For Gloria Egger, it was her “best year.” The long-time Mill Creek resident remembers the one-room schoolhouse where about 20 or 30 kids, first grade through eighth, gathered daily to learn their lessons – all grades together, all in one room. The older kids would help the younger ones to learn, and everyone would help the teacher. Water came from a nearby creek; a boys and a girls outhouse were of the traditional, non-plumbed style. In spring the kids would have “wars” during recess throwing over-ripe fruit at each other in opposing forts. Other games included Anti-Over and Kick-the-Can, …

This week, and continuing only until Oct. 28, the Healdsburg Regional Library is presenting a one-room exhibit on Healdsburg's Artistic Heritage, from 1 to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. The exhibit, curated by the Healdsburg Museum's Holly Hoods, is a striking reminder that not all that long ago, mass-produced goods were the exception, not the rule. Baby cradles and clothes, crazy quilts and canes, model airplanes and more were goods that people made, by hand, from local materials. "Everything in the exhibit is at least 50 years old and was handcrafted by residents of Healdsburg between …

Did you know that Healdsburg has been the scene of, or a prime player in, murder, rape, poisoning, lynching, union-busting and tar-and-feathering? That’s the sort of history on display at the Healdsburg Museum’s new exhibit, Twisted History, now and continuing through October.  “Twisted” may not be strong enough a word for the show, and the exhibit even features a sign right inside the front warning of “disturbing or offensive” subject matter. Be sure to ask for the free audio tour when you visit, not only for its cohesive and well-narrated explanation of the museum’s exhibit by local voice-…

Come into town over the Memorial Bridge, turn right onto Front Street and go past the Depot. There she is, on the right: a big pink Italianate mansion, a “painted lady” if ever there is one. She’s seen better days, sure, but the remains imposing: two stories, a wrap-around porch, towering palms on the property. Surely there’s a story there. Indeed there is. From 1897 until her death in 1981, at the age of 95, Isabelle Victoria Simi lived here, the one-time owner of Simi Winery which she inherited from her father Giuseppe. Giuseppe and his brother Pietro started their winemaking career here in…

Today Healdsburg is a nationally-known wine country destination; six decades ago, however, its national fame rested on something completely different. For much of the 1950s Healdsburg was known as "The Town that Adopted a Battalion," thanks in no small measure to the efforts of a hospital janitor named Smitty Robinson. On Memorial Day Weekend, it's a episode of our history worth retelling. The story began locally, as these things do, but gained a national spotlight when the Dec. 1953 issue of Reader’s Digest (then one of the most-read periodicals in the world) published an article by J. …

Not long ago I was looking at the current exhibit in the Healdsburg Museum, about the Russian River Days of summers past, when the docent-on-duty said to me, “Did you know there’s a Dawn Redwood in the Plaza?” Not only did I not know, I told him, but I was keenly interested: the Dawn Redwood is almost a tree of legend, a mythical ancestor of the California redwoods long thought to be extinct. The species thrived as one of the pioneer conifers from about 80 million years ago. Metasequoia glyptostroboides is the only deciduous conifer in the world that loses its needles every winter -- and only…

Last week, at the invitation of Medlock Ames Winery, I dropped by their new tasting room at the intersection of Alexander Valley Road and Highway 128, the site of the old Alexander Valley Store. When I say “new,” it’s not a casual choice of words  – the AV store had been there at least since the 1920s, and closed down only a couple years ago. It had been a staple of valley life for generations, supplying sundries and groceries to the rural locals, with a dark but roomy bar where ranch hands and bikers played pool in the gloom. It’s a different place now, suitable to a different time in …

When researching the history of Healdsburg, a great place to start is ourhealdsburg.com. This history site was developed by Hannah Clayborn, for over 12 years the director of the Healdsburg Museum and Historical Society. Her assembled insights into Healdsburg’s past make for highly informative reading, and I often dip into the site for ideas and inspiration. Recently, I found her page about the Albanian Literary and Military Society, an intriguing exploration of an old sepia-tinted 19th century photograph of a women’s group. The group, as it turned out, was formed as a literary club who also …

This week, the Healdsburg Regional Library will again hold a benefit Book Sale, starting on Wednesday, March 16. These periodic events offer library members and other book lovers the chance to purchase books, CDs, magazines and more of popular as well as esoteric titles – and the profits go to the library. If this weekend’s sale is similar to previous ones, among the most sought-after books will be old, new, rare and popular books about wine, obviously one of the cornerstones of Healdsburg’s cultural life and economy. (Last year I picked up a near-new copy of “The Grapes of Ralph,” a large …

A few weeks ago the City of  Healdsburg celebrated its 144th “official” birthday, dated from the Feb. 20, 1867 incorporation. But you don’t have to be too much of an old timer to remember March 5, 2007, when the city held a 150th Anniversary Celebration – a Sesquicentennial, if you’re counting in Latin – in the Healdsburg Plaza. This marked the filing of the “town plat,” a legal document in map form that identifies the main shape and character of a town. It was Harmon Heald himself who drew up the plat and took it down to the Santa Rosa Hall of Records; it was filed March 5, 1857. (We have an…

