Healdsburg, California

History

Early inhabitants of the local area included the Pomo people, who constructed villages in open areas along the Russian River. Anglo-American and Russian settlement may have commenced in the mid-19th century, with a settlement nearby, established downstream along the Russian River near Graton, in 1836, and later the Rancho Sotoyome land grant, in 1844.

In 1857, Harmon Heald, an Ohio businessman who had been squatting on Rancho Sotoyome since 1850, purchased part of the rancho—giving the city its official founding date. In 1867, Heald's eponymous small town was incorporated. Healdsburg is located within the former township of Mendocino. The San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad reached Healdsburg in 1872.

Farming, especially orchards and truck farms, was common within the present city limits from at least the 1890s to 1940s.

The first commercial development of the seasoning lemon pepper was in Healdsburg in 1967.

Geography

The city has a total area of 4.420 sqmi, all land. It lies on the Russian River, near a point used as a crossing of the river since the 1850s that is now the site of the Healdsburg Memorial Bridge.

Foss Creek traverses the city from north to south, flowing into Dry Creek near the U.S. 101 Central Healdsburg interchange.

Climate

Healdsburg has cool, wet winters and warm to hot, dry summers. In January, the average high temperature is 57.6 F and the average low is 38 F. In July, the average high temperature is 88.8 F and the average low is 52.7 F. There are an average of 54.6 days with highs of 90 F or higher and an average of 20.1 days with lows of 32 F or lower. The record high temperature was 117 F on September 6, 2022, and the record low temperature was 14 F on December 22, 1990.

Annual precipitation averages 42.2 in. There are an average of 73 days annually with measurable precipitation. The wettest year was 1983 with 96.25 in and the driest year was 1976 with 13.67 in. The most precipitation in one month was 29.9 in in January 1995. The most precipitation in 24 hours was 8.18 in on December 3, 1980. Snow is relatively rare, with none in most years. The highest yearly snowfall totaled 0.8 in in 1976.

|Jan record high F = 85 |Feb record high F = 88 |Mar record high F = 95 |Apr record high F = 102 |May record high F = 108 |Jun record high F = 116 |Jul record high F = 116 |Aug record high F = 114 |Sep record high F = 117 |Oct record high F = 108 |Nov record high F = 98 |Dec record high F = 83 |year record high F = |Jan avg record high F = 68.3 |Feb avg record high F = 73.0 |Mar avg record high F = 80.0 |Apr avg record high F = 89.1 |May avg record high F = 95.3 |Jun avg record high F = 101.7 |Jul avg record high F = 103.3 |Aug avg record high F = 103.2 |Sep avg record high F = 99.8 |Oct avg record high F = 91.6 |Nov avg record high F = 77.9 |Dec avg record high F = 68.4 |year avg record high F = 106.4 |Jan avg record low F = 29.6 |Feb avg record low F = 31.7 |Mar avg record low F = 33.9 |Apr avg record low F = 36.8 |May avg record low F = 42.6 |Jun avg record low F = 45.6 |Jul avg record low F = 48.6 |Aug avg record low F = 47.4 |Sep avg record low F = 44.3 |Oct avg record low F = 39.2 |Nov avg record low F = 32.3 |Dec avg record low F = 29.0 |year avg record low F = 27.0 |Jan record low F = 18 |Feb record low F = 21 |Mar record low F = 27 |Apr record low F = 24 |May record low F = 30 |Jun record low F = 32 |Jul record low F = 31 |Aug record low F = 33 |Sep record low F = 30 |Oct record low F = 26 |Nov record low F = 25 |Dec record low F = 14 |year record low F = 14 | access-date = June 20, 2022 | archive-date = October 26, 2019 | archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20191026211635/https://w2.weather.gov/climate/xmacis.php?wfo=mtr | url-status = dead Retrieved on October 31, 2022.

