The Brothers are a pair of small islands, East Brother and West Brother, located in the San Rafael Bay embayment of San Pablo Bay, these roughly west of Point San Pablo in Contra Costa County, California.
History
The 19th century Mexican Diseño del Rancho de San Pablo, (diseño: a plat map typically used to indicate rancho land grant boundaries in Alta California), names East Brother Island as Isla de Pajaros or "Bird Island." They are shown, labeled "The Brothers", on an 1850 survey map of the San Francisco Bay area made by Cadwalader Ringgold.
The Brothers, along with The Sisters (two exposed rocks north of the Marin Islands, just off Point San Pedro) on the opposite side of San Pablo Strait, were originally reserved for military purposes by order of President Andrew Johnson in 1867. After many a court battle, the plans were scrapped.
East Brother Island is home to the East Brother Island Light, a light house and a Victorian house, that is a present-day bed and breakfast.