The gentleman upon this rock is Count Agoston Haraszthy, the Hungarian nobleman who founded Buena Vista Winery in 1857. He is now known as the Father of California Viniculture - as he did more than any other single person to create our remarkably . . . — — Map (db m207724) HM
Erected by General Mariano G. Vallejo about 1840 for the accommodations of emigrants and other travelers. Purchased in Gold Rush Days by Cooper and Spriggs, two retired sea-faring men and operated as hotel and store. Among first hostelries in . . . — — Map (db m15300) HM
Our Press House, the first stone winery building in America,
was built in 1862 from volcanic stone cut out of the solid wall
of the Mayacamas Mountains. Wine was made in this building
the grapes were brought to the front door by . . . — — Map (db m80733) HM
Near Old Winery Road east of Lovall Valley Road, on the left when traveling east.
Across this creek, and extending for several miles were the vineyards and home of our Count. In 1857 he had acquired 750 acres from Julius K. Rose, a San Francisco real estate investor for $11,500. The property was wedged between two flanks of the . . . — — Map (db m231504) HM
Near Old Winery Road east of Lovall Valley Road, on the right when traveling east.
The Buena Vista Vinicultural Society (BVVS) was established in 1863. It was the first of its kind – a corporation dedicated to expanding and modernizing winemaking. It enabled the continued expansion of Sonoma viticulture and the Buena Vista Winery, . . . — — Map (db m231231) HM
Birthplace of California wine. Founded in 1857 by Colonel Agoston Haraszthy, father of state’s wine industry. Limestone tunnels were dug into the hillside and vineyards were also established. Haraszthy toured Europe in 1861 to gather the cuttings . . . — — Map (db m80732) HM
Near Old Winery Road east of Lovall Valley Road, on the right when traveling east.
In 2007, Buena Vista's founder, Agoston Haraszthy de Mokesa (1812-1869) was inducted into the Culinary Institute of America's Vintners Hall of Fame. It was a tribute not only to his pioneering vision, but also to those throughout the winery's . . . — — Map (db m231220) HM
Near Old Winery Road east of Lovall Valley Road, on the right when traveling east.
Marker One:
Father Junipero Serra: 1713 - 1784
Founder of the Missions of California, this Franciscan priest was the first to bring the grape to California, beginning with the first vineyard planted at Mission San Diego in 1779. His . . . — — Map (db m231450) HM
Near Old Winery Road east of Lovall Valley Road, on the right when traveling east.
At the beginning part of the 19th Century, Northern California was a wild land full of Native American tribes. Chief Solano (born Sem-Yeto) was a member of the Suisun tribe, born around 1800. In 1810, he was baptized under the name "Francisco . . . — — Map (db m231448) HM
Near Old Winery Road east of Lovall Valley Road, on the right when traveling east.
As an immigrant himself, our Count Haraszthy was a tireless supporter of another immigrant group to America: the Chinese. He believed them to be hard-working and honest. When he began Buena Vista Winery he employed 150 Chinese workmen to do all the . . . — — Map (db m231243) HM
On 1st Street West, 0.2 miles north of W Spain Street, on the left when traveling north.
Giovanni Minoggio and Giacomo Mazza, on land purchased from General Mariano Vallejo, built this plumstone building in 1870. When the railroad tracks were extended to Sonoma and the Sonoma train depot built across the street from the Mazza House, the . . . — — Map (db m78904) HM
Near Old Winery Road east of Lovall Valley Road, on the left when traveling east.
On June 1st, 1863, two of our Count's sons: Attila and Arpad, married two daughters of the founder of Sonoma: General Mariano Vallejo. Attila married Natalia, and Arpad married Jovita. It was the Double Wedding of the Century, and both were true . . . — — Map (db m231508) HM
This “modern brick building” with its distinctive cupola was built in 1891 by pioneer Sonoma merchant Frederick Duhring. It replaced the old Duhring Store, an adobe built in 1850 which had housed his mercantile established. In 1911 this . . . — — Map (db m54760) HM
Near Old Winery Road east of Lovall Valley Road, on the right when traveling east.
Marker One:
Kit Carson: 1809-1868
American mountain man, trapper, and scout, Carson led Captain John Charles Fremont on his first explorations of the American West in the 1840's. He lived among and married into the Arapaho and . . . — — Map (db m231364) HM
A short distance down-stream from this spot, at the head of navigation on the banks of Sonoma Creek, an early landing place was established. From the 1830’s hides and tallow from the Pueblo of Sonoma were shipped to Yerba Buena , and goods and . . . — — Map (db m78551) HM
Near Old Winery Road east of Lovall Valley Road, on the right when traveling east.
