Agenda, regular meeting — Sonoma City Council, August 5, 2026 (part 1 of 2)

City Council:

Ron Wellander, Mayor
Sandra Lowe, Vice Mayor
Jack Ding
Patricia Farrar-Rivas
John Gurney

REGULAR MEETING AGENDA

OF THE SONOMA CITY COUNCIL
City Council Chambers, 177 First Street West
Wednesday, August 5, 2026
https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84876986131
6:00 PM Regular Meeting

ACCESSING PUBLIC MEETINGS
As a public service to the community, City Council meetings are held in-person, and viewable through a live webcast on the City’s CivicWeb Portal at https://sonomacity.civicweb.net/Portal/Video.aspx, City of Sonoma YouTube channel at https://www.youtube.com/channel/UChZjUrg2rNLYxTgQHhFy-Tg, and televised on Comcast Cable Channel 27. Members of the public can also view the meeting via ZOOM, at https://us06web.zoom.us/j/84876986131.

If a technical issue arises with Zoom video or the listening phone dial-in option, the City Council meeting will continue unless a Council Member is participating remotely pursuant to the provisions of Government Code Section 54953.8.3.

Members of the public who wish to address the Council by providing public comments during the meeting may do so in-person in the Council Chambers at 177 First Street West, where the meeting is being publicly held. As an alternative, members of the public may also provide written public comment submitted via the City’s online Public Comment form at https://sonomacity.civicweb.net/Portal/CitizenEngagement.aspx or by email to:
[email protected]
PROCESS FOR COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC: There will be two opportunities for members of the public to address items not appearing on the agenda. The early public comment period, Agenda Item 1, will be limited to ten speakers. Each speaker will be allowed up to two minutes. Speakers who do not have an opportunity to speak during the first public comment section will be allowed to make their comments during the later public comment period, Agenda Item 10, provided there were more than 10 people in the first public comment section.

When the Mayor announces these agenda items, please form a line to speak.

In the event a Council Member participates remotely for just cause Government Code Section 54953.8.3, the City will allow for public comment through the Zoom link.

In accordance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, if you need special assistance to participate in this meeting, please contact the City Clerk (707) 933-2216. Notification 48 hours before the meeting will enable the City to make reasonable arrangements to ensure accessibility to this meeting.

Be Courteous - TURN OFF your cell phones and watches while the meeting is in session.

The City Council may discuss and/or take action on any or all of the items listed on the agenda irrespective of how the items are described.

No new items will begin after 9:00pm unless a majority of the members present vote to allow the items to be heard.

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REGULAR MEETING

CONVENE, CALL TO ORDER & PLEDGE OF ALLEGIANCE
ROLL CALL (Farrar-Rivas, Gurney, Lowe, Ding, Wellander)

REPORT ON CLOSED SESSION

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA

1. COMMENTS FROM THE PUBLIC
At this time members of the public may address the Council on matters not listed on this agenda, but which are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Council. This public comment period will be limited to ten speakers. Each speaker will be allowed up to two minutes.

Speakers who do not have an opportunity to speak during the first public comment section will be allowed to make their comments during the later public comment period, Agenda Item 10, provided there were more than 10 people in the first public comment section. When the Mayor announces these agenda items, please form a line to speak.

Under State Law, unless otherwise permitted under the Ralph M. Brown Act, the merits of the matters presented under this item cannot be discussed or acted upon by the City Council at this time. For items appearing on the agenda, the public will be invited to make comments at the time the item comes up for Council consideration. Please begin by stating your name.

2. MEETING DEDICATIONS

3. COUNCILMEMBERS’ REPORTS AND COMMENTS
Committee Reports - Council Members are appointed to various boards and committees - local, county-wide and regional. Any updates from a council member will be shared at this time.

A list of all appointments is available on our City Website for easy reference.

Council Members may also make appointments to city commissions at this time.

4. CITY MANAGER COMMENTS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

5. CITY ATTORNEY COMMENTS

6. PRESENTATIONS

6.1: "Celebrate Sonoma" - Presentation of Certificate of Recognition in Honor of the Sonoma Valley High School Dragons Baseball Team

7. CONSENT CALENDAR – CITY COUNCIL
All items listed on the Consent Calendar are considered to be routine and will be acted upon by a single motion. There will be no separate discussion of these items unless members of the Council or staff request specific items to be removed for separate action.

7.1: Waive further reading and Authorize Introduction and/or Adoption of Ordinances by Title Only. (Standard procedural action - no backup information provided)

7.2: Adopt an Ordinance Amending Section 10.74.011 of the Sonoma Municipal Code (Brandon Cutting, Police Chief)
RECOMMENDATION: Adopt the ordinance.

Agenda Report - Ordinance - SMC 10.74.011 - Pdf
6 - 8

7.3: Adopt a Resolution of the City Council of the City of Sonoma Accepting the Plaza Park Historic Landscape Survey and Finding this Action is Exempt from Further Environmental Review Under the General Rule in California 9 - 130

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Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3) (Jennifer Gates, AICP, Community Development Director)
RECOMMENDATION: Adopt the resolution.

Agenda Report - Plaza Historic Landscape Report - Pdf

7.4: Designate Mayor Ron Wellander as the City of Sonoma Voting Delegate for the 2026 Cal Cities Annual Conference and Council Members John Gurney and Jack Ding as the Alternates (Rebekah Barr, MMC, City Clerk) RECOMMENDATION: Designate Mayor Wellander as the City of Sonoma Voting Delegate and Council Members Gurney and Ding as the Alternates.

Agenda Report - Voting Delegate - Pdf
131 - 136

7.5: Adopt a Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Fifth Amendment to the Professional Services Agreement with 4LEAF, Inc. to Extend Services for as needed Plan Check and Inspector Services (Jennifer Gates, AICP, Community Development Director)
RECOMMENDATION: Adopt the Resolution.

Agenda Report - 4Leaf Contract 5th Amendment - Pdf
137 - 148

7.6: Adopt a Resolution Authorizing the City Manager to Execute a Professional Services Agreement with Willdan Engineering to provide as needed Code Enforcement services with a not to exceed budget of $75,000 (Jennifer Gates, AICP, Community Development Director)
RECOMMENDATION: Adopt the Resolution.

Agenda Report - Willdan CE Contract - Pdf
149 - 183

7.7: Adopt a Resolution Approving the Construction of a Storage Shed at the CityOwned Maysonnave House Property Located at 291 First Street East Property (Dave Jahns, Parks & Recreation Director)
RECOMMENDATION: Adopt the resolution.

Agenda Report - Maysonnave Shed Proposal - Pdf
184 - 215

8. PUBLIC HEARING

8.1: Public Hearing to Introduce an Ordinance amending certain sections of Chapter 12.08 Tree Ordinance of the Sonoma Municipal Code and finding the Ordinance exempt from the California Environmental Act (CEQA) Pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) - General Rule - of the CEQA Guidelines (Jennifer Gates, AICP, Community Development Director)
RECOMMENDATION: Introduce an Ordinance amending Chapter 12.08 Tree Ordinance of the Sonoma Municipal Code and finding the Ordinance exempt from the California Environmental Act (CEQA) Pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) - General Rule - of the CEQA Guidelines.

Agenda Report - Intro Ordinance Tree In Lieu Fee - Pdf
216 - 221

8.2: Public Hearing to Introduce an Ordinance repealing and replacing SMC Chapter 19.51 Public Art Program and adding Chapter 3.45 Public Art Fund to the Sonoma Municipal Code and finding the Ordinance exempt from the California Environmental Act (CEQA) Pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) - General Rule - of the CEQA Guidelines (Jennifer Gates, AICP, Community Development Director)
RECOMMENDATION: Introduce an Ordinance repealing and replacing SMC Chapter 19.51 Public Art Program and adding Chapter 3.45 Public Art Fund to the Sonoma Municipal Code with the proposed modifications by Planning Commission and finding the Ordinance exempt from the California 222 - 234

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Environmental Act (CEQA) Pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) - General Rule - of the CEQA Guidelines.

Agenda Report - Intro Ordinance Art In Lieu Fee - Pdf

9. REGULAR CALENDAR – CITY COUNCIL
(Matters requiring discussion and/or action by the City Council)

9.1: Consideration of a Resolution Authorizing the Field of Dreams Organization to Enter into a Multi-Year Agreement with Transcendence Theatre Company for Temporary Seasonal Use of the Field of Dreams During the 2027–2029 Summer Seasons (Dave Jahns, Parks & Recreation Director) RECOMMENDATION: Authorize the Field of Dreams organization to enter into a multi-year agreement with Transcendence Theatre Company for temporary seasonal use of the Field of Dreams facility during the 2027–2029 summer seasons, subject to annual review through the City's Special Events Committee, Parks Use Permit process, and all applicable City requirements.

Agenda Report - Transcendence Theatre Multi Year Agreement - Pdf 235 - 257

9.2: Discussion, Consideration, and Possible Introduction of an Ordinance Amending Sonoma Municipal Code Section 2.01.020 Councilmember's Salaries to Increase Councilmember Compensation to $950 Per Month (Cristine Alilovich, Interim City Manager, David Ruderman, City Attorney, and Rebekah Barr, MMC, City Clerk)
RECOMENDATION: Introduce the ordinance.

Agenda Report - Ordinance Introduction - Council Compensation - Pdf 258 - 267

10. SECOND PUBLIC COMMENT (ONLY REQUIRED IF EARLIER PUBLIC SPEAKERS

REMAIN)
At this time members of the public who did not have the opportunity to speak during the early comment period may address the Council on matters not listed on this agenda, but which are within the subject matter jurisdiction of the Council. Each speaker will be allowed up to two minutes. Please form a line to speak.

11. ADJOURNMENT
I do hereby certify that a copy of the foregoing agenda was posted as legally required. Rebekah Barr, MMC, City Clerk. *********************************************************************************************************************************** Copies of all staff reports and documents subject to disclosure that relate to any item of business referred to on the agenda are usually available for public inspection the Wednesday before each regularly scheduled meeting at City Hall, located at No. 1 The Plaza, Sonoma CA. Any documents subject to disclosure that are provided to all, or a majority of all, of the members of the City Council regarding any item on this agenda after the agenda has been distributed will be made available for inspection at the City Clerk’s office, No. 1 The Plaza, Sonoma CA during regular business hours. If you challenge the action of the City Council in court, you may be limited to raising only those issues you or someone else raised at the public hearing described on the agenda or in written correspondence delivered to the City Clerk at or prior to the public hearing.

Appointments to Commission/Committees: The Council may establish and make appointments to a Council committee (made up of two Council Members) with respect to any item appearing on this agenda.

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Closed Session: If action is taken during a Closed Session meeting that is required to be reported out at this meeting, the Council will return to Open Session and report out immediately. However, if the Council is unable to do so due to time constraints, it will report out at the immediately following Regular Council Meeting under "REPORT ON CLOSED SESSION".

Motion for Consideration: A Council Member voting with the majority on any item appearing on this agenda may move for reconsideration of that vote provided the motion is in conformance with the rules adopted by the Council governing such motions.

NOTE: Portions of this document may have been drafted with support from AI-based tools, consistent with City of Sonoma policy on use of artificial intelligence. All information represented in this document has been reviewed by City of Sonoma staff.

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City of Sonoma
Agenda Item Summary
Meeting: City Council - 05 Aug 2026
Department
Police
Staff Contact
Brandon Cutting, Police Chief
Agenda Item Title
Adopt an Ordinance Amending Section 10.74.011 of the Sonoma Municipal Code Summary
At their regular meeting on July 15, 2026, the City Council received a presentation and voted unanimously to introduce an ordinance amending Section 10.74.011 of the Sonoma Municipal Code.

This is an amendment to the Sonoma Municipal Code regarding motor-driven vehicles prohibited on bicycle paths to meet current California State Law for electric motor size and class of e-bicycle.

This is the adoption of the ordinance, which is being presented with no changes.

Recommended Council Action
Adopt the ordinance.

Alternative Actions
Council discretion.

Financial Impact
There is no financial impact related to this action.

Environmental Review Status
Environmental Impact Report
Negative Declaration
Exempt
Not Applicable
Approved/Certified
No Action Required
Action Requested
Attachments
Ordinance - Pathway E-Bikes
Agenda Item #7.2:

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1 City of Sonoma
ORDINANCE # ___ - 2026

AN ORDINANCE OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SONOMA
AMENDING SECTION 10.74.011 OF TITLE 10 OF THE SONOMA MUNICIPAL

CODE REGARDING MOTOR-DRIVEN VEHICLES PROHIBITED ON BICYCLE

PATHS AND FINDING THIS ORDINANCE EXEMPT UNDER THE GENERAL

RULE OF THE CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT
THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SONOMA HEREBY ORDAINS AS FOLLOWS:

SECTION 1. Municipal Code Amendment. Section 10.74.011 of Chapter 10.74 of Title 10 of the Sonoma Municipal Code is amended in to read as follows, with additions noted by underlined text and deletions by strikethrough:

Chapter 10.74.011 Motor-driven vehicles prohibited bicycle paths.

Except for authorized city personnel, no person shall operate any motor-driven vehicle, including a motor-driven bicycle, scooter, skateboard or similar device onto or along any city bicycle path, except those defined as follows:

A. A “motorized bicycle,” which is a device that has fully operative pedals for propulsion by human power and electric motor that meets all of the following requirements: has a power output of not more than 750 1,000 watts; is incapable of propelling the device at a speed of more than 20 miles per hour on level ground; is incapable of further increasing the speed of the device when human power is used to propel the motorized bicycle faster than 20 miles per hour.

Motorized bicycles that comply with this chapter meet the California Vehicle Code definition for a class 1 or class 2 electric bicycle.

B. A “motorized scooter,” which is any two-wheeled device that has handlebars, is designed to be stood or sat upon by the operator, and is powered by human propulsion and electrical energy with a motor that has a power output of not more than 1,000 watts and that is capable of propelling the device at a maximum speed of not more than 15 miles per hour on level ground.

SECTION 2. CEQA. The adoption of this Ordinance is exempt from the provisions of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) pursuant to CEQA Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3), which provides that CEQA only applies to projects which have the potential for causing a significant effect on the environment. Where it can be determined that the proposed project will not have a significant adverse effect on the environment, the project is not subject to CEQA. This Ordinance better defines qualifying e-bicycles that are authorized to be operated on bicycle paths only and does not propose nor authorize any action or specific project that would have the potential to cause a significant adverse effect on the environment.

SECTION 3. Severability. If any section, subsection, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion of this Ordinance for any reason is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by the decision of any court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions of this Ordinance. The City Council hereby declares that it would have adopted this Ordinance, and each section, subsections, subdivision, sentence, clause, phrase, or portion thereof, irrespective of the cat that any one or more sections, subsections, subdivisions, sentences, clauses, phrases, or portions thereof be declared invalid or unconstitutional.

Agenda Item #7.2:

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2 SECTION 4. Effective Date. This ordinance shall take effect thirty (30) days after passage thereof.

SECTION 5. Publication. This ordinance shall be published in accordance with the provisions of Government Code section 36933, subdivision (c)(1).

SECTION 6. This Ordinance Prevails Where There is Conflict. To the extent that this Ordinance conflicts with any other provision in the Sonoma Municipal Code or City ordinance (urgency or otherwise), policy or regulation, this Ordinance will control.

PASSED AND ADOPTED at a regular Council Meeting of the City Council of the City of Sonoma held on the _______________ by the following vote:

AYES:

NOES:

ABSTAIN:

ABSENT:

APPROVED:
___________________________
Ron Wellender, Mayor
ATTEST:
_________________________
Rebekah Barr, MMC, City Clerk
Date: ____________________
******
I HEREBY CERTIFY the foregoing ordinance was introduced in a Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of Sonoma held on the ________, 2026, and was duly adopted at a Regular Meeting of the City Council of the City of Sonoma held on the ______, 2026 by the following vote:

AYES:

NOES:

ABSTAIN:

ABSENT:
___________________________
Rebekah Barr, MMC, City Clerk
Agenda Item #7.2:

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City of Sonoma
Agenda Item Summary
Meeting: City Council - 05 Aug 2026
Department
Community Development
Department
Staff Contact
Jennifer Gates, AICP
Community Development Director
Agenda Item Title
Adopt a Resolution of the City Council of the City of Sonoma Accepting the Plaza Park Historic Landscape Survey and Finding this Action is Exempt from Further Environmental Review Under the General Rule in California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines Section 15061(b)(3).

Summary
On December 17, 2025 City Council approved the Agreement with Architectural Resources Group to complete the Historic Landscape Survey (HLS) of Plaza Park. The draft document was provided to the community for comment and presented to the Historic Preservation Commission on July 14, 2026 (Link to Agenda and Video). At that meeting, the Historic Preservation Commission recommended that City Council accept the HLS and recommended that a summary document be created and made available to the community.

Historic Landscape Survey
The HLS provides a comprehensive evaluation of Sonoma Plaza Park as a historic cultural landscape. The HLS documents the Plaza's physical change from 1835 through today and evaluates the landscape features that contribute to its historic significance. The Plaza Park was identified as contributing resource to the National Historic Landmark District and as a National Register of Historic Places and is one of California's most significant historic public spaces.

The survey is intended to:
 Document the Plaza's historical development
 Identify character-defining landscape features
 Evaluate the Plaza's historic integrity
 Support informed preservation and maintenance decisions As community needs evolve, the survey provides a framework for balancing preservation with ongoing stewardship, accessibility, public use, and infrastructure improvements. The HLS also creates a shared reference for residents, property owners, preservation professionals, decisionmakers, and community organizations.

Recommended Council Action
Adopt a Resolution of the City Council of the City of Sonoma Accepting the Plaza Historic Landscape Survey and finding this action is exempt from further environmental review under the General Rule in California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) guidelines section 15061(b)(3).

Alternative Actions
Council discretion.

Agenda Item #7.3:

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Financial Impact
There is no financial impact to this action.

Environmental Review Status
Environmental Impact Report
Negative Declaration
Exempt
Not Applicable
Approved/Certified
No Action Required
Action Requested
Attachments
Draft Resolution Accepting HLS
Sonoma Plaza Park Historic Landscape Survey
Agenda Item #7.3:

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City of Sonoma
RESOLUTION #_____ - 2026

A RESOLUTION OF THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SONOMA ACCEPTING THE

HISTORIC LANDSCAPE SURVEY FOR PLAZA PARK AND FINDING THIS ACTION IS

EXEMPT FROM FURTHER ENVIRONMENTAL REVIEW UNDER THE GENERAL RULE IN CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT (CEQA) GUIDELINES SECTION 15061(B)(3).

WHEREAS, December 17, 2025, the City of Sonoma entered into a Professional Services Agreement with Architectural Resources Group to complete a Historic Landscape Survey (HLS) for Plaza Park; and
WHEREAS, the HLS documents the Plaza’s historical development and identifies character-defining landscape features; and
WHEREAS, the HLS is a document to guide future preservation, maintenance and improvements; and
WHEREAS, the HLS is consistent with the goals and objectives of the Sonoma General Plan; and
WHEREAS, City staff brought the draft HLS to the Historic Preservation Commission on July 14, 2026, and recommended City Council acceptance.

NOW THEREFORE, THE CITY COUNCIL OF THE CITY OF SONOMA DOES HEREBY RESOLVE AS FOLLOWS:

SECTION 1. RECITALS
The recitals above are each incorporated by reference and adopted as findings by the City Council.

SECTION 2. ACCEPTANCE
The Historic Landscape Survey for Plaza Park is hereby accepted.

SECTION 3. CALIFORNIA ENVIRONMENTAL QUALITY ACT
The City Council, in its independent judgment, finds that pursuant to Section 15061(b)(3) of the California Environmental Quality Act (CEQA) Guidelines, the proposed activity is not subject to CEQA because approval of the Historic Landscape Survey for Plaza Park, in and of itself, will not result in a direct or reasonably foreseeable indirect physical change in the environment.

Agenda Item #7.3:

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PASSED AND ADOPTED at a regular Council Meeting of the City Council of the City of Sonoma held on the _______________ by the following vote:

AYES:

NOES:

ABSTAIN:

ABSENT:
_________________________
Ron Wellander, Mayor
ATTEST:

Rebekah Barr, MMC, City Clerk
Agenda Item #7.3:

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Architecture
Planning
Conservation

HISTORIC LANDSCAPE SURVEY
Sonoma Plaza Park
Sonoma, California
City of Sonoma | July 2026
Agenda Item #7.3:

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Sonoma Plaza Park
Historic Landscape Survey
Sonoma, California

July 2026

TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. Introduction ......................................................................................................................................... 3 Organization and Methodology ....................................................................................................................................... 4 Project Team..................................................................................................................................................................... 5

2. Overview of Existing Historic Status ...................................................................................................... 5

3. Site History and Context ....................................................................................................................... 7 Predevelopment History ................................................................................................................................................... 7 Establishment of Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma .......................................................................................... 7 Plaza Origins: Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo...................................................................................................................... 9 Bear Flag Revolt.............................................................................................................................................................. 10 Shift to American Control ............................................................................................................................................... 11 Plaza Development at the Close of the Nineteenth Century......................................................................................... 13 Plaza Development 1900-1929: Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club and Municipal Projects ........................................... 16 Plaza Development 1930-1940: Personal Philanthropy and Federal Aid Projects ...................................................... 31 Plaza Development 1940-1980: Improving the Improvements.................................................................................... 36 Plaza Development 1980-2025...................................................................................................................................... 42

4. Existing Conditions ............................................................................................................................. 44 Spatial Organization ....................................................................................................................................................... 45 Views and Vistas............................................................................................................................................................. 47 Vegetation Features ....................................................................................................................................................... 48 Circulation Features........................................................................................................................................................ 61 Topography ..................................................................................................................................................................... 67 Constructed Water Features.......................................................................................................................................... 67 Land Use.......................................................................................................................................................................... 70 Buildings and Structures................................................................................................................................................. 70 Small Scale Features....................................................................................................................................................... 73

5. Frameworks for Evaluation of Historic Significance ............................................................................. 87 National Register of Historic Places............................................................................................................................... 87 California Register of Historical Resources.................................................................................................................... 88 Integrity ........................................................................................................................................................................... 89 City of Sonoma Local Register of Historic Resources .................................................................................................... 89

6. Evaluation of Historic Significance ...................................................................................................... 90 Overview of the Plaza’s Existing Historic Status............................................................................................................ 90 National Register Criterion A/ California Register Criterion 1/ City of Sonoma Local Register Criterion A ................ 91 National Register Criterion B/ California Register Criterion 2/ City of Sonoma Local Register Criterion B ................ 93 National Register Criterion C/ California Register Criterion 3/ City of Sonoma Local Register Criterion C ................ 95 National Register Criterion D/ California Register Criterion 4/ City of Sonoma Local Register Criterion D................ 96 Integrity ........................................................................................................................................................................... 97 Agenda Item #7.3:

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Architectural Resources Group | Sonoma Plaza Park - Historic Landscape Survey ii Character Defining Features .......................................................................................................................................... 99

7. Conclusion ....................................................................................................................................... 101

8. Bibliography ..................................................................................................................................... 102 Appendices
Appendix A: Sonoma Plaza Park Historic Landscape Survey Period Plans (1900, 1940, 1976, and Existing Condition with Contributing and Non-Contributing Features), Existing Trees, and Existing Tree Inventory with Contributing and Non-Contributing Status (RHAA Landscape Architecture + Planning, 2026)
Appendix B: Summary of Contributing and Non-Contributing Landscape Features in Sonoma Plaza (ARG, 2026)
Agenda Item #7.3:

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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
3 1. INTRODUCTION
From its earliest establishment in 1835 as part of General Manuel Guadalupe Vallejo’s Pueblo de Sonoma, Sonoma Plaza Park has been the historic and cultural heart of the City of Sonoma. As the site of the 1846 Bear Flag Revolt, the Plaza also lays claim to a foundational role in California’s pursuit of statehood.

Beyond its historical significance, the Plaza serves as a vibrant community hub that hosts festivals, farmers markets, and local gatherings that drive Sonoma’s social and economic life (Figure 1).

Figure 1. Aerial view of Sonoma Plaza Park (Google Earth, 2023, edited by ARG) The Plaza’s historic significance has already been recognized in its designation as a National Historic Landmark in 1961, and listing in the National Register of Historic Places in 1975, with revised and expanded boundaries in 1991. This Historic Landscape Survey (HLS) of Sonoma Plaza Park, which has been prepared in fulfillment of a request from the City of Sonoma, will serve to contextualize, document, and evaluate the historic significance of all extant landscape features within the Plaza. The HLS will provide the City with a foundation for preservation planning, maintenance, and interpretation that is consistent with Federal and State standards. The Survey will also help ensure that any proposed landscape Agenda Item #7.3:

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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
4 modifications, infrastructure improvements, and ongoing stewardship efforts preserve and protect the Plaza’s historic integrity and do not impact the Plaza’s National Historic Landmark and National Historic Register listings.

Organization and Methodology
The Survey is organized using guidance included in A Guide To Cultural Landscape Reports: Contents, Process, and Techniques, published by the U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service Cultural Resource Stewardship and Partnerships.
1 Based on guidance in this foundational landscape evaluation text, the Survey is organized in the same manner as the Part I of a Cultural Landscape Report:
• Site History and Context (Section 3) includes information on the history and development of the Plaza, starting from predevelopment through to the current day, inclusive of all known uses and physical improvements, and illustrated using historic photographs and period development plans; • Existing Conditions (Section 4) includes photographs and detailed descriptions of all features currently extant within the Plaza, organized and grouped using the cultural landscape framework of Natural Systems and Features, Spatial Organization, Circulation Features, Topography, Vegetation, Views and Vistas, Constructed Water Features, Buildings and Structures, and Smallscale Features and Objects, and illustrated with an existing features plan; • Frameworks For Evaluation Of Historic Significance (Section 5) introduces the National Register, California State Register, and City of Sonoma Local Historic Resources Register evaluative frameworks that are used evaluate the Plaza as a potential historic cultural landscape in the HLS; and,
• Evaluation of Historic Significance (Section 6) assesses all Plaza features using National Register, California State Register, and City of Sonoma Local Historic Resources Register evaluative criteria, including, as needed, integrity assessments, assignation of period(s) of significance, and a list of character-defining features for all eligible and contributing resources.

The HLS also includes an overview of previous historic documentation and findings for the Plaza; a summary conclusion, and a bibliography, as well as Appendices, including:
• Appendix A: Sonoma Plaza Period Plans, including 1900, 1940, 1976, and 2026 Existing Conditions; and,
• Appendix B: Contributing and Non-Contributing Plaza Landscape Features To complete the HLS, ARG and historic landscape subconsultant RHAA completed a site visit to Sonoma Plaza Park on February 2, 2026 to document existing conditions, accompanied by City of Sonoma Community Development Director Jennifer M. Gates, City of Sonoma Parks & Recreation Director Dave Jahns, City of Sonoma employee Brian Rowlands, and Patricia Cullinan of the Sonoma Valley Historical Society. ARG and RHAA returned to the plaza in March and April 2026 to collect additional site condition 1 Robert R. Page, Cathy A. Gilbert, and Susan A. Dolan, A Guide To Cultural Landscape Reports: Contents, Process, and Techniques (Washington, D. D., U. S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service Cultural Resource Stewardship and Partnerships, 2025).

Agenda Item #7.3:

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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
5 information. ARG completed archival research at the Sonoma Valley Historical Society and the Sonoma County Library, and received supporting archival materials from City staff. Additional research was conducted using online repositories including the archives of the Sonoma Index Tribune, the California Digital Newspaper Archives, the Online Archive of California, and Calisphere. Both field investigation and research based on primary and secondary sources informed this study.

Project Team
The lead author of this HLS is ARG architectural historian and historic preservation planner Stacy Farr, supported by Principal-in-Charge Matthew Davis, both of whom meet the Secretary of the Interior’s Professional Qualification Standards in the fields of history and architectural history. RHAA supported ARG in the preparation of the HLS, with John Martin, Licensed Landscape Architect, serving as Project Manager, Nathan Lozier, Licensed Landscape Architect, serving as Principal-in-Charge, and landscape designer Ellen Xie providing project support.

2. OVERVIEW OF EXISTING HISTORIC STATUS
The Bear Flag Monument, erected in 1914 at the northeast corner of the Plaza near where the Bear Flag was raised in declaration of California’s freedom from Mexican rule, was the first feature within Sonoma Plaza to be recognized for its historic significance, and was listed as California Historical Landmark No. 7 on June 1, 1932.2
Sonoma Plaza as a whole was first evaluated for historic significance in 1958 as part of the National Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings. The survey recognized Sonoma Plaza’s importance for its association with the Mexican-American War and the Bear Flag Revolt. In 1960, the U.S. Department of the Interior established the National Historic Landmark (NHL) program and released a nationwide list of sites that were eligible for status as National Historic Landmarks. Sonoma Plaza was placed on the eligibility list for designation as part of “Theme XV, Westward Expansion and Extension of the National Boundaries to the Pacific, 1830-1898.”3 Following submission of a formal application by the City of Sonoma, the Plaza was officially designated a National Historic Landmark on September 24, 1961.4 The National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 established the National Register of Historic Places (NRHP), and previously designated National Historic Landmarks—including Sonoma Plaza—were automatically listed in the new federal register. Sonoma Plaza was subsequently documented for the National Register and formally listed in 1975 (Resource No. 75000489). The nomination expanded the original NHL boundary, which encompassed Sonoma Plaza Park, to include additional historic resources surrounding the plaza, including several surviving Spanish-Mexican period adobe buildings facing the plaza and located along East Spain Street, East Napa Street, First Street East, and Second Street East. The nomination also 2 California State Parks, Office of Historic Preservation, “Bear Flag Monument, Historical Landmark,” California Historical Resources by County, accessed March 6, 2026, https://ohp.parks.ca.gov/ListedResources/Detail/7. 3 U.S. Secretary of the Interior, “First Release,” press release announcing sites eligible for National Historic Landmark status, October 9, 1960.
4 James F. Baker, Sonoma City Administrator to Conrad L. Wirth, Director, National Park Service, letter submitting application for National Historic Landmark designation of Sonoma Plaza, March 2, 1961; “National Landmark,” Oakland Tribune, September 25, 1961, 18E.

