USA > California > Sonoma County > History of Sonoma County : including its geology, topography, mountains, valleys, and streams > Part 52
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Santa Rosa Gaslight Company .- The Maxim Gas Company was incor- porated April, 1872, the citizens of Santa Rosa taking one-half the stock, . and the Maxim Gas Company of San Francisco holding the balance. The whole stock was subsequently purchased by the citizens and the Maxim works run by them until the Spring of 1876, when they were disposed of to Santa Rosa Gaslight Company, which had been incorporated March 9, 1876, under the supervision of L. A. Kelly. The new company, at an expense of thirty thousand dollars, erected their works on First street, just below Main, which consist of a large brick retort-house, with iron roof, brick purifying-house in the rear, office and workshop, with large holder, twenty thousand cubic feet capacity, with brick cistern. They have six- inch pipe running from their retorts all through the works, and up First and Main streets to the plaza, about two thousand feet, when it connects with four-inch pipe. The officers of the company are : John A. Paxton, President; J. E. Ager, Secretary; John Barr, Superintendent and Engineer.
Santa Rosa Water Works .- These works were incorporated in January, 1873, with one hundred thousand dollars capital. On May Ist active opera-
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tions were commenced. The water is taken from the Santa Rosa creek, about five miles from Santa Rosa. It is led, in seven-inch pipe, one and a quarter miles, to a reservoir. In the Fall of the year of organization the water was brought to the city and distributed through the town.
In 1875 a majority of the stock of the company was purchased by Mark L. McDonald, of San Francisco.
In the latter part of 1876, Jackson R. Myers purchased an interest in the company, and became the manager. It was determined to erect a new reservoir, about half a mile below the old one. The work was completed in the Spring of 1877, and it is one of the best reservoirs in the State. It is about eighteen hundred feet long, and is six hundred feet wide, and when full will have a depth of twenty-four feet, affording an abundant supply of pure mountain water for the people of the city, and also a safeguard against conflagration.
To the capital and enterprise of Mark McDonald, and good judgment of Mr. Myers, the people are indebted for that greatest of all blessings-a cheap and bountiful supply of water. Mr. McDonald, by his public spirit, has inseperably connected his name with the city of Santa Rosa.
The officers are Mark L. MeDonald, President; J. B. Rue, Secretary; the office of the company being on Fourth street.
City Street-car Railroad Company .- This company was organized in 1877, and the capital invested in it mainly furnished by Mark McDonald. The builder of the road was Jackson R. Myers. The route is two miles in length, leading up Fourth street, from the depot of the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad to McDonald avenue, and out the avenue to the Cemetery. The cost of the road was about ten thousand dollars. The officers are : Mark L. McDonald, President; J. B. Rue, Secretary and Manager.
Santa Rosa Woolen Mills .- Early in the year 1877 these mills were established, and on March 29th of that year the following, representing two hundred and sixty-four shares of one hundred dollars each, signed the articles of agreement : H. T. Hewitt, James Catlin, Stanley & Thompson, John K. Smith, F. Korbel & Bro., E. C. Ferguson, Gable & Elder, Jamima J. Wheeler, Thomas L. Thompson, Henry Klute, R. M. Landrum, H. F. Shulte, J. S. Simmons, Adam Shane, James Fulton, Albert Hall, D. C. Rupe. From these the first Directors were appointed, viz : H. T. Hewitt, President ; J. C. Simmons, Secretary ; and J. K. Smith, J. J. Wheeler, James Catlin, John Walker, A. A. Gamble. Mr. Hewitt was, however, removed from his office by the vote of the Board on September 24, 1877, when W. B. Stanley was elected, and Mr. Simmons resigning on that date, his position was filled by James Catlin.
The erection of the building was commenced about March 29, 1877. It
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is two stories in height, built of brick, and one hundred and ten by sixty feet in dimensions. There is a boiler and engine room constructed on the south side; it has two sets of machines, run by an engine of thirty-six horse power.