Marker One:
Leif Ericson - 1,000 CE (Common Era)
Son of Eric the Red, this bold Viking explorer sailed west from Greenland into unknown waters, finding a land he called Vinland rich in native vines from which they made wine. The . . . — — Map (db m231236) HM
Near Old Winery Road east of Lovall Valley Road, on the right when traveling east.
Marker One:
George Washington: 1732-1799
America’s first President, he was called by his fellow revolutionaries the “Indispensable Man” – without him we would still be enjoying tea and crumpets at 4pm. Appointed Commander in Chief of . . . — — Map (db m231240) HM
On West Spain Street east of First Street West, on the right when traveling west.
After retiring from the armed forces after World War 2, General Henry “Hap” Arnold made his home in Sonoma Valley and was a frequent patron of the Swiss Hotel. One day a female air force sergeant, who accompanied a courier to deliver messages to . . . — — Map (db m231063) HM
On Castle Road near Bartholomew Road, on the left.
County Landmarks Commission
County of Sonoma
Harazthy Villa (sic)
Historic Landmark
No. 19
This is to certify that the above historic site has been officially designated as a County Landmark by the Sonoma County Board of . . . — — Map (db m102579) HM
Near Old Winery Road east of Lovall Valley Road, on the right when traveling east.
Marker One:
Charles Darwin: 1809 - 1882
An English naturalist and geologist, in 1859 he published: "On the Origin of Species,” the first book to introduce the theory of natural selection as the basis of the evolution of species. He . . . — — Map (db m231445) HM
Near Old Winery Road east of Lovall Valley Road, on the right when traveling east.
Marker One:
St. Vincent of Saragossa: ? - 304 AD
St. Vincent of Saragossa died in the year 304, martyred during the last persecution of Christians by Roman Emperor Maximilian. By the early middle ages he had been adopted by grape . . . — — Map (db m231453) HM
Near Old Winery Road east of Lovall Valley Road, on the right when traveling east.
Marker One:
John Jacon Astor: 1763 - 1848
The first multi-millionaire in the United States, he made his considerable fortune by creating the first fur-trading empire in the Great Lakes region, Canada, and eventually the American West . . . — — Map (db m231242) HM
Near Old Winery Road east of Lovall Valley Road, on the right when traveling east.
Before you is one of the most significant historical buildings in California. At the time of its unveiling it was the grandest wine cellar in California, and our mission has been to restore it to the same heights of grandeur. It is the site of many . . . — — Map (db m231505) HM
Two plaques have been placed at this memorial.
In This Cemetery is Buried
Capt. William Smith
Born in Virginia, November 14, 1768
Died in Sonoma, May 5 1846
Who served in the Virginia Navy during the American Revolution . . . — — Map (db m102559) HM WM
Erected 1851
Purchased by
State Park Commission
Through Funds Furnished by
The General Vallejo Memorial Association
And the People of the State of California
Donors Names Within Building
Plaque donated by Historic Landmarks . . . — — Map (db m57667) HM
Near Old Winery Road east of Lovall Valley Road, on the right when traveling east.
An ambitious and well-educated Californio by the name of Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo founded the town of Sonoma in 1834. From 1835 to 1842, General Vallejo held a number of political and military appointments from a succession of governments in . . . — — Map (db m231363) HM
On July 4, 1823, Padre Jose Altimira founded this northernmost of California’s Franciscan Missions. The only one established under independent Mexico. In 1834 secularization orders were carried out by military Commandant Mariano G. Vallejo. San . . . — — Map (db m15273) HM
Near Arnold Drive (California Route 121), on the right when traveling south.
On this site, 4 July 1823, Padre Altimira, Lt. Castro and 19 armed men erected a cross, set a camp altar, consecrated the ground with a mass and fired a volley. Cline Ranch was then used as a preliminary scouting site and departure point for . . . — — Map (db m68145) HM
On First Street East, on the right when traveling north.
In this sacred grounds lie buried men, women and children of the local Coast Miwok, Patwin, Wappo and Pomo Tribes. They built, labored and died at Mission San Francisco Solano.
[A list of names of Native Americans buried here follows the . . . — — Map (db m15297) HM
This house was built by H.A. Green in 1847. Here John H. Nash was taken prisoner by Lieut. William T. Sherman in July 1847 for refusing to relinquish his post as Alcalde to Lilburn W. Boggs. It was restored in 1931 by Zolita Bates, Great . . . — — Map (db m15261) HM
Near Old Winery Road east of Lovall Valley Road, on the right when traveling east.
The founder of the winery, the Count of Buena Vista, Agoston Haraszthy de Mokesa, was a vivacious pioneer whose love affair with grape-growing started in his homeland of Hungary. The Count immigrated to the burgeoning American West in 1840 in . . . — — Map (db m231241) HM
On First Street East at East Spain Street, on the right when traveling south on First Street East.