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6 identified key features within the plaza, including Sonoma City Hall (1908) and the Bear Flag Monument (1914).
5 In 1991, the National Park Service conducted an update of the National Register documentation to recognize local significance and clarify contributing resources within both the National Historic Landmark District (NHLD), known as the Sonoma Plaza National Historic Landmark District, and the National Register Historic District (NRHD), known as the Sonoma Plaza National Register Historic District. In conjunction with this effort, the NRHD boundary was further expanded by the National Park Service to include additional buildings, and documentation was updated to clarify the Statement of Significance and Areas of Significance for listing on the National Register (Figure 2). Resources within Sonoma Plaza Park that contribute to the NRHD include Sonoma City Hall (1908), the Bear Flag Monument (1914) and the former Carnegie Library (1913).
6 Figure 2. Sonoma Plaza National Historic Landmark District after 1991 boundary expansion, outlined in blue, with contributing resources noted in red and non-contributing resources noted in blue (City of Sonoma, 2025) At the local level, Sonoma County established the Sonoma County Landmarks Commission in 1974 under Ordinance No. 1768, creating procedures for designating local Historic Landmarks and Historic Districts 5 Robert A. Cox and Thomas D. Mulhern, Sonoma Plaza National Historic Landmark District Nomination, National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination Form, National Park Service, San Francisco, CA, August 1, 1973, Resource No. 75000489. 6 Michael F. Crowe, Sonoma Plaza National Register Historic District (Boundary Increase), National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination Form, National Park Service, San Francisco, CA, May 6, 1992, Resource No. 92000293.

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7 and establishing the County’s Historic Zoning Ordinance. Although approximately 190 Sonoma County Historic Landmarks have been designated to date, none are located within the NHLD or NRHD boundaries for Sonoma Plaza. Therefore, Sonoma Plaza and the resources within the plaza are not designated as Sonoma County Historic Landmarks.

In 2006, Sonoma City Council adopted a local inventory of historic structures, which included sites and structures within the city already identified by the State Office of Historic Preservation as possessing historic significance.7 City Hall, the Carnegie Library Building, and the Native Sons of the Golden West Bear Flag Monument are listed on the City of Sonoma’s adopted inventory of historic structures.8

3. SITE HISTORY AND CONTEXT
Predevelopment History
The area now covered by Sonoma Plaza Park was historically characterized by a fertile, riparian ecosystem with a rich mosaic of valley oak woodlands and native grasslands. Sonoma Valley’s deep alluvial soils were shaped by nearby Sonoma Creek and supported by a Mediterranean climate characterized by mild, moist winters and warm, dry summers. This resource-rich environment supported multiple overlapping indigenous tribes, and in the early decades of the nineteenth century, an estimated 5,000 Pomo, Coast Miwok, and Wappo tribespeople lived within the area now covered by Sonoma County.

Indigenous communities settled near waterways and grasslands, and engaged in seasonal cycles of gathering, fishing, and hunting. Sophisticated land management practices enabled these cultures to flourish for an estimated twelve thousand years prior to European incursions that started in the early nineteenth century. Descendants of these indigenous groups continue to live in Sonoma County, and the City of Sonoma is located on the ancestral, traditional, and unceded homelands of the Pomo, Coast Miwok, and Wappo peoples.
9 Establishment of Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma In 1823, an expedition led by Spanish-born priest José Altimira and comprising soldiers, priests, representatives of the Mexican government, and non-local Native American guides arrived in the area which is now the City of Sonoma. Searching for a location to build a new mission, Altamira selected Sonoma for its fair climate, plentiful trees, rich natural springs, and native stone.10 Dedicated in 1824, Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma became the only mission established after Mexican 7 Page & Turnbull, “Downtown Sonoma Historic Preservation Design Guidelines,” prepared for the City of Sonoma, 2017, 25. 8 City of Sonoma Historic Resources Map, Local Inventory of Historic Structures, 2025, accessed May 1, 2026, https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/4f6b5f86893a4a1d949ff6380d2836e5#data_s=id%3AdataSource_1-197d1b3e3a4- layer-12-19834121cd1-layer-10%3A18
9 Robert M. Lynch, The Sonoma Valley Story (Sonoma, California: Sonoma Index-Tribune, 1997), 3-5; Robert Demler, “The History of Sonoma,” Sonoma City Historian, September 1, 2017, accessed March 9, 2026, https://www.sonomacity.org/history-ofsonoma/.; Randall Milliken, “Ethnohistory And Ethnogeography Of The Coast Miwok And Their Neighbors, 1783-1840,” technical paper presented to National Park Service, Golden Gate NRA, June 2009. 10 Lynch, Sonoma Valley Story, 6; Damien Bacich, “Fr. José Altimira and Mission San Francisco Solano,” California Frontier, accessed April 2, 2026, https://www.californiafrontier.net/jose-altimira-san-francisco-solano/.

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8 independence from Spain. The new outpost served to support the Mexican claim to northern California and check expansion of Russian settlements at Bodega Bay and Fort Ross.

Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma prospered through cultivation of grain and pasturing of cattle, horses, sheep and pigs. Upward of 700 Native Americans lived on the Mission grounds, where they experienced forced labor and cultural reprogramming. Original church buildings were destroyed in a Native American uprising in 1827, after which the Mission complex was expanded. Within the area surrounding the Mission, including the area now covered by Sonoma Plaza, land uses included Mission outbuildings, housing for the Native American “neophytes,” and pasturing (Figure 3). The Mission complex also served as a stopping place for traveling merchants, traders, and explorers.11 Figure 3. Edward Vischer map of Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma and surrounding area as it appeared in 1832; undeveloped Plaza area located in lower left (Claremont Colleges Digital Library,) In 1833, the Congress of the Union of the First Mexican Republic passed the Secularization Act, which emancipated indigenous subjects and transferred all mission lands and assets from the Franciscan Order of the Catholic Church to Mexican authorities. Although the Secularization Act included instructions for distribution of mission assets to emancipated subjects, most land was sold or given away to prominent, politically connected families in large grants called ranchos. The missions became parish churches, with a small supporting area in the immediate surroundings. Each former mission was appointed an 11 Lynch, Sonoma Valley Story, 10.

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9 administrator; Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo was appointed administrator of the former Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma in 1834.12
Figure 4. Sonoma Plaza in use by General Mariano G. Vallejo leading a company of soldiers, est. 1840s, painted ca. 1870-1880 (USC Digital Library )
Plaza Origins: Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo
Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo (1808-1885) was born in Monterey, California and received military training at the Monterey Presidio. In 1833, while serving as the commandant of the San Francisco Presidio, Vallejo was asked by Governor José Figueroa to seek out a new presidio site north of the Bay Area. In 1834, after negotiations with multiple tribal representatives, Vallejo established a military outpost in Sonoma at the former site of Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma. In 1835, Governor Figueroa formally empowered Vallejo to administer secularization of the Mission, establish the Pueblo de Sonoma under Mexican rule, and fortify the new pueblo site with barracks and a fighting force to defend it.

Sonoma Plaza was laid out by Vallejo in 1835 to serve as the center of the Pueblo de Sonoma. 13 Using
general precepts of the Law of the Indies, the standardized, grid-based, planning method established by the Spanish for colonial development, Vallejo worked with British sea captain and early Bay Area explorer Captain William A. Richardson, who had recently laid out the street grid of Yerba Buena (now San Francisco).14 Starting at the Mission grounds and circling around the desired “Plaza Major,” “riders on horseback used a specific length of rope to measure linear distances, placing a stick in the ground at 12 Allan Rosenus, General M.G. Vallejo and the Advent of the Americans (Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1995). 13 C. A. Menefee, Historical and Descriptive Sketch Book of Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino (Napa, CA: Reporter Publishing House, 1879) 256.
14 Sonoma State Historic Park, “The Plaza” accessed May 2, 2026, https://www.parks.sonoma.net/sonoma.html.

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10 intervals until the desired street length had been reached.”15 The resulting plaza was the largest in California, measuring 222 yards on each side and encompassing eight acres. Approached from the south by a 110-foot wide “Calle Principal” (now Broadway), the plaza provided a centerpiece around which the new town of Sonoma could grow.

Vallejo used the Plaza as a military training ground, and historic drawings of this era show an open space, largely undeveloped, with flat ground, small trees in planter boxes around the Plaza’s north perimeter, Native American housing huts near the center of the Plaza, and a flagpole at the northeast corner, near the old Mission complex (Figure 4).

In 1836 Vallejo was appointed Comandante General of California, responsible for establishing and administering the Mexican military presence in Northern California, and amassed personal land holdings of 175,000 acres in the Sonoma region. Contrary to official Mexican policy during this time, Vallejo was generally supportive of American settlement in the region, which was steadily increasing by the 1840s.

Bear Flag Revolt
Throughout Northern California, the 1840s were characterized by waning Mexican authority and increasing American presence, spurred in part by the election of President James K. Polk in 1844, who espoused a platform of “Manifest Destiny” for the westward expansion of the United States. While Sonoma was still a small pueblo of about fifty residents, it became the site of a significant event in the end of Mexican control of California. On the morning of June 14, 1846, a group of men, led by William B.

Ide, overtook the military garrison at Sonoma without firing a shot, lowering the Mexican flag and raising a handmade flag featuring a star, a bear, and the words “California Republic.” General Vallejo offered no resistance to this Bear Flag Revolt, as he was largely cut off from Mexico City and had been paying his military force with his own money.

However, the short-lived California Republic ended just twenty-five days after it began with the arrival of the U.S. military and the early stages of the Mexican-American War. The U.S. Navy captured Monterey, the Mexican capital of Alta California, on July 7, 1846; two days later, U.S. Navy Lieutenant Joseph Revere arrived in Sonoma, lowered the hand-painted Bear Flag and replaced it with the 28-star American flag, officially claiming the territory for the United States (Figure 5). These significant events occurred within Sonoma Plaza, and while the original flagpole upon which these flags were raised has been replaced in later years, these significant events continue to be memorialized by annual events and physical features within the Plaza.
15 Lynn Downey, A Short History of Sonoma (Reno, NV: University of Nevada Press, 2013) 46.

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11 Figure 5. Illustration of the lowering of the Bear Flag and raising of the U. S. flag at Sonoma Plaza, 1846 (Sonoma Couty Library Photograph Collection, Digital Archives Identifier cstr_pho_011991) Shift to American Control
During the Mexican-American War, Sonoma served as a U. S. Army post and governmental center in Northern California. California was formally transferred to the United States in 1848 at the end of the Mexican-American War and achieved statehood in 1850. Sonoma County was organized as one of the state’s original counties. This period of change happened alongside the Gold Rush, which started in 1848 with the discovery of gold at Sutter's Mill in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada. The Gold Rush caused massive demographic and social upheaval throughout Northern California, including Sonoma, which became a principal node of business, traffic and commerce. During this busy and prosperous time, the City of Sonoma incorporated on April 4, 1850.

After U. S. troops withdrew from Sonoma at the close of the Mexican-American War, the Plaza lost its military use, and was not considered a valuable public amenity for the City. The land within the Plaza was described as “weed strewn and ragged,” and was pocked with large borrow pits which had been dug out for the manufacturing of adobe bricks used in the structures surrounding the Plaza.16 When the City of Sonoma was made the seat of Sonoma County in 1850, a movement of civic pride sparked calls for improvements to the Plaza. In 1851, Mariano G. Vallejo, who remained a leading citizen in Sonoma until his death in 1890, presented a petition urging City Council to fill the Plaza’s borrow pits and create level ground. In 1853, a local tax was appropriated for improvements to the Plaza. These were the earliest attempts to change the Plaza from an undeveloped tract of open land into what would evolve into the cultivated town square which it is today.
16 Cox and Mulhern, Sonoma Plaza National Historic Landmark District Nomination, 27-28 Agenda Item #7.3:

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12 In 1854, the county seat was moved to Santa Rosa, and San Francisco continued to serve as the primary seat of commerce and trade for the state.17 Sonoma’s growth slowed, culminating in the town’s disincorporation in 1862.18 In the early 1860s, calls were still being made to improve the Plaza through fencing and the planting of trees, and an 1871 photograph shows a tidy white picket fence encircling the Plaza with some small trees planted within the east and south perimeter (Figure 6). An opening in the fence with a short interior stair is visible on the east side of the Plaza, and the Bear Flag Pole stood at the Plaza’s northeast corner. The remainder of the Plaza appears to have been undeveloped at this time, with a generally level ground surface crossed by a handful of desire paths travelling diagonally around the Plaza. While not depicted in the photograph, newspaper reports from the time indicate that fencing had been installed not for beautification but to facilitate cattle grazing within the Plaza. 19 Figure 6. Photograph of the east side of Sonoma Plaza, 1871, view north, showing fencing, trees, fence opening and steps, Bear Flag Pole, and desire paths (Sonoma Couty Library Photograph Collection, Digital Archives Identifier cstr_pho_041800) 17 Sonoma League for Historic Preservation, “Walking Tour: Historical Background,” accessed March 25, 2026, https://www.preservesonoma.org/background#:~:text=By%201846%2C%20Sonoma%20had%2045,a%20population%20of%20ap proximately%20300.
18 Julie Tunnell, Metropolitan Transportation Commission, “City of Sonoma, Sonoma County, Census Data, 1860-2020,” December 2021, accessed April 17, 2026, https://files.mtc.ca.gov/library/pub/48117_Place_SonomaCity.pdf; City of Sonoma, “The History of Sonoma,” Developed by Sonoma City Historian, Robert Demler, September 1, 2017, accessed April 1, 2026, https://www.sonomacity.org/history-of-sonoma/.
19 Downey, A Short History of Sonoma, 57.

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13 Plaza Development at the Close of the Nineteenth Century Railroad service reached Sonoma Valley in 1876, with a short-lived monorail line between Sonoma Creek and Schellville. This company was reorganized into the Sonoma Valley Railroad Company in 1878, and bought up by San Francisco rail magnate Peter Donahue, who shifted to narrow gauge tracks and extended the line into the City of Sonoma. The City permitted construction of a depot, car sheds, water tank, a round house, and other associated structures, all of which were located within the northwest quadrant of the Plaza.

Figure 7. 1886 photograph of Sonoma Plaza, taken at the fortieth anniversary of the Bear Flag Revolt, view northeast showing Plaza conditions, including pavilion with arbor, rail depot and rail cars, new fencing, pedestrian pathways, broad space between the fence and the street curb, small and mature trees, and Bear Flag Pole (Sonoma County Library Photo Collection) The arrival of rail service brought new types of visitors to the City of Sonoma, and the Plaza started to be used recreationally by tourists and locals. In 1880, an open-air pavilion was built at the center of the south portion of Sonoma Plaza to accommodate picnickers brought by the rail line. 20 In 1883, the City of
Sonoma reincorporated, reflecting increased population and civic organization. A photograph taken in 1886 shows a series of improvements at the Plaza by that year, including the pavilion encircled by a vinecovered arbor; the train depot and train cars at the north portion of the Plaza; and the removal of the earlier picket fence and installation of a more ornamental fence around the south half of the Plaza (Figure 7). A broad pedestrian walkway lined with stone curbs and a small hedge approached the pavilion from W. Napa Street, which was also lined with stone curbs. Narrower, unpaved axial pathways approached 20 “Pacific Coast Items,” Sacramento Union, September 2, 1880, 1.

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14 the pavilion from the corners of the Plaza, which were lined with small Monterey cypress trees. A broad space between the fence and the street curb is visible on the south and east perimeters of the Plaza, where some more established trees were located. The Bear Flag Pole remained in its original location at the northeast corner of the Plaza.

A Sanborn Fire Insurance Map published in 1888 provides some additional information about the Plaza during this year (Figure 7). The railroad complex was illustrated with an L-plan roundhouse at the far northwest corner of the Plaza, accompanied by a coal bunker, oil house, water tank, and turntable. The depot was located at the center of the north section of the Plaza, with three separate tracks for passenger, freight, and rock (quarry) trains. The “Plaza” itself occupied the south half of the full extent of the Plaza, with chamfered corners and a significant setback from the street at the south, east, and west sides. The pavilion was depicted as a frame building with a hexagonal footprint. A seasonal creek ran down 1st Street West directly west of the Plaza.

Figure 8. 1888 Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, City of Sonoma, Sheets 1 and 2 (combined by ARG), November 1888, showing railroad buildings, pavilion, and smaller, rectangular footprint of the Plaza (San Francisco Public Library) Agenda Item #7.3:

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15 While the City of Sonoma had granted Sonoma Valley Railroad Company permission to construct its rail tracks on public streets and its rail buildings within the Plaza, property owner Henry Weyl, owner of Weyl Hall at the northwest corner of W. Spain Street and 1st Street West, had not, and in 1883 Weyl sued the rail company to have the depot and tracks removed.21 The railroad appealed to the California Supreme Court and in 1886 the court ruled that the railroad must move its tracks from the front of Weyl's property. By the end of 1888, the Sonoma Valley Railroad Company had removed its buildings from the Plaza and relocated tracks several block north, to the area now known as Depot Park.

An 1888 photograph shows the condition of the Plaza after removal of the railroad buildings and tracks (Figure 9). At this time, the north half of the Plaza was generally flat and undeveloped with large areas of bare ground. The Monterey cypress trees lining the park perimeter and the axial pathways had matured, and the pathways appear to be well maintained. The fence still encircled only the south portion of the Plaza, beyond which, in the foreground of the photograph, a tree appears to be planted near to or within the roadway of 1st Street East.

Figure 9. 1888 photograph of Sonoma Plaza after removal of rail buildings and tracks, view northwest showing Plaza conditions, including ground conditions, fence surrounding south half of the Plaza, axial pathway, maturing Monterey cypress trees, and street-adjacent tree in foreground (Sonoma County Library Photo Collection) 21 Andrew Brandon, “Sonoma Valley Railroad,” Pacific Coast Narrow Gauge, December 7, 2015, accessed April 17, 2026, https://www.pacificng.com/template.php?page=roads/ca/svrr/index.htm.

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16 By 1889, a visitor to Sonoma noted “many improvements” to the town and specifically described the Plaza as a “perfect grove of evergreen trees, flowers, and lovely grass.”22 Perhaps in a nod to the new effort to bring people to the Plaza for recreation, City Trustees authorized the installation of hitching posts around the perimeter of the Plaza in 1892, enabling people to travel to the Plaza with their wagons or carriages and easily “park.”23 However, photographs from this era indicate that the “many improvements,” if present, were likely to have been contained in the south portion of the Plaza. A photograph taken in 1896 during an anniversary celebration of the Bear Flag Revolt indicates that by the close of the nineteenth century, limited improvements had taken place in the north portion of the Plaza, including installation of the same fence type present at the south portion of the Plaza, and planting of trees along the Plaza’s north perimeter, including Monterey cypress, and deciduous and evergreen trees (Figure 10). A period plan showing Plaza improvements completed by 1900 is included in Appendix A.

Figure 10. 1896 photograph of Sonoma Plaza, view northwest showing north side of the Plaza conditions, including fence, Bear Flag Pole, and Monterey cypress trees (eBay, SamJams3) Plaza Development 1900-1929: Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club and Municipal Projects The establishment of the Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club in October 1901 ushered in a new era for Sonoma Plaza, beginning the transition of a long-underutilized public space into the public amenity that it continues to serve as today. A nationwide trend towards women’s clubs emerged after the Civil War as a way for women to continue the important efforts they’d contributed through volunteerism during 22 “A Week’s Journey,” Merced Sun-Star, March 23, 1889, 2. 23 Interesting Data on the History of Sonoma Plaza,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, November 29, 1940, 6.

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17 wartime. Coinciding with the broader Progressive Era, women’s clubs became a major vehicle for American women to move beyond the domestic realm and shape the world beyond their homes. The Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club had forty charter members within the first month of its establishment and nearly a hundred members by the end of its first year. The Woman’s Club’s stated purpose was overall social and civic improvement, “with an emphasis placed on the later, particularly in regard to the Plaza.”24 Other committees were appointed to focus on sanitation, street improvements, music, literacy, parks, sociability, and establishing a public library. Within four months of the Club’s establishment, club member Lulu de Emperan used a shovel to break ground on the Club’s first Plaza improvement, planting a memorial tree for her father, General Mariano G. Vallejo.25 The Woman's Club quickly established a Plaza Fund to finance improvements to Sonoma Plaza, during a time when cows were still roaming into the Plaza from the street, and City Trustees explicitly declined to fund any clean-up efforts.
26 Prominent philanthropist Phoebe Apperson Hearst provided an early and substantial Plaza Fund donation of $25, and prominent Sonoma businessman Solomon Schocken, who used the wealth from his successful quarry on Battery Hill (now called Schocken Hill) to invest in real property and other improvements throughout Sonoma, offered ongoing financial support for the Club’s work within the Plaza.27 Club members hosted their first Fourth of July Ball, establishing what became a long tradition of fund-raising social events and entertainment. Securing permission and manpower from City Trustees, early Plaza improvements that were initiated and paid for by the Woman’s Club included widening existing paths and establishing new paths, buying ten new benches, soliciting fertilizer donations, and, after much ploughing and fertilizing, planting Bermuda grass around the edges of the Plaza.28 Bermuda grass was selected based on recommendations through correspondence by the University of California, Berkeley, reflecting the Woman’s Club’s interest in adopting scientific-based improvements in the Plaza.

A Sanborn Fire Insurance Map published in 1905 provides some additional information about the Plaza at this time (Figure 11). The Plaza was recorded with the square footprint it retains today, although the seasonal creek still ran down 1st Street West. By this year, the pavilion was used for city business, and included two offices and a small stone jail.
24 Carrie Burlingame, “1901-1934 - History of Sonoma Valley Woman's Club,” material provided by the Sonoma Valley Historical Society, accessed April 21, 2026, https://archive.org/details/casomvhs_000108/page/n23/mode/2up?q=rock. 25 “To Plant Vallejo’s Tree,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, January 26, 1902, 3. 26 Burlingame, “1901-1934 - History of Sonoma Valley Woman's Club,” 3. 27 Neal Ross, “Solomon Schocken – The Merchant of Sonoma, How a Jewish Settler Shaped The City’s Early History,” Montini Open Space Preserve, accessed May 1, 2026, https://overlookmontini.org/history-3/schocken-hill/; Sonoma Valley Historical Society, “Solomon Schocken Sonoma History Stroll,” May 17, 2023, accessed April 23, 2026, https://sonomavalleyhistory.org/solomon-schocken-sonoma-history-stroll/. 28 Burlingame, “1901-1934 - History of Sonoma Valley Woman's Club,” 4.

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18 Figure 11. Sanborn Fire Insurance Map, City of Sonoma, Sheets 1 and 2 (combined by ARG), January 1905, showing pavilion with offices and jail, and full square footprint of the Plaza (San Francisco Public Library) In 1904, with the pavilion likely reaching its structural and functional limits, Sonoma City Trustees solicited proposals for a new city hall, and quickly selected San Francisco architect Adolph C. Lutgens to design the facility.
29 Described as a “substantial and picturesque building,” Lutgens’ two-story basalt rock Mission Revival style building reflected the site's Spanish colonial heritage and was designed to house government offices as well as the town’s fire department. Plans for the exterior included four nearly identical façades, projecting a message of equal service to all citizens of Sonoma and allowing horsedrawn fire wagons to exit from any side of the building (Figure 12). 30 The rooftop cupola also served as a
fire lookout, and included the ball that had been previously used in the Plaza pavilion. 31 The fire
department was housed on the ground floor, along with a two-cell jail, and governmental offices were located on the second floor.32 Solomon Schocken was serving as a City Trustee at this time, and advocated strongly for the new building to be located at the center of the Plaza; a vote confirmed this 29 "Sonoma's Plans For Handsome City Hall,” Santa Rosa Republican, June 17, 1904, 27. 30 “City Hall Plans,” San Francisco Examiner, June 24, 1904, 11. 31 Barbara White Perry, Drawing Sonoma: Sonoma City Hall, Sonoma Index-Tribune, April 20, 2022, published online. 32 A. C. Lutgens, “Plans for City Hall Sonoma, Cal.” (drawings), no date, provided by the City of Sonoma, externally dated 1906.

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19 new location in 1904.33 The Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club was anticipated to undertake a campaign of improvements in the Plaza surrounding the new building once it was complete.34 Figure 12. Rendering of Adolph C. Lutgens’ design for Sonoma City Hall, 1904 (Santa Rosa Republican, September 13, 1904)
In 1905, as the City worked to secure bond funding for the new city hall, the Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club initiated and funded the first major hardscape improvement within the Plaza – a large drinking fountain constructed of stone blocks and located at the south perimeter of the Plaza at the foot of Broadway. Monumental in form, the fountain included troughs for horses and dogs, and taps for humans, along with lettering indicating that it was erected by the Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club. The fountain was funded in part by ticketed entertainment events hosted by the Club, with the remainder covered by the sale of postal cards, commissioned by the Club (Figure 13). In addition to the fountain, the cards show some components of the surrounding area of the Plaza in 1905 and immediately afterward, which included the Pavilion at the center of the Plaza, mature Monterey cypress trees, packed sand or crushed stone pathways, and overgrown groundcover.
33 “Sonoma City Hall,” Santa Rosa Republican, July 16, 1904, 3. 34 “Sonoma’s New City Hall on Historic Bear Flag Plaza,” Santa Rosa Republican, September 13, 1904, 8.

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20 Figure 13. Woman’s Club drinking fountain postal card, est. 1905, view northwest (Sonoma County Library Photo Collection)
After securing public bonds to cover the $15,000 cost of construction, members of the Masonic Grand Lodge of California laid the cornerstone of Sonoma’s City Hall in a large public ceremony on February 22, 1906.35 However, work stopped six weeks later in the aftermath of the 1906 Earthquake and Fire, which destroyed a large swath of San Francisco and instantly impacted the cost and availability of both building materials and labor.36 By September of that year the original contractor had fully suspended operations and predicted that the cost of construction would be more than double the original estimation.37 Napa builder James B. Newman was selected to complete the work early in 1907, with Santa Rosa stone mason Caspar Sherer serving as construction superintendent.
38 Construction proceeded slowly due to stone
mason labor strikes, and in June 1907 the building was described as Sonoma’s “white elephant.”39 In 1907, as construction of City Hall slowly proceeded, the Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club planned the installation of a monument in the Plaza to honor the Bear Flag Revolt. The stone was donated by local farmer Mr. Gericke and with permission from City Trustees the Club paid for it to be moved to the Plaza.

After completing research to confirm the correct date of the revolt, the monument received its inscribed plaque which also includes the date of its installation and the initials of the Club (Figure 15). 40 A
photograph of this monument taken shortly after its installation shows the general condition of the northeast portion of the Plaza during this era. The ground surface immediately surrounding the 35 “To Lay Corner-stone of Sonoma’s New City Hall,” San Francisco Examiner, February 18, 1906, 32. 36 “To Build Sonoma’s City Hall,” Los Gatos Mail-News, December 13, 1906, 6. 37 “May Not Be Finished,” Petaluma Daily Morning Courier, September 15, 1906, 3. 38 “Briefs,” Petaluma Daily Morning Courier, January 26, 1907, 2; “Sonoma Suit was Heard on Tuesday,” Santa Rosa Republican, May 28, 1907.
39 “Sonoma’s White Elephant,” Napa Journal, June 23, 1907, 1. 40 Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club, “1905-1910 - Meeting Minutes of the Sonoma Valley Woman's Club,” April 1, 1907 and April 5, 1907, accessed May 1, 2026, https://archive.org/details/casomvhs_000099/page/n251/mode/2up.

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21 monument included soil and unmanaged herbaceous vegetation consisting of volunteer grasses and ruderal plants. The broader northeast area of the Plaza included Monterey cypress and a mix of mature evergreen trees, likely planted as part of the railroad depot, and younger deciduous trees with thinner trunks. A bench at the Plaza’s north perimeter, facing E. Spain Street, shows that the earliest benches in the Plaza, which were being paid for by the Woman’s Club, included wood seats and back slats with simple metal frames.

Figure 14. Bear Flag Monument installed by the Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club in 1907, est. 1912, view west showing the general condition of the north side of the Plaza during this time, including a bench facing E. Spain Street (Sonoma Valley Historical Society via Facebook) City Hall was completed in 1908 and formally dedicated on September 9, the annual celebration of California Admission Day, with a full day of celebratory events hosted by the Sonoma parlor of the fraternal organization the Native Sons of the Golden West, with assistance from the Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club.41 A photograph of the dedication parade as it travelled east on W. Napa Street shows conditions in the southwest area of the Plaza during that time (Figure 16). The ornamental fence that had surrounded the Plaza since the 1880s had been removed and in its place were a series of wood posts with pipe railings, used for hitching horses and wagons. The south perimeter of the Plaza was curbed to separate it from the unpaved street, and the Plaza itself was characterized by densely planted mature trees. While the photograph shows some people taking shade under a tree at the southwest corner of the Plaza, in general, ground conditions appear rough and unfinished, with patches of overgrown grass and piles of yard waste.
41 Burlingame, “1901-1934 - History of Sonoma Valley Woman's Club,” 10.

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22 Figure 15. City Hall dedication parade, 1908, view west, showing southwest portion of the Plaza (Sonoma Valley Historical Society)
Figure 16. Volunteers at the “Sonoma Day” work party, May 19, 1909, filling and levelling the area of the Plaza in front of the recently completed City Hall, view north (Sonoma Valley Historical Society) Agenda Item #7.3:

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23 With City Hall completed, the Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club began the long-promised campaign of improvements surrounding the new building. In May 1909, the Club organized and hosted “Sonoma Day,” a volunteer work party to clean up the Plaza grounds (Figure 17). 42 Between thirty and forty men, along
with twenty-five horse teams and wagons and several club ladies, who were “not averse to taking rake and shovel themselves,” levelled and filled a “blasted out” area of the Plaza directly in front of City Hall. 43 Press reports indicated that this area would be quickly planted with bluegrass and lawn. Club women solicited the volunteer effort, including donations of around $300 worth of fill, and supported workers with a celebratory supper at the end of the day. A photograph taken to commemorate the day shows conditions in the Plaza directly surrounding the newly completed City Hall, with unpaved pedestrian paths leading from E. and W. Napa Street to City Hall, and a narrower pedestrian pathway through the east portion of the Plaza. Landscaping included a mix of established conifers, including Monterey cypress and Italian cypress, along with established deciduous trees. Ground conditions included low and relatively uniform grasses in the south portion of the Plaza, while in the north portion included taller weeds emerging among the grasses.

