Geologists have determined that the limestone spires and rocks at this location are 100 to 120 million years old, originating near the equator and as a result of the movement of the tectonic plates, have journeyed north to their present location at the north end of Rockaway Beach, often referred to as “The Quarry.”

During the Spanish era in the 1770s, the local Indigenous communities were enslaved and forced to extract limestone to be used in the construction of Mission Dolores and The Presidio in San Francisco, as well as for the adobe outpost located in the San Pedro Valley at the Rammaytush village site of Pruristak. The mining of limestone at this location continued until extraction operations were ceased in 1987, having removed most of the limestone hill that once existed. Thankfully, Nature has since reclaimed the area and has started her own process of healing the scars that were left by human extraction — establishing wetlands and creating habitat for a multitude of species, including the endangered red legged frogs and the San Francisco garter snake.

The majestic location nestled between California State Route 1 and The Pacific Ocean shoreline has in more recent times been under the threat of development. In 2016, the current landowner proposed development of a luxury hotel and condominium complex, known as Measure W, which the community overwhelmingly voted against. The threat of development continues. There is a current proposal being submitted to the City of Pacifica, the applicant being Baylands Soil Pacifica LLC. The two founders of Baylands Soil have been convicted 0f and imprisoned for bribery of San Francisco City Officials. Moreover, the city of San Francisco has banned Baylands Soil from operating business endeavors in the city.

At the Timiktak Quarry site, Baylands Soil LLC has proposed to truck in inadequately tested soil from various construction sites around the Bay Area to fill cavity created by the ongoing limestone mining operations. Baylands Soil has shown a rather flagrant disregard for the possibility of this questionable fill leaching into groundwater or into Calera Creek which flows into the ocean, having a detrimental effect on all of the local ecosystems – the land, water, air, wildlife and community at large.

With ever-growing community support in Pacifica, we have made good headway regarding the protection of our ancestral village site of Timiktac from the proposed dumping in the quarry basin. In october 2024, pacifica planning commission voted unanimously 5-0 not to accept the proposal of bayland soils. Being that bayland soils is motivated by greed, they appealed that decision to the pacifica city council, who then followed suit in supporting the community sentiment in voting unanimously 5-0 to deny the proposal. The california state board of mining and geology also0 thankfully refused to hear their appeal.

At this point we have been successful in advocating for protection of our ancestral village site of timiktoc, although the fact remains that the site is still under private ownership as a result, we need to remain vigilant due to threats of future developments.

My Rammaytush family feels deeply that we have a responsibility to our ancestors as descendants of the ancestral village of Timiktak to care for the well being of all native life forms currently living within this vital ecosystem. We also believe that all who call this place home need to be forever vigilant in protecting the delicate balance of the natural world – a world that has been drastically damaged by human interaction since European contact, enslavement, genocide and colonialism. We are very grateful for this community’s support and understanding.