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Clerk-Recorder-Assessor-Registrar of Voters

Historical Records Commission

Sonoma County Archives Crawl

First Sonoma County Archives Crawl

Showcasing local archives and special collections

Saturday, October 5, 2019
11:00 AM-4:00 PM

October is National Archives month, which is the inspiration for the first ever Sonoma County Archives Crawl – an event designed to celebrate archives and encourage visitors to explore and engage with institutions that collect archival material.

Sonoma County Library’s three special collections, the History & Genealogy Library, the Wine Library, and the Petaluma History Room, along with partner organizations will be hosting open houses. 

Unique exhibits, presentations, and interactive activities are planned and additional details are provided on this page and in the downloadable brochure.

2019 Sonoma County Archives Crawl Brochure (PDF)

Presentations at the Main Library

Forum Room, Central Library

211 E Street, Santa Rosa

12:30 PM
Preserving History and Democracy
Deva Marie Proto
Sonoma County Clerk Recorder-Assessor-Registrar of Voters
2:30 PM
Saving, Sharing, and Celebrating Your Family’s History & Heritage
Jack Schaeffer
Act3 Partners
Visit with these groups at the Library from 11:00 AM - 4:00 PM
Sonoma Valley Historical Society
Sonoma County Genealogical Society
The Sitting Room Community Library
Sonoma County Historical Society
John C. Burton - Northwestern Bottle Collectors Association
Lesbian Archives of Sonoma County
Sonoma County LGBTQI Timeline
Historical Society of Santa Rosa
Sonoma County Historical Records Commission
Sonoma County Clerk-Recorder-Assessor-Registrar of Voter
Santa Rosa Rural Cemetery Preservation Committee

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North County Locations

Archives Crawl North County Map

1) Geyserville Museum at the Bosworth and Son Store

Address: 21060 Geyserville Avenue, Geyserville
Phone: (707) 857-3463
Website: https://bosworthandson.com
Normal opening hours: 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM Thursday through Sunday
Hours open on October 5th: 11:00 AM to 7:00 PM

Offering on October 5th: Geyserville historical photographs and local artifacts along with some research notebooks will be on display. The store sells Western apparel and hats. Come have your favorite hats cleaned!

2) Sonoma County Wine Library

Address: 139 Piper Street, Healdsburg
Phone: (707) 433-3772, x0416
Website: https://sonomalibrary.org/locations/sonoma-county-wine-library
Hours: 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM

3) Healdsburg Museum and Historical Society

Address: 221 Matheson Street, Healdsburg
Contact Phone: (707) 431-3325
Website: https://www.healdsburgmuseum.org/
Normal opening hours: 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM Wednesday through Sunday
Hours open on October 5th: 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Offering on October 5th: Handwritten Healdsburg tax records, early Rancho Sotoyome maps, and original WWII posters will be highlighted. "Wine Roots of Healdsburg," an exhibition focused on local wine agriculture before Prohibition, and "Mervyn Silberstein: A Photographic Legacy," an exhibition on the early years of local photographer, Mervyn Silberstein, will be on display.

4) Windsor Museum and Historical Society

Address: 9225 Foxwood Drive, Windsor
Phone: (707) 838-4563
Website: WindsorHistory.org
Normal opening hours: 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM Friday, Saturday and Sunday and by appointment
Hours open on October 5th: 9:30 AM to 4:30 PM

Offering on October 5th: The 1938 Camp Windsor Migrant Labor Camp, Camp Windsor, and German POW Camp collections including photos, letters, and recollections, etc. will be available.

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Central County Locations

Archives Crawl Central County Map

5) Charles M. Schulz Museum

Address: 2301 Hardies Lane, Santa Rosa
Contact Phone: (707) 579-4452
Website:  http://www.schulzmuseum.org/visit
Normal opening hours: week days 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM and weekends 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM
Hours open on October 5th: 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM (museum) and 10:00 AM to 3:00 PM (archives)

Offering on October 5th: Original illustrated correspondence from Mr. Schulz’s time in the Army during WWII, calendars used by Mr. Schulz, and one of the earliest comic books in which Mr. Schulz was published will be shown in the archives. The second edition of “Peace, Love, and Woodstock,” “Abracadabra! Magic in Peanuts,” “Peanuts Goes to Camp,” and the newest “Fall Classics” display will all be open.

6) Museum of Sonoma County

Address: 425 Seventh Street, Santa Rosa
Phone: (707) 579-1500
Website:  https://museumsc.org/visit/
Normal opening hours: 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM Tuesday through Sunday
Hours open on October 5th: 11:00 AM to 5:00 PM (museum) and 11:00 AM to 3:00 PM (archives)

Offering on October 5th: Highlights from the Song Wong Bourbeau Collection (Santa Rosa’s Chinatown, now lost to time, in photographs, documents and objects), the Fountaingrove Collection (photos, maps, and documents of Sonoma County’s first utopian community established in 1875), the Sonoma County Historical Society Collection (early photographs, documents, and items from Sonoma County) will be on view in the archives. The exhibitions “Santa Rosa History” and “Día de los Muertos” will be on display in the museum.