Figure 17. City Hall with the U-plan driveway and U-shaped lawn, 1909, in use by pedestrians, view north (Sonoma County Library Photo Collection)
When completed, the efforts of Sonoma Day appear to have shifted the character of this area of the plaza into a usable promenade, with the first indication of the U-plan driveway that is still in place at the Plaza.

These improvements were in keeping with the general precepts of Beaux-Arts style landscape design, which gained popularity in the United States in the late nineteenth century and early twentieth century.

Beaux-Arts landscapes emulated European Renaissance and Baroque landscapes with formal geometry, 42 “’Sonoma Day Observed on Beautifying Plaza,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, May 20, 1909, 2. 43 Burlingame, “1901-1934 - History of Sonoma Valley Woman's Club,” 11.

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24 symmetrical layouts, linear allées and hedges, and long vistas with focal point features, often fountains or sculptures.44 A photograph taken shortly after this work was completed shows men, women, and children walking along the U-plan driveway between City Hall and W. and E. Napa Street, as well as a team and wagon “parked” near City Hall (Figure 18). Broader conditions around City Hall appear generally unchanged from earlier photographs, with a mix of mature trees on otherwise rough and unfinished ground surface.

Almost immediately following the successful improvements of Sonoma Day, City Trustees requested that the Woman’s Club undertake the work of installing a “spraying fountain” in front of City Hall.45 The Club appointed a subcommittee to work with City Trustees to select a suitable fountain design. Caspar Sherer, who had served as the construction superintendent for City Hall, presented the Club with a plan for a thirty-foot diameter fountain with a concrete basin and a twelve-inch concrete rim. By June 1909 Sherer’s design had been adopted, with the outer edge of the basin and the fountain itself to be of “rough red rock, rustic fashion.”46 The fountain had a mounded profile, similar to the Pioneer Fountain in Greeley, Colorado, which was completed 1907, and more local examples such as the stone fountain located on the south side of Carneros Highway (State Route 12) just west of Napa Road, formerly Stornetta Dairy. The completed fountain was a source of civic pride and was the backdrop of many posed photographs (Figure 19). Goldfish imported from Japan were donated by Frank Matsuyama in 1917, after which the fountain became commonly known as the fish pond.47
Figure 18. Two women pose in front of the rustic fountain, 1914, view south (Sonoma Valley Historical Society) 44 The Cultural Landscape Foundation, “Beaux-Arts/Neoclassical,” accessed March 12, 2026, https://www.tclf.org/landscapestyle/beaux-arts-neoclassical. 45 Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club, “1905-1910 - Meeting Minutes,” May 28, 1909. 46 Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club, “1905-1910 - Meeting Minutes,” June 4, 1909. 47 “A Handsome Gift,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, October 6, 1917, 1.

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25 Completion of the fountain also catalyzed further landscape improvements in the U-shaped area in front of City Hall, which by 1910 was planted with a new, Canary Island date palm tree and a U-shaped lawn, all enclosed by staked fencing (Figure 20).

Figure 19. City Hall, the drinking fountain, and the new, rustic fountain, 1910, view north, also showing newly-planted palm tree and U-shaped turf lawn encircled by fencing (Sonoma Valley Historical Society via Facebook) A public library had been one of the Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club original improvement objectives, and Club members continuously raised money for book purchases and solicited book donations during the first decade of their establishment. Starting in 1903, Club members hosted the nascent public library in varying locations throughout Sonoma. However, starting in 1908, City support for a public library started to increase, and the Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club prepared a successful petition to enable the City Trustees to levy a library tax.48 In 1909, the Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club turned over the library collection to the City and requested that City authorities lead the pursuit of construction of a new public library.49 In response to a request for funding submitted to capitalist and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, the City received a grant of $6,000 for library construction. 50 As per the strictures of Carnegie’s grant, the
funding recipient was responsible for selecting the project site, engaging an architect, and financing annual maintenance of the library once completed.
51 Architect Adolph C. Lutgens was again selected to
design the building; his Classical Revival style library building was constructed in 1912 and opened to the public on May 1, 1913. (Figure 21).52
48 Burlingame, “1901-1934 - History of Sonoma Valley Woman's Club,” 10. 49 “Will Present Library to the City,” Petaluma Argus-Courier, June 15, 1909, 3. 50 “Sonoma to Have Library,” San Francisco Examiner, May 7, 1911. 51 Lucy Deam Kortum, “Carnegie Library Development in California and the Architecture it Produced, 1899-1921,” (Sonoma State University, Masters Thesis, 1990) 9.
52 “Sonoma Has Library,” Petaluma Daily Morning Courier, May 4, 1913, 4.

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26 Figure 20. Sonoma Public Library, 1929, view southwest (Sonoma Valley Historical Society via Facebook)
Figure 21. Sonoma Public Library, 1913, view northeast (Sonoma County Library Photo Collection)
A photograph taken of the rear (west) and south elevations of the Public Library shortly after it was constructed in 1913 provide information about the Plaza’s appearance during this time (Figure 22). An axial pathway travelled behind the library from the Plaza’s northeast corner, lined with mature Monterey cypress trees. Two large deciduous trees were located in front of the library, possibly outside of the Plaza perimeter. Ground conditions south and west of the library consisted of unleveled ground with tall grass, and a wood utility pole supporting transmission wires was located directly west of the library. Around the front of the library, a photograph taken in 1929, several years after the library opened, shows a finished perimeter pathway in front of the library, and an axial pathway leading from 1st Street East to the library’s primary entrance. An axial pathway traveled southwest on the south side of the library, and planting beds were located around the library’s front (east) elevation and along the axial pathway leading from 1st Street East. A large deciduous tree was located near 1st Street East as well.

As the Plaza developed into a site of important civic amenities, additional monuments were installed to commemorate the Plaza’s important role in state and national history. In 1912, the Sonoma parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West formed a subcommittee to pursue construction of a second monument on the Plaza celebrating the Bear Flag Revolt and raising of the original Bear Flag.53 The Native Sons of the Golden West had been instrumental in the establishment of Admission Day as a state holiday, and had a broader mission of preserving historic sites and constructing public monuments. 54 In 1913 the state
legislature appropriated $5,000 to construct the Bear Flag monument, and the Native Sons raised an additional $500 to prepare the site on the Plaza and relocate a forty-ton rhyolite field rock from about a mile north on 1st Street West to serve as the monument’s base.55 The Bear Flag monument was designed by prominent San Francisco sculptor John A. McQuarrie, and fabricated by Louis DeRome, head of one of San Francisco’s most prolific brass foundries. When installed, the monument included a large figural statue of a man holding a pole with a large, flying flag, and a 53 “Native Sons Place Monument at Sonoma,” Oakland Enquirer, December 28, 1912, 16. 54 Peter Conmy, revised by Thomas Perazzo, “The History of the Native Sons of the Golden West,” (San Francisco, Grand Parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West, 1966; revised 2024) 9. 55 Native Sons of the Golden West, Sonoma Parlor No. 111, “The Bear Flag,” accessed April 1, 2026, https://sonoma111.nsgw.org/the-bear-flag/; “Great Rock for Base of Statue,” Oakland Tribune, May 18, 1914, 5.

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27 plaque with a pictorial illustration of the flag raising in low and high relief (Figure 23). Members of the Sonoma parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West participated in the installation of the monument, which was officially dedicated on June 14, 1914 (Figure 24).56 The celebration was promoted statewide and attended by over 5,000 people, who watched as California Governor H. W. Johnson unveiled the monument.57
Figure 22. Bear Flag Monument,
erected 1914, view northwest, est.
1920 (Sonoma County Library Photo
Collection)
Figure 23. Native Sons of the Golden West completing work around the Bear Flag Monument, est. 1914, view northwest (Sonoma Valley Historical Society via Facebook)
As photographs of the erection and dedication of the Bear Flag Monument show, by the 1910s, there were many mature trees throughout the Plaza (see Figure 23, 24). In fact, a postcard image taken around the same time shows that Monterey cypress that had been planted along the Plaza’s axial pathways had grown into a large and dense thicket, and were encroaching onto the recreational use of the pathways (Figure 25). At the same time, due to ongoing efforts of the Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club, the Plaza’s axial pathways were lined with many benches and were well used by the public.

Perhaps responding to the generally unharmonious landscape conditions within the Plaza, in 1915 members of the Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club invited University of California, Berkeley professor Ralph T.

Stevens to Sonoma to speak to Club members about “home floriculture” and present a plan for landscape improvements at the Plaza.58 Stevens was a California-born landscape architect who taught at Berkeley from 1913 to 1917 as one of the first faculty members in the Landscape Gardening Department.59 Speaking to the Woman’s Club, Stevens offered that he and the students of his department would 56 “Bear Flag Monument is Ready, Festival is to Mark Unveiling,” San Francisco Examiner, May 4, 1914, 7. 57 “Bear Flag Monument to be Unveiled on Sonoma June 14,” Sacramento Bee, June 1, 1914, 7; “5,000 at Sonoma See New Bear Flag Monument Unveiled,” San Francisco Call Bulletin, June 15, 1914, 2. 58 Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club, “1912-1915 - Meeting Minutes of the Sonoma Valley Woman's Club,” April 16, 1915, accessed May 1, 2026, https://archive.org/details/casomvhs_000101/page/n171/mode/2up. 59 The Cultural Landscape Foundation, “Ralph Stevens,” accessed March 26, 2026, https://www.tclf.org/pioneer/ralph-stevens.

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28 develop a landscape plan for the Plaza, solely in exchange for travel costs. The Club and City Trustees adopted Stevens’ for Plaza improvements, with the City covering costs.60 Figure 24. Postcard image of Sunday afternoon in Sonoma Plaza, est. 1911, view direction unknown, showing mature Monterey cypress trees, benches, and people enjoying the park (Sonoma County Library Photo Collection) While research has not uncovered this early designed landscape plan for the Plaza, Stevens’ designs generally blended formal ideas gleaned from Mediterranean, Islamic, Spanish Colonial Revival, and Hawaiian traditions with a more informal or rustic California style.61 He was known for planting plans with large massings and elaborate plant palettes, often incorporating tropical plants. Press reports provide some information on the nature of Plaza improvements under Stevens’ plan, which included a “fine system of walks” that would make the Plaza more symmetrical. This plan may have included a U-plan drive at the north side of the Plaza, visible in later aerial photographs, although this feature may have existed as early as 1910, when the U-plan driveway on the south side of the Plaza was installed. The work on Stevens’ plan was underway in June 1916, with workmen using fill material from nearby street excavation projects and covering the paths with crushed rock, which would be weatherized by oiling.62 Shrubbery and plantings were planted to outline the new pathways, and some existing trees were “rearranged” to make way for the new path and planting layout.63 In December 1917, bids were advertised for construction of 10,000 more feet of sidewalk along the west side of the Plaza, with work expected to start quickly.64
60 Burlingame, “1901-1934 - History of Sonoma Valley Woman's Club,” 21; Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club, “1912-1915 - Meeting Minutes,” June 4, 1915.
61 The Cultural Landscape Foundation, “Ralph Stevens.”
62 “Beautifying on Sonoma Plaza,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, June 22, 1916, 5. 63 “Sonoma Plaza Improvements,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, December 11, 1917, 5. 64 Sonoma Plaza Improvements.”
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29 Despite this trend towards landscape improvements, work appears to have slowed after 1917, with fewer changes made in the Plaza during following decade. The Woman’s Club, while continuing a general commitment to Plaza improvements, shifted much of their organizing and fundraising efforts to the construction of their own dedicated clubhouse, which was completed in 1916. The outbreak of World War I and the United States’ entry into the conflict in 1917 also impacted the Plaza, both through shifting the Woman’s Club’s attention to the Red Cross and other war-related fundraising efforts, and through the general economic downturn that occurred in the immediate aftermath of the war in the early 1920s.

Sonoma itself also experienced a downturn around this time, with city population dropping from 957 in 1910 down to 801 in 1920.65 This downturn lasted through the 1920s, and was caused by factors including Prohibition, which devastated the local wine industry, an agricultural slowdown that occurred after wartime contracts dried up, and the general decline of the quarrying industry as asphalt replaced stone blocks for street paving and other road projects.

In 1924, a $10,000 bond election to fund Plaza improvements was defeated, owing in part to Sonoma’s greater need for city-wide sewer service.66 Plaza improvements that did take place in the 1920s appear to have largely been discrete efforts spearheaded by fraternal organizations or private citizens. In 1923, the Sonoma Parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West improved the northeast quadrant of the Plaza around the Bear Flag monument, including planting a lawn and constructing a rhyolite rock canopy with a wood trellis that sheltered a rock drinking fountain (Figure 26). By this year, the original plaque of the Bear Flag monument had also been relocated to the opposite side of its rock base and a second plaque installed, with text describing the events of the Bear Flag revolt, a shield with the Seal of the State of California, two high-relief crossed flags, and a high-relief grizzly bear.

Figure 25. Improvements around the Bear Flag monument including lawn and rock canopy, est. 1924, view northeast (Sonoma Valley Historical Society)
65 Tunnell, “City of Sonoma, Sonoma County, Census Data, 1860-2020.” 66 “Sewer Needs Defeat Sonoma Plaza Taxes,” Santa Rosa Republican, April 16, 1924, 7.

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30 In 1929, prominent Sonoma businessman August Pinelli constructed a wooden aviary on the Plaza, northwest of City Hall in the present location of the Little Kids Playground (Figure 26).67 Stocked with four golden pheasants, the aviary proved inadequate to protect birds from predators, and all four pheasants were killed by dogs the following year.68
Figure 26. Aviary, est. 1929, view northwest (Sonoma Valley Historical Society via Sonoma Index-Tribune) Despite these developments, the Plaza continued to be perceived as an unresolved problem within the City of Sonoma throughout the 1920s. In 1922, Standard Oil submitted a proposal to construct a filling station within the Plaza boundaries; this proposal was vehemently opposed by the Native Sons of the Golden West and other organizations, and the leasing offer was withdrawn, with a statement by the plan’s proponents that those who care so deeply about the Plaza should put greater effort into clearing the Plaza of campers and “linen in various stages of cleanliness” that was routinely hung in the Plaza trees.69 Another proposal the following year for a civic auditorium on the Plaza was also defeated due to legal questions about land use.70 Another round of beautification efforts in 1925 attempted to improve the Plaza’s “drab” appearance by soliciting townspeople’s’ donation of palms, acacias, and other plants.71 And, in 1927, a significant tree cutting program was criticized in the press as turning the Plaza into a “municipal wood yard,” with no known replanting plans.72 By the close of the 1920s, due to “repeated but futile attempts” to improve the Plaza, City Trustees were preparing to turn the land over to the State of California for use as a state park.73 This attempt was thwarted by the Plaza’s status as a historic site, which the State Park system was at that time prohibited 67 “Sonoma Valley,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, May 14, 1929, 7. 68 “Pheasants in Park at Sonoma Killed,” Napa Valley Register, April 14, 1930, 8. 69 “State is Urged to Remove Sonoma Monument if Oil Station Goes on the Plaza,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, March 4, 1922, 4; “Sonoma Plaza id Saved,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, April 8, 1922, 5. 70 “Old Sonoma Plaza Faces Legal Quiz,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, January 17, 1923, 5. 71 “Old Sonoma’s Plaza to be Beautified,” Oakland Tribune, February 15, 1925, 52. 72 “Spirit of the State,” Oakland Tribune, February 9, 1927, 16. 73 “State Recognition Awaits,” Oakland Tribune, July 29, 1929, 135.

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31 from managing.74 The onset of the Great Depression brought a further chill to an already slow period in the history of the Plaza’s development.

Plaza Development 1930-1940: Personal Philanthropy and Federal Aid Projects During the Great Depression, Sonoma’s agricultural economy provided some insulation from the economic devastation of the era, as the area’s small-scale poultry and dairy farms offered an enduring product that remained in constant demand in spite of tightened purse strings. While not completely immune to the broader economic downturn that characterized the 1930s, the city benefited from individual philanthropy as well as state and federal emergency relief funding to usher in a second major phase of Plaza improvements that finally realized the Plaza’s full transformation into the public amenity it remains today.

The Plaza was described in May of 1931 as undergoing a “complete change of landscape effects,” with civic and fraternal organizations adopting various plots and areas of the Plaza to complete the effort.75 In part to inform this community effort, around this time Sonoma’s City Council consulted with architects to solicit general Plaza improvement plans, which partially served as a guiding document for the changes that took place in the Plaza through the 1930s.76 While improvements were happening throughout the Plaza, the Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club was responsible for changes in the area directly adjacent to the Public Library.77 In 1931, the Woman’s Club also asked the City Council to remove the stone trough drinking fountain they had spearheaded at the south entrance to the Plaza in 1905, as the era of horse travel had fully waned..
78 Despite a change in state legislation changing in 1931 allowing state parks to oversee historic sites, the extent of recent improvement efforts in the Plaza led to the abandonment of the effort to shift the Plaza to state control.79
In 1932, Sonoma’s City Council approved $1,200 in funding to install a pond in the Plaza.80 The pond was designed by landscape architect Edward J. Waterhouse, who was born in Oakland and attended the University of California, Berkeley before graduating from Oregon State College.81 Waterhouse worked primarily on residential landscape design before designing the pond at Sonoma Plaza.82 As originally planned, the pond was surrounded by quarried rock and crossed by a stone bridge, with a small artificial beach and rock garden plots nearby. A photograph taken in 1941 shows the quarry rock around the pond’s edge and sedge planting, with an unpaved perimeter pathway (Figure 28). Additional landscape improvements named in Waterhouse’s plan included new Spanish cypress to be planted on both sides of the driveway to City Hall. Shortly after completing the design for what became known as the Plaza Duck 74 “Sonoma Hopes New Governor Gives Aid to Historic Plaza,” Napa Daily Register, November 13, 1930, 8. 75 “Historic Plaza at Old Sonoma,” Napa Valley Register, May 25, 1931, 4. 76 “Little Theater in Plaza as PWA Project, Improvements in Historic Park are Being Made,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, February 1, 1935, 1.
77 Beautification of Plaza Concern of Sonoma Women,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, May 14, 1931, 10. 78 “Old Sonoma Horse Trough Removed,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, December 18, 1931, 2. 79 “Historic Plaza at Old Sonoma.”
80 “Sonoma Plaza Pool to Cost $1200,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, March 6, 1932, 14. 81 “Home Rites Made Flagstaff Girl Bride of San Diego Architect,” Arizona Republic, August 8, 1937, 18. 82 “Edward Waterhouse Rites in Virginia,” Arizona Daily Sun, January 26, 1972.

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32 Pond, Waterhouse relocated to Southern California and later worked for civil and military agencies throughout California, Japan, and Washington, D.C.83
Figure 27. Plaza Duck Pond, 1941, view northeast
(Sonoma Valley Historical Society)
Prominent Sonoma businessman Samuele Sebastiani began to spearhead Plaza improvements in the southeast quadrant of the Plaza in the early 1930s. Sebastiani had immigrated to Sonoma from the Tuscany region of Italy in 1896 and worked as a quarry driver for Solomon Schocken for several years before establishing a winery in 1904. As holder of a rare permit to continue making wine through Prohibition, Sebastiani accumulated significant wealth and by the 1930s was in a position to fund and build significant properties around Sonoma Plaza, including the Sebastiani Theatre, on 1st Street East directly east of the Plaza, which opened in 1934.84
Within the Plaza and directly across from Sebastiani’s theater, members of Sonoma’s Italian Club began to raise funds in 1931 for a new Italian garden.
85 Initial plans were modeled after traditional Italian Renaissance style pleasure gardens, which were organized around classical ideals of order and beauty, 83 “Edward Waterhouse Rites in Virginia.”
84 “Sam Sebastiani Presents New Theater to Sonoma,” Napa Valley Register, April 9, 1934, 5. 85 “Italians Act for Garden at Sonoma Plaza,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, April 26, 1931, 6.

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33 and prioritized contemplative enjoyment of the garden’s sights, sounds and smells. In the Plaza, the design of the Italian Garden included a fountain surrounded by four semicircular lawns, white gravel paving, and a privet hedge.86
While funds for the Italian Garden were collected by popular subscription among the Italian community of Sonoma, Samuele Sebastiani also made significant contributions, including ordering the garden’s fountain from Italy in 1934.87 The fountain and garden were installed by members of Sonoma’s Italian community and completed in 1934 and 1935. In October 1935, the City Trustees approved the Italian Club’s request for the city to assume maintenance for the Italian Garden, including the fountain, gardens, and surrounding lawn.88
A photograph taken shortly after the project was completed show the original layout of the garden, including the centrally located Italian Fountain, surrounded by an open area enclosed by a single-row hedge which leads on to four pathways at the garden’s cardinal directions (Figure 28). Conditions in the surrounding area of the Plaza at this time included mature pine and palm trees, including one pine tree within the footprint of the garden. The recently established London Plane tree alee along the axial pathway in the southeast quadrant of the Plaza is also visible.

Figure 28. Italian Garden, est. 1936, view northwest, showing the original landscape design of the garden, as well as a mix of mature and recently established trees in the surrounding area of the Plaza (Sonoma Valley Historical Society) As the Great Depression worsened in the early 1930s, state and federal relief agencies were established to attempt to mitigate some of the economic impact through funding a broad array of public works projects. In California, the State Economic Relief Agency was created in 1933. Federal programs included the Federal Economic Relief Agency (FERA) in 1933, the Civil Works Administration (CWA) in 1933, the Public Works Administration (PWA) in 1933, and the Works Progress Administration (WPA) in 1935. In 86 “Italians Act for Garden at Sonoma Plaza.”
87 Bill Lynch, “A Woman’s Place is in the Lead,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, April 3, 2025, published online. 88 “Trustees Had a Busy Session Wednesday Eve,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, October 5, 1934, 5.

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34 Sonoma County, the earliest known relief projects started in 1933 and were funded by FERA.89 Countywide, FERA initially funded 100 relief jobs, eighteen of which were given to men completing improvements in Sonoma Plaza. Over the next few years, federal relief funding would play a major role in completing further Plaza improvements.

City trustees sought federal relief funding through the PWA to construct an open-air theater in the Plaza, which had been suggested as a Plaza improvement by consulting architects at the outset of the 1930s. 90 By February 1935 excavation had begun to enable construction of the terraced seating area, which would be surrounded by shrubs and facing on to an at-grade stage area. The amphitheater would seat up to 500 people, on chairs or benches, which were planned for later installation. City Council Member A.R. “Ray” Grinstead was the primary advocate for construction of the amphitheater, and served as a speaker at its dedication on Memorial Day in 1935, which included public recognition of Sonoma County’s military causalities.91 The following year, an additional funding grant from the WPA was used to install concrete steps for bleacher seating within the amphitheater (Figure 30). 92 A photograph taken after this work was
completed shows a tidy but unshaded facility, with a turf lawn at the state area and low perimeter landscaping with a handful of mature trees.

Figure 29. Plaza Amphitheater, est. 1937, view southwest, showing concrete steps installed and shrub landscaping (Sonoma Valley Historical Society)
Discussion of a children’s playground in Sonoma Plaza started in 1934, and by October of that year, Sonoma’s firefighters were raising money for installation of modern steel play equipment. 93 The
playground was installed in June 1935 on the north side of the Plaza; the 150 by 130-foot plot 89 “Supervisors Speed Plan to Put Jobless Men at Work, First Quota of Idle Workers to be Given Jobs Tomorrow,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, November 30, 1933, 2.
90 “Community Combines to Promote Sonoma Project,” Santa Rosa Republican, February 11, 1935, 10; “Little Teater in Plaza as PWA Project, Improvements in Historic Park are Being Made.” 91 “Decoration Day Exercises Held in Plaza Bowl,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, May 31, 1935, 1. 92 Records of the Work Projects Administration, “WPA Project Number 1649-230,” Record Group 69, February 12, 1936, National Archives Catalog, accessed April 10, 2026, https://catalog.archives.gov. 93 “Trustees Had a Busy Session Wednesday Eve.”
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35 corresponds with the present location of the Big Kids Playground but covered a larger area.94 In October 1935, emergency relief program funding employed eight men who constructed a chain link fence around the playground, leveled and filled ground in the area, and installed new landscaping on the north side of the Plaza between the playground and E. Spain Street.
95 The idea for a rose garden within the Plaza was raised in 1935 as part of the same federal aid funding package that enabled construction of the amphitheater.
96 The rose garden was installed in approximately
1936, and originally included a spraying bird bath at its center, with a swan shaped pedestal, which was gifted to the City by Elsie Gottenberg in honor of her late husband Dr. Hartley W. Gottenberg, a Sonoma City clerk who loved the outdoors and birds.97 The design of the garden included intersecting axial pathways, one of which connected to the Italian Garden, with planting beds encircled by a low hedge with a circular footprint. In 1939, sisters Mabel Rawlins and C. Fredericks donated the rose garden’s sundial to the City of Sonoma.98 Rawlins and Fredericks were from a prominent Mendicino lumber family, and had developed a close affection for Sonoma through many visits. The rose garden was managed by the city gardener, and by 1940 included a mix of new varieties and others that dated to the 1893 Chicago World’s Fair; shades included clear yellow, red, rosy pinks, and apricots.99 Some additional smaller-scale Plaza improvements were also completed using federal relief funding, including general park improvements, which received WPA funding in 1935, and landscaping and grading work, funded by the WPA in 1936.100 Part of the 1935 funding went to improve the perimeter of the Plaza’s pond by adding pathways paved with steppingstones.101 However, the effort towards Plaza improvements appears to have ceased by the start of 1936, and in April 1936, it was reported that Plaza projects were wrapping up and federal aid workers were being transferred to begin work on restoring General Vallejo’s home as a historic monument.102
In an overview of the improvements that had taken place in Sonoma Plaza over the course of the 1930s, Sonoma Index Tribune columnist Wade H. Wilson wrote in October 1937:

Sonoma Plaza, that eight-acre plot of historic ground in the center of our city, is a thing of beauty that would be a credit to any city the size of Sonoma and to many municipalities much larger. Seven years ago it was little more than an open space covered with weeds and grass – far from an ornament to the city. Go look it over – the artificial lake, aviary, driveways, shrubbery, flowers, lawns. I can hear someone say immediately: “But most of those things were CWA and WPA projects and were paid for by the federal government.” Granted. But the members of the City Council had the foresight to go after them, and the 94 “”Playground Work Started,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, June 14, 1935, “Fire Chief Makes Statement,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, October 30, 1936, 13.
95 “Local Project is Approved, Given $942,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, October 11, 1935, 1. 96 “Little Teater in Plaza as PWA Project, Improvements in Historic Park are Being Made.” 97 “In Memory of Former City Clerk of Sonoma,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, June 4, 1937, 5. 98 “Sun Dial on Sonoma Plaza Gift of Friends,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, June 30, 1939, 1. 99 “City Gardener Proud of Roses in the Plaza,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, April 26, 1940, 1. 100 Records of the Work Projects Administration, “WPA Project Number 49-10,” Record Group 69, September 6, 1935, National Archives Catalog, accessed April 10, 2026, https://catalog.archives.gov; Records of the Work Projects Administration, “WPA Project Number 1649-230.”
101 “Little Teater in Plaza as PWA Project, Improvements in Historic Park are Being Made.” 102 “Vallejo Home Work to Start,” Santa Rosa Press Democrat, March 27, 1936, 5.

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36 material had to be paid for by the city. Let us give the government of Washington due credit for all it did in providing for us the things we would not have otherwise had in many, many years.103
While Wilson may have been underplaying some of the improvements made in the Plaza prior to 1930, it is clear from his review that the federal relief programs, in concert with philanthropic efforts ranging from Sebastiani’s championing of the Italian Garden to the smaller donations like the sundial, combined to bring a major and lasting change to the Plaza in the 1930s. The Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club, which had been the Plaza’s original champion and had served as an ongoing catalyst for improvements since the start of the twentieth century, likewise was celebrating their accomplishments by 1939, noting that their long-held hopes and dreams for Sonoma Plaza, including broad green lawns and a beautiful rose garden, had all been accomplished (Figure 31).
104 A period plan showing Plaza improvements completed by 1940 is included in Appendix A.

Figure 30. Aerial view of Sonoma Plaza, ca. 1940, view north. Forty years of Plaza improvements visible in this photograph include City Hall, the U-plan driveway and lawn, the Rustic Fountain, the Carnegie Library Building, the Aviary (no longer extant), the Pond, the Italian Garden, the Rose Garden, and landscape improvements including specimen trees, tree allées, and lawn panels.

Additional improvements not visible but present by this year include the Amphitheater and the Big Kids Playground. (Sonoma Valley Historical Society).

Plaza Development 1940-1980: Improving the Improvements The start of World War II in 1939 and the United States’ entry into the war in 1941 brought change to Sonoma, where, like municipalities throughout the country, residents quickly galvanized behind the national effort to support America’s troops through civilian volunteerism and fiscal austerity. The war years also caused a demographic shift throughout the region, as an influx of defense workers and military personnel in the region’s many shipyards, factories, and military bases led to a population increase that permanently changed the city’s small-scale rural character. 103 Wade H. Wilson, “Casual Comment,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, October 22, 1937, 1. 104 “Dreams Come True – the Secret,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, September 22, 1939, 3.

