Santa Rosa, California
Santa Rosa is the county seat of Sonoma County, California, United States. As of January 1, 2008, the population of Santa Rosa was approximately 161,496 residents. Santa Rosa is the largest city in California's Wine Country and fifth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, after San Jose, San Francisco, Oakland, and Fremont.Santa Rosa's metropolitan statistical area has a population of 486,630, making it the 12th largest in California and the 105th largest in the United States.
Geography
Santa Rosa is located at 38°26′55″N 122°42′17″W / 38.448611°N 122.704722°W / 38.448611; -122.704722 in Sonoma County.According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 40.37 sq mi (104.6 km2), of which 40.13 sq mi (103.9 km2) is land and 0.25 sq mi (0.6 km2) (0.62%) is water.The city is part of the North Bay region, which includes such cities as Sonoma, Healdsburg and Sebastopol. It lies along the US Route 101 corridor, approximately 55 miles (90 km) north of San Francisco, via the Golden Gate Bridge.Santa Rosa lies on the Santa Rosa Plain; its eastern extremities stretch into the Valley of the Moon, and the Sonoma Creek watershed known as the Sonoma Valley, while its western edge lies in the Laguna de Santa Rosa catchment basin.The city is in the watershed of Santa Rosa Creek, which rises on Hood Mountain and discharges to the Laguna de Santa Rosa. Tributary basins to Santa Rosa Creek lying significantly in the city are Brush Creek, Matanzas Creek, Colgan Creek and Piner Creek. Other water bodies within the city include Fountaingrove Lake, Lake Ralphine, and Santa Rosa Creek Reservoir.The prominent visual feature is Hood Mountain seen to the east. To the southeast, Taylor Mountain and Sonoma Mountain are readily visible from much of the city.
Climate
Santa Rosa has cool, wet winters and warm, mostly dry summers. In the summer, fog and low overcast often moves in from the Pacific Ocean during the evenings and mornings. It usually clears to warm, sunny weather by late morning or noon before returning in the later evening but will occasionally linger all day. Average annual rainfall is 30.45 inches (773 mm), falling on 74 days annually. The wettest year was 1983 with 63.07 inches (1,602 mm) and the driest year was 1976 with 11.38 inches (289 mm). The most rainfall in one month was 19.42 inches (493 mm) in February 1998 and the most rainfall in 24 hours was 5.23 inches (133 mm) on December 19, 1981. Measurable snowfall is rare in the lowlands, but light amounts sometimes fall in the nearby mountains.There are an average of 28.9 days with highs of 90°F (32°C) or more and an average of 30.2 days with lows of 32°F (0°) or lower. The record high was 110 °F (43 °C) on September 13, 1971, and the record low was 15 °F (−9 °C) on December 13, 1932.
Seismicity
Santa Rosa lies atop the Healdsburg-Rodgers Creek segment of the Hayward-Rodgers Creek Fault System. The U.S. Geological Survey estimates a 20% chance of a magnitude 6.7 or greater earthquake on this segment by 2030.On April 14, 2005, the United States Geological Survey released a map detailing the results of a new tool that measures ground shaking during an earthquake. The map determined that the 1906 San Francisco earthquake was most powerful in an area between Santa Rosa and what is now Sebastopol, causing more damage in Santa Rosa (for its size) than any other city affected.Two earthquakes of magnitudes 5.6 and 5.7 shook Santa Rosa October 1, 1969, damaging about 100 structures. They were the strongest quakes to affect the city since 1906. The epicenters were about two miles (3 km) north of Santa Rosa.
