|
Properties of
historical importance in Sonoma County California are currently designated as
significant resources in three state registration programs: State Historical
Landmarks, Points of Historical Interest, and the California Register of
Historic Places. Below is a list of the State Historical Landmarks provided by
the Office of Historic Preservation - California Department of Parks and
Recreation.
NO. 17
BLUE WING INN -
Erected by General M. G. Vallejo about 1840 to accommodate emigrants and other
travelers, the Inn was purchased in gold rush days by Cooper and Spriggs, two
retired sea-faring men, and operated as hotel and store. It was among first
hostelries in Northern California. Notable guests, according to local tradition,
included John C. Frémont, U. S. Grant, Governor Pío Pico, Kit Carson, Fighting
Joe Hooker, William T. Sherman, Phil Sheridan, and members of the Bear Flag
Party.
Location: Sonoma State Historic Park, 133 E Spain St, Sonoma
NO. 18 PETALUMA ADOBE - It took about ten years to complete this building, begun
in 1834 as a result of General M. G. Vallejo's order to settle the area. On
Vallejo's 66,000-acre rancho such necessities as candles, soap, blankets, shoes,
and saddles were manufactured by native artisans in shops which included a
tannery, smithy, and grist mill.
Location: Adobe at 3325 Adobe Rd, plaque located 6 mi W of site, 300 ft NW of
intersection of Old Redwood Hwy and Adobe Rd, Petaluma
USGS Quadrangle Sheet Name: PETALUMA 15
NO. 234 LUTHER BURBANK HOME AND GARDEN - In this garden Luther Burbank wrought
with living plants to bring to the world greater fertility, wealth, and beauty,
developing new varieties that produced better fruits and more beautiful flowers.
Location: 200 block of Santa Rosa Ave, Santa Rosa
NO. 237 TEMELEC HALL - This structure was erected in 1858 by Captain Granville
P. Swift, a member of the Bear Flag Party, using stone quarried here by native
Indian labor. General Percifor F. Smith, U.S. military commander in California,
lived in the little house nearby in 1849.
Location: Temelec Adult Community, 220 Temelec Circle, 3 mi SE of Sonoma
NO. 3 MISSION SAN FRANCISCO SOLANO - On July 4, 1823, Padre José Altamira
founded this northernmost of California's Franciscan missions, the only one
established in California under independent Mexico. In 1834, secularization
orders were carried out by Military Commandant M. G. Vallejo, and Mission San
Francisco Solano became a parish church serving the Pueblo and Sonoma Valley
until it was sold in 1881.
Location: Sonoma State Historic Park, NW corner of Spain at 1st St E, Sonoma
NO. 316 PRESIDIO OF SONOMA (SONOMA BARRACKS) - Sonoma Barracks was erected in
1836 by General M. G. Vallejo. It became the headquarters of the Bear Flag
Party, which in June 1846 proclaimed a 'California Republic' and raised the Bear
Flag on Sonoma's Plaza. Twenty-three days later, on July 7, 1846, Commodore John
Drake Sloat took possession of California for the United States government.
Stevenson's Regiment, Company C, U.S.A., occupied the barracks in April 1847.
Location: Sonoma State Historic Park, NW corner of E Spain and 1st St E, Sonoma
NO. 392 BUENA VISTA WINERY AND VINEYARDS - Founded in 1857, this is the
birthplace of California wine. Its founder, Colonel Agoston Haraszthy, called
the father of the state's wine industry, toured Europe in 1861 to gather grape
vine cuttings, he also oversaw planting the vineyards and digging wine storage
tunnels into the limestone rock of the hillsides.
Location: 18000 Old Winery Rd, 2 mi NE of Sonoma
NO. 392-1 SITE OF HARASZTHY VILLA - Here Count Agoston Haraszthy, 'Father of
California Viticulture,' built an imposing villa in 1857-58, as his home.
California's first formal Vintage Celebration, a masked ball, was held at this
site on October 23, 1864. General and Mrs. Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo were guests
of honor. While living here, Haraszthy oversaw operations of the Winery and
Buena Vista Vinicultural Society.
Location: Castle Rd near Buena Vista Winery, Sonoma
NO. 4 GENERAL M. G. VALLEJO HOME - The home of General Mariano Guadalupe
Vallejo, known as 'Lachryma Montis' (Tears of the Mountain), was built in 1850.
Its name was derived from the springs that now are the source of Sonoma's water
supply. General Vallejo, born at Monterey July 7, 1808, was commander of the
northern Mexican frontier, founder of the Pueblo of Sonoma, and a member of the
first Constitutional Convention of California.
