Posted by Michael Haran on May 1, 2008
By Michael Haran
Published Healdsburg Tribune May 1, 2008
This year, the American Association of University Women’s 18th Annual Healdsburg Historic Homes Tour features five unique and distinctive homes. This walking tour raises money for the AAUW’s scholarship and public school funds.
The homes chosen each year are examples of the town’s diverse architectural heritage, the characteristics of which are what make Healdsburg such a great place to live. From our earliest settlers to about a dozen new homes which have been built over the past year, Healdsburg’s detached single family dwellings reflect, as much as anything, our town’s evolution from squatters to ultra modern living in “smart” homes that can practically clean themselves.
In Hanna Clayborn’s “History of Healdsburg,” and “Adaptation from the Healdsburg Cultural Resource Survey,” she talks about Healdsburg’s early architecture. Most of the early cabins and houses around Healdsburg were modest structures often “designed” and built by amateur carpenters. In the tradition of the “first come first buy” American frontier, no section of town was set aside for business or public purposes. Residences lined the main street and clustered in the downtown area on the east and south sides of the Plaza.
According to one observer, T.F. Cronise in 1867, the majority of Healdsburg residents came from the southern United States and the then “southwestern” states including Missouri (where the Healds came from), Kansas, Oklahoma and Arkansas. Their origin, he noted, is “indicated not more by the peculiarities of their manners than the style of their houses, most of which have huge chimneys built outside, after the custom of their early houses”. Cronise noticed the difference of Healdsburg’s early architectural style from the norm in California which was overwhelmingly Yankee.
Although most of Healdsburg’s early homes were copied from folk designs or later, catalog designs, there was a time in the early 1870’s when Healdsburg had a resident architect named William Henry Middleton. Middleton’s most notable building still standing is the elegant Italianate at 211 North Street, now know as the Camellia Inn.
The first Euro-American settlers built cabins of split-log redwood. After the first sawmill was built, the first permanent structures were made of adobe, utilizing native clay and local Indian labor. Between 1840 and 1848 three adobe structures were built. All of these homes were either destroyed or damaged in the 1906 earthquake, with the exception of an adobe outbuilding which has been recently restored and still stands at 8644 Highway 128.
In the 1850s, most of the new homes were simple wood frame “homestead” style structures. Most were single-story, single-gable structures built to house the settlers, most of whom didn’t have families. An example of an early (1853) homestead still stands at 239 Center Street. In the 1850s and 1860s these homestead style houses became larger to accommodate families and became easier to build because of sawn lumber and massed produced nails. Examples of basic later homestead houses are at 815 Johnson Street, 317 Tucker Street and 414 North Street. A couple of larger homesteads can be seen at 230 Center Street, and 340 East Street.
Between 1870 and 1880 (know as the late settlement era), the prosperity of Healdsburg’s agriculture and businesses prompted a more elaborate architecture. Several large Italianate homes, which were probably based on architectural plan books, were built. Examples of these Italianates can be seen at the aforementioned 211 North Street., 619 Johnson Street., and 14891 and 14851 Grove Street. Toward the end of the 19th century, the eastern influenced Queen Anne style homes were being built in Healdsburg. An exemplary Queen Anne mansion is the SwisherMansion at 642 Johnson Street, and the Queen Ann cottage at 403 Matheson Street. Many of the late Queen Annes were built between 1890 and 1910 including one at 423 Matheson Street.
Between 1900 and 1925, two styles of bungalows, the California and the Craftsman, reflected the movement away from the excesses or the ornate Victorian architecture. Both provided housing for the growing middle class population, superseding the function of the Queen Anne cottage, and which integrated indoor and outdoor living spaces with the use of sleeping porches and natural woods. The more prevalent Craftsman homes, with their broad-based pillars, overhanging eaves, and exposed beams, made use of somewhat more prominent design features than the simpler bungalows. An exemplary Craftsman bungalow can be seen at 439 Matheson Street. A California style can be seen at 214 Center Street.