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37 At the outset of the decade, the Red Cross office was located within City Hall, and the Plaza hosted many benefits supporting the war effort.105 This era saw the beginning of the practice of installing a large Christmas tree on the U-shaped lawn in front of City Hall.106 The Plaza also continued to be used as a location for monuments to significant people and historic events. In 1946, a plaque was installed on a rock in the northwest quadrant of the Plaza, honoring Agostin Haraszthy, Sonoma Valley’s famous Hungarian born pioneer viticulturist and founder of Buena Vista Winery in Sonoma.107 In 1948, a plaque was installed in the southwest quadrant of the Plaza at the base of a Coast redwood tree, honoring General Mariano G. Vallejo; this may have replaced an earlier memorial tree honoring Vallejo that was installed by the Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club in 1901. This decade also saw the relocation of the longrunning Valley of the Moon Vintage Festival to the Plaza, the annual harvest celebration held in September featuring activities, historical reenactments, and the Blessing of the Grapes. 108 By 1965, the El
Camino Real Bell had been installed on the sidewalk in front of the U-shaped lawn, as part of a project to recognize the historic travel route connecting the Spanish-era missions.109 Figure 31. Little Kids Playground, 1950, view northwest, showing Rotary Club members responsible for initiating and funding its installation (Sonoma Valley Historical Society) In 1950, the Sonoma Valley Rotary Club approached the Sonoma City Council about funding the construction of a new playground on the Plaza for use by children under six years old.110 The Club was granted a triangular area directly north of the Plaza aviary, which by this year held additional animals 105 “Interesting Data on the History of Sonoma Plaza,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, November 29, 1940, 6. 106 “Xmas Tree in Sonoma Plaza is Admired,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, December 28, 1945, 1. 107 “Vine Plaque Honors Founder,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, June 21, 1946, 1. 108 Sonoma Valley Vintage Festival, “History,” accessed May 2, 2026, https://valleyofthemoonvintagefestival.org/about-thefestival/. 109 Max Kurillo and Erline M. Tuttle, California’s El Camino Real and its Historic Bells (San Diego: Sunbelt Publications, 2000) vii; the Sonoma Plaza El Camino Real Bell is not identified in this book, but is visible in a 1965 aerial of the Plaza. 110 City Council Meeting,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, March 3, 1950, 4.

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38 including a deer named Bambi.111 The new playground was completed in October 1950, and included all metal equipment, including basket swings, strap swings, smaller baby swings, a slide, monkey bars, and a merry-go-round, all enclosed by chain link fence, with benches for caregivers to sit on (Figure 32).112 In 1953, the nearby aviary was demolished.113
The topic of adding lighting to the Plaza was first raised in the mid-1940s, spearheaded by the Sonoma Valley Retail Merchants Association and supported by City Council. 114 However, lighting was not installed
until the mid-1950s, under a collaborative plan that saw all vendors of the Valley of the Moon Vintage Festival asked to provide one light standard, with the Sonoma Valley Business and Professional Women’s Club covering the cost of electrical wiring and the City contributing $900 for the pole installation.115 A broad array of fraternal and business clubs contributed to the lighting effort, which was approved and funded by City Council in August 1955.116 The initial phase of the lighting plan included ten marbelite light standards with hexagonal footprints, which were dedicated in November 1955.117 Fifty additional lights with a similar appearance were added throughout the plaza starting in 1970.118 Figure 32. Sonoma Plaza, aerial photograph, est. 1958, view northeast, showing changes at the west perimeter of the Plaza including new angled parking, planting strip, and tree row (Sonoma Valley Historical Society, via Facebook) Pressure to increase parking around the Plaza led to changes around the perimeter of the Plaza in the 1950s. In 1953, the City commissioned a master parking plan, which included as its primary 111 Rotary to Build Plaza Playground for Tiny Tots,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, July 7, 1950, 1. 112 “New Rotary Club Playground Dedicated in Plaza Ceremony,” Sonoma Index-Tribune October 6, 1950, 1. 113 “Up City Employees’ Salaries; Council Studies New Zoning,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, September 4, 1953, 1. 114 “Sonoma Valley Merchants Elected Officers Monday,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, November 1, 1946, 1. 115 “’Beeps’ First Club to Vote Support of Plaza Lighting Plan,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, March 31, 1955, 2. 116 “Award Plaza Lighting Bid, But Objections are Voiced,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, August 11, 1955, 1. 117 “City ‘Mother’ Joan McGrath Praises Those Responsible for Plaza Lighting,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, December 8, 1955, 2. 118 “City Acts on Animal Control, Plaza Lighting, Airport Plea,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, December 17, 1970, 1.

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39 recommendations the installation of parking meters around the Plaza and the construction of surface parking lots throughout the downtown area.119 In the mid-1950s, likely as part of this movement to create more parking, a planting swale and several large trees located on 1st Street West were removed and replaced with additional angled parking, which already existed at a small at the south portion of the block (Figure 33; also see Figure 31).120 This change resulted in a new planting strip at the west perimeter of the Plaza, as well as the tree line that was planted around this time just east of the sidewalk.

By 1958, the west side of the Plaza had eighty-three parking spots, while the north and east sides had seventy-five and seventy-six, respectively, and the south side had fifty-eight.121 The lower numbers on the south side were attributable to curb cuts associated with the U-plan driveway, as well as the presence of two trees within the roadway, one east of Broadway and one west of Broadway, remnants of the Plaza’s slightly larger and less formal historic footprint (Figure 34). Through the late 1950s, parking shortages continued to be discussed by City Council, who in 1958 debated a proposal to construct a new parking lot within the Plaza, in the area between City Hall and W. Spain Street. This plan was vehemently opposed by longtime advocates for the Plaza including Mayor Joan McGrath and the Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club, and the full extent of the proposed parking lot was not constructed. 122 However, the
striped parking area on the north side of City Hall, which was informally used for parking prior to this time, was striped by 1968.123
Figure 33. Southwest quadrant of the Plaza, est. mid-1950s, view east, showing perimeter sidewalk and trees in the roadway in both the foreground and background, photograph by Richard O’Neil (Sonoma Valley Historical Society via Facebook) 119 “New Parking Plan: Advise Meters,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, November 5, 1953, 1. 120 “Remedy Plaza Parking, Or Else,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, March 12, 1964, 1. 121 “Asks City to Enforce Parking Law,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, January 23, 1958, 1. 122 “Plaza Parking Protest From Woman’s Club,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, February 27, 1958. 1. 123 Netronline, “Historic Aerials,” Sonoma, California, 1961 and 1968, accessed May 1, 2026, https://www.historicaerials.com/viewer.

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40 In 1966, the Sonoma City Council initiated another cycle of improvements within the Plaza and appointed Henri Maysonnave to lead a new Plaza Beautification Committee.124 Maysonnave was the son of the City of Sonoma’s first full time employee, Fabian Maysonnave, who had been responsible for maintenance of the city’s the buildings, streetlights, and roads, and inherited his father’s deep love of Sonoma Plaza.125 Largely volunteer led, the Plaza Beautification Committee included landscape architect Russell Beatty and nurseryman Frank F. Wedekind, both Sonoma residents. One of the Plaza Beautification Committee’s first projects was the redesign of the rose garden, which was completed in October 1966.126 Under the new design, a portion of the original roses were removed and replanted at Sonoma Valley High School, and a new stone bench was installed. The pathways were reworked, paved, and lined with old basalt blocks from the Schocken quarry that the city had in storage. These blocks were also used to construct several stone drinking fountains within the Plaza, including one within the rock canopy that had been constructed by the Native Sons of the Golden West in 1923.
127
In 1968 the Sonoma Valley Chamber of Commerce contacted Armstrong Nurseries Inc., of Ontario, California to request the development of a new rose to commemorate the sesquicentennial of the founding of the Sonoma Mission.
128 By 1970, Armstrong had developed a hybrid pink Floribunda rose and named it the Sonoma rose. Under the direction of Frank F. Wedekind, 500 Sonoma roses were planted in Sonoma Plaza in January 1972, in advance of the Mission sesquicentennial celebrations held in 1973. The planting beds around the rustic fountain were enlarged and planted with Sonoma roses during this time.129
During the 1970s, changes within the Plaza generally maintained or improved existing features. The City hired landscape consulting firm Wilsey and Ham to design a master plan for the Plaza in 1972, and the City received a Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) grant of $20,000 to fund its implementation.130 Using matching city funding, elements of the master plan completed during the 1970s included additional walkway lighting, new benches and picnic tables, improvements to the duck pond, reconstruction of concrete sidewalks throughout the Plaza, and installation of an automatic sprinkler system (Figure 35).
131
In 1970, the Plaza amphitheater was rededicated as the Grinstead Amphitheater, in honor of A. R. “Ray” Grinstead, the City Councilmember who had advocated for its original construction in 1935. A flat shade structure was added over the stage by 1976, although this did little to curb persistent complaints about heat and sun at the facility.132
124 “The Inside Story on Plaza Beautification,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, March 31, 1966, 6. 125 Sonoma League for Historic Preservation, “Maysonnave House,” accessed April 2, 2026, https://www.preservesonoma.org/maysonnave.
126 “Plaza Rose Garden Formally Dedicated,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, October 13, 1966, 3. 127 “The Inside Story on Plaza Beautification.”
128 “Brief History of the Sonoma Rose,” Press release in the collection of the Sonoma Valley Historical Society. 129 Community Foundation Sonoma County, “The Wedekind Family: A Legacy of Love, Community, and Giving in Sonoma Valley,” accessed April 2, 2026, https://www.sonomacf.org/blog/the-wedekind-family-a-legacy-of-love-community-and-giving-in-sonomavalley/. 130 “City Council Meeting,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, May 11, 1972, 16. 131 “Approve City’s First Million Dollar Budget,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, 1; “City Manager responds to Rachel Carter Letter,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, August 16, 1979, 10.
132 “Robert E. Herr, “The Plaza in the City of Sonoma, Trees,” (plans) Sheet C-115, 1976.

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41 Figure 34. Plaza improvements including new picnic tables and trashcans, 1978, view north, photograph by Don Meacham, photographer (Sonoma County Library Photo Collection) The Sonoma Library became a branch of the countywide library system in 1968, and although new wheelchair accessible restrooms were constructed at the building’s west elevation in the 1970s, county officials announced in 1977 that the building could no longer serve as a public library and would need to close to the public.133 After the library closed in 1978, its books were transferred to the new Sonoma Valley Regional Library on West Napa Street, and the Chamber of Commerce used the building for their offices through the 1980s.
134
By the close of the 1980s, the Plaza continued to serve as a comprehensive recreational amenity for the City of Sonoma. A period plan showing Plaza improvements completed by 1976 is included in Appendix A.

An aerial photograph taken in 1982 shows the Plaza in heavy use, with people arrayed on lawn panels throughout the Plaza, relaxing below mature leafed out trees, and filling every parking stall surrounding the Plaza (Figure 36).
133 Herr, “The Plaza in the City of Sonoma, Trees;” “Library Opposition Based on Misinformation,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, August 4, 1977, 32.
134 Sonoma County Library, “Library History,” accessed March 23, 2026, https://sonomalibrary.org/about/history; “He Still Left the Books,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, February 1, 1979, 10.

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42 Figure 35. Aerial photograph of Sonoma Plaza, 1982, view northeast showing the Plaza in heavy use, with people arrayed on lawn panels throughout the Plaza, mature trees, the Carnegie Library Building with bathroom additions, and the Grinstead Amphitheater shade structure (Sonoma County Library Photo Collection) Plaza Development 1980-2025
Within the past fifty years, the Plaza has continued to evolve to serve its users, while largely retaining the features and character that were established prior to 1940. Primary changes within the Plaza during these years have been related to improvements to older features and park maintenance.

In 1984, the City of Sonoma Parks and Recreation Commission recommended to the City Council that the Italian Garden be renovated.135 Sonoma’s Sesquicentennial Committee took on the project, and started raising funds for a new landscaping, a stone sitting wall surrounding the fountain, and new falsecobblestone concrete paving.136 Additional changes to the layout of the Italian Garden included removal of one axial walkway west of the fountain, realignment and narrowing of the axial walkways north and south of the fountain, and reconfiguration of the original single-row privet hedge, using additional hedge rows to create planting beds. Work was completed in 1985 and a new dedication plaque was installed; the following summer, the Italian Garden was publicly dedicated to the perseverance of Sonoma Valley’s Italian immigrant community.137
In 1990, responding to persistent complaints about the lack of shade at the Grinstead Amphitheater, the Sonoma Plaza Foundation was organized and began a multi-year fundraising effort to improve 135 “Parks Commissioner Want Garden Upgraded,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, February 1, 1984, 9. 136 “Sonoma’s Wish List for 150th Birthday,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, May 1, 1985, 3; “A Touch of Italy,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, October 2, 1985, 40.
137 “Sesquicentennial Celebration Schedule of Events Released,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, May 22, 1985, 9; “Fountain Rededicated to Italian Immigrants,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, June 24, 1986, A9.

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43 conditions.
138 In 1995, California big leaf maples were planted at four new concrete planter boxes at the amphitheater’s seating area. A stand of coast redwoods and Japanese maples were planted surrounding the seating area, along with smaller scale landscaping improvements. New bench seating was installed and irrigation was added.
139 In 2005, the stage area was improved with a concrete pad and a new openbeam wood roof supported by existing brick columns.140 A new electrical system was also installed at this time.
141
In the mid-1980s, the Sonoma Valley Visitors Bureau leased the Carnegie Library Building for offices and a visitor’s center.
142 In 1995, the building was extensively renovated for seismic safety. In preparation for construction, several trees and all landscaping around the building was removed.143 The one-story restrooms at the rear elevation were removed and replaced with a centrally-located two-story volume and two new one-story restrooms. While most of the building’s historic exterior features and finishes were retained, the interior was completely updated.144 The monument kiosk in front of the Carnegie Library Building was installed in 2008.
145 City Hall was also renovated in 2008, with work limited to reconfiguration of interior spaces and changes to some interior finishes.146 In 2014, the bell tower atop City Hall was repaired and reinforced.147
By the early 1990s, the U-plan drive at the north side of the Plaza had been removed and replaced with a narrow paved pedestrian walkway passing by the Big Kids Playground and connecting E. Spain Street to the parking area around City Hall.148 The Little Kids Playground was renovated in 1997, with partial funding from the Sonoma Valley Women’s Club. Work included removal of all metal play equipment and chain link fencing, and installation of new equipment by Ross Recreation.149 The Big Kids Playground was renovated in 2000. Work here also included removal of all metal play equipment and installation of new equipment by Ross Recreation. The Little Kids Playground was renovated again in 2015 with additional equipment from Ross Recreation, with support from the Sonoma Rotary Club. The concrete curbing and general ground conditions present at both playgrounds were also installed during this time.

The Plaza has continued to be used as a space of memorialization in the years after 1980. Improvements were made to existing monuments, including construction of a new stone wall and planting bed around the Native Sons of the Golden West Bear Flag Memorial, completed by the Native Sons of the Golden West in 2000. Multiple plaques and other commemorative markers have been placed throughout the Plaza, including the David Chavoya Horsehoe plaque (no date), honoring a the career of thirty-six-year Plaza maintenance worker; the Sesquicentennial Time Capsule plaque (no date, presumed 1996); the Salute to Sonoma Citizens plaque (no date). In 2017, a new monument was erected to General Manuel G. 138 Carole Kelleher, “And the Grinstead played on: A look at the Plaza amphitheater,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, May 18, 2017, published digitally.
139 Kelleher, “And the Grinstead played on.”
140 Thomas Anderson & Co, “Grinstead Amphitheater, New Roof Framing Plan” (plans), September 28, 2005, Sheet 2. 141 Kelleher, “And the Grinstead played on.”
142 Claudia Ripee, “Where’s the Beach?,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, April 29, 1988, 13. 143 Architectural Resources Group (ARG), “Sonoma Carnegie Library,” (plans), January 13, 1994, Sheets A1.1 through A6.1. 144 ARG, “Sonoma Carnegie Library”; “Plaza Building to Get Face-Lift,” Sonoma Index-Tribune, May 6, 1994, 11. 145 Bevan + Associates, “Plaza Monument Sign,” (plans), November 7, 2008, Sheet 1. 146 Winzler & Kelly, “Sonoma City Hall Improvement Project,” (plans), May 28, 2008. 147 Strata Strategic Design Studio, “Sonoma City Hall Bell Tower Repair,” (plans), February 3, 2014. 148 Aerial image, Google Earth, July 1993, accessed March 12, 2026. 149 Ross Recreation Equipment,” New Chapter for This Historic Sonoma Plaza,” accessed March 23, 2026; personal correspondence with Ross Recreation Equipment Sales Representative Alex Hailey, February 10, 2026.

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44 Vallejo on the north perimeter of the Plaza, which includes a life-sized figure of Vallejo sitting on a bench, leaving room for Plaza visitors to sit down next to him.150 Plaza maintenance projects have resulted in changes to some Plaza features. Repaving around the Rustic Fountain in 1980 appears to have changed the profile of the low rock basin wall; a duck ramp composed of repurposed utility fittings has also been placed in the basin, and the fountain no longer supports fish.151 At the Duck Pond, a filtration improvement project in 2006 lined the pond perimeter with concrete finished with stepping stones, while potentially reusing the pond’s original perimeter stones.

The addition of a Sonoma County Transit bus shelter to the west side of the U-plan driveway occurred after the transit company was established in 1980, although the date of the shelter’s construction was not uncovered in the course of research for this report.

Ongoing Plaza improvements within the recent past have largely consisted of new small-scale features, including informational and wayfinding signage, electrical bollards, bike racks, trash receptacles, and water fountains. In 2010, an artistic bike rack sculpture was installed west of the U-plan driveway. The last major undertaking to upgrade park facilities was completed in 2025, when City employee Brian Rowlands used a large donation of redwood lumbar from Sonoma Raceway to replace all of the benches in Grinstead Amphitheater, as well as all of the general use benches and the picnic tabled within the Plaza.152
A period plan showing Plaza improvements through 2026 is included in Appendix A.

4. EXISTING CONDITIONS
Historic landscapes are identified by two qualifiers: significance in history and integrity to a specific time period. Historic landscapes convey their integrity through the existence of character-defining features from their identified historic period. National Park Service guidance for evaluating the eligibility of landscapes includes organization of existing features into thirteen landscape characteristics, which provide a framework both to evaluate and understand the human influence on the landscape and to measure these characteristics’ historic integrity.153
The following landscape characteristics may be documented in a cultural landscape study or inventory:

1. Natural Systems and Features. Material in nature that influenced historical development or use.

2. Spatial Organization. The historical three-dimensional arrangement of elements creating the ground, vertical, and overhead planes that define and create spaces. 150 Ross Drulis Cusenbery Architecture, “Sculpture Installation Concept,” (plan), July 27, 2015. 151 Kiwanis Club Plaque, 1980, Sonoma Plaza.
152 “Plaza Seating Upgrade in Progress!” Sonoma City Instagram account, April 9, 2025. 153 Page, Robert R., Jeffrey Killion, and Gretchen Hilyard. 2009. National Park Service Cultural Landscapes Inventory Professional Procedures Guide. U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Cultural Resource Stewardship Partnerships, Park Historic Structures and Cultural Landscapes Program. Washington, District of Columbia.

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45 3. Cultural Traditions. Practices that influence land use, patterns of division, building forms, and the use of materials.

4. Cluster Arrangements. Historical pattern of aggregation in forms.

5. Circulation. Spaces, features, and materials that constitute historical systems for human movement.

6. Topography. Historical, human-created shape of the ground plane.

7. Vegetation. Historical patterns of human-influenced plants, both native and introduced.

8. Constructed Water Features. Historical constructed forms to contain or convey water.

9. Land Use. Historical activities that influenced development and modification.

10. Buildings and Structures. Three-dimensional constructs such as houses, barns, garages, stables, bridges, and memorials.

11. Views and Vistas. Features that create or allow a range of vision, which can be natural or designed and controlled.

12. Small-Scale Features. Discrete, historical elements that provide detail and diversity.

13. Archeological Resources. Historical ruins, traces, or deposited artifacts.

The presence of landscape characteristics aid in understanding a landscape’s cultural value; however, it is not necessary for a landscape to contain all thirteen landscape characteristics. Nine of these landscape characteristics are present at Sonoma Plaza Park and have been used to organize and frame the analysis of the landscape, including spatial organization, views and vistas, vegetation, circulation, topography, constructed water features, land use, buildings and structures, and small-scale features.

Spatial Organization
Spatial organization includes the overall layout of spaces and the arrangement of physical forms and visual associations. This might include how other landscape characteristics - like circulation systems, views and vistas, areas of land use, and clusters of structures - define spaces within the landscape.

Sonoma Plaza Park is located at the center of the City of Sonoma and was laid out by General Mariano G.

Vallejo in 1835 as part of the newly established Pueblo de Sonoma. The eight-acre site has a square footprint and is bordered by East Spain Street at the north, 1st Street West at the west, East and West Napa Streets at the south, and 1st Street East at the east (see Figure 1). Broadway (State Highway 12) approaches directly from the south and terminates at the center of the south border of the plaza, providing an axial view of the plaza and City Hall from the south (Figure 37).

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46 Figure 36. Axial view of the plaza and City Hall from the south, view north (ARG, April 2026) Block fronts surrounding the plaza are developed with Spanish-Mexican period buildings and commercial buildings constructed in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries; most buildings on these block faces are listed on the National Register of Historic Places as contributors to the Sonoma Plaza National Historic Landmark District and the Sonoma Plaza National Register Historic District (Figure 38, 39).

Figure 37. Spanish-Mexican period barracks (left) and mission buildings (right), north side of E. Spain Street, view northeast (ARG, April 2026)
Figure 38. Nineteenth and twentieth century commercial
buildings, east side of 1st Street East, view southeast (ARG, April 2026)
Internally the plaza is organized into a quadrants around City Hall which is sited at the center of the plaza (see Figure 1). A U-plan drive south of City Hall provides a visual and circulatory connection to both Broadway and E. and W. Napa streets (Figure 40).

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47 Figure 39. U-plan drive south of City Hall, with W. Napa Street in foreground, view northeast (ARG, April 2026)
Within the plaza’s quadrants, space is further organized by pedestrian pathways, which both continue the broader street grid pattern present in the area surrounding the plaza, and include additional axial and curved pathways. These circulation features, along with other characteristics that affect the spatial organization of the plaza such as water features, additional buildings, and small-scale features, are described in more detail in corresponding subsections below.

Views and Vistas
Views are the expansive or panoramic prospects of a broad range of vision which may be naturally occurring or deliberate. Vistas are the controlled prospect of a discrete, linear range of vision. Views and vistas can be defined by the composition of other landscape characteristics, such as a lookout structure or a view framed by vegetation.

The primary view corridors within Sonoma Plaza Park form an axial relationship with City Hall, which is the plaza’s primary visual focal point at the center of the plaza. The open paved area around City Hall and its architectural design, with four similar façades, emphasize this relationship. The U-plan driveway facilitates the view of City Hall from Broadway and the approach to the plaza from the south (see Figure 34). A reciprocal view to the south from City Hall and the U-plan driveway also characterizes the plaza and its relationship with the City of Sonoma (Figure 41).

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48 Figure 40. View south from City Hall towards Broadway, view south (ARG, April 2026) View corridors to City Hall from southwest, northwest, and southeast are emphasized by London planetree rows, while the view along the U-plan driveway both towards City Hall and away from it is emphasized by rows of Italian cypress. These vegetation features are described in more detail in corresponding subsections below.

Vegetation Features
Vegetation features might be functional or ornamental trees and shrubs, including orchards, groves, woodlots, pastures, gardens, allées, forests, and grasslands.

Sonoma Plaza Park contains a varied collection of vegetation spread across all four quadrants of the park that contributes to its historic character, spatial organization, and ecological value. The park's urban forest is its most prominent feature, ranging from specimen trees and formal allées to informal groves and ornamental flowering trees. Many of these trees have matured over decades and provide the park with an enduring sense of continuity and place. Several trees are associated with memorial plaques commemorating figures significant to the history of Sonoma and California.

Beneath the tree canopy, expanses of open turf, formal garden spaces, and defined planting beds complete the park's layered vegetation structure. The Rose Garden and Italian Garden in the southeast quadrant introduce a more formal horticultural character, while shrub and groundcover plantings throughout the park reinforce circulation routes, screen utilities, and frame key monuments and civic buildings. Together, these vegetation layers define the visitor experience of the park and remain central to its identity as the civic heart of Sonoma.

The vegetation details below start with a description of trees before continuing to describe other types of plants.

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49 Trees
The park's tree canopy is extensive. Despite changes to the park's organization over time, many significant trees remain, allowing the collection to mature into what resembles a botanical arboretum.

The park contains 42 species totaling 202 trees of varying ages, which collectively shape the visitor experience by providing shade, seasonal color, and habitat.

Formal tree planting is one of the most distinctive features of Sonoma Plaza Park, with rows, allées, and symmetrically placed trees reinforcing the park's axial organization and sense of order. Additionally, trees are grouped together in groves, placed in front of building facades, along sidewalks, and act as specimen trees.

Tree Rows
Three of the main axial pathways entering
the Plaza from the southwest, southeast,
and northwest corners and connecting
with City Hall are lined with allées of
mature London plane trees (Platanus x
hispanica). These trees frame and
reinforce the park's main circulation routes
while contributing to its formal character.

Several trees are missing sporadically from
the allées lining the axial paths in the
northeast and southeast quadrants. In the
southwest quadrant, multiple trees are
missing from one segment of the path.

There are several London plane trees along
the northeast axial path, but they are
spread apart and do not read as a row or
an allée.

Figure 41. Allée of London plane trees, view southeast
(RHAA, April 2026)
Rows of pruned Italian cypress trees
(Cupressus sempervirens) line both the
east and west sides of the U-plan Drive.

These mature trees are flat-topped,
keeping their height at approximately 8
feet high.

Figure 42. Pruned Italian cypress trees on the east side of the U-plan drive, view northeast (RHAA, April 2026)
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50 Three mature cherry trees (Prunus
serrulata cv.) line the northwest boxwood
hedge of the Italian garden. Situated
symmetrically on the opposite side of the
fountain are two additional cherry trees,
and one cherry tree is located on the
southwest side of the fountain.

Figure 43. Three cherry trees at Italian Garden, view east (RHAA, February 2026)
Along the western edge of the southwest
quadrant, seven mature trees form a
sidewalk row of varying spacing along 1st
Street West. These include one Douglas fir
(Psuedotsuga menziesii), one bigleaf maple
(Acer macrophyllum), and five silver
maples (Acer saccharinum).

Figure 44. Sidewalk row along 1st Street West, view north (RHAA, April 2026)
Along the eastern edge of the northeast
quadrant, five mature trees of two species
alternating in layout for a sidewalk row
along 1st Street East. These include three
London plane trees (Platanus x hispanica)
and two Maidenhair trees (Ginkgo biloba).

In total there are five ginkgo trees in the
Plaza and several of them are known to be
of the female varietal, although it is not
confirmed which trees these are.

Figure 45. Row of ginkgo and London plane trees, view west (RHAA, April 2026)
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51 On 1st Street East two mature London
plane trees (Platanus x hispanica) are
positioned in a row symmetrically at the
base of the pathway leading from the
sidewalk to the main entrance of the
Carnegie Library Building, framing the
approach to the building.

Figure 46. Two London plane trees framing the entrance to the Carnegie Library Building, view west (RHAA, April 2026) Tree Clusters and Groves
Several areas of the park feature informal groupings of trees that create distinct character and enclosure within the broader landscape.

A grove of mostly coast redwoods (Sequoia
sempervirens) and Italian cypress (Cupressus
sempervirens) wraps around Grinstead
Amphitheater, providing a vertical canopy and a
sense of enclosure around the performance
space. Additional species that complete the grove
of trees around the amphitheater include Deodar
cedar (Cedrus deodara), London plane tree
(Platanus x hispanica), maidenhair tree (Ginkgo
biloba), scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea), common
honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos), and common
crape myrtle (Lagerstroemia indica). Freeman's
maple (Acer x freemanii) trees were added at a
later date within the amphitheater seating area in
four tree grates, one of which remains standing.

Figure 47. Redwood grove at the Grinstead amphitheater, view south (RHAA, February 2026)
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52 In the southeast corner of the park, a grouping of
widely spaced large mature silver maples (Acer
saccharinum) and a single bigleaf maple (Acer
macrophyllum) grow alongside a western catalpa
(Catalpa speciosa). Two southern magnolias
(Magnolia grandiflora) and a coast redwood
(Sequoia sempervirens) occupy the western edge
of this quadrant. Near the sidewalk of the eastern
edge of the southeast quadrant sit a Coast
redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) and Deodar
cedar (Cedrus deodara).

Figure 48. Grouping of maples, view northwest (RHAA, April 2026)
Along the south and west sides of the Carnegie
Library Building, a cluster of smaller and younger
flowering trees includes six crape myrtles
(Lagerstroemia indica cv.), two saucer magnolias
(Magnolia soulangeana), and one strawberry tree
(Arbutus 'Marina'). The crape myrtles are
arranged in a grid in tree wells and tree guards,
close to the amphitheater redwoods.

Figure 49. Cluster of crape myrtle trees in tree grates, view east (RHAA, April 2026)
Specimen Trees
Sonoma Plaza Park contains a diverse collection of large evergreen and deciduous specimen trees distributed throughout the site, distinguished by their species, size, and spatial relationships to key park features, collectively enhancing the botanical significance of the park’s urban forest. Individually and collectively, they contribute to the park’s layered canopy and the park’s historic landscape character.

Several trees are associated with memorial plaques, which are described below under Small Scale Features.

The most prominent specimen tree in the Plaza is a Canary Island date palm (Phoenix canariensis) located in the U-shaped lawn on the south side of the park near the entrance to the U-drive and City Hall (Figure 51). This tree was planted in 1910 to align with the approach from the south along Broadway and the primary entrance of City Hall. Additional historic palm plantings include five Mexican fan palms (Washingtonia robusta) and three California fan palms (Washingtonia filifera), which date to prior to the 1940s, and two Chinese windmill palms (Trachycarpus fortunei) (Figure 52). These palms are located near the southern edge of the park, toward the middle of the northern edge of the park, at the northeast corner, and just south of the Rose Garden.

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53 Figure 50. Canary Island date palm in the U-shaped lawn with City Hall behind, view north (RHAA, February 2026)
Figure 51. Mexican fan palms at the north end of the plaza, view northwest (RHAA, February 2026)
Six mature American elms (Ulmus americana) are present in the Plaza, with four clustered near the duck pond and individual trees positioned near the northwest and northeast corners (Figure 53). A giant redwood (Sequoiadendron giganteum) in the northwest quadrant has a plaque at its base commemorating Colonel Agostin Haraszthy (Figure 54). A Coast redwood (Sequoia sempervirens) in the southwest quadrant has a plaque identifying it as the Memorial Redwood, dedicated to General Mariano G. Vallejo in 1948.