7) Sonoma County History and Genealogy Library

Address: 725 3rd Street, Santa Rosa
Phone: (707) 308-3212
Website: https://sonomalibrary.org/locations/sonoma-county-history-and-genealogy-library
Hours: 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM 

There will be pop-up exhibits featuring recent donations, as well as a local history quiz and scavenger hunt. Staff will be on hand to discuss preservation issues, how to teach with primary resources and offer research tips and tricks.

8) West County Museum

Address: 261 South Main Street, Sebastopol
Contact Phone: (707) 829-6711
Website: https://wschs.org/museum/
Normal opening hours: Thursday through Sunday 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM
Hours open on October 5th: 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM

Offering on October 5th: The library geared toward western Sonoma County will be open for research along with collections of artifacts, photos/negatives, and newspapers. The exhibit “Seats of History” will be on display.

9) Cotati Museum and Historical Society

Address: 201 West Sierra Avenue, Cotati
Phone: (707) 794-0305
Website: http://cotatihistoricalsociety.org/
Normal opening hours: Saturdays 1:00 PM to 4:00 PM, second Tuesday of each month from 5:00 PM to 7:00 PM
Hours open on October 5th: Noon to 4:00 PM

Offering on October 5th: The exhibit “WA: Harmony, Peace and things Japanese, Japanese in Cotati” will be on display. Other highlights include the Jim Boggio archives and Cotati Accordion Festival Poster archives.

10) The Sitting Room Community Library

Address: 2025 Curtis Drive, Penngrove
Phone: (707) 795-9028
Website: http://www.sittingroom.org
Normal opening hours: 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday through Saturday
Hours open on October 5th: 9:00 AM to 6 :00 PM

Offering on October 5th: Over 300 individual files on women writers from Diane Ackerman to Nell Zink will be available to browse, plus files on women writers in each century since the 13th and women writers in different regions, from Africa to Vietnam. Tea and scones will be served.

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South County Locations

Archives Crawl South County Map

11) California State Parks, Blue Wing Inn

Address: 131 East Spain Street, Sonoma
Contact Phone: (707) 938-9560
Website:  https://www.sonomaparks.org/pub/place/3
Normal opening hours: None
Hours open on October 5th: 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Offering on October 5th: The museum curator and others will greet visitors and share material from their archives. The theme for the event is An Invitation to Pomp and Circumstance, highlighting past invitations to socialize and celebrate.

12) Northwestern Pacific Railroad Historical Society
Restoration Yard

Address: Corner of Copeland Street and East Washington Street, Petaluma
Contact Phone: (707) 838-8882
Website:  http://www.nwprrhs.org
Normal opening hours: 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM Monday through Saturday
Hours open on October 5th: 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Offering on October 5th: Staff will be on hand to explain the history of two fully restored cars of the Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railroad, one baggage car of the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad, and one passenger car of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad undergoing restoration.

13) Petaluma History Room
Petaluma Regional Library

Address: 100 Fairgrounds Drive, Petaluma
Contact Phone: (707) 763-9801
Website: https://sonomalibrary.org/locations/petaluma-history-room
Hours open on October 5th: 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Offering on October 5th: Displays with fun facts about Petaluma streets as well as the 1912 trip of the Alco truck carrying the first paid delivery by truck in the nation. Then and now pictures of Petaluma. Use of typewriters to write a letter that staff will mail.

14) Northwestern Pacific Railroad Historical Society
Hogarty Research Library and Archive

Address: 1364 North McDowell Boulevard, Petaluma
Contact Phone: (707) 838-8882
Website:  http://www.nwprrhs.org
Normal opening hours: 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM Monday through Saturday
Hours open on October 5th: 11:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Offering on October 5th: Staff will be on hand to explain what they hold and how to use it. Their collections consist of 10,000+ maps, 12,000+ photos, employee records, corporate records, financial records, etc. for the San Francisco and North Pacific, North Pacific Coast, Petaluma and Santa Rosa, and Albion Railroads as well as the Northwestern Pacific Railroad.

15) Petaluma Historical Library and Museum

Address: 20 Fourth Street, Petaluma
Contact Phone: (707) 778-4398
Website:  https://www.petalumamuseum.com
Normal opening hours: 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM Thursday through Sunday
Hours open on October 5th: 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM

Offering on October 5th: The Hoppy Hopkins Research Library will be open. The current exhibit features photos of glass negatives from local photographer Joe Wayne.

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