Petaluma, California
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Petaluma is a city with a well preserved historic center [1] in Sonoma County, California, in the United States. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 54,548. Petaluma Adobe State Historic Park contains the Rancho Petaluma Adobe, a National Historic Landmark. It was built beginning in 1836 by General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, then Commandant of the San Francisco Presidio. It was the center of a vast 66,000 acre (270 km²) ranch stretching from Petaluma Creek to Sonoma Creek. The adobe is considered one of the best preserved buildings of its era in Northern California. Petaluma is a transliteration of the Coast Miwok phrase péta lúuma which means hill backside [2] and probably refers to Petaluma's proximity to Sonoma Mountain.
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[edit] Geography and environmental factors
Petaluma is located at (38.245849, -122.631276)GR1. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 36.0 km² (13.9 mi²). 35.7 km² (13.8 mi²) of it is land and 0.3 km² (0.1 mi²) of which the total water area is 0.72%.
Petaluma, which enjoys a mild Mediterranean climate, is situated at the northernmost navigable end of the Petaluma River, a tidal estuary that snakes southward to San Pablo Bay. The Petaluma River has significant levels of water contamination. A considerable amount of the city is in the river's flood plain, which overflows its banks every few years, particularly in the Payran neighborhood [1]. Principal environmental noise sources are U.S. Route 101, Petaluma Boulevard, Washington Street and other major arteries. The number of residents that live in a zone of noise exposure greater than 60 CNEL is approximately 4000[1]. Lying above the city of Petaluma on the northwest flank of Sonoma Mountain is the Fairfield Osborn Preserve, a nature reserve with a diversity of native flora and fauna.
[edit] History
The Coast Miwok Indians resided in southern Sonoma County, and Petaluma was originally the name of a Miwok tribe that resided east of the river at the location of the present day town.[3]
Pioneered by the Spanish in 1776, the Petaluma area was part of a 66,000-acre Mexican land grant of 1844 by Governor Pio Pico to General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo called the Rancho Soscol. In 1836, General Vallejo began construction of his Rancho Petaluma Adobe a ranch house in Petaluma, which his family often used as a summer home, while he resided in the neighboring town of Sonoma. Vallejo's influence and Mexican control in the region began to decline after Vallejo's arrest during the Bear Flag Revolt in 1846.
Pioneers flocked into Petaluma from the eastern United States after the discovery of gold in California in 1849. The town's position on the Petaluma River in the heart of productive farmland was critical to its growth during the 19th and early 20th centuries. Sailing scows, such as the scow schooner Alma (1891), and steamers plied the river between Petaluma and San Francisco, carrying agricultural produce and raw materials to the burgeoning city of San Francisco during the California gold rush.
Volpi's is an old speakeasy that now operates as a bar and restaurant. There were also brothels, one of which is now Old Chicago Pizza on Petaluma Boulevard North, which used to be the main thoroughfare until U.S. Highway 101 was constructed in the 1950s.
Petaluma soon became known for its grain milling and chicken processing industries, which continue to the present as a smaller fraction of its commerce. In fact one of the largest historic chicken processing plants still stands in the central area of town; this 1920s brick building is no longer used for the chicken industry, but is being evaluated for preservation and change of use. Today, Petaluma is known by many as the arm wrestling center of the Western U.S.
According to the Army Museum at the Presidio, San Francisco, Petaluma was relatively unharmed during the San Francisco earthquake of April 18, 1906, due to significant investment of stable bedrock underlying the region, despite the town being one of the closest towns to the epicenter to the east at Point Reyes Station. As one of the few communities in the region left standing after the earthquake, Petaluma was the staging point for most Sonoma County rescue and relief efforts.
Petaluma is today the location of many distinguished, well-preserved pre-1906 buildings and Victorian homes on the western side of the river. The downtown has suffered many river floods over the years and during the Depression commerce declined. A lack of funds prevented the demolishment of the old homes and buildings. In the 1960's the hippie migration out of San Francisco looking for cheap, dilapidated old houses to rent or buy began to restore them, and an active historic preservation movement started to reclaim the downtown. Traffic and new home development for the most part was rerouted to the east of downtown by the construction of the 101 Freeway.
With its large stock of historic buildings, Petaluma has been used as the filming location for numerous movies set in the 1940s, '50s, and '60s (see list of movies below). The historic McNears Building is a common film location.
In the late 1990s, Petaluma was also known as Telecom Valley due to the Telecom Startup companies that seemed to multiply from one another, and offer great riches if you were lucky enough to be an early stockholder or employee. Some success stories were employees of AFC, or Cerent, which was purchased by Cisco. Some Cerent employees went on to purchase the Phoenix Theatre, a local entertainment venue, which was once an opera house.
[edit] Filming location
Ever since 1973, Petaluma has served as a location for many major films, including:
- American Graffiti (1973) Sonoma shooting was at Old Adobe Road, Frates Road, Petaluma Blvd., Petaluma High School, (also San Rafael and Tamalpais High School in Marin County).
- Cujo (1983) Locations include Petaluma, Santa Rosa (and Mendocino).
- Explorers (1985) Locations include Petaluma.
- Howard the Duck (1986)
- Peggy Sue Got Married (1986) Locations at Santa Rosa High School and Petaluma.
- Basic Instinct (1992) 3 day shoot in Petaluma and Rohnert Park, with other scenes in Carmel and San Francisco.
- Max,13 (1997) 4 Day shoot in Petaluma and 10 day shoot in Tomales
- Inventing the Abbotts (1997)
- Flubber (1997) church scene filmed partially at Open Door Christian church in Petaluma
- Lolita (1997)
- Pleasantville (1998) filmed at intersection of Petaluma Boulevard and Western Ave.
