently led the creation of the Marin History Museum’s award-winning mobile Application and audio documentary series. The program will air on Wednesday, January 22, at 11:00pm and again on Sunday, January 26, at 3:00pm on KQED-TV.
The San Agustin is the oldest known shipwreck on the U.S. west coast. More than 70 survivors were stranded in an unfamiliar land when the ship sank during a storm off the Northern California coast in 1595. Captain Sebastian Rodriguez Cermeño would pilot the surviving crew more than 1500 miles back to New Spain (Mexico) using only a small craft the galleon had carried with her for exploration. The shipwreck has never been excavated and lies within the Drake’s Bay Historic and Archaeological District. The District was designated a National Historic Landmark by the U.S Department of Interior in October 2012.
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The establishment of a National Historic Landmark (NHL) recognizes that the site is “nationally significant in American history and culture.” Nation-wide, less than 2,600 sites are recognized by the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service. The Drakes Bay Historic and Archaeological District National Historic Landmark gives formal recognition to Sir Francis Drake’s landing site at Drake’s Cove in 1579, the Spanish shipwreck, San Agustin, & encampment of Sebastian Rodriguez Cermeño in 1595, and fifteen Native-American villages associated with sixteenth-century Native encounters with European explorers.
