|
Special Offers
 Spas
& Lodging
Directory
Lodging
Wineries
Wine
Tours
Wine
Resources
Day
Spas
Activities
Restaurants
Visitor
Services
Real
Estate
Professionals
Everyday
Living
Community
|
Napa Valley | Community
| History
 Sharpsteen
Museum Rich in history Calistoga has worked diligently
to incorporate the new with the old, and has successfully
melded the historical concept of Americana-small-town with
the currency of the computer and the information age. Side-by-side
with million year old geysers are the spas offering mineral
soaks or mud baths, Aromatherapy and masseuses trained to
soothe the sore muscles of a rush-rush world. Also found are
the shops offering herbal and natural products from green-grocers
to mineral soaps, natural cottons and silks to rayon and polyesters.
And, of course, Calistoga is the home of Calistoga Mineral
Water and Crystal Geyser Water, those bottled natural compounds
that refresh and sustain life.
 The
Napa County Historical Society was established
to study the history of California and especially of Napa
Valley. Its projects include the collection, preservation,
organization, and sharing of information and artifacts of
historical value, in an effort to bring the rich heritage
of this fascinating region to the awareness of the public.
The beautiful Napa Valley has an unusually high number of
historical sites, structures and buildings. The Napa County
Historical Society has preserved documents and photographs
to create a living textbook of local history. Conceived on
May 8, 1948, at a pioneer picnic at the Old Bale Mill, the
Napa County Historical Society was incorporated on May 14th
of the same year. The picturesque mill, built in 1846 by the
English settler of the Rancho Carne Humana, Dr. E. Bale, was
an appropriate setting for the inauguration of the Society.
 History
of Napa Valley Winegrowing - To the Wappo Indians
who first inhabited the valley, "Napa" meant a land
of plenty. Spawning salmon filled the waterways, clouds of
migrating waterfowl darkened the skies and the valley floor
served as home to wildcats, elk, black bear and grizzlies.
Wild grapes also grew in abundance, but it took early settlers
such as George Calvert Yount to recognize the valley's potential
for cultivating winegrapes. Establishing the first local homestead
in what is now Yountville in 1836, Yount was the first to
plant vineyards in the valley. Other early pioneers included
John Patchett, who planted the first commercial vineyard;
Dr. George Crane, who promoted the planting of grapevines
through a series of newspaper articles; and Hamilton Walker
Crabb, who experimented with more than 400 grape varieties.
 California
Landmark 693 - George Calvert Yount (1794-1865)
was the first United States citizen to be ceded a Spanish
land grant in Napa Valley (1836). Skilled hunter, frontiersman,
craftsman, and farmer, he was the true embodiment of all the
finest qualities of an advancing civilization blending with
the existing primitive culture. Friend to all, this kindly
host of Caymus Rancho encouraged sturdy American pioneers
to establish ranches in this area, so it was well populated
before the gold rush.
Sam
Brannan - After visiting the hot springs in Napa
County, Brannan bought a huge tract of land and founded the
village of Calistoga, (a combination of the words California
and Saratoga) planning a resort. Failing at that, he became
a brewer, then an alcoholic. Foresaking the city he helped
found, he drifted to San Diego, remarried and set up a small
ranch near the Mexican border. At the age of sixty-nine, he
was paid the sum of forty-nine thousand dollars in interest
from the government of Mexico. He quit drinking, paid all
his debts and died penniless at the age of seventy.
The Legend of the Geysers - Long, long ago, the peaceful
Ashochimi Indian tribe inhabited a rich and luxuriant valley
on both sides of a river, now known as the Russian River north
of San Francisco.
St.
Helena Historical Society - Society is a public
educational organization. Its mission is to collect, preserve,
exhibit, and provide access to historical materials of all
kinds from our community as well as to promote public awareness
and participation in the collection of such materials
Napa
History.com
- This site has been created to celebrate the fantastic
history of the Napa Valley. From the early days, when the
Wappo Indians lived in the Napa Valley to the present, the
history of the Napa Valley has represented a way of life
in many small California towns. It's earliest settlers,
the Wappo Indians lived with both hardship, and beauty.
They hunted, fished, and were inspired by the beauty of
this valley. When the first white settlers came to the valley,
they saw both opportunity and freedom. The wild west was
still very much alive in those days. Life was never easy
in any sense of the word. To own land, one had to become
a Mexican citizen, and the lands were ruled by an outdated
system of governors by the Mexican government. There was
rebellion, fighting, bloodshed, and death along the way.
When the "Bear Flag Rebellion" finally occurred in Sonoma,
the men fighting for freedom were a rag tag bunch, but they
won, and today, that Bear Flag is now the California State
Flag.
Wikipedia
- Napa County - Napa County, once the producer
of many different crops is known today for its wine industry,
rising in the 1960s to the first rank of wine regions with
France and Italy. The combination of natural beauty, pleasant
Mediterranean climate, and proximity to San Francisco, Oakland,
and Sacramento has made it into one of the United States'
most desirable areas in which to live. However, its citizens
are famous for their resistance to suburban development,
with the result that 33 of California's 58 counties--including
many that are far from major urban areas--are more populous.
Napa
County Genealogy
|
|