Location: Vallejo Home, Sonoma State Historic Park, Spain at 3rd St W Sonoma
NO. 496 SWISS HOTEL - The Swiss Hotel was constructed about 1850 by Don Salvador
Vallejo. This adobe adjoined his first Sonoma dwelling, built in 1836. Occupied
by various pioneers, in 1861 it was the house of Dr. Victor J. Faure, vintner of
prize-winning wines made from the grapes of the Vallejo family vineyards. Later,
it was used as a hotel and restaurant.
Location: 18 W Spain St, Sonoma
NO. 5 FORT ROSS - Founded in 1812 by Russians from Alaska. When Russians
withdrew to Alaska in 1841, Captain Sutter bought the improvements and supplies.
The State acquired the fort in 1906 and the remaining buildings-Greek Orthodox
Chapel, Commandant's Quarters, and Stockade-were restored. The chapel, destroyed
by fire in 1970, was reconstructed in 1974.
Location: 19005 Coast Hwy, State Hwy 1 (P.M. 33.0), 12 mi N of Jenner
NO. 501 SALVADOR VALLEJO ADOBE - This was the home of Captain Salvador Vallejo,
brother of General Mariano G. Vallejo, who founded Sonoma. The adobe was built
by Indian labor between 1836 and 1846, and was occupied by Captain Vallejo and
his family until the Bear Flag Party seized Sonoma on June 4, 1846. Cumberland
College, a Presbyterian coeducational boarding school, was located here from
1858 to 1864.
Location: 421-1st St W Sonoma
NO. 621 ITALIAN SWISS COLONY - Here in 1881 Italian immigrants established an
agricultural colony. Choice wines produced from grape plantings from the Old
World soon brought wide acclaim. By 1905, 10 gold medals had been awarded these
wines at international competition.
Location: SE corner of Asti Rd and Asti Post Office Rd, Asti
USGS Quadrangle Sheet Name: ASTI
NO. 627 UNION HOTEL AND UNION HALL - The original hotel was a one-story adobe,
the adjoining hall was a one-story frame structure. After the fire of 1866, a
two-story stone hotel and a two-story frame hall with rooms upstairs for hotel
guests were built. The Union Hotel was conducted as a hotel until 1955, when the
Bank of America acquired the property.
Location: 35 Napa and 1st St W Sonoma
NO. 667 NASH ADOBE - This house was built by H. A. Green in 1847. Here John H.
Nash was taken prisoner by Lieutenant William T. Sherman in July 1847 for
refusing to relinquish his post as alcalde to Lilburn W. Boggs. The adobe was
restored in 1931 by Zolita Bates, great-granddaughter of Nancy Patton Adler, who
lived here after her 1848 marriage to Lewis Adler, pioneer merchant of San
Francisco and Sonoma.
Location: 579-1st St E, Sonoma
NO. 692 HOOD HOUSE - This was the site of Rancho los Guilucos (18,833 acres),
which Governor Juan Bautista Alvarado granted to John Wilson and his wife,
Ramona Carrillo, sister-in-law of General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, in 1839.
The house, constructed in 1858 by William Hood for his bride, Elsia Shaw of
Sonoma, incorporates the original bricks fired on the property. The property was
purchased in 1943 by the California Department of the Youth Authority for Los
Guilucos School for Girls.
Location: Hood Mansion, Santa Rosa Jr College, 7501 Sonoma Hwy (Hwy 12), Santa
Rosa
USGS Quadrangle Sheet Name: SANTA ROSA
NO. 7 BEAR FLAG MONUMENT - On June 14, 1846, the Bear Flag Party raised the Bear
Flag on this spot and declared California free from Mexican rule. Following the
raising of the American flag at Monterey July 7, 1846 by Commodore John Drake Sloat, on July 9 the Bear Flag was hauled down and the American flag raised in
its place by Lieutenant Joseph W. Revere, U.S.A., who had been sent to Sonoma
from San Francisco by Commander John B. Montgomery of the U.S. Sloop-of-War
Portsmouth.
Location: Sonoma Plaza, E Spain and 1st St E, Sonoma Plaza
NO. 739 VINEYARD AND WINERY (SAN FRANCISCO SOLANO MISSION VINEYARD) - Here the
Franciscan Fathers of San Francisco Solano de Sonoma Mission produced
sacramental wine from the first vineyard in Sonoma Valley, planted in 1825.
After secularization of the mission in 1835, General Mariano G. Vallejo,
Commandant of Alta California's northern frontier, produced prize-winning wines
from these grapes. A young immigrant from Italy, Samuele Sebastiani, with his
wife Elvira, purchased this property in the early 1900s. Since that time, he and
his family have continued with distinction the traditions handed down to them.
Much of the original mission vineyard is still planted to choice wine grapes.