On May 6, 1878, the following persons were elected a Board of Directors: S. Armstrong, William Gamble, A. A. Gamble, W. B. Stanley, George Bew, H. T. Hewitt and George Walker, Mr. Hewitt being elected President. On October 5, 1878, W. W. Gauldin, C. C. Farmer and E. C. Ferguson were elected to the Board in place of A. A. Gamble, S. Armstrong and William Gamble ; G. W. Arnold was elected, vice George Bew, resigned, and C. C. Farmer was chosen President, to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of H. T. Hewitt. The present officers are, C. C. Farmer, President and W. B. Stanley, Secretary.
Golden Eagle Foundry and Machine Shops .- This establishment is sit- uated on Fifth street, near the depot of the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad, was built in December, 1874, and is of one story in height, with dimensions of sixty by one hundred and eigty-five feet. There are nine men constantly employed on the premises, which turns out an aggregate of agricultural and other implements to the value of thirty thousand dollars per annum. The machinery employed is all of the best and newest patterns and is driven by a stationary engine of twenty-two horse power. In con- nection with the foundry and machine shop there is also a pattern-making department, and another in which general blacksmithing is donc. The proprietor is M. E. Shulte.
Empire Mills .- This flouring mill was erected in 1873 by Messrs. Henry Shulte and Doctor Dobbins, and in the fall of that year operations were commenced therein. It is a three and one-half story building, of brick, thirty by sixty feet. To the south is an engine and boiler-room in which is a seventy-five horse-power engine. In the mill there are three run of stones for wheat and one for corn, the capacity being two hundred barrels of flour in twenty-four hours. It is located on the railroad, north from the depot on Wilson street, a side track leading along its western side for means of ship- ping facilities. In 1871, there was erected a warehouse, one story, adjoining it on the north, forty-four by one hundred and twenty feet, with a capacity of storage of about sixteen thousand tons. This building has passed into other hands than those owning the mill, but it is rented by them for the use of storing grain for the mill.
In 1875, the mill property was transferred to Stoddard & McIlmoil, but it is now owned by the Santa Rosa Bank, with Joel and William Stoddard as managers. The original cost was twenty-five thousand dollars-that of the warehouse six thousand, nine hundred dollars.
Santa Rosa Marble and Granite Works .- These works were established
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in 1870 by A. L. Fisher, on the corner of Fourth and Davis streets. H. D. Russell subsequently entered into partnership with Mr. Fisher, but in 1877, Mr. Russell having established himself in business, J. F. Kinslow was admitted, and the firm became Fisher & Kinslow, by which name it is now known. They do excellent work, and have an extensive business in Marin, Mendocino and Lake counties.
The City Marble Works .- The proprietor of these works was formerly a partner with A. L. Fisher in the same trade, but having dissolved that firm he established himself in May, 1879, on the corner of Fourth and Washing- ton streets, where he carries on an extensive business, having also an estab- lishment in Petaluma.
Santa Rosa Brewery .- The building is situated on Second, facing Wilson street, and was erected in 1872 by William Metzgar. It is two stories high, twenty-six by one hundred feet, and contains, besides the necessary brewing apparatus, a cool and commodious cellar for heer, of which they manufacture seventy-eight barrels per week. The present proprietors are Metzgar & Haltinnen.
The Santa Rosa Winery-The buildings comprising this establishment cover the greater portion of the block lying between Railroad and Adams streets. In the main building, the cellar, is one hundred and twenty feet long by eighty feet wide, and, like all the other constructions connected with the institution, is built of brick. It is fitted up with eighty four tanks, each holding two thousand gallons; therefore the capacity of the cellar is three hundred thousand gallons. The crushing room adjoins the cellar on the, northern side, and is one hundred feet long by sixty-six feet wide, and con- tains four rows of fermenting tanks, thirty in all, each holding two thousand gallons, and of an aggregate capacity of sixty thousand gallons. In the northern end of this room is placed the crusher, the best style known, which is so arranged as to detach the grapes from the stems before crushing, and, as the machine operates, the stems are discharged from one part while the crushed grapes are conveyed to the fermenting tanks. A tramway leads from the crusher to the scales, which are situated next to the distillery, and the wagons are unloaded into the cars on the scales, and when filled the car is drawn up the tramway and its contents dumped. The scales deserve special notice; they indicate the exact net weight, and there can be no pos- sible chance of a mistake. They will weigh a load of from four tons down- ward. The crushers are two in number and can be made to crush six tons an hour apiece, or a ton every ten minutes. The distillery is a building forty feet long by thirty feet wide, entirely detached from the other build- ings. It is fitted up with two stills, one for distilling pumice and the other for distilling wine. Adjoining this building and connected with it by pipes is a tank for pumice of a capacity of twenty-eight thousand gallons, which
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is now filled. The operation of distilling has commenced, Mr. DeTurk having filed the necessary bonds. The aggregate value of the buildings, machinery, etc., is over twenty thousand dollars. The vintage season has about closed, during which time Mr. DeTurk has purchased and crushed nine hundred and twenty-five tons of grapes, at prices ranging from fourteen to twenty-two dollars, and at an average price of sixteen dollars, which would make the amount paid by him to farmers in the neighborhood aggregate fourteen thousand and eight hundred dollars. All of the grapes purchased came from the surrounding country, except two hundred and fifty tons, which were shipped from Geyserville and Cloverdale.