Nature and wildlife
Due to its population, much of Santa Rosa's remaining undisturbed area is on its urban fringe. However, it includes the principal corridors of Santa Rosa Creek and its tributaries, which flow through the heart of the town. Great blue herons, great egrets, snowy egrets and black-crowned herons nest in the trees of the median strip on West Ninth Street as well as long Santa Rosa Creek and downtown. Deer often are spotted roaming the neighborhoods nearer the eastern hills, as deep into town as Franklin Avenue and the McDonald area; flocks of wild turkeys are relatively common in some areas, and mountain lions are occasionally observed within the city limits. Raccoons and opossums are a common sight throughout the city, while foxes, and rabbits may be regularly seen in the more rural areas. In addition, the city borders, and extends around the northern end of, Annadel State Park which extends into the Sonoma Mountains and Sonoma Valley. Annadel State Park also adjoins Spring Lake County Park and Howarth Park, forming one contiguous park system that enables visitors to venture into wild native habitats.
Neighborhoods
Santa Rosa can be seen as divided into four quadrants: Northeast, Southeast, Southwest, and Northwest. U.S. Route 101 runs roughly north and south through the city, and divides it into east and west sides. State Route 12 runs roughly east and west, and divides the city into north and south sides.Neighborhoods include:Bennett Valley
Burbank Gardens Historic District
Cherry Street Historic District
Coffey Park
Country Club
Dutton Ave
Hidden Valley
Juilliard Park
Junior College
Lomita Heights
Montgomery Village
Moorland Avenue
North Junior College
North West Santa Rosa
Oakmont Village
Olive Park
Ridgway Historic District
Rincon Valley
Roseland
South Park
Santa Rosa Avenue
St. Rose Historic District
Stonegate
Town & Country/Grace Tract
West End Arts & Theater District
West End Historic District
West Junior College
Demographics
As of 2008, there were 161,496 people, 56,036 households, and 35,134 families residing in the city. The population density was 3,678.3 people per square mile (1,420.1/km²). There were 57,578 housing units at an average density of 1,434.9/sq mi (554.0/km²). The racial makeup of the city was 74.4% White, 2.3% African American, 0.9% Native American, 5.5% Asian, 0.2% Pacific Islander, 13.1% from other races, and 3.7% from two or more races. 23.5% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.As of the census of 2000, there were 63,153 households out of which 30.9% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 46.9% were married couples living together, 11.0% had a female householder with no husband present, and 37.3% were non-families. 27.8% of all households were made up of individuals and 11.9% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.57 and the average family size was 3.14.In the city the population is spread out with 24.3% under the age of 18, 9.5% from 18 to 24, 30.0% from 25 to 44, 22.3% from 45 to 64, and 13.9% who are 65 years of age or older. The median age is 36 years. For every 100 females there are 95.4 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there are 91.8 males.The median income for a household in the city is $50,931, and the median income for a family is $59,659. Males have a median income of $40,420 versus $30,597 for females. The per capita income for the city is $24,495. 8.5% of the population and 5.1% of families are below the poverty line. Out of the total population, 9.5% of those under the age of 18 and 4.7% of those 65 and older are living below the poverty line.
Politics
In the state legislature Santa Rosa is located in the 2nd Senate District, represented by Democrat Pat Wiggins, and in the 7th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Noreen Evans. Federally, Santa Rosa is located in California's 6th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +23 and is represented by Democrat Lynn Woolsey.
City image
Horticulturalist Luther Burbank lived in Santa Rosa for over 50 years. He said of Sonoma County, 'I firmly believe, from what I have seen, that this is the chosen spot of all this earth as far as Nature is concerned.' For many years the City's slogan was 'The City Designed For Living.'In early 2007, the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce, the City, and Santa Rosa Main Street (a Downtown booster group funded by the City), started searching for a new slogan, to 'help the City of Santa Rosa discover its identity.' The Chamber said it wants to develop 'a strategic community message for marketing the city to visitors, residents, and businesses in the year 2007 and beyond.'Local historian Gaye LeBaron, in a March 4, 2007 column for The Press Democrat, commented that:There is a disconnect between the average Santa Rosan's perception of the town and reality... What we have are a lot of people, some old-timers, some fairly new residents, who never, ever intended to live in the fifth-largest city in any area. And, frightened by new crimes, stalled in old traffic, watching tall buildings rise, they're mad as hell! When you stop to think about it, this revelation explains a lot. We have spent decades wondering why we couldn't save the Carrillo Adobe or the Hoag House, why we can't have a plaza like Healdsburg's or Sonoma's, why we've never achieved a proper historical museum like all the other towns around, why it takes so long (20 years for ANYthing) to reach the simplest civic goal, why we have to hire an image consultant to tell us what we represent. It's because we have outgrown the hometown, small-town advantage. We've become a real city while we were busy complaining about our farm town.