Location: 394-4th St E at Spain St, Sonoma
NO. 743 JACK LONDON STATE HISTORIC PARK - This is the 'House of Happy Walls,'
built in 1919 by Charmian K. London in memory of her husband, renowned author
Jack London. Here are housed many of his works and the collection gathered in
their travels throughout the world. In 1960 Charmian's house, the ruins of
Jack's 'Wolf House,' and his grave were presented to the State by his nephew,
Irving Shepard.
Location: Glen Ellen
USGS Quadrangle Sheet Name: SANTA ROSA 15
NO. 820 ST. TERESA'S CHURCH - Constructed of redwood in 1859 by New England
ship's carpenters on land donated by Jasper O'Farrell, the church has served
this coastal community continuously for over a century. Father Louis Rossi was
appointed pastor on March 8, 1860, and Archbishop Alemany dedicated the church
on June 2, 1861.
Location: Bodega Hwy near Bodega Ln, Bodega
USGS Quadrangle Sheet Name: BODEGA HEAD
NO. 833 BODEGA BAY AND HARBOR - Discovered in 1602-03 by Vizcaino's expedition,
the bay was named by Bodega in his survey of 1775. The harbor was used in 1790
by Colnett and in 1809 and 1811 by the Kusov expeditions. The Russian-American
company and their Aleut hunters used the bay as an outpost until 1841, Stephen
Smith took control in 1843. Pioneer ships of many nations used Bodega Bay as an
anchorage.
Location: Doran Park, 1.6 mi W of State Hwy 1 (P.M. 9.4), on Doran Beach Rd, 0.5
mi S of Bodega Bay
NO. 835 COOPER'S SAWMILL - In 1834, Mariano G. Vallejo's brother-in-law, John B.
R. Cooper, constructed California's first known power-operated commercial
sawmill. In addition to sawing redwood lumber, the mill and surrounding
settlement served as a barrier to Russian encroachment from the west. Located on
Mark West Creek, the waterpowered mill was destroyed by flood in the winter of
1840-41.
Location: SW corner, intersection of Mirabel and River Rds (P.M. 174) near
Mirabel Park, 8 mi W of Santa Rosa
NO. 879 COTATI DOWNTOWN PLAZA - Cotati's hexagonal town plan, one of only two
such in the United States, was designed during the 1890s by Newton Smyth as an
alternative to the traditional grid. Each of the streets surrounding the
six-sided town plaza, where early settler Dr. Thomas Page's barn once stood, is
named after one of Page's sons, 'Cotati' derives from the name of a local Indian
chief.
Location: Downtown plaza, SE corner of Old Redwood Hwy and E Cotati Ave, Cotati
NO. 893 WALTERS RANCH HOP KILN - This is the most significant surviving example
of a stone hop kiln in the North Coast region. Built by Angelo 'Skinny' Sodini
in 1905, it served the Russian River Valley and North Coast regions, once the
major hop-growing areas in the West. In the latter part of the 19th century, Sol
Walters purchased 380 acres, part of the Sotoyome Rancho patented in 1853, from
Josefa Fitch.
Location: 6050 Westside Rd, Healdsburg
NO. 915 PETRIFIED FOREST - The petrified forest, historically and scientifically
significant as the state's only petrified forest dating from the Eocene period,
is unique in its size, scope, and variety of petrification. Discovered in 1870,
the forest is about a mile long by half a mile wide.
Location: 4100 Petrified Forest Rd, 5 mi NW of Calistoga
NO. 939 Twentieth Century Folk Art Environments (Thematic)-JOHN MEDICA GARDENS -
'Trying to make it look better,' John Medica spent 20 years transforming a
barren hillside into a magical garden of plants and creative stone works.
Castles were his greatest triumph. A native of Yugoslavia, self-taught, Medica
created an oasis for people and animals to enjoy. This imaginative assemblage is
one of California's remarkable Twentieth Century Folk Art Environments.
Location: 5000 Medica Rd, Santa Rosa
NO. 981 ICARIA-SPERANZA COMMUNE - Icaria-Speranza was a Utopian community based
on the writings of French philosopher Etienne Cabet. In 1881, at Cloverdale,
French immigrant families led by the Dehay and Leroux families began their
social experiment in cooperative living based on solidarity and depending on an
agrarian economy. It lasted until 1886. Icaria-Speranza was the only Icarian
Colony in California and the last of seven established throughout the United
States. On this site stood the Icarian schoolhouse, deeded to the county in
1886.
Location: W side of Asti Rd, 1.68 mi N of Asti Post Office Rd, S of Cloverdale
USGS Quadrangle Sheet Name: HOPLAND 15
|