MARK WEST .- This was a little, old town, situated about four miles from Santa Rosa, in a north-westerly direction, on the main road to Healdsburg and Cloverdale. It was of small dimensions, though in the midst of a lively rich agricultural country. A fine, large bridge spans Mark West Creek at this point. The gentleman whose name the town bears settled there in 1840, and in the following year erected the adobe building which, though quaint, odd and venerable looking, is yet in a good state of preservation. More than one carly emigrant to Sonoma county had his heart gladdened by the sight of that old institution, where he found a hearty welcome from that most generous of pioneers, Mark West. A postoffice was established here October 25, 1865, with Hemy G. Giamini in charge. Most of the buildings that formed this town were afterwards, on the arrival of the rail- road, moved to Fulton, leaving naught to Mark West but its ever-to-be- remembered name.
FULTON .- This is a flourishing town on the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad, about five miles north of Santa Rosa, and is the terminus of the branch of that line to Guerneville. It was founded by Thomas and James Fulton, in 1871, from whom it derives its name. Here a large ware- house was erected by the Fulton Brothers, at that time, capable of storing twelve hundred tons of grain. Afterwards the railroad company constructed a freight ware-house and passenger depot. James Fulton is the Postmaster, and C. Hopper the agent for Wells, Fargo & Co. In 1859 a congregation of the Christian church was establishel, with James and D. Fulton as Elders, and in 1872 a church edifice was built. The town consists of two store,, two blacksmith shops, one boot and shoe store, one hotel, one livery stable, one saloon, a postoffice anl agency. It is placed in one of the finest agricultural districts in the county, and is remarkably eligible as a shipping point. The produce annually exported from the town is about nine thou- sand cords of wood, one thousand cords of tan bark, one hundred and fifty car-loads of charcoal, besides large quantities of lumber, grain, butter and general farm produce. Most of the land belongs to the Fulton Brothers though they have disposed of a portion of their original possessions.
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SONOMA.
Among the many eligible points for country residence within a radius of fifty miles of San Francisco, none is more isolated than the famous Sonoma valley. Its soil is most fertile and highly productive. Its climate is most equable and delightful. It has long been settled, possesses many beautiful homesteads and extensive vineyards. Its natural scenery is lovely and beautiful. Words cannot over-paint the natural delights and facinations of this valley, which is yet almost a terra incognita to San Franciscans.
By reason of its shelter from the ocean by mountain ranges, the climate of the Sonoma valley is much milder than that of San Francisco. The vine flourishes there as nowhere else. Three years ago the wine product of the county was one million eight hundred and thirty-six thousand gallons, and now it is much greater. The whole valley seems taken up with vineyards, and only the finest qualities of grapes are grown. The white wines are equal in bouquet and flavor to the best of imported Moselle and Rhenish. The red wines are not surpassed by any like wines made in California, though it must be admitted that the claret does not compare with the wines of Bordeaux and Burgundy. In this warm and sheltered nook oranges also flourish and ripen in the open air. Still the valley is rather the home of the grape than of the semi-tropical fruits. We merely mention the fact of the growth of oranges to establish the fact of the mildness of the climate, and the incredulous may satisfy themselves on this point by a visit to the ranch of General Vallejo, near the village. The facilities for producing wine have attracted large numbers of Swiss and Germans to this valley, and there are also many Swedes residing here. The valley contains an area of one hundred and six thousand two hundred and forty acres, while the hills which flank it on either side can be cultivated to their summits. Of the fertility of the soil there can be no question. To see is to believe, and those who cannot see have the proof in the enormous production. Water is good and plentiful. Springs are abundant, and one especially is worthy of mention. It is situated on General Vallejo's place, in the rear of his house, and on a level with its roof. The supply per diem is two hundred and eighty thousand gallons. Besides the large amount of fertile soil in the valley, most of which is under cultivation, there are about twenty-five thousand acres of tule land, alluvial formation, along the line of Sonoma creek, of which about fifteen thousand acres are in process of reclamation. There are two companies engaged in this work. One is the Pacific Recla-
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HISTORY OF SONOMA COUNTY, CALIFORNIA.
