West County History Corner
1951 Sebastopol Apple Blossom Princesses taken at the California State Capitol, Sacramento by McCurry Foto Co. Men from L-R: Earl Warren - Governor of California (VP nominee with Dewey in 1948 and later Chief Justice of the US Supreme Court), Curt Stange (Bank of Sonoma County), Harry Martin (Martin's Nursery and Ed Herring (Best & Feaks Insurance). Young girls are L-R: Helen Inman, Kathleen Flaming, and Meredith Shelton. Unfortunately Kathleen and Meredith came down with Chicken Pox and were replaced with Peggy Osborn and Linda Miller. Helen Inman became Queen.
The following snippets of history were prepared by volunteers at the Western Sonoma County Historical Society. For more information about local history, go to the WSCHS website at wschs.org, or email comments or questions about this History Corner to Mary Dodgion at wschs.historycorner@gmail.com.
MAY 1922 - NEW PACKING HOUSE FOR UNION
The directors of the Sebastopol Apple Growers’ Union decided to erect a new packing house at Trenton. The size will be 80 x 120 feet. It was also decided to put an addition on the Molino packing house, adding over 6,000 square feet and intend to put in a platform scale. The SAGU is progressing at a rapid pace as they have already established packing houses at Trenton, Forestville, Green Valley, Graton, Barlow, Molino, Sebastopol, Turner, Santa Rosa, and Healdsburg.
MAY 1947 - WORK HAS STARTED ON CONSTRUCTION OF NEW THEATRE
Preliminary work has begun this week on construction of the new Analy Theatre on North Main Street adjoining the American Legion Hall. The theater, to be a stadium-type 850 seat motion picture house, has been planned for some time, but the building regulations prohibited actual start of construction until the present time. Dan Tocchini and A.R. Gambogi, proprietors of the El Rey Theater, are building the new theater. The new theater will be approximately twice the size of the El Rey theater (230 So. Main St.) The owners have voiced the hope that the new theater will fill the long-felt need for a larger theater in this growing community.
MAY 1972 - UNCOVERED EARLY FT. ROSS CHAPTER
Before the realignment of state Highway 1 at Fort Ross State Historic Park an archeological survey was conducted by the Department of Parks and Recreation and the Department of Public Works, and its findings added at least 20 years to the park. While no structures or headstones, a grave site and evidence of an early Russian structure were found one mile outside the stockade. The survey team also found remains of the Mad-Shui – Nui Indian village, whose land had been purchased by the Russians from the Kashia Indian tribe. Metropolitan Vladimir and Father Kishkovsky, officials of the Russian Orthodox Church, presided over the exhumation of this early Russian colony. They will be returned to Fort Ross State Historic Park for re-burial of the remains.