Just as the new is constantly beating at the door of the present, so does the past seem to leave by the back way – slipping quietly out the exit into the shadows, despite whatever furious impact it made in our lives. Such seems the case with the Healdsburg Machine Shop, for over 100 years a cornerstone of Healdsburg businesses, as well as the California wine industry itself. California? Make that international: A recent letter to the Healdsburg Museum told of two local winemakers taking a tour of the Chateau du Pape region of France, and finding a Healdsburg Machine Shop crusher at work …

In the wake of last week’s Healdsburg Wild Steelhead Festival, a couple other river-related activities have been announced that likewise call attention to one of our most important natural and recreational resources – the Russian River. These include a museum exhibit, a water race and fair, and a Fourth of July festival at Memorial Beach county park. First things first: On Wednesday evening, Feb. 16, the Healdsburg Museum will open its new exhibit, “Russian River Good Old Days,” which will run through June 30. Curator Holly Hoods is putting together a display that celebrates the Russian River…

There are many kinds of weekend visitors to Healdsburg, but the kinds that draw the most attention (other than the rich and famous dining at the next table) are those in skin-tight Lycra and aerodynamic helmets. Yes, I’m talking about the bicyclists who range far and wide in and around town, in phalanxes up and down Alexander Valley and Dry Creek, in pairs and quartets on narrower Westside Road and around Fitch Mountain. Right-of-way issues are the first thing that comes to most drivers’ minds when they see these cyclists: Shouldn’t they hug the shoulder? Why don’t they stop at the stop signs…

Maybe it’s the time of year, maybe it’s the sporting events on the tube, maybe it’s just time. Beer has become big business in Healdsburg– almost, if not quite, as big as wine –as brewing, brewpubs and breweries have grown in popularity. Lately I’ve been appreciating our own primary Healdsburg brewhouse, the Bear Republic. Its hoppy headquarters are next door to the Hotel Healdsburg, tucked back a bit on your way to the big parking lot on Vine Street. They’re not in a particularly historic building – anyone remember C.W. Duck’s? Matuzek’s? -- but the big stainless steel grain bin on the back …

Even though our population may double on popular wine-tasting weekends or due to special festivals, we still live here. We shop here, dine here and even bank here -- sometimes. Some of us even work downtown, maybe in one of the historic buildings that give our town its character. And sometimes our memories and connections with the buildings themselves have their own place in our lives, whether old friends or just passing acquaintances. Take, for instance, the stately Greek Revival building at 119 Plaza St. You know the one I’m talking about -- the northwest corner of Plaza and Center. Its …

As with any American city with its roots in the 18th century, it’s hard to ignore Healdsburg’s railroad past.  Everyone seems to know that the train used to enter town over the steel bridge spanning the Russian River, parallel to the recently controversial Memorial Bridge. Observant drivers taking a less-traveled route downtown may notice the abandoned old railroad depot on Hudson Street near Healdsburg Lumber, then lose sight of the tracks until the rails bisect the busiest intersection in town. At the five-way crossroads of Healdsburg Avenue at Mill and Vine, every car, truck and bicycle …

A town's history is not made up only of its old buildings, public monuments and street names. It's also – in fact, primarily – made up of the memories of the people who live there, the lives being lived out in a community, their relationships and work. "The interconnectedness of it," as Ted E. Calvert puts it. "When I'm interviewing people they tell me about others, then you start realizing that so much of it is interconnected." Calvert has lived in Healdsburg for over 30 years, although much of that time was spent on the road for AT&T, doing training courses and technical support. But in …

A couple days ago, our redoubtable editor Keri Brenner posted a breaking news update about a flood advisory for Sonoma County. As a 20-year resident of Healdsburg, I knew that such warnings are not to be taken lightly. I remember the exciting sense of danger when the Russian River would crest the wall at Front Street next to Memorial Bridge, and the New Year's Eve of 2005 we spent sandbagging the street at Hummingbird Lane to prevent my children's house from flooding. (Are you living in a floodplain? The City of Healdsburg has a floodplain maps page here.) On Sunday, Dec. 19, a National …

Wandering around the Healdsburg Plaza on a weekend afternoon, between the tasting rooms and the book stores and the clothing shops, you'll eventually find yourself looking for something to eat. Lo and behold: at the corner of Matheson and Center, directly across from the Plaza, the Oakville Grocery has nabbed some prime real estate. Green umbrellas and awnings cover the lunch tables where pedestrians savor the Oakville's signature sandwiches – albacore, caper and olive, or smoked ham and brie – while watching the world go by. Prime real estate indeed. So prime, in fact, that for over 100 …

PART II: ...AND THEN Although the Healdsburg Museum and Historical Society has become a town mainstay, it was only 20 years ago that it opened in its current location at Fitch and Matheson.  While Healdsburg was founded in 1857, the town Historical Society became a reality only in 1976, under the direction of retired civic leader Edwin Langhart. The museum, the "public face" of local history, grew out of the society's interest in preserving the town's first 120 years and keeping a continuing record of its events. Both museum and historic society were housed for several years in a one-story …