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54 Figure 52. American elm, view southeast (RHAA, April 2026) Figure 53. Giant Redwood with plaque at its base, view west (RHAA, April 2026)
A giant blue gum eucalyptus (Eucalyptus globulus) in the southwest quadrant of the Plaza has a trunk diameter at breast height of 108 inches (Figure 55). This is the largest tree diameter in the park. A single manna gum eucalyptus (Eucalyptus viminalis) still stands within the W. Napa Street roadway (Figure 56).

The tree appears mature in a 1956 photograph, though its planting date is unknown, and may be a remnant of an earlier roadway tree planting approach. A curb has been constructed around the tree’s critical root zone.

Figure 54. Giant blue gum specimen tree,
view north (RHAA, February 2026)
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55 A western catalpa tree (Catalpa speciosa) in the northeast quadrant of the Plaza has an coast live oak tree growing out of it, likely the result of an acorn becoming lodged in the bark. In the northeast quadrant planting strip, two trees are planted, including a Norway spruce (Picea abies) and a Chinese windmill palm (Trachycarpus forunei). A sweetgum (Liquidambar styraciflua) and a scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea) occupy the planting strip in the northwest quadrant.

The Plaza includes a number of large specimen conifer trees. These include atlas cedars (Cedrus atlantica) and deodar cedars (Cedrus deodara); coast redwoods (Sequoia sempervirens) and common bald cypress (Taxodium distichum).

Additional specimen and canopy trees not already cited and found in the park include a wide range of species such as Japanese maple (Acer palmatum) , silver maple (Acer x saccharinum), sugar maple (Acer saccharum), and Freeman’s maple (Acer x fremannii); western catalpa (Catalpa speciosa); common honeylocust (Gleditsia triacanthos); maidenhair tree (Ginkgo biloba); glossy privet (Ligustrum sp.); common sweetgum (Liquidambar styrachiflua); tulip tree (Liriodendron tulipifera); southern magnolia (Magnolia grandiflora); Chinese pistache (Pistacia chinenesis); Portuguese cherry laurel (Prunus lusitanica); scarlet oak (Quercus coccinea); pin oak (Quercus palustris); northern red oaks (Quercus rubra); and cork oak (Querucs suber).

Designed Garden Features
The main area of the Rose Garden is organized around two concentric planting bands, each interrupted by two pathways (Figure 57). The outer band contains four rows of roses. The two innermost rows are irregularly staggered and inconsistent in layout, comprising forty-six groundcover roses. These are followed by a row of sixteen tree roses representing six different cultivars. The outermost edge of this band consists of thirty-seven groundcover roses, approximately twenty-five of which appear to be a redflowering cultivar grouped together at the center of the arc (Figure 58). The uniformity of a single color differs from the varied arrangement of cultivars and colors found elsewhere in the Rose Garden. Several tree roses in this band appear to be of greater age suggested by the thickness of their stems. Some roses also still have a white nursery identification label attached.

The Rose Garden’s inner circle is similarly divided into two sections by the pathways and contains twelve tree roses centered between two concentric rows of groundcover roses . The outer row comprises twenty roses and the inner row ten, together offering a variety of cultivars, colors, and fragrances. The Dshaped bed contains two 'Pope John Paul II' and two 'Mr. Lincoln' tree roses. These are surrounded by a perimeter of sixteen groundcover roses. Four additional roses occupy the space between the arching outer edge and the tree roses. The groundcover roses in this bed are predominantly different cultivars, contributing a broad range of colors to the composition.

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56 Figure 56. Rose garden, view south (RHAA, April 2026) Figure 57. Hot Cocoa roses, view south (RHAA, April 2026)
The Italian Garden is located in the southeast quadrant of the park and is defined by a formal boxwood hedge that delineates the garden's historic outer boundary and a later-installed inner hedge connecting to the octagonal seating area around the fountain (Figure 59). The boxwood is arranged in a decorative formal pattern, creating a series of small planting beds (Figure 60). While a large portion of the planting beds remain unplanted, several contain low shrubs and groundcovers including rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis), asparagus fern (Asparagus densiflorus ‘Myers’), yellow bush daisy (Euryops pectinatus) and fortnight lily (Dietes bicolor). On the western edge, the two fortnight lilies interrupt the continuity of the boxwood hedge in the location of where a pathway previously connected to the fountain area. The six flowering multitrunk cherry trees (Prunus serrulata) described earlier are planted outside the boxwood around the garden's perimeter. Flat-topped Italian cypress trees (Cupressus sempervirens) are maintained at approximately eight feet in height and are interspersed among the planting beds near the points of entry. Together, the boxwood hedging and cypress trees organize movement through the Italian Garden along three pathways, two internal and one connecting to 1st Street East, toward the central fountain, while also framing views outward across the park.

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57 Figure 58. Italian Garden, view north, showing flat-topped Italian cypress tree and planter beds between boxwood
hedge and seat wall (RHAA, April 2026)
Figure 59. Italian Garden with cherry trees and boxwood hedge in the foreground and the fountain beyond, view east (RHAA, April 2026)
Planting Beds
Planting beds consist of a grouping of shrubs, ground covers and accent plantings, usually including a mix of flowering or evergreen plants. Organized in defined areas throughout the park, planting beds highlight points of entry, axial and secondary pathways, park features, and structures contributing to the park’s circulation and perimeter sidewalk experience.

Within the Plaza’s southwest quadrant, the southwest corner of the Plaza includes an arc-plan planting bed bisected by an axial path and planted with Mexican marigold (Tagetes lemmonii), New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax cv.), Boxleaf euonymus (Euonymus japonicus cv.), and myrtle (Myrtus communis), which is clipped and pruned up (Figure 61). The planting bed screens a large utility cabinet. Around the Duck Pond, planting beds are located toward the middle on opposite sides of the foot bridge and at the ends (Figure 62). These beds include Mexican marigold (Tagetes lemmonii), roses (Rosa sp.), Mexican feather grass (Nassella tenuissima), Soft Rush ( Juncus effusus), Berkeley sedge (Carex divulsa) and one additional grass. Within the Duck Pond in concrete planters are groupings of bulrush (Schoenoplectus californicus) at opposite ends. And, at the corner of W. Napa Street and the exit from the U-plan Drive, mature juniper (Juniperus sp.), myrtle (Myrtus communis), oleander (Nerium oleander), heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica), and Boxleaf euonymus (Euonymus japonicus cv.) line the axial path in the direction of the Duck Pond. There are several individual shrubs including hollyleaf cherry (Prunus ilicifolia), variegated silverberry (Elaeagnus pungens cv.), and a New Zealand flax (Phormium tenax cv.) shielding a cabinet adjacent to a redwood.

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58 Figure 60. Arc-plan planting bed at southwest corner of southwest quadrant, view northeast (RHAA, April 2026)
Figure 61. Planting beds at Duck Pond and sedges, view east (RHAA, February 2026)
Within the Plaza’s northwest quadrant, the northwest corner of the Plaza includes an arc-plan planting bed bisected by an axial path and planted with Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium), Boxleaf euonymus (Euonymus japonicus cv.), myrtle (Myrtus communis), firethorn (Pyracantha sp.), and oleander (Nerium oleander) (Figure 63). The myrtle, pyracantha, and oleander are clipped and pruned up to increase visibility at the corner. West of the Vallejo Monument a circular planting bed around a Mexican fan palm includes Boxleaf euonymus (Euonymus japonicus cv.), Reeve’s spirea (Spirea cantoniensis) and a privet (Ligustrum sp.) (Figure 64). North of the Little Kids Playground, two small planters includes a pruned-up myrtle (Myrtus communis), and a firethorn (Pyracantha sp.). And, where the axial path meets the paved parking area behind City Hall, there is a mature myrtle (Myrtus communis).

Figure 62. Arc-plan planting bed at northwest corner of northwest quadrant, view southeast (RHAA, April 2026)
Figure 63. View of Boxleaf euonymus at base of a Mexican fan palm, view southwest (RHAA, April 2026)
Within the Plaza’s northeast quadrant, a low stone wall forms a planting bed around the base of the Bear Flag Monument, planted with tree houseleeks (Aeonium sp.). Nearby on the backside of the Drinking Fountain Rock Canopy are two climbing roses (Rosa sp.) and a fortnight lily (Dietes bicolor). A large planting bed along 1st Street East includes Reeve’s spirea (Spirea cantoniensis), canna lily (Canna sp.), privet (Ligustrum sp.), and English ivy (Hedera helix) (Figure 65). Plantings alongside the pathways at the Grinstead Amphitheater include fortnight lily (Dietes iridioides), arrowwood (Viburnum sp.), holly (Ilex Agenda Item #7.3:

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59 aquifolium), Algerian ivy (Hedera canariensis), English ivy (Hedera helix), one Cotoneasater (Cotoneaster sp.) and heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica) (Figure 66). Flowering quince (Chanenomeles japonica) and a grouping of Boxleaf euonymus (Euonymus japonicus cv.) frame a curved pathway that enters the Plaza from the north. A firethorn (Pyracantha sp.) shrub is planted at the lawn northeast of City Hall near the grouping of four bike racks.

Figure 64. Largest defined planting bed within the Plaza along 1st Street East, view southeast (RHAA, February 2026)
Figure 65. Grinstead Amphitheater plantings, view southwest (RHAA, February 2026)
Within the Plaza’s southeast quadrant, a planting bed is located east of the entry into the Plaza from the corner of E Napa Street and the U-plan Drive and consists of pruned and clipped holly (Ilex aquifolium), Boxleaf euonymus (Euonymus japonicus cv.), oleander (Nerium oleander), juniper (Juniperus sp.), Oregon grape (Mahonia aquifolium), Cotoneaster (Cotoneaster lacteus), heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica), and privet (Ligustrum sp.) shrubs (Figure 67).

Within the U-shaped lawn, two symmetrical planting beds flank the north side of the Rustic Fountain, and are planted with Sonoma roses (Rosa spithamea var. sonomensis) (Figure 68).

Figure 66. Planting bed at the entry into the Plaza from the corner of E Napa Street and the U-plan Drive, view east (RHAA, February 2026)
Figure 67. Sonoma rose planting beds in the U-shaped lawn, view northwest (RHAA, April 2026)
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60 Planting beds are located in front of all four elevations of City Hall. In front of the primary (south) elevation, plantings include rows of myrtle (Myrtus communis), white tree roses (Rosa sp.), and Spanish lavender (Lavandula stoechas), flanked by two Italian cypresses (Cupressus sempervirens) (Figure 69).

Indian hawthorn (Rhaphiolepis indica cv.), heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica), holly (Ilex aquifolium), David viburnum (Viburnum davidii), Chinese fringe plant (Loropetalum chinense ‘Razzleberri’) and myrtle are planted sporadically in front of the west, east, and north elevations.

The Carnegie Library Building is surrounded by a variety of plantings. In front of the primary (east) elevation, holly (Ilex aquifolium) shrubs flank the main entry, along with a tree rose (Rosa sp.), African lily (Agapanthus sp.), and a red-flowering sasanqua camellia (Camellia sasanqua). In front of the north elevation, five Zabeliana English laurel (Prunus laurocerasus ‘Zabeliana’) and a young palm help screen air conditioning units, along with heavenly bamboo (Nandina domestica) and Butcher’s Broom (Ruscus aculeatus) within a planter at the top of the ADA ramp. In front of the south elevation, two boxleaf euonymus (Euonymus japonicus cv.), a burgundy barberry (Berberis thunbergii cv.) and a mass of African lily (Agapanthus sp.) are planted (Figure 70). And, at the rear (west) elevation, fortnight lily (Dietes bicolor) plants flank the restroom entrances along the building edge.

Figure 68. Planting bed in front of primary (south) elevation of City Hall, view east (RHAA, April 2026)
Figure 69. Planting bed on the south side of the Carnegie Library Building, view northeast (RHAA, February 2026)
Lawn
Open panels of turf lawn cover a significant portion of the Plaza and are present in all four quadrants, including the area enclosed by the U-plan drive in front of City Hall. Turf panels help define circulation to Plaza features and create a green carpet underneath the tree canopy (Figure 71, 72).

Turf areas are distributed between the Plaza’s path network, visually connecting the quadrants while providing open space for gathering and play. During major events, markets, and festivals, these areas accommodate large numbers of visitors and receive intensive use, requiring regular maintenance and repair.

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61 Figure 70. Turf panel in northwest quadrant, view northeast (RHAA, April 2026)
Figure 71. Turf panels in southeast quadrant, view north (RHAA, April 2026)
Around the perimeter of the Paza, the Plaza’s relationship with surrounding streets varies. The west and north sides of the Plaza includes a turf verge between the sidewalk and the curb, while the south and east sides of the Plaza lack this buffer, with the sidewalk running directly at the back of the curb.

Circulation Features
Circulation features include historical systems for movement, including the spaces, features, and material finishes. Circulation features are paths, roads, streams, canals, highways, railways, and waterways.

Sonoma Plaza Park includes pedestrian circulation features and automotive circulation features.

Pedestrian Circulation
The Plaza is surrounded on all sides by a concrete perimeter sidewalk scored in a grid pattern. At the west and north edges of the Plaza, the sidewalk is flush with the adjacent turf verge and lawn panels (Figure 73). At the east and south edges of the Plaza, there is no verge; the sidewalk is flush with adjacent lawn panels and meets the street with a concrete curb (Figure 74).

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62 Figure 72. Concrete perimeter sidewalk scored in a grid pattern, with verge, north side of Plaza, view east (ARG, February 2026)
Figure 73. Concrete perimeter sidewalk scored in a grid pattern, no verge, south side of Plaza, view west (ARG, February 2026)
Pedestrian circulation within the Plaza is provided by a series of primary axial pathways, connected by secondary curved pathways, all of which are scored concrete flush with surrounding lawn panels. Primary axial pathways enter the Plaza from all four corners; midblock along 1st Street West; slightly east of midblock along E. Spain Street; and midblock along 1st Street East, providing access to the Carnegie Library Building and continuing on to City Hall (Figure 75). The axial pathway from the northeast corner of the Plaza is slightly curved to accommodate the location of historic features including the Bear Flag Monument and Bear Flag Pole. Axial pathways from the southeast, southwest, and northwest corners of the Plaza are lined with rows of London planetrees, reinforcing views to and from City Hall (Figure 76).

Axial pathways are also generally lined by small-scale features including benches, bollards, trash cans, and light standards. These vegetation and small-scale features are described in more detail in corresponding subsections below.

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63 Figure 74. Axial pathway midblock along 1st Street West, showing typical path-side small-scale features, view east (ARG, February 2026) Figure 75. Axial pathway from the southeast,
showing tree row and typical path-side small-scale
features, view northwest (ARG, February 2026)
Secondary curved pedestrian pathways are located in all quadrants of the park and, together with the primary axial pathways, serve to subdivide the Plaza’s quadrants into subquadrants. Secondary pedestrian pathways are slightly narrower than the primary axial pathways but otherwise feature similar paving, ground profile, and adjacent small-scale features (Figure 77,78).

Figure 76. Secondary curved pedestrian pathway intersecting with primary pathway in southwest quadrant of the Plaza, view southeast (ARG, April 2026)
Figure 77. Secondary curved pedestrian pathway branching from perimeter sidewalk, northeast quadrant of the Plaza, view southeast (ARG, April 2026)
Dedicated pedestrian circulation is also located at some buildings and features of the Plaza, including the Carnegie Library Building, the Grinstead Amphitheater, the Italian Garden, the Rose Garden, the Duck Pond, and the Rustic Fountain. At the Carnegie Library Building, a short axial pathway accesses the site from 1st Street East and splits and continues in a curving course around the north and south sides of the building, merging west of the building to form a larger paved area (Figure 79,80). All pathways in this vicinity are scored concrete flush with surrounding lawn panels.

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64 Figure 78. Pedestrian circulation east of the Carnegie Library Building, view west (ARG, February 2026)
Figure 79. Pedestrian circulation south of the Carnegie Library Building, view north (ARG, February 2026)
At the Grinstead Amphitheater, which is described in more detail in the Buildings and Structures subsection, pedestrian circulation includes a short, curved scored concrete pathway that provides access to the amphitheater from the paved parking area surrounding City Hall (Figure 81).

Figure 80. Pedestrian circulation accessing Grinstead Amphitheater from the paved parking area surrounding City Hall, view southwest (ARG, April 2026) The Italian Garden is accessed by a short axial pathway from 1st Street East, which is scored concrete flush with surrounding planting beds (Figure 82). The Italian Fountain, located at the center of the Italian Garden, is surrounded by concrete scored to look like cobblestone paving (Figure 83). Two additional concrete paved pedestrian pathways connect the Italian Garden to a larger axial pedestrian pathway and the Rose Garden.

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65 Figure 81. Axial pathway accessing Italian Garden
and Fountain, view west (ARG, February 2026)
Figure 82. Concrete scored to look like cobblestone paving surrounding Italian Fountain, view southwest (ARG, April 2026)
The Rose Garden includes a semi-circular access pathway, of aggregate concrete, and a circular pathway, which is aggregate concrete with quarry rock cobblestone trim (Figure 84, 85).

Figure 83. Rose Garden, semi-circular access pathway, view west (ARG, April 2026)
Figure 84. Rose Garden, circular pathway, view northwest (ARG, April 2026)
The Rustic Fountain, located within the U-shaped lawn panel south of City Hall, is accessed from the Uplan driveway from the north, east, and west by short concrete paved pathways, which meet the curb with ramps (Figure 86). A concrete paved circular pathway surrounds the fountain.

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66 Figure 85. Paved pathways to and around Rustic Fountain, view west (ARG, April 2026) At the Duck Pond, a scored concrete pedestrian path encircles the pond, generally following the pond’s biomorphic footprint (Figure 87). The pond is also spanned at its narrowest point by an arched stone footbridge with wide capstones, paved with the same scored concrete found elsewhere around the pond (Figure 88).

Figure 86. Scored concrete pedestrian path encircling Duck Pond, view northeast (ARG, April 2026)
Figure 87. Footbridge spanning Duck Pond, view southeast (ARG February 2026)
Vehicular Circulation and Parking
Vehicles access Sonoma Plaza Park from the south via an asphalt-paved U-plan driveway, which enters the park on E. Napa Street and exits the park on W. Napa Street. The driveway is edged with concrete curbing and encloses the U-shaped lawn panel south of City Hall (see Figures 40, 41).

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67 The U-plan driveway is also used by Sonoma Transit, which maintains a bus stop and shelter on the west side of the U-plan driveway, close to W. Napa Street. The bus shelter is described in the Buildings and Structures subsection of this report.

Asphalt paving encircles City Hall on all sides, providing vehicle access to entrance doors on all sides of the building. Striping for six parking spots, including one ADA spot, is located in front of City Hall, while a larger parking area north of City Hall includes two rows of striping for about twelve vehicles, including one ADA spot (Figure 89, 90). The parking area north of City Hall is flush with surrounding lawn panels and pedestrian pathways.

Figure 88. Parking striping in front of City Hall, view north (ARG, February 2026)
Figure 89. Parking north of City Hall, view south (ARG, February 2026)
Topography
Topography is defined as the three-dimensional configuration of the landscape surface characterized by features, orientation, and elevation. Historic features that illustrate how humans have shaped the ground plane might include earthworks, drainage ditches, knolls, and terraces. This also includes cultural or traditional adaptations of land use in response to natural topography.

The topography of Somona Plaza Park is generally level. The park has a baseline elevation of 83 feet above sea level and elevation change within the park is less than five feet overall. This level ground is described in the historic record as having been previously disturbed as a borrow pit for the making of adobe, and then achieved more recently through the addition of fill. The southeast quadrant of the Plaza has the lowest elevation, characterized as a general depression in the immediate area of the Duck Pond.

Constructed Water Features
Constructed water features are built features and elements that utilize water for aesthetic or utilitarian functions in the landscape, such as fountains, pools, ponds, cascades, canals, and reservoirs.

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68 Designed water features in Sonoma Plaza Park include the Italian Fountain, the Duck Pond, and the Rustic Fountain.

The Italian Fountain is located at the center of the Italian Garden, in the southeast quadrant of the Plaza.

The fountain has a hexagonal stone base with three steps, atop which a hexagonal concrete or stone basin is capped with a wide lip (Figure 91). At the center of the basin a cast stone urn form is ornamented with upper and lower copings, vertical bands, and a wrapping ribbon form. A smaller upper basin also has a wide lip, above which two fleur de lys-themed cascading tiers are surmounted by a pineapple-themed finial.

Figure 90. Italian Fountain, view west (ARG, April 2026) The Duck Pond is located in the southwest quadrant of the Plaza and has a biomorphic form with two larger areas connected by a narrow neck (Figure 92). The Duck Pond has a concrete basin and is encircled by a concrete lip finished with stepping stones. The narrow portion of the Duck Pond is spanned by an arched stone footbridge with wide capstones, and the pond is fully encircled by a concrete paved pedestrian pathway (see Figure 87, 88). Each larger section of the pond includes an informal vegetation island and a cluster of three bubbler jets (Figure 93).

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69 Figure 91. Duck Pond, view southwest (ARG, February 2026) Figure 92. Duck Pond, detail of vegetation and bubbler jets, view southwest (ARG, February 2026)
The Rustic Fountain is located in the U-shaped lawn in the center of the south portion of the Plaza, directly south of City Hall (Figure 94). The fountain has a circular concrete basin with a centrally-located “haystack” form of piled rhyolite rocks. A bubbler allows water to cascade down the rock pile. The basin is encircled by a low rhyolite stone wall, and a “duck ramp” constructed of repurposed utility fittings. A paved pedestrian pathway encircles the fountain.

Figure 93. Rustic fountain, view north (ARG, April 2026) Sonoma Plaza Park also features a pump and pressure watering system that extends throughout the entire Plaza, and includes water valves, hose mounts, and sprinkler heads. Two faucets mounted on wood posts are located by each of the Plaza’s playground, replacing earlier drinking fountains.

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70 Land Use
Activities in the landscape that have formed, modified, shaped, or organized the landscape as a result of human interaction. Examples of land use features include fields, pastures, orchards, open range, terraces, commons, cemeteries, playing fields, parks, mining areas, quarries, and logging areas.

Sonoma Plaza Park is a civic institutional space that supports activities of the City of Sonoma and Sonoma’s City Hall. The Plaza is activated on a day-to-day basis by people accessing City Hall, using park facilities such as playgrounds and the amphitheater, and visiting historic monuments. People engaging in passive recreation are supported by the presence of benches and picnic tables; lawn panels are used for informal picnicking.

The City of Sonoma issues Plaza Use Permits for the grounds of Sonoma Plaza Park, ranging from small events of ten people to large events with more than 1,000 people. Larger annual events held in the Plaza include the Sonoma City Party, held in August; the Valley of the Moon Vintage Festival, held in September; the annual Lighting of the Sonoma Plaza, held in November; and the Sonoma Farmers Market, held on the U-plan driveway around City Hall on Tuesday evenings from May through September.

Sonoma Plaza Park is also used to memorialize events and people(s). Annual memorializing ceremonies include the Bear Flag Celebration, held in June; and the Fourth of July celebration, in July. Physical components have also been placed in the Plaza to document and celebrate significant persons or events in California and Sonoma history. The Plaza’s many memorialization features are described in detail in the Small-Scale Features discussion of this chapter.

Buildings and Structures
Buildings are the elements of a landscape primarily built for sheltering any form of human activities, and structures are the functional elements constructed for other purposes. Engineering systems are also structures. These features include houses, barns, stables, schools, churches, factories, bridges, windmills, gazebos, silos, dams, power lines, culverts, retaining walls, dikes, and foundations.

Sonoma City Hall is located at the center of Sonoma Plaza Park and serves as the visual and organizational center of the park. The two-story building has a square footprint and is clad in rustic stone and capped with a multiform hipped roof covered with red clay tile. The building was designed by architect A. C.

Lutgens in the Mission Revival style and constructed in 1908. The building has four nearly identical symmetrical elevations, all of which include centrally located recessed entry bays at the ground level with paired and single entry doors; centrally located second floor balconies; and single and paired windows at the ground and second floor levels (Figure 95, 96; also see Figure 89, 90, and 94). All fenestration openings are arched, all windows and doors are wood, and all windows are single hung with ogee lugs.

Stone cladding is richly rusticated and includes smooth stone windowsills and belt courses. All facades terminate with centrally located shaped parapets, which include a circular clock at the primary (south) elevation and multilite ocular windows at all other elevations. Corner volumes terminate with projecting eaves and simple modillions with shaped ends. The building’s motifs continue at the cupola, which includes arched openings, projecting eaves, simple modillions with shaped ends, and red roof tiles. A flagpole is mounted at the apex of the cupola.

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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
71 Figure 94. City Hall, east elevation , view west (ARG, February 2026)
Figure 95. City Hall, north elevation , view southwest (ARG, February 2026)
The Carnegie Library Building is located on the east side of the Plaza on axis with City Hall and facing on to 1st Street East. The one-story building sits on an above-grade basement and has a generally square footprint. The building is clad in buff brick and capped with a hipped roof covered with composition shingles. The building was designed by architect A. C. Lutgens in the Classical Revival style and constructed in 1913. The primary (east) elevation is symmetrically arranged and includes a centrally located arched entry bay, accessed via a flight of steps and flanked by ornamental columns and large sconce lighting (Figure 97). Above the arch raised lettering reads “Public Library” and this area terminated with a dentil course, which continues around the entire building, and a boxed gable with additional dentils. Flanking the entry bay, four wood paired casement windows are surmounted by arched multi-lite wood fanlights; these arched fanlites continue along the building’s north and south elevations, which also feature basement-level windows. The rear (west) elevation includes a centrally located two-story volume flanked by one-story volumes which include public restrooms (Figure 98). Above these volumes, the rear elevation includes four arched fanlites. The building has a visible concrete foundation, above which are several bands of raised brickwork; additional brickwork ornament is located above the arched windows and in belt courses. The building terminates with a dentil course and boxed eaves; a brick chimney rises from the northwest portion of the roof.

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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
72 Figure 96. Carnegie Library Building, primary (east) elevation, view west (ARG, February 2026)
Figure 97. Carnegie Library Building, rear (west) elevation, view east (ARG, February 2026)
The Grinstead Amphitheater is located in the northeast quadrant of the Plaza north of the Carnegie Library Building. This structure was constructed in 1935 and has a generally circular footprint. The performance area is located at grade on the northeast side of the amphitheater, and includes a concrete pad with six square brick columns that support a flat, open-beam wood roof (Figure 99). Rows of singleplank wood benches with metal legs are arranged along steps which descend from grade and end in front of the performance area (Figure 100). Below grade walls are finished with buff brick and the ground surface is scored concrete. Side aisles are ramps. Four square concrete tree planters with metal grates are located within the seating area, installed as part of an improvement project in 1995. The seating area is also enclosed by a concrete curb around its sides and rear. Two plaques at the front of the seating area denote the dedication of the amphitheater to the memory Alen R. Grinstead in 1970, and the completion of the improvement project in 1997.

Figure 98. Grinstead Amphitheater performance area, view southeast (ARG, April 2026)
Figure 99. Grinstead Amphitheater stepped seating area, view west (ARG, April 2026)
The Sonoma County Transit Bus Shelter is located in the southwest quadrant of the Plaza, on the west side of the U-plan driveway near W. Napa Street (Figure 101). The one-story structure has a rectangular footprint and is situated on a concrete pad. Side and rear walls are comprised of hollow square metal tubing and plexiglass panels, and the roof is flat and metal. The front is open and the interior includes a metal bench with multiple slats at the seat and backrest.

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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
73 Figure 100. Sonoma County Transit bus shelter, view southwest (ARG, February 2026) Small Scale Features
Small-scale features are elements that provide detail and diversity for both functional needs and aesthetic concerns in the landscape. Small-scale features may include benches, fences, monuments, road markers, flagpoles, signs, foot bridges, curbstones, trail ruts, culverts, and foundations.

Small-scale features in Sonoma Plaza Park range in scale, age, and historic significance. Their description here is arranged in general relation to these factors.

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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
74 Located in the northeast quadrant of the Plaza, the
Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club Bear Flag memorial
consists of an irregularly shaped vertically-oriented
volcanic stone bearing a marble plaque
commemorating the raising of the Bear Flag on June
14, 1846, and was installed July 4, 1907 by the
Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club. This appears to be the
oldest monument within the Plaza.

Figure 101. Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club Bear Flag
memorial, view northwest (ARG, February 2025)
Located in the northeast quadrant of the Plaza, the
Bear Flag Monument, which is California Historical
Landmark #7, consists of a large rhyolite rock,
mounted on two sides with bronze plaques and
surmounted by bronze figural statuary. The figure is a
man holding a flag, and includes the name of the
sculptor John A. McQuarrie, and the founder Louis
DeRome. The plaque on the northeast side of the
monument includes text describing the events of the
Bear Flag Revolt; a central shield with the Seal of the State of California; two high-relief crossed flags; and a high-relief grizzly bear. The plaque on the southwest
side of the monument includes a pictorial illustration
of the flag raising in low and high relief. A small plaque also on the southwest side of the monument states
“Donated by the Native Sons of the Golden West April
2000.” The monument is surrounded by a low basalt
stone wall forming a circular planting bed.

Modifications have been made to the rhyolite stone to
smooth out its surface and discourage climbing.

Figure 102. Bear Flag Monument, view southwest (ARG,
April 2026)
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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
75 Located in the northeast quadrant of the Plaza, the
Bear Flag Pole has a wood shaft, a halyard, a truck,
and a cleat. The pole is mounted within a setting of
quarried cobblestones, which includes a circular wood
stump, which appears to have been the footing of an
earlier flagpole, and a second circular opening,
currently covered with asphalt.

