by the Mystery Man, volunteer Our anonymous volunteer, affectionately called the Mystery Man, hunts down “missing” properties, homes, buildings, and other structures lost to the sands of time. Using a combination of GPS tools, aerial maps and photos, a compass, and good old ingenuity, he scours the city streets and countryside until he finds what […]
by Lauren Chevlan, volunteer Hi, my name is Lauren Chevlen and I am a volunteer here at the Napa County Historical Society. I relocated to the Napa Valley six years ago from Los Angeles. I have a Masters in History and worked for many years for an oral history project as a Historical Content Analyst…fancy […]
by Cathy Salomon, volunteer One of the neat collections we have that many people don’t know about is our blueprints. For more than a year now, volunteer Cathy Salomon has been sorting, reorganizing, preserving, digitizing, and cataloguing our blueprints created by famed local architect Luther Turton. This is how Cathy works her magic: “We have […]
by Kimberly Rice, Archives Intern Hello!! My name is Kimberly. I am a graduate student at San Jose State University where I am currently working on my Masters in Archives and Records Administration. I have a Bachelor degree in History from DePaul University in Chicago. I have interned at the Auburn Avenue Research Library on […]
by Alexandria Brown, Research Librarian Three to four times a year, Napa County Historical Society puts up a new exhibit. Though I spend most of my time as the Research Librarian verifying facts, researching homes and residents, supervising volunteers and interns, maintaining the website and blog, and writing historical articles for publication, every quarter or […]
by the Oral History Queen There are approximately 260 tapes in the oral history tape collection, covering a time span of about 1970-1995. The subject matter, interviewers, and interviewees vary, but what is gleaned from the interviews is always pertinent to Napa County history. For example, recently transcribed tapes provide information about the lives of […]
by Megan Jones I’ve been at the historical society in various jobs for the last two years. It has been a great experience, as I am getting my Master’s in Library and Information Science with an emphasis on archives and record management. Currently I’m working as a paid intern in the archives through a grant […]
Did people grow anything other than wine grapes in Napa County? Yes! Napa has long been famous for its variety of agricultural products. The temperate, modified coastal climate makes the region less foggy than San Francisco, but cooler than the much hotter inland areas of the Sacramento and San Joaquin valleys. Its numerous valleys are […]
What is the Ag Preserve? The Napa Valley Agricultural Preserve is a groundbreaking piece of legislation that has wide-reaching effects. It came about during the tumultuous 1960s. This was the era of the national development of social consciousness. Many towns and suburban cities like those in Napa County dealt not only with national issues like […]
What was in the Merrill Building before it was Merrill’s Drug Store? The Merrill Building in the 1200 block of First Street in downtown Napa was built about 1929. Like its near twin, the Gordon Building a block down, it was built by Samuel P. Gordon, an early Napa developer. Gordon owned several theaters in […]
Notifications