Environment

An intrinsic element of the city's natural environment is the riparian zone associated with the Russian River that flows through Healdsburg. The city owns two open space reserves stewarded by LandPaths. The Healdsburg Ridge Open Space Preserve has 150 acre of wetlands, oak woodlands, chaparral, and grasslands, while the Fitch Mountain Open Space Preserve has 173 acre. City residents support recycling by use of the Healdsburg Transfer Station. The city has shown an interest in creating a quiet environment by creating a Noise Element of the General Plan, which defines baseline sound level contours and sets forth standards of quiet for each land use category.

Demographics

2020

The 2020 United States census reported that Healdsburg had a population of 11,340. The population density was 2,565.6 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Healdsburg was 63.4% White, 0.6% African American, 2.0% Native American, 1.5% Asian, 0.1% Pacific Islander, 18.3% from other races, and 14.1% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 34.6% of the population.

The census reported that 99.3% of the population lived in households, 25 people (0.2%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 54 people (0.5%) were institutionalized.

There were 4,519 households, out of which 27.4% included children under the age of 18, 49.3% were married-couple households, 7.1% were cohabiting couple households, 28.0% had a female householder with no partner present, and 15.6% had a male householder with no partner present. 26.6% of households were one person, and 14.7% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.49.

The age distribution was 19.0% under the age of 18, 7.1% aged 18 to 24, 23.3% aged 25 to 44, 27.1% aged 45 to 64, and 23.4% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 45.4years. For every 100 females, there were 94.7 males.

There were 5,051 housing units at an average density of 1,142.8 /mi2, of which 4,519 (89.5%) were occupied. Of these, 58.0% were owner-occupied, and 42.0% were occupied by renters.

In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that 18.5% of the population were foreign-born. Of all people aged 5 or older, 71.7% spoke only English at home, 25.8% spoke Spanish, 1.8% spoke other Indo-European languages, 0.6% spoke Asian or Pacific Islander languages, and 0.1% spoke other languages. Of those aged 25 or older, 85.7% were high school graduates and 39.5% had a bachelor's degree.

The median household income in 2023 was $100,082, and the per capita income was $60,189. About 7.1% of families and 11.3% of the population were below the poverty line.

2010

At the 2010 census Healdsburg had a population of 11,254. The population density was 2,521.3 PD/sqmi. The racial makeup of Healdsburg was 8,334 (74.1%) White, 56 (0.5%) African American, 205 (1.8%) Native American, 125 (1.1%) Asian, 18 (0.2%) Pacific Islander, 2,133 (19.0%) from other races, and 383 (3.4%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 3,820 persons (33.9%).

The census reported that 99.5% of the population lived in households and 0.5% were institutionalized.

There were 4,378 households, 1,335 (30.5%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 2,140 (48.9%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 465 (10.6%) had a female householder with no husband present, 222 (5.1%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 259 (5.9%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 54 (1.2%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. Of the households, 1,205 (27.5%) were one person and 542 (12.4%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 2.56. There were 2,827 families (64.6% of households); the average family size was 3.12.

The age distribution was 2,546 people (22.6%) under the age of 18, 925 people (8.2%) aged 18 to 24, 2,750 people (24.4%) aged 25 to 44, 3,349 people (29.8%) aged 45 to 64, and 1,684 people (15.0%) who were 65 or older. The median age was 40.8 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 93.0 males.

There were 4,794 housing units at an average density of 1,074.0 /mi2, of which 57.6% were owner-occupied and 42.4% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.7%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.2%. Of the population, 53.2% lived in owner-occupied housing units and 46.3% lived in rental housing units.

Arts and culture

The Healdsburg Carnegie Library, home of the Healdsburg Museum, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, as is the Healdsburg Memorial Bridge. A Cultural Resource Survey conducted in 1983 catalogued over 300 historic resources in the city. The city has designated eleven historic landmarks in Healdsburg and two locally designated Historic Districts which include the Johnson Street Historic District and the Matheson Historic District.

Government

State and federal

In the California State Legislature, Healdsburg is in , and in .

In the United States House of Representatives, Healdsburg is in .