Figure 103. Bear Flag Pole, view north (ARG, April 2026) Located in the northeast quadrant of the Plaza, the
Drinking fountain rock canopy consists of a rustic
basalt water fountain with a square footprint; three
low basalt rock walls capped by a concrete lip; and
four rustic basalt columns capped with a redwood
trellis. The water is currently capped with a square
wood panel.

Figure 104. Drinking fountain rock canopy, view north
(ARG, April 2026)
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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
76 Located in the southeast quadrant of the Plaza, the
Rose Garden Sundial is located at the center of the
Rose Garden. The brass sundial includes a simple
gnomon, and a dial plate with Roman numerals, Greek
motif ornament, and raised lettering reading “Count
None But Sunny Hours.” The dial is mounted on a
shaped base of engineered stone and located within a
bed of packed sand.

Figure 105. Rose Garden Sundial, view north (ARG, April 2026)
Located in the southeast quadrant of the Plaza, the
Rose Garden bench is a simple backless concrete
bench with a semicircular footprint and five columnar
supports.

Figure 106. Rose Garden bench, view northeast (ARG,
April 2026)
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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
77 Located in the southeast quadrant of the Plaza, the
Stone Wall at the Italian Garden has a low profile and
hexagonal footprint, with openings on the north, east,
and south sides. The wall is composed of mortar and
stone, with several drainage openings along the lower
perimeter.

Figure 107. Italian Garden stone wall, view south (ARG, February 2026)
Two metal flag poles are located at the northeast and
northwest perimeters of the U-shaped lawn, north of
the Rustic fountain. Both are set in concrete bases
which bear bronze plaques reading “Rotary Club of
Sonoma Valley 1992.” Both flagpoles include a metal
shaft, a halyard, a truck, a cleat, and a ball finial.” Figure 108. Metal flagpoles at U-shaped lawn, view east (ARG, February 2026)
The Big Kids Playground is located in the northeast
quadrant of the Plaza and has a generally rectangular
footprint, established by a concrete curb, with curved
corners and bulb-outs at the north and east sides. The
ground area within the curb includes both sand and
composition rubber. Equipment includes a swing set
and a climbing structure with slide. All equipment is
fabricated from metal tube and engineered plastic
components.

Figure 109. Big Kids Playground, view south (ARG,
February 2026)
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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
78 The Little Kids Playground is located in the northwest quadrant of the Plaza and has a biomorphic footprint
established by a concrete curb. The ground area
within the curb includes both sand and composition
rubber. Equipment includes a swing set and a climbing
structure with slides. All equipment is fabricated from metal tube and engineered plastic components.

Figure 110. Little Kids Playground, view northwest (ARG, February 2026)
The Memorial Redwood plaque is located in the
southwest quadrant of the Plaza at the base of a Coast
redwood tree and consists of a rectangular bronze
plaque mounted on a horizontally oriented rhyolite
rock. The plaque includes text indicating that the
memorial redwood is dedicated to General Mariano G.

Vallejo, founder of the Pueblo of Sonoma in 1835, and
was planted in 1948 by the Native Daughter of the
Golden West, Sonoma Parlor 209.

Figure 111. Memorial Redwood plaque, view north
(ARG, April 2026)
The Little Kids Playground dedication plaque is located in the northwest quadrant of the Plaza on the east
side of the playground and consists of a rectangular
bronze plaque mounted on a vertically oriented basalt
rock. The plaque reads “Presented to the children of
Sonoma Valley by Rotary Club of Sonoma Valley
1950.”
Figure 112. Little Kids Playground dedication plaque,
view west (ARG February 2026)
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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
79 The Joseph A. Baccaglio dedication plaque is located in the northwest quadrant of the Plaza on the east side
of the playground and consists of a rectangular bronze
plaque mounted on a large horizontally oriented
rhyolite rock with a circular footprint and flat top. The plaque reads “Dedicated to a fellow Rotarian Joseph
A. Baccaglio Sonoma Valley Rotary Club 1968.”
Figure 113. Joseph A. Baccaglio dedication plaque, view southeast (ARG, February 2026)
The Colonel Agoston Haraszthy plaque is located in
the northwest quadrant of the Plaza at the foot of a
Giant sequoia tree and consists of a rectangular
bronze plaque mounted on a horizontally oriented
rhyolite rock. The plaque is in the form of an open
book and describes Colonel Agoston Haraszthy as the
father of California Viticulture, who developed Buena
Vista Vinyards and Winery, two miles northeast of the
Plaza. Plaque text also describes Haraszthy’s extensive efforts at propagation of imported European wine
grapes, “helping to make Sonoma the cradle of
modern California wine growing.” The plaque is
undated.

Figure 114. Colonel Agoston Haraszthy plaque, view
northwest (ARG, February 2026)
The David Chavoya Horseshoe plaque is located in the
U-plan lawn at the center of the south side of the
Plaza, and consists of a square bronze plaque
mounted on a horizontally oriented square concrete
pad. The plaque reads, “David Chavoya Horseshoe
dedicated in honor of David Chavoya for his years of
service to the City of Sonoma and its Parks
Department thank you David.” The plaque is undated.

Figure 115. David Chavoya Horseshoe plaque, view
north (ARG, April 2026)
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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
80 The Sesquicentennial Time Capsule plaque is located
in the northeast quadrant of the Plaza near the Bear
Flag Pole and consists of a rectangular bronze plaque
mounted on a horizontally oriented rectangular
concrete pad. The plaque indicates the presence of a
time capsule containing a record of the 1996 Bear Flag
Sesquicentennial Commemoration and times to be
opened at the bicentennial commemoration in 2046,
placed by the Native Sons of the Golden West. The
plaque is not officially dated but presumed installed in 1996. Figure 116. Sesquicentennial Time Capsule plaque, view north (ARG, March 2026)
The Salute to Sonoma Citizens plaque is located in the
northeast quadrant of the Plaza near the Bear Flag
Pole and consists of a rectangular bronze plaque
mounted on a horizontally oriented rectangular
concrete pad, which appears to include another
rectangular component that has been thinly covered
by concrete paving. The plaque reads “Salute to
Sonoma Citizens 2076 Sonoma Valley Historical
Society.”
Figure 117. Salute to Sonoma Citizens plaque, view
north (ARG, March 2026)
A single wood bollard is located in the verge along E.

Spain Street near the northeast corner of the Plaza.

The bollard has a beveled profile at its cap and holes
on two sides which used to house pipe connecting it
to other bollards. This bollard is part of a former
system for tying horses at the perimeter of the Plaza.

Figure 118. Verge bollard, view east (ARG, February
2026)
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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
81 Two wood bollards are located in the northwest
quadrant of the Plaza between the near Little Kids
Playground and the gated enclosure. The bollards
each have a beveled profile at their cap and one eye
bolt with a large iron ring. These bollards are similar in form to the one located in the verge along E. Spain
Street near the northeast corner of the Plaza, and may
have historically been used for tying horses near City
Hall.

Figure 119. Bollards near gated enclosure, view
southeast (ARG, February 2026)
In multiple locations within the Plaza, wood bollards
are used to mount wheelchair accessibility signage.

These wood bollards have a beveled profile at their
cap, and are mounted with signage on one side; they
have no additional holes or hardware, differentiating
them from other wood bollards in the Plaza.

Figure 120. Bollard with accessibility signage, view north (ARG, April 2026)
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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
82 Light standards are located through the Plaza
alongside pedestrian and vehicular circulation routes.

While the standards vary in their ornament and
height, they are generally uniform and made of
aggregate concrete with a hexagonal or octagonal
faceted post base with a tapered profile; a squared or
fluted post; a flared lamp base; and a frosted glass
acorn globe. The more ornamented examples include
raised floral motif at the base and lamp base, fluted
posts, and upper and lower collars. All standards
include a metal electrical panel at the base; at least
one example includes a rectangular bronze plaque at
the base with three low-relief bells reading “Donated
by Sonoma Valley Twenty-Thirty Club 1955.” Some
standards are mounted with contemporary metal
signage using removable aluminum collar brackets.

Figure 121. Light standard, view southwest (ARG,
February 2026)
The gated enclosure is located in the northwest
quadrant of the Plaza, behind City Hall and near the
Little Kids Playground. The enclosure has a rectangular footprint and sits on a concrete pad. It is comprised of vertical flush wood board and metal posts, and had
swinging or rolling gates on its south side. It appears to serve as storage for park trash service, eventspecific materials, and maintenance.

Figure 122. Gated enclosure, view north (ARG, February
2026)
Benches are located throughout the Plaza, largely
alongside pedestrian circulation pathways and
adjacent to Plaza features like playgrounds and the
Duck Pond. All benches are sited on concrete pads,
some of which include small brass dedication plaques.

The benches have a uniform design, and include two
legs of square metal tubing; a wood seat plank; metal
strap brackets that hold a wood backrest plank.

Figure 123. Bench, view northwest (ARG, April 2026)
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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
83 Picnic tables are located throughout the Plaza, on
concrete pads within lawn panels or adjacent to
pedestrian pathways, where concrete pads extend
from pathways for increased accessibility. The picnic
tables have a uniform design, and include two single
plank wood benches, supported by two square metal
tube legs; and a two-plank table, supported by four
square metal tube legs.

Figure 124. Picnic table, view west (ARG, February 2026) Electrical bollards are located throughout the Plaza,
largely alongside pedestrian and vehicular circulation
routes but also in stand alone locations with lawn
panels, near to specific trees that receive seasonal
lighting. All electrical bollards are metal and sit on a lot circular concrete base. Each bollard has a
hexagonal footprint with a low base, paneled column,
molded cap, and ball finial.

Figure 125. Electrical bollard, view east (ARG, February 2026)
The Artistic Bike Rack is located in the southwest
quadrant of the Plaza, directly west of the U-plan
driveway. The bike rack sits on a semicircular concrete pad and has an abstract design with six legs. Based on
information included in a small bronze plaque at the
concrete pad, the rack was designed by Bryan Tedrick
and installed in 2010.

Figure 126. Artistic Bike Rack, view west (ARG, April
2026)
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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
84 A monument kiosk is located directly east of the
primary entrance to the Carnegie Library Building. The
kiosk includes a buff brick clad base, tripartite cabinet components on both sides with plexiglass, and stone
slab veneer with a stepped molded cap. The south
side of the kiosk includes a brass plaque that reads “a gift from The Sonoma Plaza Foundation.”
Figure 127. Carnegie Library Building monument kiosk,
view northeast (ARG, February 2026)
At the north perimeter of the Plaza, on axis with City
Hall, a monument to includes a life-size bronze figural representation of Vallejo with one arm extended,
sitting on a bronze park bench. The bench includes
four seat slats, two back rest slats, and four legs. The monument is located on a concrete and stone paved
pad with a semihexagonal footprint, surrounded by
low stone walls with capstones. The wall includes two
posts, near the perimeter sidewalk, and an opening at
its south facet for people to exit onto the Plaza. The
monument was designed by Ross Drulis Cusenbery
Architecture and installed in 2017.

Figure 128. General Manuel G. Vallejo and stone wall,
view south (ARG, April 2026)
Two drinking fountains are located in the southwest
quadrant of the Plaza, at a concrete pad on the south
perimeter of an axial pedestrian pathway near City
Hall. One fountain has an inverted L-shape to
accommodate wheelchair users and is composed of
aggregate concrete with a stainless-steel bowl and
head. The other is an all-metal unit consisting of a
columnar form surmounted by a stainless-steel bowl
and head, and a projecting arm which supports a
water bottle filling station.

Figure 129. Drinking fountains, view southeast (ARG,
February 2026)
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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
85 Utilitarian bike racks are located at several locations within the Plaza, near both playgrounds and the
Sonoma Valley Transit bus shelter. These bike racks
are metal tube in a horseshoe shape, bolted to a
concrete pad which is generally surrounded by packed
sand.

Figure 130. Utilitarian bike racks, view southwest (ARG, February 2026)
Tripartite metal trash, recycling, and compost
receptacles are located throughout the Plaza,
generally along pedestrian pathways or near feature
areas such as the Grinstead Amphitheater. The
receptacles were installed in 2024.

Figure 131. Tripartite metal receptacles, view east (ARG, February 2026)
Signage is located throughout the Plaza and takes
many forms. Examples include large, designed,
informational signage; smaller wayfinding signage;
and utilitarian, pole-mounted information and
compliance signage. The largest designed example of
signage in the Plaza includes the welcome sign at E.

Napa Street at the entry to the U-plan driveway. This
vertically-oriented sign is supported by two legs and
includes a welcoming statement, simple directional
information to Plaza features, and several historic
dates and events related to Sonoma and the Plaza. Figure 132. Signage, view north (ARG, February 2026) Agenda Item #7.3:

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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
86 The El Camino Real bell is located on the sidewalk
south of the U-shaped lawn, on axis with City Hall and
Broadway. The bell is typical of those installed along
the course of El Camino Real throughout California,
hung on an eleven-foot-tall shepherd's crook post.

The bell includes raised lettering reading 1789 & 1906
El Camino Real.

Figure 133. El Camino Real bell, view east (ARG,
February 2026)
Several bollard-style bike racks are located within the Plaza, generally along pedestrian pathways. These
bike racks are metal and include a circular base, a post with two vertically oriented loops for locking bikes, a collar, and a ball finial.

Figure 134. Bollard-style bike rack, view southwest
(ARG, April 2026)
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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
87 One payphone is located in the southeast quadrant of the Plaza, located along a pedestrian pathway leading
to the Carnegie Library Building. The payphone
include a rectangular metal base, rectangular port,
and metal shelter housing a single telephone,
surmounted by a sign reading “Phone.”
Figure 135. Payphone, view east (ARG, April 2026)

5. FRAMEWORKS FOR EVALUATION OF HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE
National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (National Register) is the nation's inventory of historic places and the national repository of documentation on historic property types, significance, abundance, condition, ownership, needs, and other information. The National Register Criteria for Evaluation define the scope of the National Register of Historic Places; they identify the range of resources and kinds of significance that will qualify properties for listing in the National Register. The Criteria are written broadly to recognize the wide variety of historic properties associated with our prehistory and history. A property eligible for the National Register must be significant at the local, state, or national level under one or more of the following criteria:
• Criterion A: Event - Association with events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of our history.
• Criterion B: Person - Association with the lives of significant persons in our past. • Criterion C: Design/Construction - A property that embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values, or that represent a significant and distinguishable entity whose components may lack individual distinction.
• Criterion D: Information Potential - A property that had yielded or may be likely to yield information important in history or prehistory.

Criteria Considerations
Ordinarily cemeteries, birthplaces, or graves of historical figures, properties owned by religious institutions or used for religious purposes, structures that have been moved from their original locations, Agenda Item #7.3:

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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
88 reconstructed historic buildings, properties primarily commemorative in nature, and properties that have achieved significance within the past fifty years shall not be considered eligible for the National Register.

However, such properties will qualify if they are integral parts of districts that do meet the criteria, or if they fall within the following categories:
a) Religious property deriving primary significance from architectural or artistic distinction or historical importance.
b) Building or structure removed from its original location but which is significant primarily for architectural value, or which is the surviving structure most importantly associated with a historic person or event
c) Birthplace or grave of a historical figure of outstanding importance if there is no appropriate site or building directly associated with his or her productive life d) Cemetery which derives its primary significance from graves of persons of transcendent importance, from age, from distinctive design features, from association with historic events e) Reconstructed building when accurately executed in a suitable environment and presented in a dignified manner as part of a restoration master plan, and when no other building or structure with the same association has survived
f) Property primarily commemorative in intent if design, age, tradition, or symbolic value has invested it with its own exceptional significance
g) Property achieving significance within the past 50 years if it is of exceptional importance The Criteria Considerations need to be applied only to individual properties. Components of eligible districts do not have to meet the special requirements unless they make up the majority of the district or are the focal point of the district.

California Register of Historical Resources
The California Register is the official inventory of the state’s significant historical and archeological resources. The California Register program encourages public recognition and protection of resources of architectural, social, cultural, and/or archeological significance, identifies significant resources for state and local planning purposes, determines eligibility for historic preservation grant funding, and affords certain protections under CEQA. All resources listed in or formally determined eligible for the National Register,154 as well as California Historical Landmarks with designation numbers above 770, are automatically listed in the California Register.

The California Register criteria are modeled on the National Register criteria for eligibility. A resource must be significant at the local, state, or national level under one or more of the following criteria:
154 The National Register was established by the National Historic Preservation Act of 1966 and is the United States’ federal register of significant built environment and archaeological resources nationwide. Listings in the National Register and California Register are not mutually exclusive; each designation bestows its own review processes and protections based on applicable federal and state laws, respectively.

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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
89 1. It is associated with events or patterns of events that have made a significant contribution to the broad patterns of local or regional history, or the cultural heritage of California or the United States.

2. It is associated with the lives of persons important to local, California, or national history.

3. It embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, region, or method of construction, or represents the work of a master, or possesses high artistic values.

4. It has yielded, or has the potential to yield, information important to the prehistory or history of the local area, state, or the nation.

Integrity
For a property to qualify for listing in the National or California Register, it must be significant under one or more criterion, and it must also retain “historic integrity of those features necessary to convey its significance.”155 Integrity is the authenticity of a historical resource’s physical identity evidenced by the survival of characteristics that existed during the resource’s period of significance. Since integrity is based on a property’s significance within a specific historic context, an evaluation of a property’s integrity can occur only if historic significance has been established. To determine if a property retains the physical characteristics corresponding to its historic context, the National and California registers employ seven aspects of integrity:
• Location is the place where the historic property was constructed or the place where the historic event occurred.
• Setting is the physical environment of a historic property. • Design is the combination of elements that create the form, plan, space, structure, and style of a property.
• Materials are the physical elements that were combined or deposited during a particular period of time and in a particular pattern or configuration to form a historic property. • Workmanship is the physical evidence of the crafts of a particular culture or people during any given period in history or prehistory.
• Feeling is a property’s expression of the aesthetic or historic sense of a particular period of time. • Association is the direct link between an important historic event or person and a historic property.

City of Sonoma Local Register of Historic Resources
The City of Sonoma maintains a local register of historic resources, intended to safeguard the historic character of Sonoma by recognizing and preserving significant historic and cultural resources.156 Criteria for inclusion in the local register of historic resources closely mirror those criteria used to evaluate eligibility for the National and California registers, and include the following:
155 National Park Service, “National Register Bulletin: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation,” 1995, revised, https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/NRB-15_web508.pdf. 156 City of Sonoma Municipal Code, Chapter 19.42: Historic Preservation and infill in the Historic zone. Section 19.43.020 Designation of a local historic resource or district.

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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
90 A. A property associated with events that have made a significant contribution to Sonoma’s history and cultural heritage;
B. A property associated with the lives of persons important in Sonoma’s past; C. A property that embodies the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, region, or method of construction, or represents the work of an important creative individual, or possesses high artistic value; or,
D. A property that has yielded, or may be likely to yield, information important in Sonoma’s prehistory or history.

The City of Sonoma Municipal Coade also offers additional criteria for the evaluation of potential historic districts. Historic district criteria include the following:

A. The proposed district is a geographically definable area.

B. The proposed district possesses either a significant concentration or continuity of buildings unified by past events or aesthetically by plan or physical development.

C. Considered as a whole, a sufficient concentration of buildings within the proposed district demonstrates integrity of design, setting, materials, workmanship and association.

D. The collective historic value of the buildings and structures in the proposed district is greater than the historic value of each individual building or structure.

E. The designation of the area as a historic district is reasonable, appropriate and necessary to protect, promote and further the goals and purposes of this chapter and is not inconsistent with other goals and policies of the city.

6. EVALUATION OF HISTORIC SIGNIFICANCE
Overview of the Plaza’s Existing Historic Status
As introduced in Section 2. Overview of Existing Historic Status, the Plaza and some of its buildings and features have been previously determined to have historic significance at the national, state, and local level:
• The Native Sons of the Golden West Bear Flag Monument at the northwest quadrant of the Plaza was listed as California Historical Landmark in 1932.
• Sonoma Plaza was designated a National Historic Landmark in 1961, based on its association with the Mexican-American War and the Bear Flag Revolt, and listed on the National Register as part of the Sonoma Plaza National Register Historic District in 1966, with formal nomination completed in 1975. While the full, eight-acre footprint of the Plaza is included in the nomination, Plaza features discussed in the nomination are limited to City Hall and the Bear Flag Monument. • In 1991, the boundaries of the National Register District were increased and the nomination was updated to include, among other changes, limited context regarding the Plaza’s significance as a space of civic pride and as a reflection of the City Beautiful movement. Specific Plaza features Agenda Item #7.3:

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91 discussed in the update were limited to City Hall, the Carnegie Library Building, and the Native Sons of the Golden West Bear Flag Monument.
• At the local level, City Hall, the Carnegie Library Building, and the Native Sons of the Golden West Bear Flag Monument are listed on the City of Sonoma’s adopted inventory of historic structures.

As evidenced by this overview, previously completed historic designations do not specifically address the potential historic significance of Sonoma Plaza’s extant landscape features, nor do they evaluate the integrity of these features, or provide a detailed list of character-defining features.

While the research and analysis included in this HLS generally support the existing findings of historic significance for the Plaza, City Hall, the Carnegie Library Building, and the Native Sons of the Golden West Bear Flag Monument, the focus of the evaluation in this HLS will be the Plaza’s extant landscape features, and will consider whether the Plaza as a would be considered eligible for listing as a cultural landscape district in the National, California, and City of Sonoma historic registers.

Because the California Register and Sonoma Local Register criteria are explicitly modeled on the National Register criteria, evaluations under all three registers’ criteria are consolidated in this evaluation.

National Register Criterion A/ California Register Criterion 1/ City of Sonoma Local Register Criterion A To be considered eligible for listing under Criterion A/1/A, a property must be associated with one or more events important in a defined historic context. This criterion recognizes properties associated with single events, a pattern of events, repeated activities, or historical trends. The event or trends, however, must clearly be important within the associated context. Further, mere association of the property with significant events or trends is not enough to qualify under this criterion: the specific association must be considered direct and important, as well.

Sonoma Plaza appears to be significant as a cultural landscape district under National and California Register Criterion A/1 at the local level, and under Sonoma Local Register Criterion A, for an association with a period of concentrated civic and recreational development that transformed the Plaza from a largely barren and underdeveloped eight-acre plot at the town’s center into a robust civic amenity that served as the heart of the City of Sonoma.

When General Mariano G. Vallejo laid out Sonoma Plaza in 1835 to serve as the center of the Pueblo de Sonoma, he relied on the Law of the Indies, the standardized, grid-based, planning method established by the Spanish for colonial development. The location and scale of the Plaza, along with the direct axial access from the south along the wide “Calle Principal” (now Broadway), created a centerpiece around which the new town of Sonoma could grow. Even during this period of nascent development, the Plaza served its town center purpose, ranging from its use as the site of the Bear Flag Rebellion in 1846, to its selection as the location of Sonoma’s early rail depot, and its shift, toward the end of the nineteenth century, to early recreational use through the construction of the pavilion and installation of some designed landscaping, namely walking paths, fencing, and trees.

However, it was not until the turn of the twentieth century that Sonoma Plaza began to transform from a minimally developed area, where cattle still occasionally roamed, into a true town center with diverse Agenda Item #7.3:

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92 civic and recreational amenities. The first phase of this period of development started in 1901 with the establishment of the Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club. This group was part of a nationwide trend that emerged after the Civil War as a way for women to continue the important efforts they’d contributed through volunteerism during wartime. Coinciding with the broader Progressive Era, women’s clubs became a major vehicle for American women to move beyond the domestic realm and shape the world beyond their homes.

While keeping some of the historic characteristics of the Plaza, including its eight-acre footprint, the Bear Flag Pole, and the axial relationship between Broadway and the location of the Plaza’s primary building, the Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club advocated for, and in some cases directly executed, a broad slate of improvements between 1901 and 1917, including:
• planting trees and installing benches (1901 and onward; earliest benches and some early trees no longer extant);
• planting Bermuda grass around the edges of the Plaza, based on recommendations from the University of California (1901; Bermuda grass no longer extant); • placing monuments, including a memorial tree for General Mariano G. Vallejo (1901; tree appears to be no longer extant) and the Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club Bear Flag Monument (1907);
• installation of the stone drinking fountain (1905; no longer extant); • advocacy for construction of City Hall (1908);
• landscape improvements around City Hall including ground leveling and installation of the U-plan driveway and U-shaped lawn (1909)
• advocacy and selection of design for the rustic fountain (1909); • advocacy for construction of the Carnegie Library Building (1913); and, • solicitation of a landscape plan from University of California, Berkeley professor Ralph T. Stevens and successful advocacy for the City’s adoption of the plan, which included, among other things, a symmetrical pattern of circulation throughout the Plaza (1915; circulation pattern extant).

Alongside the efforts of the Woman’s Club, the Native Sons of the Golden West made improvements to the Plaza during this period that reinforced its use as a space of memorialization, including construction of the Native Sons of the Golden West Bear Flag monument (1914), and lawn and landscape improvements around the Bear Flar Monument and construction of a rock canopy with a wood trellis and rock drinking fountain (1924).

As the Woman’s Club saw many of its proposed improvements for the Plaza completed, they shifted the bulk of their organizing and fundraising efforts to construction of their own dedicated clubhouse and, during World War I, the Red Cross and other wartime needs. As improvement projects slowed during the 1920s, the Plaza was considered as the site of a new gas station, and for transfer to State control.

However, during the 1930s, the Plaza underwent another period of concentrated development, Agenda Item #7.3:

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93 sponsored both by emergency relief funding available during the Great Depression, and individual philanthropy. Plaza improvements that took place during the period between 1932 and 1939 included:
• construction of the Duck Pond (1932);
• installation of the Italian Fountain and Italian Garden (1935); • construction of the Plaza Amphitheater (1935);
• installation of the Big Kids Playground (1935; playground remains in original location with no original features extant); and,
• installation of the Rose Garden (1936; sundial added 1939).

At the close of the 1930s, the Plaza was robustly developed with a broad array of civic and recreational amenities. The Woman’s Club celebrated their accomplishments, noting that their long-held hopes and dreams for Sonoma Plaza had all come true.

Improvements in the Plaza between 1940 and 1980 occurred more intermittently, such as the installation of plaques and monuments, and the construction of the Little Kids Playground (1950; playground remains in original location with no original features extant). Most changes that took place during this time were essentially “improvements to the improvements,” including installation of lighting standards, adding more parking around the Plaza perimeter, changes to the Rose Garden and the Amphitheater, an addition to the Library/Visitor’s Center, and new benches, picnic tables, and trash cans. Likewise, changes made within the Plaza after 1980 reflect ongoing maintenance and small-scale improvement, while largely retaining the features and character that were established in the Plaza prior to 1940.

Overall, the changes that occurred in Sonoma Plaza between 1900 and 1940 convey a clear association with a period of concentrated civic and recreational development that transformed the Plaza into the robust public park it remains today. For this reason, the Plaza is significant as a cultural landscape district under National and California Register Criterion A/1 at the local level, and under Sonoma Local Register Criterion A.

Period of Significance for Criterion A/1/A
The period of significance for this finding is 1900-1940, covering the concentrated period of development when most extant Plaza features were installed.

National Register Criterion B/ California Register Criterion 2/ City of Sonoma Local Register Criterion B This criterion “applies to properties associated with individuals whose specific contributions to history can be identified and documented.” It identifies properties associated with individuals “whose activities are demonstrably important within a local, State, or national historic context” and is typically limited to those properties that have the direct ability to illustrate a person's important achievements.

Sonoma Plaza does not appear to be significant as a cultural landscape district under National and California Register Criterion B/2 or under Sonoma Local Register Criterion B for a direct association with Agenda Item #7.3:

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94 the important achievements of any persons important to local, California, or national history. Research indicates that the development of Sonoma Plaza is the result of the combined efforts of many people and groups of people, including early pioneers, fraternal and civic groups, and individual philanthropists, along with scores of Sonoma City trustees, councilmembers, commissioners, and employees. Notable examples include:
• General Mariano G. Vallejo, who laid out Sonoma Plaza in 1835 to serve as the center of the Pueblo de Sonoma;
• Captain William A. Richardson, who worked with Vallejo in 1835 to lay out the Plaza and Pueblo de Sonoma;
• The Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club, who advocated for, and in some cases directly executed, a broad slate of improvements in the Plaza from 1901 through the start of World War I, with continued efforts ongoing through to the present day;
• Sonoma businessman Solomon Schocken, who supported the development of Sonoma Plaza by funding early beautification projects and serving as a city trustee who first proposed building City Hall at the Plaza’s center (1901 and later);
• The Native Sons of the Golden West, who advocated for and participated in the installation of the Bear Flag Monument in 1914 and other improvements within the Plaza including the rock canopy and drinking fountain in 1924;
• Sonoma businessman August Pinelli, who constructed a wooden aviary on the Plaza in 1929 (no longer extant);
• Sonoma businessman Samuele Sebastiani, who spearheaded and funded installation of the Italian Fountain and Garden, and the Italian Club, who installed these features; • City Council member A.R. “Ray” Grinstead, who was the primary advocate for construction of the Plaza amphitheater (1935), later rededicated and named in his honor; • The Sonoma Fire Department and the Sonoma Rotary Club, responsible for installation of the Big Kids Playground (1934) and Little Kids Playground (1950); and, • The Plaza Beautification Committee, including advocate Henri Maysonnave and nurseryman Frank F. Wedekind, who completed Plaza improvements in 1966.

All of these people and groups, among others, played a role in developing Sonoma Plaza, and as such, the Plaza is a result of a long series of combined efforts, and does not strongly convey the important achievements of any one person or group. While the Plaza has benefitted from the involvement of some very historically significant individuals, such as Vallejo and Richardson, California pioneers who originally laid out the Plaza, and Schocken, Pinelli, and Sebastiani, all of whom had extremely impactful careers within Sonoma, the Plaza would not be considered the best or strongest example of their important achievements. Other individuals and groups who contributed to the Plaza’s development likewise participated in other improvement campaigns throughout Sonoma and the region, and the Plaza would not be would not be considered the best or strongest example of their organizations’ mission or work.

Finally, some individuals and groups who contributed to the Plaza’s development would not be considered to have made demonstrably important contributions to national, state, or local history.