By the mid 1920s Prohibition brought on a severe depression in the local hop and vineyard industries which curtailed residential construction in Healdsburg until after World War II. Accordingly, only a few Prairie style homes (popular in the San FranciscoBay area) and Vernacular cottages (primarily FitchMountain summer homes) were built in Healdsburg. Examples of the Prairie style of architecture can be found at 744 Healdsburg Avenue, and the Vernacular cottage style can be found at 1610 and 1616 S, Fitch Mountain Road. Some Mediterranean and Spanish or Mission style homes were built in Healdsburg between 1930 and 1945.
After WWII, Healdsburg participated in the economic boom times the rest of the nation was enjoying. One of the town’s 1950s developments was the Rose, Josephine, and Florence Street subdivision off Powell Street. These homes were the forerunners of the California ranch style homes which were to be built into the 1960s, 70s, and 80s throughout California. Built at the same time were the ultra modern or futuristic designs favored by Frank Lloyd Wright and which are similar to the Eichler Homes (the Terra Linda area of San Rafael was built by Eichler) that feature floor to ceiling glass, interior atriums and radiant floor heating.
Although sharing some of the same design features of the 1950’s ranchers such as low-pitched roofs, the Eichlers were more upscale for their time. They were built when home energy was cheap (can you believe $15 per month PG&E bills) and are notoriously non-energy efficient. Unless retrofitted, they leak heat like sieves. Healdsburg is fortunate to have its very own Frank Lloyd Wright designed home which is located at 550 Tucker Street. The home at 323 Matheson was built in 1954 and reflects the one of the best example of the post-modernistic style in Healdsburg. Other example can be seen at 426 Fitch Street, 316 North Street and 204 Solar Way.
Although many new homes are being built in a modified California Bungalow style futuristic home are still being built. Two prime examples can be found in the Parkland Farms subdivision at 260 Clear Ridge Drive and especially at 1591 Clear Ridge Drive.
Out of the 1983 Healdsburg Cultural Resource Survey came a change to the town’s approach to its architectural heritage. An historic district was established in two neighborhoods. One is along both sides of Johnson Street between Piper Street and Powell Avenue; and the other is along both sides of Matheson Street between East and First Streets. The Historic District designation may be applied to areas of the city that are of historic significance or contain historic structures in order to preserve, maintain and enhance their historic integrity. The historic designation doesn’t limit structure inclusion by date and, as such, could include the oldest and/or newest if the City Council deems the home to have significant historic qualities.
According to Lynn Goldberg, a senior planner at Healdsburg’s Community Development Center, most of the new people who are buying historic homes are doing so because that’s what attracted them to Healdsburg in the first place. It was the town’s “old timers” that had a problem with the new historic districts. This had more to do with America’s “traditional property rights” than anything else. But once they saw the value, most soon came around and supported these districts and designations.
Up until 1992, Healdsburg had a separate design review board which was responsible for reviewing the historical integrity of any dwelling whose owner had applied for either a permit for new construction, demolition, or an alteration which would increase the structure’s floor area by more than 25%. When the design board was eliminated, two additional positions were added to the town’s Planning Commission. The people filling these positions were supposed to have knowledge of architectural design such as architects and/or contractors.
The AAUW’s annual tour not only raises money for two great causes but also transports participants back in time. Imagine walking Healdsburg’s streets seventy-five, a hundred or even one hundred and fifty years ago. Amazing! It’s our architectural heritage from all eras that defines who we are, adds to the quality of life that we enjoy and contributes to what makes this town our town.