mation Company, of which John P. Jones and George S. Ladd are the princi- pal members, and the other the San Pablo Reclamation Company, composed of M. Greenwood and George S. Ladd, of San Francisco; James Tatterson, of Stockton, and the Butterworth estate. The first named company owns some twelve thousand acres, more or less, of which one thousand two hun- dred acres have been actually reclaimed by shutting off the tide water by means of levees. The San Pablo Company owns two thousand seven hun- dred and twenty-seven acres, all of which is reclaimed, for which purpose ten miles of levee were constructed. The Pacific Reclamation Company has built a much larger amount of levee. This land was originally acquired by the State from the United States under the Swamp Land Act, and by it conveyed to so-called occupants at one dollar and twenty-five cents an acre. The unreclaimed land is now valued at twenty dollars an acre, and when the new route to San Francisco is open will probably be held at a further advance. Alkali is only found in small quantities on the land. This land is not fit for corn, for while the stalks grow to a great height they do not ear, but last year bar'ey was tried for the first time and succeeded admirably. There is probably a mint of money in this venture. From what has been said it readily can be seen that the Sonoma Valley Railroad will have a rich country to support it. From the start it seems destined to do a large freight business, and as time goes on and Sonoma ceases to be the unknown land it now is, the passenger traffic will increase. Under the circumstances the road will be a cheap one to build, will be profitable from the beginning, and those interested cannot fail to achieve pecuniary success for their under- taking.
For the early history and settlement of this valley, we would refer the reader to the chapters on the settlement of the county, and the Bear Flag war, in which the subject has been fully entered into. The history of Sonoma township is that of the county ; it is impossible to disassociate them; we therefore request the reader to go back to the commencement of the volume.
SONOMA .- This quaint little piece of foreign landscape is planted in the midst of the renowned Sonoma valley. Its early history is the history of the county, and will be found included in that portion of this work; for it is not right that what had by chance happened in early days within limits now known as townships, should be produced in the records of these townships; whereas, in fact, they are the history of the whole county, and can be claimed by no special tract, however officially recognized.
In the year 1835, General Vallejo had, by order of the Mexican govern- ment, laid out the town, entirely on the principles usually adopted in the building of cities in New Spain. A large square or plaza was set apart, with houses arranged around facing inwards, there being streets extending from each side of the rectangle and carried outwards at each corner. As may be
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imagined, the General had many difficulties to contend against. He was his own engineer and surveyor, for none was attached to the force he commanded; but with the simple aid of a pocket compass and line he divided the site of the future city of Sonoma into lots, laid out streets, allotted public parks, and otherwise founded the pueblo, and established permanently the military command of the northern frontier of California. How this command lapsed and became the headquarters of the United States forces, is shown elsewhere. It was the first city planned and completed north of the bay of San Fran- cisco, and as such had a prominent part in the stirring events which took place between the years 1835 and 1849. It was here that, in 1846, the famous Bear Flag first fluttered to the breeze; and here, too, was it hauled down and gave place to the "Star-Spangled Banner," on the acquisition of California to the Union, three days after it had been unfurled at Monterey. In this year Sonoma was made the headquarters of the emigrants who had then commenced to find their way across the wide and little known conti- nent. The young and able-bodied of the men had joined Fremont on arrival; the women and children had remained behind.