History, growth and development
The first known permanent European settlement of Santa Rosa was the homestead of the Carrillo family, in-laws to Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, who settled the Sonoma pueblo and Petaluma area. In the 1830s, during the Mexican period, the family of María López de Carrillo built an adobe house on their Rancho Cabeza de Santa Rosa land grant, just east of what later became downtown Santa Rosa. Allegedly, however, by the 1820s, before the Carrillos built their adobe in the 1830s, Spanish/Mexican settlers from nearby Sonoma and other settlements to the south raised livestock in the area and slaughtered animals at the fork of the Santa Rosa Creek and Matanzas Creek, near the intersection of modern-day Santa Rosa Ave. and Sonoma Ave. This is supposedly the origin of the name of Matanzas Creek as, because of its use as a slaughtering place, the confluence came to be called La Matanza.By the 1850s, a Wells Fargo post and general store were established in what is now downtown Santa Rosa. In the mid-1850s, several prominent locals, including Julio Carrillo, son of Maria Carrillo, laid out the grid street pattern for Santa Rosa with a public square in the center, a pattern which largely remains as the street pattern for downtown Santa Rosa to this day despite changes to the central square, now called Old Courthouse Square.In 1867, the county recognized Santa Rosa as an incorporated city and in 1868 the state officially confirmed the incorporation, making it officially the third incorporated city in Sonoma County, after Petaluma, incorporated in 1858, and Healdsburg, incorporated in 1867.The U.S. Census records, among others, show that after California became a state, despite initially lagging behind nearby Petaluma in the 1850s and early 1860s, Santa Rosa grew steadily early on. According to the U.S. Census, in 1870 Santa Rosa was the 8th largest city in California, and county seat of one of the most populous counties in the state. Growth and development after that were never rapid, but were steady.As a result, the city continued to grow when other early population centers declined or stagnated, but by 1900 it had been, or was being, overtaken by many other newer population centers in the San Francisco Bay Area and Southern California. According to a 1905 article in the Press Democrat newspaper reporting on the 'Battle of the Trains,' the city had just over 10,000 people at the time.The April 18, 1906 San Francisco Earthquake essentially destroyed the entire downtown, but the city's population did not greatly suffer. However, after that period the population growth of Santa Rosa, as with most of the area, was very slow.Famed director Alfred Hitchcock filmed his thriller Shadow of a Doubt in Santa Rosa in 1943; the film, which has been released on VHS and DVD, gives glimpses of Santa Rosa in the 1940s. Many of the downtown buildings seen in the film no longer exist, due to major reconstruction following the strong earthquakes in September 1969. However, some, like the rough-stone Northwestern Pacific Railroad depot and the prominent Empire Building (built in 1910 with a gold-topped clock tower), still survive. A scene at the bank was filmed at the corner of Fourth St and Mendocino Ave (at present day Old Courthouse square); sharp-eyed viewers can identify the 'KRESS' building on Fourth St, however, the courthouse and bank are gone.