This Monument was erected by the Native Sons of the Golden West and the State of California to commemorate the raising of the Bear Flag on this spot June 14, 1846 by the Bear Flag Party and their declaration of freedom of California from Mexican . . . — — Map (db m161612) HM
Built by 1846 Missouri emigrants John and Harriet Ray in 1847. After his success in the Rose Bar Gold Fields, the large adobe portion was added in 1849 by Indian labor to the wooden house on the east end. It was leased as headquarters for officers . . . — — Map (db m15253) HM
Home of Captain Salvador Vallejo. He was the brother of General Mariano G. Vallejo, Sonoma’s founder. Built by Indian labor, 1836 – 1846. Occupied by Captain Vallejo and family until Bear Flag Party seized Sonoma, June 14, 1846.
Cumberland . . . — — Map (db m15256) HM
On Fourth Street East, on the right when traveling north.
Here is 1825 the Franciscan Fathers of San Francisco Solano Mission planted the first vineyard in Sonoma Valley. The grapes were used for making sacramental wines. After secularization of the Mission in 1835, General Mariano G. Vallejo, Commander . . . — — Map (db m15302) HM
On this site between 1849 and 1957 stood the Union Hotel and Hall. Built by three veterans of the Mexican War, the hotel was a one-story adobe and the hall a one-story frame building. These were destroyed by fire in 1866 and replaced by two-story . . . — — Map (db m80731) HM
Erected in 1836 by General H. G. Vallejo. Headquarters of Bear Flag Party which on June 14, 1846 proclaimed a “California Republic” and raised the Bear Flag on Sonoma’s Plaza. Twenty three days later, July 7, 1846, Commodore John Drake Sloat, . . . — — Map (db m15283) HM
On Second Street East, on the right when traveling south.
The Sonoma Brewing Co., established under the leadership of John Steiner was promoted in the pages of the Sonoma Index-Tribune by its publisher Harry N. Granice, a major stock holder in the brewery. The brewery, which had one of the best equipped . . . — — Map (db m54577) HM
Near 1st Street West near East Spain Street, on the right when traveling north.
On January 2, 1976 the original depot was destroyed by fire. With the united efforts of the City of Sonoma, Sonoma Valley Historical Society and hundreds of interested and dedicated citizens, sufficient funds were collected to reconstruct the . . . — — Map (db m102578) HM
On 1st Street East, on the left when traveling south.
Sonoma Valley Women’s Club was founded September 21, 1901 by eleven local women led by Martha Stearns.
In 1911 the lot at 574-First Street East was purchased by S.V.W.C. from Katherine Poppe on which their club house was to be built. Funds for . . . — — Map (db m78923) HM
Constructed about 1850 by Don Salvador Vallejo. This adobe adjoined his first Sonoma dwelling built in 1836. Occupied by various pioneers. It was the house in 1861 of Dr. Victor J. Faure, vintner of prize winning wine made from grapes of the Vallejo . . . — — Map (db m15281) HM
Captain Granville P. Swift, great-gandnephew to Daniel Boone and early pioneer to California, spent his 21st birthday in 1842 building balsa reed rafts to float hides and tallow down the Sacramento River to Benicia to trade for supplies.
Swift . . . — — Map (db m80734) HM
This structure was erected in 1858 by Captain Granville R. Swift, a member of the Bear Flag Party. The stone in the building was quarried here by native Indian labor. General Persifor F. Smith, U.S. Military Commander-in-Chief in California, lived . . . — — Map (db m80735) HM
Near Old Winery Road east of Lovall Valley Road, on the right when traveling east.
Marker One:
Osiris: Egyptian God of Wine – 5,000 Years Ago
For thousands of years Egyptians celebrated the annual flooding of the mighty Nile with three days of singing, dancing, poetry, and wine drinking at the Temple of Osiris at . . . — — Map (db m231221) HM
Near Old Winery Road east of Lovall Valley Road, on the left when traveling east.
Marker One:
Hidden within our maze are several private spaces; you may walk along our circuitous paths to find them. Inside these private spaces are signposts describing the astonishing life and journeys of Count Agoston Haraszthy, who . . . — — Map (db m231511) HM
The Mission Trail marked the three hundred years of Spanish-Mexican settlement. It travelled as far south as Guatemala and traversed Mexico to advance through eleven of our present day United States. In 1823 Mission San Francisco Solano was founded, . . . — — Map (db m15294) HM
On Arnold Drive (California Route 121), on the right when traveling south. Reported permanently removed.