Doctor Charles Van Geldern, a medical gentleman of much erudition, resident in Sonoma, arrived in the city on October, 1849, and thus describes its appearance at that time. For better facility of description let us com- mence at the northern side of the plazi, at the north-eastern corner, and thence make the circuit of the square. Here is an adobe structure, erected originally for the military barracks, but now considerably renovated and remodeled as the store of Solomon Shocken ; next in succession westward came the residence of General Vallejo, which was a two-storied building con- structed of the same material and very strongly built. On the ground floor the rooms were occupied in rotation, as here described: The first by Don Frederika Reger, a Belgian, who had been long resident in Mexico, and tutor to the General's family ; next came Dr. Van Geldern. Here a large hall divided the building, the only occupied rooms on its other side being those of Doctor Griffith, now of Los Angeles, then of the United States army, and Lieutenant Stoneman, afterwards a famous general of cavalry during the rebel- lion. The upper floor was entirely devoted to the uses of the Vallejo family. To the rear of the house there extended for a considerable distance a build- ing (now standing) used asa dormitory for the Indians on the premises, of whom there were a great number, and a kitchen, while their still remains a relic of the past, a small cover of adobe over the well, which was in the center of the yard; still further back there being a small vineyard, orchard of about one hundred trees of apples and pears, and garden. The main building had a large and broad verandah to the rear, while at its western end rose to the height of one story above the main building, a strongly-con- structed watch-tower with a flat roof, erected as a look-out in case of danger, and giving a position of vantage should such be needed. Unfortunately,
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this building was destroyed by fire in 1867, there being nothing remaining but those out-houses already mentioned. Contiguous to the palace, as Gen- eral Vallejo's residence was called in early days, was a thick adobe wall or rampart, loopholed, so as to command the plaza, while adjacent to it, occupy- ing the north-west angle, came two buildings. In 1849, there was only one, but in the following year another was added by the proprietor, Don Salvador Vallejo, a brother of the Commandant; these are now occupied by the Teeino Hotel, a caravanserai patronized chiefly by Italian workmen, and a Chinese merchant. The first house on the west side of the plaza was a large building erected by Don Salvador Vallejo. In 1849 it .was the "El Dorado Hotel," kept by Randolph and George Pearce, now a prominent law- yer in Petaluma; then came the residence of Ex-Governor Boggs, which stood on the site of the present Swiss Hotel, while on the corner, where the store of Edward Wegener now stands, the same building was occupied as the residence and headquarters of General Persefer F. Smith. This struc- ture was erected by Jacob P. Leese, but afterwards became the property of Henry D. Fitch, and was known for many years as the Fitch House. In these premises, also, dwelt General Smith's Aid-de-camp, Captain Gibbs, who rose to distinction in the war of the rebellion, while in one of the rooms was built the first brick chimney in the county. In a house in the south- west corner there dwelt Colonel Joe Hooker-Fighting Joe of warlike fame. The south side of the plaza was occupied by, imprimis, the Union Hotel, on the site of the present stone building of that name, kept by three partners named Dow, now a farmer on Russian river, Storey, a watchmaker, and Higgins, a sign painter ; all of whom had come out in Stevenson's regiment; in the same building was a store owned by Mayor Cameron. Adjoining the hotel was a livery stable kept by Don Vasquez, and further on was the store of Ex-Governor Boggs. Here a street, some one hundred and twelve feet wide, now known as Broadway, cut into the country. On its other side was the court-house, a two-storied building, having a wide verandah around it, and presided over by Judge Green. These last mentioned edifices having given way to stores and saloons, and live only in the minds of the carlier inhabitants. The corner of the east side of the square was then occupied by Morrow, the building is now in the possession of F. Duhring as a store and agency of Wells, Fargo & Co. On the site of the Sonoma House and John Lewis' butcher's shop stood a one-storied building, where Christian Brunner, formerly of Sutter's Fort, pursued much the same business as is there carried on now, save that with his house of entertainment he kept no lodgers ; then followed a small bakery, owned by Mathias Purcell; next, were the residences of some soldier- families, now in the occupancy of Doctor Van Geldern; then came a house occupied by Doctor August Heyermann ; then, a house owned by Don Juan Castañada ; beyond was the Casa de Billiard, erected by General Vallejo for
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