Post World War II
With the end of World War II in 1945, Santa Rosa would soon see substantial growth for the next 25 years. The population enlarged by 2/3 between 1950 and 1970, an average of 1,000 new residents a year over the 20 years. Some of the increase was from immigration, and some from annexation of portions of the surrounding area.In 1958 the United States Office of Civil and Defense Mobilization designated Santa Rosa as one of its eight regional headquarters, with jurisdiction over Region 7, which included American Samoa, Arizona, California, Guam, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah. Santa Rosa continued as a major center for civil defense activity (under the Office of Emergency Planning and the Office of Emergency Preparedness) until 1972 when the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) was created in its place, ending the civil defense's 69-year history.When the City Council adopted the City's first modern General Plan in 1991, the population was about 113,000. In the 21 years since 1970, Santa Rosa had grown by about 3,000 residents a year—triple the average growth during the previous twenty years.Santa Rosa 2010, the 1991 General Plan, called for a population of 175,000 in 2010. The Council expanded the City's urban boundary to include all the land then planned for future annexation, and declared it would be Santa Rosa's 'ultimate' boundary. The rapid growth that was being criticized as urban sprawl became routine infill development.At the first five-year update of the plan, in 1996, the Council extended the planning period by ten years, renaming it Vision 2020 (updated to Santa Rosa 2020, and then again to Santa Rosa 2030 Vision), and added more land and population. Now the City projects a population of 195,000 in 2020.
History resources
Local historian Gaye LeBaron, a retired Press Democrat columnist, is the author of two modern histories: Santa Rosa: a 19th Century Town; and Santa Rosa: a 20th Century Town. The Sonoma State University Library, in Rohnert Park, holds the Gaye LeBaron Collection: 700 file folders of her research notes and primary source materials, containing some 10,000 documents.
Council goals/projects
The City Council has adopted these Strategic Planning Goals for 2007–2009:Creating A Vital Downtown
Thriving Diverse, Healthy, and Safe Neighborhoods
Open Space and Recreational Activities
Creating Additional Transportation Alternatives
More Inclusive Community
Deliver a Safe and Efficient Transportation System
Develop Regional Gang Prevention and Intervention
Maintain a Leadership Role in the Region for Environmental Initiatives
Promote a Healthy and Growing Economic Base
Provide Resources for Seniors and Youth
Sister cities
Cherkasy,Ukraine
Jeju City,South Korea
Los Mochis,Mexico
Education
CollegesEmpire College
Santa Rosa Junior College
University of San Francisco(USF) - Santa Rosa
School DistrictsBellevue Union
Bennett Valley Union
Mark West Union
Oak Grove Union
Piner-Olivet Union
Rincon Valley Union
Roseland
Santa Rosa City Schools
Wright
Private SchoolsCardinal Newman High School(9-12)
Redwood Adventist Academy (K-12)
Rincon Valley Christian School (K-12)
Santa Rosa Christian School (K-12)
Sonoma Academy(9-12)
St. Eugene's Elementary School
St. Luke's Elementary School
St. Rose Elementary School
Summerfield Waldorf School (K-12)
Stuart School (K-8)
Ursuline High School(9-12)
Libraries
The Sonoma County Library offers a Central Library in downtown Santa Rosa, a Northwest branch at Coddingtown Mall, and a Rincon Valley branch in east Santa Rosa. The Library is a member of the North Bay Cooperative Library System. The Santa Rosa Central Library, the largest branch of the Sonoma County Library system, has a Local History and Genealogy Annex, located behind the Central Library.The Sonoma County Public Law Library is located at the Sonoma County Courthouse.At Santa Rosa Junior College, the new four-story Frank P. Doyle Library is a state-of-the-art facility. It houses the Library, Media Services, and Academic Computing Departments, as well as the College art gallery, tutorial center and Center for New Media, a multimedia production facility for SRJC faculty.
Economy
Forbes Magazine ranked the Santa Rosa metropolitan area 185th out of 200, on its 2007 list of Best Places For Business And Careers. It was second on the list five years before. The area was downgraded because of an increase in the cost of doing business, and reduced job growth—both blamed on increases in the cost of housing.
Top employers
According to the City's 2009 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:
Santa Rosa is also home to notable smaller businesses such as Moonlight Brewing Company and Russian River Brewing Company.
Media
KSRO, a news & talk station based out of Santa Rosa, featuring the popular variety talk show The Drive.
The Press Democratis the largest newspaper in California's north coastal strip between San Francisco and the Oregon border.