According to the California Secretary of State, as of February 10, 2019, Healdsburg has 6,913 registered voters. Of those, 3,624 (52.4%) are registered Democrats, 1,262 (18.3%) are registered Republicans, and 1,680 (24.3%) have declined to state a political party.

Education

The school district is Healdsburg Unified School District.

Schools include Healdsburg Elementary School, Healdsburg Junior High School, Healdsburg High School, and Marce Becerra Academy.

Media

The 1943 film Happy Land, and 1996 film Scream, were filmed in and around Healdsburg. The 1981 film Bitter Harvest (1981 film) was also filmed partially in Healdsburg Healdsburg Tribune, Enterprise and Scimitar, Number 131, 11 February 1981

Infrastructure

Emergency services

Emergency services are provided by the Healdsburg Police Department, and Healdsburg Fire Department. Emergency medical services are provided by Bell's Ambulance Service.

Transportation

Sonoma County Transit buses serve the Depot. Healdsburg is a future stop on the Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit commuter rail line.

The Amtrak Thruway 7 bus provides daily connections to Healdsburg from Martinez to the south, and Arcata to the north.

Notable people

• Mary Ellen Bamford – writer, born in Healdsburg
• Kristen Barnhisel – winemaker, born in Healdsburg
• Helen Beardsley – author of Who Gets the Drumstick?, lived in Healdsburg
• Raymond Burr – actor (Perry Mason, Ironside), owned a vineyard near Healdsburg
• Jim Cullom – professional football player, born in Healdsburg
• Abel de Luna – the first Latino mayor of the city, 1978–1980
• L. Peter Deutsch – computer scientist and creator of Ghostscript, lived in Healdsburg
• Richard Diebenkorn – painter and printmaker, lived in Healdsburg
• Ron Elliott (musician) – lead guitarist and songwriter for The Beau Brummels, born in Healdsburg
• Paul Erdman – economist and financial novelist, lived in Healdsburg
• Henry D. Fitch – land grantee in the region
• Josefa Carrillo Fitch – Californio landowner who managed Rancho Sotoyome after her husband’s death
• Julius Fried – oilman and philanthropist, born in Healdsburg in 1872
• Rosinda Holmes – artist, lived in Healdsburg
• Jess Stonestreet Jackson Jr. – wine entrepreneur and founder of Kendall-Jackson, lived near Healdsburg
• Roderick N. Matheson – Civil War colonel and early Healdsburg resident
• Patti McCarty – actress, grew up in Healdsburg
• Mike McGuire (politician) – California State Senator and President pro tempore of the State Senate, resides in Healdsburg
• Heidi Newfield – country singer and former lead vocalist of Trick Pony, born in Healdsburg
• Pat Paulsen – Smothers Brothers’ deadpan comic who ran for president and later became a Sonoma County vintner.
• Thomas C. Reed – U.S. Secretary of the Air Force and National Security Council staffer, lived in Healdsburg
• Ariana Richards – actress (Jurassic Park) and painter, born in Healdsburg
• Effie Robinson – social worker and housing administrator, lived in Healdsburg
• Ralph Rose – Olympic gold medalist in track and field, born in Healdsburg
• Margaret Sibley – painter and arts organizer, founding figure of Healdsburg Arts and the Balcony Gallery Co-operative
• Jack Sonni – guitarist for Dire Straits, lived in Healdsburg
• John Udell – pioneer and frontier diarist, lived in Healdsburg
• John Carl Warnecke – architect of public buildings and JFK’s grave site, lived in Healdsburg
• Hazel Hotchkiss Wightman – Wimbledon and Olympic tennis champion, born in Healdsburg
• Jim Wood (California politician) – California State Assemblymember, resides in Healdsburg

References

• Sonoma County Genealogical Society. Portraits of Early Sonoma County Settlers., pp. 71–87. Santa Rosa, California: Caiifornia Genealogical Society, 2016, ISBN 978-1-365-13126-4

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