At this site, on July 4, 1823 Father Altimra set up a Camp Alter and planted the Holy Cross. The troops fired a volley, and the Padre sang in adoration of the cross. A Mass was celebrated in gratitude, and the place was named San Francisco Solano. . . . — — Map (db m15317) HM
Near Arnold Drive (State Highway 121) south of Meadowlark Lane, on the right when traveling south.
Welcome
At this site, on July 4, 1823 Father Altimira set up a camp altar and planted the Holy Cross. The troops fired a volley, and the padre sang in adoration of the cross. A mass was celebrated in gratitude, and the place was named San . . . — — Map (db m226375) HM
On 1st Street East, 0 miles north of East Napa Street, on the right when traveling north.
This is the site of the Poppe General Store, law office and flats, portions of which date back to 1861, all of which were destroyed by a fire in 1911.
The following year this building was constructed as a law office, using fireproof concrete and . . . — — Map (db m66091) HM
This building is dedicated to Celso Viviani,
an Italian immigrant who came to Sonoma, California in 1910
Celso began making cheese in 1921 and started his cheese making business in 1931. He constructed this building in 1944 and opened the cheese . . . — — Map (db m15293) HM
On East Napa Street near 3rd Street East, on the right when traveling west.
This historic 1916 landmark, now the Sonoma Community Center, was the original home of the Sonoma Grammar School. It was purchased by Dr. Carroll Andrews and donated to the people of Sonoma in 1952.
The center is a non-profit run by a dedicated . . . — — Map (db m102581) HM
On West Napa Street (California Route 12), on the right when traveling east.
The Sonoma Index was founded in 1879 by Benjamin Frank. It is the successor to the Sonoma Bulletin (1852-1855), the first California newspaper published north of San Francisco.
The Index was purchased in 1884 by Harry H. Granice, maternal . . . — — Map (db m78925) HM
Original construction of store, library and dwelling which forms nucleus of this building in 1852 by Nathansons on land previously owned by Vallejo, this property was leased by Leiding to McKeague in 1877 and remodeled to become Eureka Hotel. 1886 . . . — — Map (db m15287) HM
Trinity traces its origins to St. Mary’s Hall, an Episcopal school for girls, established on the plaza by the Rev. John Leonard Ver Mehr on September 1, 1853, at the invitation of Sonoma founder Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo. During the next several . . . — — Map (db m15254) HM
Built 1856
California Heritage Council Award of Merit
Sonoma League for Historic Preservation
Headquarters
Dedicated May 1, 1976 — — Map (db m15249) HM
On 2nd Street East, 0.1 miles north of East Spain Street, on the left when traveling north.
This stone building, having withstood a fire and numerous earthquakes, was originally constructed in 1904 to house a brewery.
During “Prohibition”, in 1931, Gaetano “Tom” Vella and his wife, Zolita, Clerici Vella . . . — — Map (db m78905) HM
On East Spain Street east of First Street West, on the right when traveling east.
Born July 4, 1807 in Monterey
Died January 18, 1890 in Sonoma
Founder of the Pueblo of Sonoma on June 24, 1835
Commissioner of the Sonoma Mission
Commandant General of California
Director of Colonization for the Northern Frontier . . . — — Map (db m231569) HM
Near East Napa Street (State Highway 12) west of First Street East, on the right when traveling west.
Has been designated a
Registered National Historic Landmark
Under the provisions of the Historic Sites Act of August 21, 1935 this site possesses exceptional value in commemorating and illustrating the history of the United States
U.S. . . . — — Map (db m231573) HM
Near East Spain Street near First Street East, on the right when traveling west.
"A Small Army of Employees"
General Vallejo was one of the most powerful men in California. The Servants' Quarters was once a section of his impressive house, Casa Grande, but the rest burned in 1867. The Vallejo family employed "a small army . . . — — Map (db m231026) HM
Near East Spain Street west of First Street East, on the right when traveling west.
A surprising amount of California's history has taken place in these few blocks of Sonoma. In the early 1820s, Father Altimira, a Franciscan Missionary, commenced the building of the 21st California mission, utilizing Native American labor. General . . . — — Map (db m231021) HM
On East Spain Street west of First Street East, on the right when traveling west.
A Place to Hang Your Hat
The Toscano Hotel (to your right) was built in the 1850s and was a store and a library before becoming a modest hotel. A night's lodging and three meals cost $1 in 1906. The building grew to include the Annex, in . . . — — Map (db m231019) HM
On East Spain Street west of First Street East, on the right when traveling west.
General Vallejo Comes to Sonoma
The Catholic mission dominated life here from 1823-1834. But the Mexican government soon shifted its focus to developing Sonoma as a pueblo - a town and military outpost. They sent General Vallejo from San . . . — — Map (db m231032) HM
