This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.

Community Corner

Farmers & Mechanics Bank Through a Century of Change

The distinguished Greek Revival building opposite the Healdsburg Plaza rose from the ruins of the 1906 earthquake

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 tall white ionic columns on either side of the entrance make it look like a bank, while a series of smaller shops and upstairs offices off Center Street have played host to a rotating group of businesses over the years.

Find out what's happening in Healdsburgwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The front of the building, facing the Plaza, is primarily occupied by , the anchor tenant for almost 16 years.  Owner and jeweler s also the driving force behind the Healdsburg Jazz Festival, and she sells jazz CDs as well as her own jewelry and the work of guest artists.

Jazz, and, to a lesser extent, jewelry, are a long way from the usual commerce of a bank. Yes, this was indeed a bank building, and an important one in Healdsburg’s history as well. It’s a tale that connects dry goods and ice cream, leather and lingerie (though not in the way you think), and the early days of one our most robust international financial institutions.

Find out what's happening in Healdsburgwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

This location has always seemed to foment change. Look back to the late 1890s, Granger’s Store stood here, a two-story brick-faced building hosting J.A. Brown’s Buggies and Wagons, J. Silberstein’s Dry Goods, and the among others. It soon became known as Red Men’s Hall after a patriotic fraternal organization.

Right next door on Plaza Street – then known as Powell -- was the growing Farmers & Mechanics Bank. The General Saloon was one more door on Powell, offering draft beer for 5 cents. By the late 1890s several other local banks were in business, including the Bank of Healdsburg and the Healdsburg National Bank.

All seemed to be percolating along smoothly in Healdsburg, until April 18, 1906. “San Francisco Totally Destroyed,” read the bold-faced headlines in the Healdsburg Enterprise three days later. And, in a smaller column, the news that things weren’t so bad locally.

But several buildings were destroyed by the earthquake, including the three-story Odd Fellow's Hall (currently the Brant Building at Matheson and Healdsburg Ave.) and the two-story Gobbi building at 310 Center St., and, badly damaged, the Red Men’s Hall.

The structure wasn’t worth saving, and, sensing an opportunity, the Farmer’s & Mechanics Bank bought the lot, commissioned a significant piece of architecture for their new headquarters, and moved in on June 1, 1908.

“It is unquestionably one of the handsomest, most substantial banking buildings in any interior city in California,” applauded the Healdsburg Tribune, under a headline that called it the “Finest Structure in City of Healdsburg.”

Architects Albert Sutton and Charles Peter Weeks were at the peak of their creative prime, having designed a number of San Francisco homes and businesses that stand today as solid achievements. The contractor was Frank Sullivan, who also built the Carnegie Library in 1910.

The opening of the new Farmers & Mechanics Bank seemed to accomplish what it set out to do, establishing the F&MB as a dominant financial institution in town. Business and assets grew briskly over the next few years, possibly due to the substantial bearing of its headquarters.

In 1912 it merged with the rival Bank of Healdsburg in 1912, becoming the First Bank of Healdsburg; and more local consolidation followed. It all culminated in 1927 when the bank merged with the Bank of Italy, which two years later become the Bank of America. Until recently, many locals called it "the old Bank of Italy building."

When the Bank of America decided to build a new bank in town, the first non-bank to take over the imposing edifice’s Plaza entrance was LeBaron Dairy. Ice was big business at the time; keeping produce, dairy and drinks cold was a sign of civilization, after all. So when H.C. LeBaron bought out the established Home Dairy & Ice in 1932, and found a retail outlet for his cold goods – at first milk and ice cream, but after March 1933, cold beer as well.

It’s hard to tell how long the LeBaron Dairy had the corner spot, but by 1940 Kramer’s Dairy was in the same building – though possibly around the corner at the 303 Center St. storefront. The photo in our gallery shows Kramer’s as a typical “soda fountain” of the era, with prim girls in bobby socks and generous skirts, boys in spectacles and sweaters, and Coca Cola a prominent offering. Classic coke, of course.

As the decades passed, a veritable carousel of boutiques and businesses rotated through the F&MB building. For awhile the signature tenant was a ladies fashion store, Blanc / Noir.  Archtect Obie Bowman of the Sea Ranch took it over for several years, then the Healdsburg Business Center moved in from next door in the early 1990s.

The upstairs floor of the building has also seen its fair share of occupants. Tax accountant and notary Maria Garcia Villareal has been in the corner office above Art and All that Jazz for almost 20 years, and she can recall lawyers, accountants, massage therapists, photographers and writers occupying at one time or another the offices on the floor.

Other long-term tenants include Sweet Memory Chocolate, which has had a storefront on 305 Center St. for at least a dozen years, and the at 307 Center. The current occupant of 303 Center is the Lulo Gallery, an art and jewelry store.

The Healdsburg Business Center was owned by Ron Bean, and, as well as copies, they offered desktop publishing, small-job print services and served as a Western Union office, so local laborers could come in to wire money back home. By coincidence, I worked with Bean when I first came to Healdsburg, helping out and running the store when he had outside work.

He sold the business in 1997 to Evelyn Dorsey, who changed its name to Cosmic Copies and eventually moved it across the street, where is now. is on Foss Street, while Dorsey is office manager for the Healdsburg Jazz Festival.

Which brings us back to Jessica Felix, and her jewelry store Art and All That Jazz. Like many store owners these days, Felix will be closing her Plaza Street shop and consolidating into her workshop/studio at 456 Moore St. Two other businesses currently sharing the space, the Himalayan Cashmere Company and Circumference Imports, may have to make other arrangements as well.  

What’s next for this location? Another ice cream store, or jeweler? A tasting room or gift shop?

Tenants will come and go, businesses will start and fold, as what’s popular changes over time. But until the next big earthquake, the Greek Revival building on the corner of Plaza and Center isn’t going anywhere. It’s all part of Healdsburg’s ongoing story, both now and then.

We’ve removed the ability to reply as we work to make improvements. Learn more here

The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?