- Mumford (1999)
[edit] Songs About Petaluma
- "Petaluma Riot City" by The Workin' Stiffs
- "And on the Seventh Day, Petals Fell in Petaluma" by Harry Partch
- "Butter and Eggs" by Gabby La La
- "Petaluma" by Norman Greenbaum
- "P-Town Intro Remix" by Tecova
- "Never going back to Petaluma" by The Freak Accident
[edit] Images
 Painting at E Washington St. |
 St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church |
 Petaluma Blvd |
 St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church |
 St. Vincent de Paul Catholic Church |
 Looking north along the Petaluma River from downtown wooden pedestrian bridge |
 Clock tower at the corner of Petaluma Blvd. and Western Ave. |
[edit] Demographics
As of the censusGR2 of 2000, there were 54,548 people, 19,932 households, and 14,012 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,526.2/km² (3,953.1/mi²). There were 20,304 housing units at an average density of 568.1/km² (1,471.4/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 84.16% White, 1.16% African American, 0.54% Native American, 3.91% Asian, 0.17% Pacific Islander, 6.08% from other races, and 3.98% from two or more races. 14.64% of the population were Hispanic.
There were 19,932 households out of which 36.6% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 55.3% were married couples living together, 10.6% had a female householder with no husband present, and 29.7% were non-families. 22.6% of all households were made up of individuals and 9.1% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.70 and the average family size was 3.16. The age distribution is: 26.2% under the age of 18, 7.2% from 18 to 24, 31.5% from 25 to 44, 24.1% from 45 to 64, and 11.0% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females there were 95.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.9 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $61,679, and the median income for a family was $71,158. Males had a median income of $50,232 versus $36,413 for females. The per capita income for the city was $27,087. About 3.3% of families and 6.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 6.2% of those under age 18 and 7.1% of those age 65 or over.
[edit] Government
The mayor of Petaluma, David Glass, is a former San Francisco Giants broadcaster. The vice mayor is businessman Mike Harris. The other five council members are Karen Nau, Keith Canevero, Mike Healy, Mike O'Brien, and Pamela Torliatt. Councilman Canevero served in Iraq, and former mayor Clark Thompson served part of his term while Canevero was overseas. Pamela Torliatt was recently voted in as mayor-elect.
[edit] Recent Events
The national spotlight shone on Petaluma in 1975 when the City was taken to court over its restricted growth policies. The City had adopted a rate-of-growth plan to slow the rapid new-home growth Petaluma had experienced in the 1960's. The court battle received attention because of changing attitudes towards California housing tract developments. The City's restriction was upheld by the 9th Circuit Court in 1975 and the Supreme Court denied a Petition for Writ of Certiorari in 1976.
With the financial backing of local developers city council candidates won the election in 2000 and later approved large developments throughout Petaluma.
More recently, Petaluma received national attention when on October 1, 1993 a child Polly Klaas was kidnapped from her home and later murdered. The community pulled quickly together to publicize the disappearance and to form the Polly Klaas Foundation for missing and exploited children.
Petaluma is also a former home of John Mark Karr, who was arrested on August 16, 2006, in Thailand as a suspect in the 1996 sexual assault and murder of JonBenet Ramsey of Boulder, Colorado. It is being speculated that Karr's confession lacks consistency with the facts of the Ramsey case and he may in fact just be inserting himself into a crime that he has long been fascinated by[[1]]. Further evidence of his strange psychosis may be that he in fact moved to Petaluma to be closer to the Klaas case that was reportedly another of his obsessions involving the murder of a young girl.
[edit] Notable Residents
Notable past and present residents include:
- Lynn Woolsey, U.S. Congressional Representative
- Elijah Wood, actor.
- Winona Ryder (Horowitz), actress
- Lloyd Bridges, actor
- Pauline Kael, movie critic, born in Petaluma
- Jonny Gomes, baseball player of the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, born and raised in Petaluma
- Ben Trott and Mena Trott of Six Apart
- Leo Laporte, Radio Host/Podcaster/Author
- Clark Coolidge, poet
- The Mommies comedy duo
[edit] References
- ^ a b c Kay Ransom, C. Michael Hogan, Ballard George et al., Environmental Impact Report for the Petaluma General Plan, prepared by Earth Metrics Inc. for the city of Petaluma (1986),
- ^ Gudde, Erwin Gustav, William Bright (1998). California Place Names: The Origin and Etymology of Current Geographical Names, Second Edition, Berkeley: University of California Press, Pg. 287. ISBN 0-520-21316-5.
- ^ http://www.accessgenealogy.com/native/california/miwokindianhist.htm
[edit] External links
- Maps and aerial photos
- Street map from Google Maps, or Yahoo! Maps, or Windows Live Local
- Satellite image from Google Maps, Windows Live Local, WikiMapia
- Topographic map from TopoZone
- Aerial image or topographic map from TerraServer-USA
Incorporated places
Santa Rosa (County seat) • Cloverdale • Cotati • Healdsburg • Petaluma • Rohnert Park • Santa Rosa • Sebastopol • Sonoma • Windsor
Census-designated places
Bodega Bay • Boyes Hot Springs • El Verano • Eldridge • Fetters Hot Springs-Agua Caliente • Forestville • Glen Ellen • Graton • Guerneville • Larkfield-Wikiup • Monte Rio • Occidental • Roseland • Temelec
Other unincorporated communities
Cazadero • Freestone • Geyserville • Jenner • Kenwood • Penngrove