North Bay Bohemian, a free weekly newspaper, specializing in food, arts, and entertainment.
KFTYTV50 is Santa Rosa's only private television station.
KORB, headquarted in Santa Rosa and heard on K300AO 107.9 MHz
Tourism
Santa Rosa sits at the southwestern gateway to the Sonoma and Napa Valleys of California's famed Wine Country. Many wineries and vineyards are nearby, as well as the Russian River resort area, the Sonoma Coast along the Pacific Ocean, Jack London State Historic Park and the redwood trees of Armstrong Redwoods State Reserve.The City sprawls along Highway 101, about an hour north of San Francisco and the Golden Gate Bridge. Airline service by Horizon Air, from the Charles M. Schulz - Sonoma County Airport, just north of Santa Rosa, is available to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Portland, and Seattle. The City Council is also encouraging major new commercial and residential development along the planned Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) railway from Larkspur to Cloverdale, parallel to Highway 101. SMART, scheduled to open in 2014, is funded by a sales tax surcharge passed by Sonoma and Marin voters in 2008.The City Council pays the Santa Rosa Chamber of Commerce to operate the Santa Rosa Convention & Visitors Bureau. The Chamber's visitors center is in the City-owned old railroad depot at the bottom of Fourth Street, in Historic Railroad Square. The SRC&VB has been a California Welcome Center since 2003.Downtown Santa Rosa, including the central Old Courthouse Square and historic Railroad Square, is a shopping, restaurant, nightclub, and theater area. Downtown also includes City Hall, State, and Federal office buildings, many banks, and professional offices. The Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital medical center is just to the east.The City Council funds a private booster group, Santa Rosa Main Street, which lobbies the City to revitalize the traditional business district. Three new mixed-use, high-rise buildings, and a new City parking garage, are under development. The Council and Downtown business boosters hope condos atop the new buildings will house a population to keep the area alive 24 hours a day.The nearby towns of Bodega Bay, Calistoga, Guerneville, Healdsburg, Petaluma, Sebastopol, Sonoma and Windsor are popular with tourists, and readily accessible from Santa Rosa.Railroad Square is the portion of downtown that is on the west side of U.S. Route 101 and has the highest concentration of historic commercial buildings. Of particular note are the four rough-hewn stone buildings at its core, two of which are rare in that they predate the 1906 earthquake. They include the old Northwestern Pacific Railroad depot, prominent in the beginning and end of Shadow of a Doubt by Alfred Hitchcock and the still-functioning Hotel La Rose, built in 1907 and registered as one of the National Trust for Historic Preservation Historic Hotels of America. The area contains numerous other historic buildings, such as the former Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railroad depot, and the Lee Bros. Building, both at the corner of 4th and Wilson Streets. Near it in the West End district are numerous other old buildings, including not only many old houses but the masonry DeTurk Winery complex, dating to the 1880s-1890s, and the DeTurk round barn. Also of note nearby is the former Del Monte Cannery Building built in 1894. One of the oldest surviving commercial buildings in town, it was renovated into the 6th Street Playhouse in 2005.Local attractionsCarrillo Adobe. Built in 1837 for Dona Maria Ignacio Lopez de Carrillo (General Mariano Vallejo's mother-in-law), the Carrillo Adobe was the first home on the site of the future Santa Rosa. The remains of the Carrillo home rest behind a cyclone fence off Montgomery Drive, on property owned by theRoman Catholic Diocese of Santa Rosa in California, adjacent to its Cathedral of St. Eugene.
Luther Burbank Home and Gardens
Charles M. Schulz Museum and Research Center
Redwood Empire Ice Arena('Snoopy's Home Ice')
Sonoma County Museum
Annadel State Park
Spring Lake Regional Park
Prince Memorial Greenway. This is a developed bicycle and pedestrian path along Santa Rosa Creek through downtown and out to the west of town. Near Railroad Square, it connects directly to the Joe Redota Trail, a paved path which goes toSebastopol.