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95 For these reasons, the Plaza is not significant as a cultural landscape district under National and California Register Criterion B/2, or under Sonoma Local Register Criterion B.

National Register Criterion C/ California Register Criterion 3/ City of Sonoma Local Register Criterion C Criterion C/3/C applies to properties that “embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values.” According to the National Park Service, “distinctive characteristics” are the physical and design features that commonly recur in individual types, periods, or methods of construction. To be eligible, a property must clearly contain enough of those characteristics to be considered a true representative of a particular style. A master “is a figure of generally recognized greatness in a field, a known craftsman of consummate skill, or an anonymous craftsman whose work is distinguishable from others by its characteristic style and quality…. A property is not eligible as the work of a master, however, simply because it was designed by a prominent architect.”
Sonoma Plaza does not appear to be significant as a cultural landscape district under National and California Register Criterion C/3 or under Sonoma Local Register Criterion C as a property that embodies the distinctive characteristics of any specific type, period, or method of construction, due to the multiple, overlapping, informal, and in some cases incomplete plans that have been enacted since its establishment in 1835.

Originally laid out by Vallejo in 1835 using the general precepts of the Law of the Indies, the Plaza included some features of that planning tradition including its footprint and scale, strict geometric layout, proximity of religious and governmental buildings, and open space used for military drills and other gatherings. This spatial use was disrupted by the construction of a railroad depot in 1878, which included multiple buildings at the north portion of the Plaza. At the close of the nineteenth century, the Plaza included a simple, Neoclassical landscape design, with an emphasis on axiality, symmetry, and pedestrian pathways. The construction of City Hall in the center of the Plaza in 1908, along with the formation of axial and secondary pedestrian pathways and linear tree allées and hedges brought Beaux-Arts formality to the Plaza; this formality was disrupted in the 1930s as Plaza improvements were completed in a piecemeal manner, relying on a combination of City and emergency relief program funding and personal acts of philanthropy. By 1940, at the end of the Plaza’s concentrated period of development, while the Plaza offered a robust array of civic and recreational amenities, it did not embody the characteristics of any specific or discernable style of landscape design.

Nor does the Plaza, when considered as a whole, represent the work of any known master landscape architect or designer. As discussed under the evaluation of National/California/Sonoma Criterion B/2/B, the Plaza is the amalgamation of efforts made by many people. Design professionals, artists, and builders who contributed to the development of existing conditions within the Plaza include:
• Architect Adolph C. Lutgens, who designed City Hall (1908) and the Carnegie Library Building (1913);
• Builder Caspar Sherer, who designed the Rustic Fountain in 1909; Agenda Item #7.3:

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96 • Sculptor John A. McQuarrie and founder Louis DeRome, who designed and fabricated the Native Sons of the Golden West Bear Flag Monument in 1914
• Landscape architect Ralph T. Stevens, UC Berkeley professor who developed a plan for Plaza landscape improvements in 1915;
• Landscape architect Edward J. Waterhouse, who designed the Duck Pond in 1932; • Landscape architect Russell Beatty, who participated in Plaza improvements in 1966; and, • Landscape consulting firm Wilsey and Ham, who designed a master plan for the Plaza in 1972.

These design professionals, artists, and builders reached varying levels of prominence within their fields.

Research does not indicate that any of them would be considered master architects or landscape architects within the context of Sonoma, with the possible exception of Lutgens, who also designed Sonoma Grammar School (1916; now Sonoma Community Center). Lutgens’ buildings within the Plaza have already been recognized for their historic significance in previous evaluations, and the Plaza as a whole would not be considered the work of a master based on an association with Lutgens, who did not participate in the design of any other features in the Plaza. While McQuarrie and DeRome were very prominent artisans in San Francisco, they were also very prolific, and the presence of one of their works in the Plaza would not confer historic significance on the Plaza as a whole. Other design professionals who contributed to the development of the Plaza either had greater career achievements outside of their brief and/or incomplete work at Sonoma Plaza, or would not rise to the threshold of being considered a master in their field.

Overall, the Plaza does not embody the distinctive characteristics of a type, period, or method of construction, or that represent the work of a master, or that possess high artistic values. For these reasons, the Plaza is not significant as a cultural landscape district under National and California Register Criterion C/3, or under Sonoma Local Register Criterion C.

National Register Criterion D/ California Register Criterion 4/ City of Sonoma Local Register Criterion D Criterion D/4/D pertains to the potential for a resource to provide information on pre- and/or postcontact history and is generally applied to archaeological resources. Due to its location adjacent to the Mission San Francisco Solano de Sonoma and its use during that era for neophyte housing, the Plaza may have potential to provide information on pre- and/or post-contact history. However, evaluation of potential archeological resources is beyond the scope of this report. When Criterion D/4/D pertains to non-archeological resources, it may be relevant for cases when a building, structure, object, or landscape serves as the principal source of important construction-related information. All features in Sonoma Plaza reflect common building and structure construction techniques and landscape materials and designs. For this reason, the Plaza is not significant as a cultural landscape district under National and California Register Criterion D/4, or under Sonoma Local Register Criterion D.

Summary of Historic Significance and Period of Significance for Sonoma Plaza Park Sonoma Plaza Park appears historically significant as a cultural landscape district under National and California Register Criterion A/1 at the local level, and under Sonoma Local Register Criterion A for its association with a period of concentrated civic and recreational development that transformed the Plaza Agenda Item #7.3:

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97 into the robust public park it remains today. The period of significance for this finding is 1900-1940, covering the period when most extant Plaza features were installed, with the understanding that development during this period retained some of the older features and characteristics of the Plaza, including its eight-acre footprint, the Bear Flag Pole, and the axial relationship between Broadway and the location of the Plaza’s primary building.

Integrity
For a property to qualify for listing in the National or California Register, it must be found significant under one or more criterion, and it must also retain integrity, which is understood as the authenticity of a historical resource’s physical identity evidenced by the survival of characteristics that existed during the resource’s period of significance. Evaluation of integrity within a historic cultural landscape is based on a comparison of the presence and appearance of the site’s landscape characteristics – spatial organization, views and vistas, vegetation, circulation, topography, constructed water features, land use, buildings and structures, and small-scale features – against the presence and appearance of these characteristics during the site’s 1900-1940 period of significance.

Location
Sonoma Plaza remains in the location where it was constructed, occupying the full extent of the eightacre parcel laid out by General Mariano G. Vallejo and Captain William A. Richardson in 1835 to serve as the center of the Pueblo de Sonoma. Likewise, the vast majority of extant landscape features within the Plaza remain in the location where they were constructed or installed and have not been moved, with the possible exception of some small-scale features. Several wood bollards, including those with holes on their side and those with eye bolts with a large iron ring, were part of a system for tying horses at the perimeter of the Plaza and may have been relocated to other locations within the Plaza. The Bear Flag Pole may also have been moved slightly in the course of maintenance and upkeep; the pole is mounted within a setting of quarried cobblestones and is immediately adjacent to a circular wood stump, which may have been the footing of an earlier flagpole. These minimal changes do not impact the overall integrity of location at Sonoma Plaza, and the Plaza retains integrity of location.

Design
Sonoma Plaza has undergone some changes to its overall design outside the period of significance.

Changes that have occurred after the end of the period of significance that would be considered to have an impact on the form, plan, space, structure, and style of the Plaza include installation of the Little Kids Playground, removal of the aviary, removal of the U-plan drive at the center of the north side of the Plaza, the rear addition to the Carnegie Library Building, and construction of a stage shelter at the Grinstead Amphitheater. However, the Plaza does retain the vast majority of elements that contributed to its design during the period of significance, and, when considered overall, continues to convey its design from that period. Because post-1940 design changes have not rendered the Plaza unable to convey its design as it appeared during the period of significance, Sonoma Plaza retains integrity of design.

Setting
Sonoma Plaza retains integrity of setting, which is characterized by the rectilinear street grid as laid out by Vallejo and Richardson in 1835, including the axial approach of Broadway from the south. Surrounding the Plaza, block fronts include a similar mix of building types as was present during the period of Agenda Item #7.3:

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98 significance, with a mix of religious, civic, and commercial uses, many of which are contributors to the Sonoma Plaza National Register Historic District. A handful of buildings along block faces that face the Plaza were constructed after the end of the period of significance, but would not be considered to reduce the Plaza’s overall integrity of setting. Within the Plaza, integrity of setting is also retained, as the Plaza continues to include the same or similar mix of spatial organization, views and vistas, vegetation, circulation, topography, water features, buildings, structures, and small-scale features as it did during the period of significance. As such, Sonoma Plaza retains integrity of setting.

Materials
Sonoma Plaza has undergone a moderate level of change to material elements that were in the Plaza during the period of significance. Most changes have been made as a result of ongoing maintenance and improvements to small-scale features throughout the Plaza, although some larger material changes have occurred as well. Material changes after the period of significance include removal of the planting swale and mature trees at the west perimeter of the Plaza, new paving at existing paved pathways, vegetation and tree removal and/or replacement, new paving and pathway changes at the Duck Pond, Rose Garden and Italian Garden, removal of the U-plan drive at the center of the north side of the Plaza, and all new play equipment at the Big Kids Playground. Additionally, many small-scale features have been replaced with updated materials, such as seating within the Grinstead Amphitheater, and all the benches and picnic tables throughout the Plaza. The materials associated with landscapes often change over time, and the material integrity of landscapes are expected to take the patterns of change over time into consideration. Considering the material changes at the Plaza, most of materials that were planted, installed, constructed, or otherwise placed in the Plaza during the park’s period of significance remain extant at the park. Overall, due to the retention of most materials from the period of significance, Sonoma Plaza retains integrity of materials.

Workmanship
Workmanship at a recreational landscape like Sonoma Plaza can generally be understood to include the contributions of people who designed the park’s major features and landscape plans, and the effort of people who installed and/or maintained the park’s features and landscapes during the period of significance. The evaluation of workmanship largely overlaps with the evaluation of design and materials at the site, because original design and materials must be present to exhibit and convey the workmanship of those who designed, built, and maintained the park. As previously introduced, the Plaza has undergone few changes to its overall design outside the period of significance, and, despite a moderate level of changes to materials after the period of significance, would overall be considered to retain integrity of materials. As the Plaza retains integrity of both design and materials, it follows that workmanship is also retained. As such, the Plaza retains integrity of workmanship.

Feeling
Because Sonoma Plaza has undergone few substantial alterations to its spatial organization, views and vistas, vegetation, circulation, topography, water features, buildings, structures, and small-scale features outside of the park’s established period of significance, the Plaza remains able to express the aesthetic and historic sense that developed during its period of significance. As such, the Plaza retains integrity of feeling.

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99 Association
Sonoma Plaza retains integrity of association. The Plaza is historically significant for its association with a period of concentrated civic and recreational development. The Plaza remains in its historic use as a civic and recreational site, and as such retains its historically significant association.

Summary of Integrity for Sonoma Plaza
Sonoma Plaza retains strong integrity of location, setting, feeling and association. While some changes have occurred to the Plaza’s design, materials, and workmanship outside of the period of significance, when considered overall, the Plaza remains sufficient integrity of these three aspects to continue to convey the historic character of its design, materials, and workmanship. Sonoma Plaza retains sufficient integrity to convey its historic appearance and overall character dating to its period of significance (1900- 1940), and as such would be eligible as a cultural landscape district for listing on the National and California Register Criterion under A/1 at the local level, and on the Sonoma Local Register under Criterion A.

Character Defining Features
Character-defining features of a historically significant cultural landscape district are the prominent or distinctive extant components of a landscape that were present prior to or installed during the identified period of significance and that contribute to the landscape’s physical character. For Sonoma Plaza, extant features within the Plaza that were planted, installed, constructed, or otherwise placed in the Plaza prior to or during the park’s period of significance (1900-1940) would typically be considered characterdefining features of the Plaza and contributors to the historic cultural landscape.

Specific character-defining features of Sonoma Plaza include the following:
• The Plaza’s eight-acre size, square footprint, and axial relationship to Broadway and other surrounding streets, which reflect the plan developed by General Mariano G. Vallejo and Captain William A. Richardson in 1835 to serve as the center of the Pueblo de Sonoma; • The Bear Flag Pole, which marks the site of the Bear Flag revolt in 1846 and, despite modifications related to maintenance and upkeep, continues to play an important commemorative role with the Plaza and for the City of Sonoma; • The generally level ground plane and flat topography within the Plaza, which reflects the effort at the start of the period of significance to shift the Plaza from largely undeveloped land into a space for recreational amenities;
• The general spatial arrangement of the Plaza, which includes a quadrant arrangement with a clear geographic center, which was established after the Plaza returned to its full eight-acre size (ca. 1900) and the pavilion was demolished (ca. 1905);
• City Hall (1908), inclusive of all exterior elevations and the rooftop bell tower, and the Carnegie Library Building (1913), inclusive of all exterior elevations (1996 alterations excluded); • Circulation features within the Plaza that were established during the period of significance, including the U-plan driveway (ca. 1908), open space around City Hall (ca. 1908); the axial Agenda Item #7.3:

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walkways (ca. 1908, likely realigned ca. 1915), the secondary curved walkways (ca. 1915) and the perimeter sidewalks (ca. 1915, most in place by 1939);
• The Rustic Fountain (1909), installed in front of City Hall shortly after the building was completed; • Monuments installed during the period of significance, which include the Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club Bear Flag Monument (1907) and the Native Sons of the Golden West (1914; 2000 stone wall around planting bed excluded);
• Lawn panels, including the U-shaped lawn in front of City Hall (ca. 1910) and additional panels throughout the full extent of the Plaza (by 1940), which reflect the Plaza’s shift to a space for recreation;
• Mature tree allées along Plaza circulation features, and specimen trees within the Plaza that were installed during the period of significance;
• The Rock Canopy with Drinking Fountain (1923), installed by the Sonoma Parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West to improve the area around the Bear Flag Pole and Monument; • The Duck Pond (1932; 2006 alterations to perimeter materials excluded), installed at the start of a new wave in Plaza improvements in the 1930s;
• The Italian Fountain and Garden (1935; 1986 alterations including new paving, stone wall, and interior hedge rows installed to form planting beds excluded), including the fountain, path-side and outer boundary boxwood hedges, approximately eight Italian cypress, and the axial arrangement of the paths leading from the east and to the north and south, reflecting the philanthropic and fraternal contributions of Sonoma’s Italian community; • The Grinstead Amphitheater (1935; 1995 landscape alterations and 2005 stage shelter excluded), which was completed with the assistance of federal emergency relief funding; • The Rose Garden (1936; 1966 alteration to paving material and circulation, and bench, excluded), which was completed with the assistance of federal emergency relief funding, including the Sun Dial (1939), which was gifted to the City in an act of philanthropy; and, • Two metal flag poles in the U-shaped lawn (1930, est.), which were installed during the period of significance and emphasis the axial and symmetrical arrangement of the Plaza and the significance of City Hall.

A detailed list of these features can be reviewed here:
• Appendix A, Sheet 4 (Existing Features Showing Contributing and Non-Contributing Features) and Sheets 5 and 6 (Existing Trees and Existing Tree Inventory Showing Contributing and NonContributing Features); and, • Appendix B, Summary of Contributing and Non-Contributing Landscape Features in Sonoma Plaza.

Extant features within the Plaza that were planted, installed, constructed, or otherwise placed in the Plaza after the park’s period of significance (1900-1940) would not be considered character-defining features of the Plaza and would not be considered contributors to the historic cultural landscape.

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7. CONCLUSION
Between 1900 and 1940, Sonoma Plaza was transformed from a largely barren and underdeveloped eight-acre plot into a robust civic amenity that serves as the heart of the City of Sonoma. Based on the research and evaluation completed for this HLS, the Plaza appears to be eligible as a cultural landscape district for listing in the National and California Register Criterion A/1 at the local level, and under Sonoma Local Register Criterion A. The period of significance for this finding is 1900-1940, reflecting the concentrated period of Plaza development that resulted in this transformation. Despite some changes that have taken place after the period of significance, the Plaza retains sufficient integrity to convey its historic significance. Character-defining features of the Plaza include components of the cultural landscape that were present prior to or installed during the period of significance (1900-1940) and that contribute to the landscape’s physical character; these features would be considered contributors to the historic cultural landscape of the Plaza. A detailed list of contributing and non-contributing features is included in both Appendix A (Sheets 4, 5, and 6) and Appendix B.

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8. BIBLIOGRAPHY
Published Sources
City of Sonoma Municipal Code. Chapter 19.42: Historic Preservation and Infill in the Historic Zone.

Section 19.43.020: Designation of a Local Historic Resource or District.

Conmy, Peter. “The History of the Native Sons of the Golden West.” Revised by Thomas Perazzo. San Francisco: Grand Parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West, 1966; revised 2024.

Downey, Lynn. A Short History of Sonoma. Reno, NV: University of Nevada Press, 2013.

Kelleher, Carole. “And the Grinstead Played On: A Look at the Plaza Amphitheater.” Sonoma IndexTribune, May 18, 2017.

Kortum, Lucy Deam. “Carnegie Library Development in California and the Architecture it Produced, 1899- 1921.” Master’s thesis, Sonoma State University, 1990.

Lynch, Robert M. The Sonoma Valley Story. Sonoma, California: Sonoma Index-Tribune, 1997.

Menefee, C. A. Historical and Descriptive Sketch Book of Napa, Sonoma, and Mendocino. Napa, CA:

Reporter Publishing House, 1879.

National Park Service. “National Register Bulletin: How to Apply the National Register Criteria for Evaluation.” 1995, revised. https://www.nps.gov/subjects/nationalregister/upload/NRB15_web508.pdf.

Page, Robert R., Cathy A. Gilbert, and Susan A. Dolan, A Guide To Cultural Landscape Reports: Contents, Process, and Techniques (Washington, D. D., U. S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service Cultural Resource Stewardship and Partnerships, 2025 Page, Robert R., Jeffrey Killion, and Gretchen Hilyard. National Park Service Cultural Landscapes Inventory Professional Procedures Guide. Washington, DC: U.S. Department of the Interior, National Park Service, Cultural Resource Stewardship Partnerships, Park Historic Structures and Cultural Landscapes Program, 2009.

Page & Turnbull. “Downtown Sonoma Historic Preservation Design Guidelines.” Prepared for the City of Sonoma, 2017.

Rosenus, Allan. General M.G. Vallejo and the Advent of the Americans. Albuquerque: University of New Mexico Press, 1995.

Ross, Neal. “Solomon Schocken – The Merchant of Sonoma, How a Jewish Settler Shaped The City’s Early History.” Montini Open Space Preserve. Accessed May 1, 2026, https://overlookmontini.org/history-3/schocken-hill/.

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Unpublished Sources
Architectural Resources Group. “Sonoma Carnegie Library.” January 13, 1994.

Baker, James F. James F. Baker to Conrad L. Wirth, March 2, 1961. Letter regarding National Historic Landmark application for Sonoma Plaza.

Bevan + Associates. “Plaza Monument Sign.” November 7, 2008.

Burlingame, Carrie. “1901-1934 - History of Sonoma Valley Woman's Club.” Sonoma Valley Historical Society. Accessed April 21, 2026.
https://archive.org/details/casomvhs_000108/page/n23/mode/2up?q=rock.

California State Parks, Office of Historic Preservation. “Bear Flag Monument, Historical Landmark.” California Historical Resources by County. Accessed March 6, 2026. https://ohp.parks.ca.gov/ListedResources/Detail/7.

Cox, Robert A., and Thomas D. Mulhern. Sonoma Plaza National Historic Landmark District Nomination.

National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination Form. San Francisco, CA: National Park Service, August 1, 1973. Resource No. 75000489.

Crowe, Michael F. Sonoma Plaza National Register Historic District (Boundary Increase). National Register of Historic Places Inventory/Nomination Form. San Francisco, CA: National Park Service, May 6, 1992. Resource No. 92000293.

Lutgens, A. C. “Plans for City Hall Sonoma, Cal.” Architectural drawings, ca. 1906. Provided by the City of Sonoma.

No author. “Brief History of the Sonoma Rose.” Sonoma Valley Historical Society collection.

Milliken, Randall. “Ethnohistory and Ethnogeography of the Coast Miwok and Their Neighbors, 1783- 1840.” Technical paper presented to the National Park Service, Golden Gate NRA, June 2009.

Ross Drulis Cusenbery Architecture. “Sculpture Installation Concept.” July 27, 2015.

Sonoma Valley Woman’s Club. “1905-1910 - Meeting Minutes of the Sonoma Valley Woman's Club.” April 1, 1907, and April 5, 1907. Accessed May 1, 2026.
https://archive.org/details/casomvhs_000099/page/n251/mode/2up. ———. “1912-1915 - Meeting Minutes of the Sonoma Valley Woman's Club.” April 16, 1915. Accessed May 1, 2026. https://archive.org/details/casomvhs_000101/page/n171/mode/2up.

Strata Strategic Design Studio. “Sonoma City Hall Bell Tower Repair.” February 3, 2014 Thomas Anderson & Co. “Grinstead Amphitheater, New Roof Framing Plan.” September 28, 2005.

Agenda Item #7.3:

Page 116 of 267 ends

Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
104
U.S. Secretary of the Interior. “First Release.” Press release regarding National Historic Landmark eligibility, October 9, 1960.

Winzler & Kelly. “Sonoma City Hall Improvement Project.” May 28, 2008.

Work Projects Administration. Records of the Work Projects Administration. Record Group 69. “WPA Project Number 49-10,” September 6, 1935. National Archives Catalog. Accessed April 10, 2026. https://catalog.archives.gov.
———. Records of the Work Projects Administration. Record Group 69. “WPA Project Number 1649- 230,” February 12, 1936. National Archives Catalog. Accessed April 10, 2026. https://catalog.archives.gov.

Online Sources
Brandon, Andrew. “Sonoma Valley Railroad.” Pacific Coast Narrow Gauge. December 7, 2015. Accessed April 17, 2026. https://www.pacificng.com/template.php?page=roads/ca/svrr/index.htm.

City of Sonoma. Historic Resources Map, Local Inventory of Historic Structures, 2025. Accessed May 1, 2026.
https://experience.arcgis.com/experience/4f6b5f86893a4a1d949ff6380d2836e5#data_s=id%3Ad ataSource_1-197d1b3e3a4-layer-12-19834121cd1-layer-10%3A18 City of Sonoma Instagram account. Accessed March 1, 2026.

City of Sonoma. “The History of Sonoma.” Developed by Robert Demler. September 1, 2017. Accessed April 1, 2026. https://www.sonomacity.org/history-of-sonoma/.

Community Foundation Sonoma County. “The Wedekind Family: A Legacy of Love, Community, and Giving in Sonoma Valley.” Accessed April 2, 2026. https://www.sonomacf.org/blog/the-wedekindfamily-a-legacy-of-love-community-and-giving-in-sonoma-valley/.

Cultural Landscape Foundation. “Beaux-Arts/Neoclassical.” Accessed March 12, 2026. https://www.tclf.org/landscape-style/beaux-arts-neoclassical.

Cultural Landscape Foundation. “Ralph Stevens.” Accessed March 26, 2026. https://www.tclf.org/pioneer/ralph-stevens.

Native Sons of the Golden West, Sonoma Parlor No. 111. “The Bear Flag.” Accessed April 1, 2026. https://sonoma111.nsgw.org/the-bear-flag/.

Ross Recreation Equipment. “New Chapter for This Historic Sonoma Plaza.” Accessed March 23, 2026. https://www.rossrec.com/page/3/?page_id=6
Sonoma League for Historic Preservation. “Maysonnave House.” Accessed April 2, 2026. https://www.preservesonoma.org/maysonnave.

Agenda Item #7.3:

Page 117 of 267 ends

Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
105
———. “Walking Tour: Historical Background.” Accessed March 25, 2026. https://www.preservesonoma.org/background.

Sonoma Valley Historical Society. “Solomon Schocken Sonoma History Stroll.” May 17, 2023. Accessed April 23, 2026. https://sonomavalleyhistory.org/solomon-schocken-sonoma-history-stroll/.

Tunnell, Julie. “City of Sonoma, Sonoma County, Census Data, 1860-2020.” Metropolitan Transportation Commission. December 2021. Accessed April 17, 2026.
https://files.mtc.ca.gov/library/pub/48117_Place_SonomaCity.pdf Newspapers
Arizona Republic
Arizona Daily Sun
Los Gatos Mail-News
Merced Sun-Star
Napa Journal
Napa Daily Register
Napa Valley Register
Oakland Enquirer
Oakland Tribune
Petaluma Argus-Courier
Petaluma Daily Morning Courier
Sacramento Bee
Sacramento Union
San Francisco Call Bulletin
San Francisco Examiner
Santa Rosa Press Democrat
Santa Rosa Republican
Sonoma Index-Tribune
Agenda Item #7.3:

Page 118 of 267 ends

Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park July 2026
106
Archival Collections
FrameFinder, UC Santa Barbara
Sanborn Fire Insurance Maps
Sonoma County Library Special Collections Digital Archive Sonoma Valley Historical Society
Agenda Item #7.3:

Page 119 of 267 ends

Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park
Appendix A: Summary of Contributing and Non-Contributing Landscape Features in Sonoma Plaza A-1
Appendix A: Sonoma Plaza Park Historic Landscape Survey Period Plans - RHAA Landscape Architecture + Planning, 2026)
1900
1940
1976
Existing Conditions with Contributing and Non-Contributing Features Existing Trees
Existing Tree Inventory with Contributing and Non-Contributing Status Agenda Item #7.3:

Page 120 of 267 ends

0’ 60’
1 inch = 60 feet
30’
N
May 8, 2026 page 1 of 6
PERIOD PLAN – 1900

SONOMA PLAZA PARK HISTORIC LANDSCAPE SURVEY
4 E SPAIN STREET
1ST STREET W
1ST STREET E

W NAPA STREET E NAPA STREET
5 3

PAVILION
1 5 5
5 4
4 4
2 7
FEATURES LEGEND - 1900
1 8 ACRE SIZE AND SQUARE FOOTPRINT (FULL EXTENT OF PLAZA) 2 PAVILION
3 BEAR FLAG POLE
4 PRIMARY AXIAL WALKWAYS
5 HITCHING POSTS
6 HEDGE

SONOMA PLAZA PARK

SONOMA COUNTY SONOMA CA
DELINEATED BY: NATHAN LOZIER, JOHN MARTIN, ELLEN XIE

HISTORIC
LANDSCAPE SURVEY PERIOD PLAN - 1900 Agenda Item #7.3:

Page 121 of 267 ends

0’ 60’
1 inch = 60 feet
30’
N
May 8, 2026 page 2 of 6
PERIOD PLAN – 1940

SONOMA PLAZA PARK HISTORIC LANDSCAPE SURVEY
8 10
17 11
16 9
21 22
2 22
12 23
1 4
5 6
3 7
14 16
16 16
17 17
18 19
19 19
19 16 16
20 20
20 20
26 E SPAIN STREET
1ST STREET W
1ST STREET E

W NAPA STREET E NAPA STREET

CITY HALL LIBRARY
27 15
29 29
29 29
17 28
28 25
28 13
24 FEATURES LEGEND - 1940
1 8 ACRE SIZE AND SQUARE FOOTPRINT (FULL EXTENT OF PLAZA) 2 N. S. G. W. BEAR FLAG MONUMENT
3 SONOMA CITY HALL
4 RUSTIC FOUNTAIN
5 U-PLAN DRIVEWAY
6 U-SHAPED LAWN
7 OPEN AREA AROUND CITY HALL (PARKING)
8 LIBRARY/VISITOR'S BUREAU
9 S. V. W. C. BEAR FLAG MONUMENT
10 DUCK POND
11 ITALIAN GARDEN
12 ITALIAN FOUNTAIN
13 GRINSTEAD AMPHITHEATER
14 SUN DIAL AT ROSE GARDEN
15 BEAR FLAG POLE
16 PRIMARY AXIAL WALKWAYS
17 LAWN PANELS (FULL EXTENT OF PLAZA)
18 LEVEL GROUND PLANE (FULL EXTENT OF PLAZA)
19 SECONDARY CURVED WALKWAYS
20 QUADRANT ARRANGEMENT (FULL EXTENT OF PLAZA)
21 DRINKING FOUNTAIN ROCK CANOPY
22 METAL FLAG POLES IN U-PLAN LAWN
23 ROSE GARDEN
24 LITTLE KIDS PLAYGROUND
25 AVIARY
26 CONCRETE PAVED WALKWAY AROUND THE RUSTIC FOUNTAIN
27 HITCHING POSTS
28 BENCHES
29 SIDEWALKS AT PLAZA PERIMETER

SONOMA PLAZA PARK

SONOMA COUNTY SONOMA CA
DELINEATED BY: NATHAN LOZIER, JOHN MARTIN, ELLEN XIE

HISTORIC
LANDSCAPE SURVEY PERIOD PLAN - 1950 Agenda Item #7.3:

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0’ 60’
1 inch = 60 feet
30’
N
May 8, 2026 page 3 of 6
PERIOD PLAN – 1976

SONOMA PLAZA PARK HISTORIC LANDSCAPE SURVEY
8 10
17 11
16 9
21 22
2 22
12 23
1 4
5 6
3 7
14 16
16 16
17 17
18 19
19 19
19 16 16
20 20
20 20
26 24
29 30
55 37
28 27

E SPAIN STREET
1ST STREET W
1ST STREET E

W NAPA STREET E NAPA STREET

CITY HALL LIBRARY
25 35
45 31
45 15
56 56
56 56
17 47
47 47
47 49
13 FEATURES LEGEND - 1976
1 8 ACRE SIZE AND SQUARE FOOTPRINT (FULL EXTENT OF PLAZA) 2 N. S. G. W. BEAR FLAG MONUMENT
3 SONOMA CITY HALL
4 RUSTIC FOUNTAIN
5 U-PLAN DRIVEWAY
6 U-SHAPED LAWN
7 OPEN AREA AROUND CITY HALL (PARKING)
8 LIBRARY/VISITOR'S BUREAU
9 S. V. W. C. BEAR FLAG MONUMENT
10 DUCK POND
11 ITALIAN GARDEN
12 ITALIAN FOUNTAIN
13 GRINSTEAD AMPHITHEATER
14 SUN DIAL AT ROSE GARDEN
15 BEAR FLAG POLE
16 PRIMARY AXIAL WALKWAYS
17 LAWN PANELS (FULL EXTENT OF PLAZA)
18 LEVEL GROUND PLANE (FULL EXTENT OF PLAZA)
19 SECONDARY CURVED WALKWAYS
20 QUADRANT ARRANGEMENT (FULL EXTENT OF PLAZA)
21 DRINKING FOUNTAIN ROCK CANOPY
22 METAL FLAG POLES IN U-PLAN LAWN
23 ROSE GARDEN
24 BIG KIDS PLAYGROUND
25 MEMORIAL REDWOOD PLAQUE
26 LITTLE KIDS PLAYGROUND
27 ROTARY CLUB OF SONOMA VALLEY PLAQUE 1950
28 JOSEPH A. BACCAGLIO SONOMA VALLEY ROTARY CLUB PLAQUE 1968 29 CONCRETE PAVED WALKWAY AROUND THE RUSTIC FOUNTAIN
30 CONCRETE PAVED WALKWAY AROUND DUCK POND
31 INFORMATIONAL SIGNAGE
35 HITCHING POSTS
36 LIGHT STANDARDS (FULL EXTENT OF PLAZA)
37 GRINSTEAD AMPHITHEATER PERFORMANCE SHELTER
45 DRINKING FOUNTAINS
47 BENCHES (FULL EXTENT OF PLAZA)
49 COLONEL AGOSTIN HARASZTHY PLAQUE
55 EL CAMINO REAL BELL
56 SIDEWALKS AT PLAZA PERIMETER
NOTES:

1. LINEWORK AND TREE LOCATIONS BASED ON PLANS PREPARED
BY ROBERT E. HERR IN "A REPORT ON THE TREES AND SHRUBS

OF THE SONOMA PLAZA FOR THE CITY OF SONOMA PARKS AND
RECREATION COMMISSION," 1976.

