Petaluma Adobe: Petaluma, California

Thursday, November 13,  2014 

                                                    

A visit to Petaluma Adobe State Park: 

                                                        

The Adobe was the center of General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo's 66, 000 acre working rancho from 1836-1846.

http://www.petalumaadobe.com/index.html

Presidios=forts    Pueblos=towns

                                           Hornos: Spanish Beehive Ovens

                                                     Through the window: upper floor

The Adobe structure was not completed when Vallejo was arrested during the Bear Flag Revolt in 1846. When Vallejo was released months later, the Gold Rush had driven labor prices up and squatters had taken over portions of the land. Vallejo eventually sold the rancho in 1847 after attempts to lease it and make a profit failed.

The Petaluma Adobe building was once considered for the site of the University of California, but after a survey and discussion, another site was chosen. The Native Sons of the Golden West purchased the Adobe in 1910 and preserved it until the state bought it in 1951. Today the state owns a small portion of what was once a vast rancho and the largest privately owned Adobe Building in California. The Adobe was officially registered as California State Historical Landmark #18 in 1932 and in 1970 became a registered National Historic Landmark.