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Posted by Michael Haran on Feb 7, 2008
A History of Fishing Healdsburg
By: Michael Haran
Published The Healdsburg Tribune 2/7/2008
In the beginning there was the water. The Russian River and its many tributaries including area creeks with names such as the Hoot Owl, Pine, Mill, Dry, Pena, Sausal, Redwood, Brook, Windsor, Board, Wine, Warm Springs, Macaama, Foss and Sulphur big and little. Then came the fish – The Salmon, the Steelhead, the Green Sturgeon, Hardheads, California Roach, Pacific Brook Lamprey, Russian River Tuleperch, Sacramento Black Chub, Sacramento Squawfish (“pike”), Sacramento sucker, and the Wolf eel. Then came the “fishers” – the bear, the cougar, the coyote, the raccoon, the eagle, the hawk, the osprey, the king fisher, the herons, the egret – and man.
The Healdsburg fishing is part of the Russian River drainage which runs from the Eel River in Mendocino County to the mouth of the river at Jenner, a 110 mile course and a 1500 square mile watershed.
The history of fishing in and around Healdsburg parallels the rich cultural heritage of the Healdsburg area itself. The first human fishers of the Russian River watershed were the Native American Pomo tribes who inhabited this regain for over 10,000 years before the European settles arrived. 
In 1909 Susan L. McMurray accompanied the Makahmo, a southern Pomo tribe which lived around Cloverdale, on a fishing exhibition on the Big Sulphur Creek. She described the fishing techniques of the tribe at a waterfall about a mile up from the Russian River. At this salmon hole, which means Makahmo in the Pomo language, the tribe would catch its winter food supply which was shared among participating families.
A very large basketry fish trap (made of grapevine or willow) was suspended by grapevine ropes under the fall. Salmon that failed in the leap up the falls dropped back and fell into the basket: At times, as many as 200 fish were caught in a day.
The Makahmo also river-fished using fish dams or weirs. Men, women, and children drove the fish into the trap by walking upstream, striking the water and tamping the stream bed while shouting; Kite-shaped scoop nets and nets that were attached to semi-circular poles were also used For night fishing, a fire built on the bank attracted the fish and illuminated activities, as well as provided warmth. The salmon and steelhead were killed using a “fish club” while smaller fish (suckers, trout and pike) were killed by biting their heads off.
As salmon ascended the streams, they were also taken with a single-pointed, unbarbed fish spear; the point was usually made from the front leg of a deer. Eels were caught with dip nets or gaffs. Children were given miniature harpoons and urged to spear suckers as their elders speared salmon.
During the summer basketry traps were used to catch fish. Angling was used during this time of the year by using willow saplings for poles. Two thorns were tied together to form an acute angle, a nasal bone of a deer or a double-pointed “hook” (gorget) made of Manzanita wood were used for fishhooks. Line was made of fiber extracted from wild iris leaves and grasshoppers were the primary bait. By September, the rivers and creeks had dried to isolated pools. The bulbs of soaproot and other plants were ground and stirred into the pools. The poisons stupefied the fish which were easily collected as they floated to the surface.
By the time the Healdsburg became a town in 1857, the sport of trout and salmon fishing was well established in England with its over three hundred years of history. Isaac Walton’s The Complete Angler was written in 1653 and is considered the bible of trout and salmon fishing even today. In the eastern United States, recreational trout and salmon fishing had become very popular with its heyday in the 1920s.
A big change came in 1857, when wet fly fishing with a light single-handed rod, about ten feet long, came into vogue. The discovery of the false-cast early in the decade, which was the beginning of dry fly fishing, began the trend toward shorter, nine to ten foot split-cane trout rods. Also in the 1850s the materials also changed as both trout and salmon rods were built of greenheart, lancewood, bamboo and whalebone. Salmon rod lengths remain in the fifteen to eighteen foot range, but no longer were they spliced, and the ferule had finally become standard method of fitting sections together.
Although the Mexican government had fish and game laws as far back as the 1830s (John Sutter was a Mexican game warden in Northern California), the first California fish laws were passed in 1852, two years after California had become a state, protecting salmon runs. In 1861 the first closed season for trout was established and in 1885, the state published the first Fish and Game laws.