SONOMA PLAZA PARK

SONOMA COUNTY SONOMA CA
DELINEATED BY: NATHAN LOZIER, JOHN MARTIN, ELLEN XIE

HISTORIC
LANDSCAPE SURVEY PERIOD PLAN - 1976 Agenda Item #7.3:

Page 123 of 267 ends

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1 inch = 60 feet
30’
N
May 8, 2026 page 4 of 6

CONTRIBUTING AND NON-CONTRIBUTING FEATURES

SONOMA PLAZA PARK HISTORIC LANDSCAPE SURVEY

W NAPA STREET

E SPAIN STREET
1ST STREET W
1ST STREET E

W NAPA STREET E NAPA STREET

CITY HALL

LIBRARY /

VISITOR'S
BUREAU
47 47
41 41
41 8
10 27
25 17
11 46
13 56
16 30
31 9
21 26
33 50
34 29
22 2
22 28
51 45
44 49
12 23
1 4
5 6
3 7
14 16
16 16
17 17
17 18
19 19
19 19
16 16
20 20
20 20
43 52
56 38
56 56
15 54
53 37
37 40
37 37
40 37
40 40
40 42
55 47
47 56
35 48
48 48
48 35
35 35
35 35
36 39
39 36
32 58
57 CONTRIBUTING FEATURES LEGEND
1 8 ACRE SIZE AND SQUARE FOOTPRINT (FULL EXTENT OF PLAZA) 2 N. S. G. W. BEAR FLAG MONUMENT
3 SONOMA CITY HALL
4 RUSTIC FOUNTAIN
5 U-PLAN DRIVEWAY
6 U-SHAPED LAWN
7 OPEN AREA AROUND CITY HALL (PARKING)
8 LIBRARY/VISITOR'S BUREAU
9 S. V. W. C. BEAR FLAG MONUMENT
10 DUCK POND
11 ITALIAN GARDEN PATHSIDE AND BOUNDARY HEDGES
12 ITALIAN FOUNTAIN
13 GRINSTEAD AMPHITHEATER
14 SUN DIAL AT ROSE GARDEN
15 BEAR FLAG POLE
16 PRIMARY AXIAL WALKWAYS
17 LAWN PANELS (FULL EXTENT OF PLAZA)
18 LEVEL GROUND PLANE (FULL EXTENT OF PLAZA)
19 SECONDARY CURVED WALKWAYS
20 QUADRANT ARRANGEMENT (FULL EXTENT OF PLAZA)
21 DRINKING FOUNTAIN ROCK CANOPY
22 METAL FLAG POLES IN U-PLAN LAWN
23 ROSE GARDEN
24 SIDEWALKS AT PLAZA PERIMETER

NON-CONTRIBUTING FEATURES LEGEND
25 BIG KIDS PLAYGROUND
26 MEMORIAL REDWOOD PLAQUE
27 LITTLE KIDS PLAYGROUND
28 ROTARY CLUB OF SONOMA VALLEY PLAQUE 1950
29 JOSEPH A. BACCAGLIO SONOMA VALLEY ROTARY CLUB PLAQUE 1968 30 CONCRETE PAVED WALKWAY AROUND THE RUSTIC FOUNTAIN
31 CONCRETE PAVED WALKWAY AROUND DUCK POND
32 INFORMATIONAL SIGNAGE
33 ARTISTIC BIKE RACK
34 GENERAL MANUEL G. VALLEJO MONUMENT
35 TRASH RECEPTACLES
36 WOOD BOLLARDS WITH HOLES
37 LIGHT STANDARDS (FULL EXTENT OF PLAZA)
38 GRINSTEAD AMPHITHEATER PERFORMANCE SHELTER
39 WOOD BOLLARDS WITH SIGNAGE
40 ELECTRICAL BOLLARDS (FULL EXTENT OF PLAZA)
41 UTILITARIAN BIKE RACKS (FULL EXTENT OF PLAZA)
42 BOLLARD-STYLE BIKE RACKS
43 PAYPHONE
44 BUS SHELTER
45 GATE ENCLOSURE
46 TWO DRINKING FOUNTAINS
47 PICNIC TABLES (FULL EXTENT OF PLAZA)
48 BENCHES (FULL EXTENT OF PLAZA)
49 ITALIAN GARDEN STONE WALL AND INTERIOR HEDGE ROWS
50 COLONEL AGOSTIN HARASZTHY PLAQUE
51 DAVID CHAVOYA HORSESHOE PLAQUE
52 BENCH AT ROSE GARDEN
53 SESQUICENTENNIAL TIME CAPSULE PLAQUE
54 SALUTE TO SONOMA CITIZENS PLAQUE
55 LIBRARY/VISITORS BUREAU KIOSK
56 EL CAMINO REAL BELL
57 STONE WALL AND PLANTING BED
58 COBBLESTONE CONCRETE PAVING

SONOMA PLAZA PARK

SONOMA COUNTY SONOMA CA
DELINEATED BY: NATHAN LOZIER, JOHN MARTIN, ELLEN XIE

HISTORIC
LANDSCAPE SURVEY EXISTING SITE FEATURES PLAN Agenda Item #7.3:

Page 124 of 267 ends

0’ 60’
1 inch = 60 feet
30’
N
May 8, 2026 page 5 of 6

EXISTING TREES

SONOMA PLAZA PARK HISTORIC LANDSCAPE SURVEY
16 19
43 38
39 21
22 23
24 25
26 27
28 34
35 36
44 33
31 32
29 60
65 57
54 53
69 70
71 72
74 75
82 80
78 49
81 146
145
144
147
142
141
160
161
162
150
149
148
153
154
174 168 169
170
187
188
189
190 184
172
191
110 102
76 37
63 64
61 120
186
185
196
195
205
197
192
193
199
198
203
206
207
157
225
225
225
50 50
55 68
56 166 165
182
202
200
181
183
15 20
14 13
17 18
2 4
3 5
6 7
10 9
8 45
46 47
48 91
92 108
109
107
106
95 224
94 96
97 98
99 100
105
103 101
115
223
116
117
87 88
52 83
130
129
131
128
126
127
125
133
135
134
151
152 155
156 159
158
167
164
163
140
139
138
143
137
176
210
221
175
177
212
215
214
217
216
219
12 11
59 51
66 58 67 62
171
173
194
208
201
220
211
222
220
220
220
220
220
2 2
2 2
2 2
2 2
79 85
111
124
114
113
112
226
218
213
178
180

W NAPA STREET

E SPAIN STREET
1ST STREET W
1ST STREET E

W NAPA STREET E NAPA STREET

CITY HALL

LIBRARY /

VISITOR'S
BUREAU
LEGEND

DECIDUOUS TREE

EVERGREEN TREE
NOTES:

1. REFER TO REPORT FOR A COMPLETE LIST OF TREE SPECIES.

2. TREE SPECIES ARE BASED ON THE CITY OF SONOMA - SONOMA

PLAZA TREE INVENTORY AND MANAGEMENT PLAN, PREPARED
BY BARTLETT TREE EXPERTS IN 2022.

SONOMA PLAZA PARK

SONOMA COUNTY SONOMA CA
DELINEATED BY: NATHAN LOZIER, JOHN MARTIN, ELLEN XIE

HISTORIC
LANDSCAPE SURVEY EXISTING TREE INVENTORY PLAN Agenda Item #7.3:

Page 125 of 267 ends

May 8, 2026 page 6 of 6

EXISTING TREE INVENTORY

SONOMA PLAZA PARK HISTORIC LANDSCAPE SURVEY
NO. COMMON NAME BOTANICAL NAME CONTRIBUTING
2 ITALIAN CYPRESS (9) CUPRESSUS SEMPERVIRENS YES
3 MEXICAN FAN PALM WASHINGTONIA ROBUSTA YES
4 SILVER MAPLE ACER SACCHARINUM YES
5 COAST REDWOOD SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS YES
6 SOUTHERN MAGNOLIA MAGNOLIA GRANDIFLORA NO
7 SOUTHERN MAGNOLIA MAGNOLIA GRANDIFLORA NO
8 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
9 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
10 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
11 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
12 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
13 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
14 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
15 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
16 BIGLEAF MAPLE ACER MACROPHYLLUM YES
17 SILVER MAPLE ACER SACCHARINUM YES
18 WESTERN CATALPA CATALPA SPECIOSA YES
19 SILVER MAPLE ACER SACCHARINUM YES
20 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
21 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
22 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
23 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
24 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
25 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
26 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
27 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
28 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
29 ITALIAN CYPRESS CUPRESSUS SEMPERVIRENS YES
30 FLOWERING CHERRY PRUNUS SERRULATA REMOVED
31 COMMON CRAPE MYRTLE LAGERSTROEMIA INDICA NO
32 COMMON BALD CYPRESS TAXODIUM DISTICHUM YES
33 CALIFORNIA FAN PALM WASHINGTONIA FILIFERA YES
34 FLOWERING CHERRY PRUNUS SERRULATA NO
35 FLOWERING CHERRY PRUNUS SERRULATA NO
36 FLOWERING CHERRY PRUNUS SERRULATA NO
37 FLOWERING CHERRY PRUNUS SERRULATA NO
38 FLOWERING CHERRY PRUNUS SERRULATA NO
39 FLOWERING CHERRY PRUNUS SERRULATA NO
43 PIN OAK QUERCUS PALUSTRIS YES
44 DEODAR CEDAR CEDRUS DEODARA YES
45 COAST REDWOOD SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS YES
46 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
47 MARINA MADRONE ARBUTUS VAR. 'MARINA' YES
48 SAUCER MAGNOLIA MAGNOLIA X SOULANGEANA YES
49 SAUCER MAGNOLIA MAGNOLIA X SOULANGEANA YES
50 COMMON CRAPE MYRTLE (6) LAGERSTROEMIA INDICA NO
51 COMMON HONEYLOCUST GLEDITSIA TRIACANTHOS YES
52 ITALIAN CYPRESS CUPRESSUS SEMPERVIRENS YES
53 ITALIAN CYPRESS CUPRESSUS SEMPERVIRENS YES
54 COAST REDWOOD SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS YES
55 JAPANESE MAPLE ACER PALMATUM YES
56 COAST REDWOOD SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS YES
57 COAST REDWOOD SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS NO
58 COAST REDWOOD SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS NO
59 COAST REDWOOD SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS YES
60 COAST REDWOOD SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS YES
61 COAST REDWOOD SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS YES
62 COAST REDWOOD SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS YES
63 COAST REDWOOD SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS YES
64 COAST REDWOOD SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS YES
65 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
66 COAST REDWOOD SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS YES
67 DEODAR CEDAR CEDRUS DEODARA YES
68 ITALIAN CYPRESS CUPRESSUS SEMPERVIRENS YES
69 COAST REDWOOD SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS YES
70 COAST REDWOOD SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS YES
71 COAST REDWOOD SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS YES
72 COAST REDWOOD SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS YES
73 KOUSA DOGWOOD CORNUS KOUSA REMOVED
74 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
75 MAIDENHAIR TREE GINKGO BILOBA YES
NO. COMMON NAME BOTANICAL NAME CONTRIBUTING
76 COMMON CRAPE MYRTLE LAGERSTROEMIA INDICA NO
77 JAPANESE MAPLE ACER PALMATUM REMOVED
78 COAST REDWOOD SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS YES
79 COAST REDWOOD SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS NO
80 ITALIAN CYPRESS CUPRESSUS SEMPERVIRENS YES
81 ITALIAN CYPRESS CUPRESSUS SEMPERVIRENS YES
82 ITALIAN CYPRESS CUPRESSUS SEMPERVIRENS YES
83 SCARLET OAK QUERCUS COCCINEA YES
85 ITALIAN CYPRESS CUPRESSUS SEMPERVIRENS YES
87 ITALIAN CYPRESS CUPRESSUS SEMPERVIRENS YES
88 ITALIAN CYPRESS CUPRESSUS SEMPERVIRENS YES
89 MARINA MADRONE ARBUTUS VAR. 'MARINA' REMOVED
91 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
92 ATLAS CEDAR CEDRUS ATLATNICA YES
94 ELM ULMUS SP. YES
95 WESTERN CATALPA CATALPA SPECIOSA YES
96 DEODAR CEDAR CEDRUS DEODARA YES
97 MAIDENHAIR TREE GINKGO BILOBA YES
98 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
99 MAIDENHAIR TREE GINKGO BILOBA YES
100 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
101 MAIDENHAIR TREE GINKGO BILOBA YES
102 CHINESE WINDMILL PALM TRACHYCARPUS FORTUNEI YES
103 AMERICAN ELM ULMUS AMERICANA YES
105 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
106 MAIDENHAIR TREE GINKGO BILOBA YES
107 CORK OAK QUERCUS SUBER YES
108 FREEMAN'S MAPLE ACER X FREEMANII YES
109 SCARLET OAK QUERCUS COCCINEA YES
110 NORWAY SPRUCE PICEA ABIES YES
111 MEXICAN FAN PALM WASHINGTONIA ROBUSTA YES
112 PIN OAK QUERCUS PALUSTRIS YES
113 PORTUGUESE CHERRY LAUREL PRUNUS LUSITANICA YES
114 DEODAR CEDAR CEDRUS DEODARA YES
115 FREEMAN'S MAPLE ACER X FREEMANII YES
116 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
117 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
118 FREEMAN'S MAPLE ACER X FREEMANII REMOVED
119 FREEMAN'S MAPLE ACER X FREEMANII REMOVED
120 FREEMAN'S MAPLE ACER X FREEMANII REMOVED
121 FREEMAN'S MAPLE ACER X FREEMANII REMOVED
122 FREEMAN'S MAPLE ACER X FREEMANII REMOVED
124 SOUTHERN MAGNOLIA MAGNOLIA GRANDIFLORA YES
125 SUGAR MAPLE ACER SACCHARINUM YES
126 GLOSSY PRVIET LIGUSTRUM LUCIDUM YES
127 SOUTHERN MAGNOLIA MAGNOLIA GRANDIFLORA YES
128 CALIFORNIA FAN PALM WASHINGTONIA FILIFERA YES
129 COAST REDWOOD SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS NO
130 COAST REDWOOD SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS NO
131 COAST REDWOOD SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS NO
133 MEXICAN FAN PALM WASHINGTONIA ROBUSTA YES
134 MEXICAN FAN PALM WASHINGTONIA ROBUSTA YES
135 GIANT REDWOOD SEQUOIADENDRON GIGANTEUM YES
137 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
138 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
139 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
140 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
141 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
142 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
143 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
144 CORK OAK QUERCUS SUBER YES
145 COMMON SWEETGUM LIQUIDAMBAR STYRACIFLUA YES
146 ITALIAN CYPRESS CUPRESSUS SEMPERVIRENS YES
147 AMERICAN ELM ULMUS AMERICANA YES
148 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
149 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
150 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
151 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
152 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
153 ATLAS CEDAR CEDRUS ATLANTICA YES
154 COMMON SWEETGUM LIQUIDAMBAR STYRACIFLUA YES
NO. COMMON NAME BOTANICAL NAME CONTRIBUTING
155 NORTHERN RED OAK QUERCUS RUBRA YES
156 PIN OAK QUERCUS PALUSTRIS YES
157 SCARLET OAK QUERCUS COCCINEA YES
158 COMMON BALDCYPRESS TAXODIUM DISTICHUM YES
159 ELM ULMUS SP. YES
160 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
161 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
162 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
163 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
164 DEODAR CEDAR CEDRUS DEODARA YES
165 CHINESE PISTACHE PISTACIA CHINENSIS NO
166 CHINESE PISTACHE PISTACIA CHINENSIS NO
167 DEODAR CEDAR CEDRUS DEODARA YES
168 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
169 DEODAR CEDAR CEDRUS DEODARA YES
170 AMERICAN ELM ULMUS AMERICANA YES
171 JAPANESE MAPLE ACER PALMATUM NO
172 AMERICAN ELM ULMUS AMERICANA YES
173 JAPANESE MAPLE ACER PALMATUM NO
174 EASTERN REDBUD CERCIS CANADENSIS NO
175 CALIFORNIA BAY UMBELLULARIA CALIFORNICA YES
176 JAPANESE MAPLE ACER PALMATUM NO
177 JAPANESE MAPLE ACER PALMATUM NO
178 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
180 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
181 JAPANESE MAPLE ACER PALMATUM NO
182 AMERICAN ELM ULMUS AMERICANA YES
183 JAPANESE MAPLE ACER PALMATUM NO
184 AMERICAN ELM ULMUS AMERICANA YES
185 TULIP TREE LIRIODENDRON TULIPIFERA YES
186 TULIP TREE LIRIODENDRON TULIPIFERA YES
187 SILVER MAPLE ACER SACCHARINUM YES
188 DOUGLAS FIR PSEUDOTSUGA MENZIESII YES
189 SILVER MAPLE ACER SACCHARINUM YES
190 AMERICAN ELM ULMUS AMERICANA YES
191 SILVER MAPLE ACER SACCHARINUM YES
192 SILVER MAPLE ACER SACCHARINUM YES
193 BIGLEAF MAPLE ACER MACROPHYLLUM YES
194 CHINESE WINDMILL PALM TRACHYCARPUS FORTUNEI YES
195 SCARLET OAK QUERCUS COCCINEA YES
196 PIN OAK QUERCUS PALUSTRIS YES
197 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
198 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
199 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
200 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
201 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
202 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
203 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
204 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA REMOVED
205 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
206 COAST REDWOOD SEQUOIA SEMPERVIRENS YES
207 MANNA GUM EUCALYPTUS EUCALYPTUS VIMINALIS YES
208 BLUE GUM EUCALYPTUS EUCALYPTUS GLOBULUS YES
210 CALIFORNIA FAN PALM WASHINGTONIA FILIFERA YES
211 MEXICAN FAN PALM WASHINGTONIA ROBUSTA YES
212 SILVER MAPLE ACER SACCHARINUM YES
213 SOUTHERN MAGNOLIA MAGNOLIA GRANDIFLORA YES
214 SILVER MAPLE ACER SACCHARINUM YES
215 PIN OAK QUERCUS PALUSTRIS YES
216 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
217 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
218 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
219 LONDON PLANE TREE PLATANUS X HISPANICA YES
220 ITALIAN CYPRESS (6) CUPRESSUS SEMPERVIRENS YES
221 CANARY ISLAND DATE PALM PHOENIX CANARIENSIS YES
222 CHINESE PISTACHE PISTACIA CHINENSIS NO
223 FREEMAN'S MAPLE ACER X FREEMANII YES
224 SCARLET OAK QUERCUS COCCINEA NO
225* ITALIAN CYPRESS (7) CUPRESSUS SEMPERVIRENS YES
226* CORDYLINE AUSTRALIS DRACENA PALM YES
NOTE: TREE NUMBERS ARE BASED ON THE CITY OF SONOMA – SONOMA PLAZA TREE INVENTORY AND MANAGEMENT PLAN, 2022 PREPARED BY BARTLETT TREE EXPERTS. * TREES NOT IDENTIFIED IN THE TREE INVENTORY AND MANAGEMENT PLAN.

Agenda Item #7.3:

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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park
Appendix B: Summary of Contributing and Non-Contributing Landscape Features in Sonoma Plaza B-1
Appendix B: Summary of Contributing and Non-Contributing Landscape Features in Sonoma Plaza ** Contributing and Non-contributing status of all trees in Sonoma Plaza is included in Appendix A, Sheets 5 and 6 (Existing Trees and Existing Tree Inventory Showing Contributing and Non-Contributing Features) Feature Date Contributing Status Landscape Category
Eight-acre size, square
footprint, and axial
relationship to Broadway
1835 Contributing Spatial organization
Bear Flag pole 1846 Contributing Small scale feature
Wood bollards with holes 1900 est. Non-contributing
(removed or moved)
Small scale feature
Quadrant arrangement with
clear geographic center
1905 Contributing Spatial organization
S. V. W. C. Bear Flag
Monument
1907 Contributing Small scale feature
Sonoma City Hall 1908 Contributing Buildings and structures U-plan driveway 1908 Contributing Circulation feature
Open area around City Hall 1908 Contributing Circulation feature Axial walkways 1908 est.,
realigned 1915 est.

Contributing Circulation feature
Rustic fountain 1909 Contributing Constructed water feature U-shaped lawn 1910 Contributing Vegetation
Carnegie Library Building 1913 Contributing (1996
alterations
excluded)
Buildings and structures
N. S. G. W. Bear Flag
Monument
1914 Contributing Small scale feature
Secondary curved walkways 1915 est. Contributing Circulation feature Sidewalks at Plaza perimeter 1915 est.; most in
place by 1939
Contributing Circulation feature
Rock Canopy with Drinking
Fountain
1924 Contributing Small scale feature
Metal flag poles in U-plan
lawn
1930 est. Contributing Small scale feature
Duck pond 1932 Contributing (2006
perimeter
alterations
excluded)
Constructed water feature
Italian Garden path-side and
outer boundary boxwood
hedges
1935 Contributing Vegetation
Agenda Item #7.3:

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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park
Appendix B: Summary of Contributing and Non-Contributing Landscape Features in Sonoma Plaza B-2
Feature Date Contributing Status Landscape Category
Italian Garden axial
arrangement of paths
leading from the east and to
the north and south
1935 Contributing Circulation feature
Italian Fountain 1935 Contributing Small-scale feature
Grinstead Amphitheater 1935 Contributing Buildings and structures Big Kids Playground 1935 Non-contributing Small-scale feature Rose Garden 1936 Contributing Vegetation
Sun Dial at Rose Garden 1939 Contributing Small-scale feature Lawn panels 1939 and earlier Contributing Vegetation
Level ground plane and flat
topography
1939 and earlier Contributing Topography
Colonel Agostin Haraszthy
plaque
1946 Non-contributing Small-scale feature
Memorial Redwood plaque 1948 Non-contributing Small-scale feature Little Kids Playground 1950 Non-contributing Small-scale feature Rotary Club of Sonoma
Valley plaque
1950 Non-contributing Small-scale feature
Light standards 1955 and later Non-contributing Small-scale feature El Camino Real Bell 1957 est. Non-contributing Small-scale feature Bench at Rose Garden 1966 Non-contributing Small-scale feature Paving at Rose Garden 1966 Non-contributing Circulation feature Joseph A. Baccaglio Sonoma
Valley Rotary Club plaque
1968 Non-contributing Small-scale feature
Grinstead Amphitheater
Stage Shelter
1976, est. and
2005
Non-contributing Buildings and structures
Concrete paved walkway
around the Rustic fountain
1980 Non-contributing Circulation feature
Bus shelter 1980 or later Non-contributing Buildings and structures Italian Garden Stone Wall 1986 Non-contributing Small scale feature Italian Garden Paving 1986 Non-contributing Circulation feature Italian Garden interior
hedge rows forming
planting beds
1986 Non-contributing Vegetation
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Historic Landscape Survey Architectural Resources Group Sonoma Plaza Park
Appendix B: Summary of Contributing and Non-Contributing Landscape Features in Sonoma Plaza B-3
Feature Date Contributing Status Landscape Category
Wood bollards with signage 1990 est. Non-contributing Small scale feature Utilitarian bike racks 1990 est. Non-contributing Small scale feature Bollard-style bike racks 1990 est. Non-contributing Small scale feature Payphone 1990 est. Non-contributing Small scale feature Gate enclosure 1990 est. Non-contributing Small scale feature Two drinking fountains 1990 est. and 2020
est.

Non-contributing Small scale feature
Sesquicentennial Time
Capsule plaque
1996 est. Non-contributing Small scale feature
N. S. G. W. Bear Flag
Monument stone wall
around planting bed
2000 Non-contributing Small scale feature
Electrical bollards 2000 est. Non-contributing Small scale feature Concrete paved walkway
and perimeter condition
alterations at Duck Pond
2006 Non-contributing Circulation feature
Carnegie Library Building
kiosk
2008 Non-contributing Small scale feature
Informational signage 2008 est. Non-contributing Small scale feature Artistic Bike Rack 2010 Non-contributing Small scale feature General Manuel G. Vallejo
monument
2017 Non-contributing Small scale feature
Trash receptacles 2024 Non-contributing Small scale feature Picnic tables 2025 Non-contributing Small scale feature Benches 2025 Non-contributing Small scale feature
Bench surface at Grinstead
Amphitheater
2025 Non-contributing Small scale feature
David Chavoya Horseshoe
plaque
no date Non-contributing Small scale feature
Salute to Sonoma Citizens
plaque
no date Non-contributing Small scale feature
Agenda Item #7.3:

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SAN FRANCISCO
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San Francisco, California 94111
T: 415.421.1680

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LOS ANGELES
360 E. 2nd Street, Suite 225
Los Angeles, CA 90012
T: 626.583.1401
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PORTLAND
720 SW Washington Street, Suite 605
Portland, OR 97205
T: 971.256.5324
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Agenda Item #7.3:

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City of Sonoma
Agenda Item Summary
Meeting: City Council - 05 Aug 2026
Department
Administration
Staff Contact
Rebekah Barr, MMC, City Clerk
Agenda Item Title
Designate Mayor Ron Wellander as the City of Sonoma Voting Delegate for the 2026 Cal Cities Annual Conference and Council Members John Gurney and Jack Ding as the Alternates Summary
The City of Sonoma is a member of Cal Cities. Founded in 1898, the League of California Cities (Cal Cities) is an association of California city officials who work together to influence policy decisions affecting cities. The organization provides legislative and ballot measure advocacy, legal advocacy, education, and strategic outreach to defend and expand local control in the Legislature, at the ballot box, in the courts, and among policymakers, opinion leaders, and the public.

Each year, Cal Cities holds an annual conference where delegates from cities across the state enhance their knowledge and skills, exchange information, and share resources. The 2026 League of California Cities Annual Conference will be held September 23–25 in Anaheim. An important part of the conference is the General Assembly, scheduled for Friday, September 25, at 8:30 a.m. During the General Assembly, voting delegates from member cities consider and act on resolutions that establish Cal Cities policy.

Resolutions may be submitted either before or during the annual conference.

General Resolutions must be submitted at least 60 days before the Annual Conference.

Member cities may submit policy proposals on issues of importance to cities. Each resolution must have the concurrence of at least five additional member cities or individual members.

General Resolutions are assigned to policy committees for review, debate, and recommendations. The recommendations are then forwarded to the Resolutions Committee, which may amend a General Resolution before forwarding it to the General Assembly.

Petitioned Resolutions provide an alternative method for introducing policy proposals during the Annual Conference. A petitioned resolution must be signed by voting delegates representing at least 10 percent of member cities and submitted to the Cal Cities President at least 24 hours before the start of the General Assembly. These resolutions are forwarded to the Resolutions Committee and may be disqualified in accordance with Cal Cities Bylaws, Article VI, Section 5(f).

The Resolutions Committee considers all resolutions. General Resolutions approved by either a policy committee or the Resolutions Committee are forwarded to the General Assembly for consideration. General Resolutions that are not approved, or that are referred for further study by both a policy committee and the Resolutions Committee, do not advance to the General Assembly. All Petitioned Resolutions are considered by the General Assembly unless they are disqualified.

Agenda Item #7.4:

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The deadlines for submitting resolutions are as follows:
• General Resolutions: Saturday, July 25, 2026
• Petitioned Resolutions: Thursday, September 24, 2026, at 8:30 a.m.

At the time this report was prepared, the City had not received any proposed resolutions. If resolutions are received, they will be brought forward at a future City Council meeting for consideration.

To cast a vote at the General Assembly, the City Council must designate one voting delegate and may designate up to two alternates. Traditionally, the Mayor serves as the voting delegate if attending the conference, although another Council Member may be designated.

Mayor Wellander and Council Members Gurney and Ding will also attend the conference. All three have expressed a willingness to serve as the City's voting delegate or as alternates.

Recommended Council Action
Designate Mayor Wellander as the City of Sonoma Voting Delegate and Council Members Gurney and Ding as the Alternates and direct the City Clerk to submit names to Cal Cities as required.

Alternative Actions
Council discretion.

Financial Impact
N/A
Environmental Review Status
Environmental Impact Report
Negative Declaration
Exempt
Not Applicable
Approved/Certified
No Action Required
Action Requested
Attachments
2026 Voting Delegate Information Packet
Agenda Item #7.4:

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Sonoma City CouncilAugust 5, 2026

Sonoma City Council
August 5, 2026