By 1888, fishing by explosives, cage, pound, weir or set net was prohibited, but it wasn’t until 1927 when spear fishing for trout and salmon was outlawed, that angling finally became the only legal method for catching fish in the Russian River watershed. In fact, an article in the 1879 Healdsburg Enterprise advised how to spear salmon, “The best way to catch them is to go at night, with lights and spear; when the fish cross riffles they can be gathered in rapidly. In cold weather salmon are more apt to stay in deep water, seldom venturing to cross riffles.”
The illegal poaching of steelhead and salmon has been a continual problem on the river. In 1891 the Sonoma County Tribune reported that “several persons have been killing large numbers of salmon in Dry Creek by the unlawful use of Giant Powder. Most of these parties are well known to the neighbors and will be severely dealt with if caught in the act.”
In 1903, another Healdsburg Enterprise article reported: “Two Healdsburg youths, pleaded guilty Monday afternoon to a charge of using dynamite with which to kill many fish in the Russian River, and Judge Burnett imposed a light sentence on them. He gave them the minimum allowed by law, a fine of $250, and allowed them the alternative of serving out the fine in the county jail at the rate of $25 per day. The lads will be given a room in the upper story of the jail and not be incarcerated with the general run of criminals.”
In 1872, the state legislature passed an act requiring fish-ways or “in-lieu” hatcheries where dams or other obstacles impede or prevent fish passage. The creation of the state’s hatchery system created California’s modern fresh water fishing sport, that we enjoy today. In 1902, the Eel River Hatchery made the first plant of steelhead trout fry in the State. Since that time millions of trout, steelhead and salmon have been planted in the Russian River and its tributaries.
In 1907, 25,000 rainbow trout were planted in the Russian River; in 1914, 100,000 trout were planted; in 1915, 70,000 steelhead, 65,000 trout, as well as perch and black bass were planted in the Russian River; in 1917, 100,000 trout were planted; In 1919 40,000 steelhead were planted in Mill Creek; and in 1927, 500,000 German Brown trout were planted in the Russian River.
Today, the Warm Springs Hatchery at Lake Sonoma raises and releases 110,000 Coho (Sliver) salmon and 300,000 steelhead each year, with the limit being two hatchery trout or two hatchery steelhead per day with no salmon.
After WWII, many of the chemicals that were developed during the war were now being used for crop management. Human waste from sewer and septic systems were finding its way into the river and the fish population began it decline. The State’s waterway were becoming so polluted that in 1949 the first pollution act was passed by the State Legislature.
The continual water release from Lake Mendocino’s Coyote Dam since its construction in 1958, plus the mining of the river’s gravel bars contributed in the “flattening out” of the river bottom. Many of the old fishing holes around Healdsburg, which were identified by long time local fisherman Leroy Danhausen in a 1961 Heritage Paper he did while at Sonoma State, had disappeared. Holes like “Ruby Hole” which was named for an old steelhead with bright red gill plates; and “Dinner Hole,” so named because if you started out fishing south from Memorial Dam, by lunch time you were at the Dinner Hole; and “Teacher’s Hole,” a hole on the north side of Fitch Mountain where a couple of teachers could get in a few hours of fishing before class, are all gone. The fishermen of that time were pretty pessimistic about the future of steelhead fishing on the Russian River.
Today, thing are looking up. Barbed hooks were outlawed in 1999 and the Russian River Coho Recovery Work Group was implemented in 2000. Organizations such as the Sotoyome Resource Conservation District and the Russian Riverkeepers are supplementing governmental organizations such as the Sonoma County Water Agency and the California Department of Fish and Game in keeping the river clean. Programs such as SRCD’s Rural Road Sediment Reduction, Riverkeeper’s Water-Watch, and the DFG’s Classroom Aquarium Education Program have greatly improved not only the Russian River watershed’s fish habitat but have also educated adults and students in keeping the habitat fish safe. And if you look closely maybe those old fishin’ hole aren’t really gone after all.
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