Railroad Square. With the highest concentration of historic commercial buildings in Santa Rosa, this portion of downtown is popular with tourists and locals alike.
Historic residential neighborhoods. Although most of Santa Rosa's commercial buildings were destroyed in the 1906 earthquake, almost all of its numerous houses survived and most have survived to this day. As a result, Santa Rosa has a number of old neighborhoods in and around downtown, several historically designated. These contain numerous old homes, including manyVictorians. Most of these are on quiet, often tree-lined streets.
Performing and visual arts
The performing arts in Santa Rosa are represented by Summer Repertory Theatre, the Santa Rosa Symphony, and the 6th Street Playhouse. Santa Rosa is the home of the North Bay Theater Group, an alliance of some 40 theater companies, theater departments and individual performance companies from five North Bay counties.Summer Repertory Theater (SRT) is a complete and extensive practicum in all aspects of stage production. The program combines professional directing, design, and production staff with outstanding students in acting, design, technical theater, dance, music, and management. The ensemble mounts five productions, which are performed in full rotating Repertory six days a week beginning in mid June. Company members put theory to the test and learn to work in a professional system. SRT, located in the heart of the Sonoma County wine country, one hour north of San Francisco and forty-five minutes east of the beautiful Northern California coast is a well organized program.The Santa Rosa Symphony, the city's professional orchestra, is currently under the direction of Bruno Ferrandis. Former conductor Jeffrey Kahane resigned from the post, which he held for ten years, to become music director of the Colorado Symphony Orchestra.The Santa Rosa Symphony education department consists of four youth ensembles categorized by their level of skill. The department provides classical music education to students across Sonoma County, who can audition for any of these groups. The three full orchestral ensembles, from lowest to highest are the Preparatory Orchestra, the Discovery Orchestra, and the Youth Orchestra. The chamber strings ensemble is known as the Young People's Chamber Orchestra.The visual arts are represented by the Sonoma County Museum and numerous independent art galleries. The Arts Council of Sonoma County is based at the Museum.
Law enforcement and crime
The Santa Rosa Police Department currently has 259 employees, of which 172 are sworn peace officers. Its budget is more than $40,000,000, comprising more than one third of the city's entire General Fund Budget. Police shootings in 2007 led to calls for an independent civilian police review board.
Notable natives and residents
See also Category: People from Santa Rosa, CaliforniaFrancis Boggs, actor, writer, and director
Warren Boyd,television producer, drug counselor
Luther Burbank, horticulturalist
Stephanie St. James, is actress, singer, and disease advocate.
Shirlee Busbee, writer
Maria Ygnacia Lopez de Carrillo was the first Mexican/Spanish settler and land grantee of Santa Rosa, establishing theRancho Cabeza de Santa Rosain 1838. She was also notable in California as a rare female land grantee; mother-in-law ofMariano Guadalupe Vallejo, a major Californio administrator who played a crucial role in California during both the Mexican and US periods; mother of Vallejo's wife, Francisca Maria Felipe Benicia, after whom the city ofBeniciawas named; grandmother ofRomualdo Pacheco, California's only Californio state governor; and aunt of Californio administratorsAndres PicoandPio Pico.
Robert X. Cringely, technology journalist
Florian Dauenhauer of Santa Rosa founded Dauenhauer Manufacturing which is still located on 5th Street in Santa Rosa. Around 1940, he revolutionized the UShopindustry by inventing a hop harvesting machine which mechanized what was a time-consuming, labor-intensive process and which is the basis for current hop harvesting. Unfortunately for the region, it helped destroy the region's once-thriving hop industry.
Rebecca De Mornay, film and television actress
Frank Doyle, owner of the regionally significant Exchange Bank until his death in 1948, instrumental advocate of the creation of the Golden Gate Bridge (Doyle Drive, the southern approach to the bridge, memorializes his role), and creator of the endowment commonly known as the Doyle Trust, which holds controlling stock in the Bank in trust solely for the funding of scholarships for qualifying students attending the Santa Rosa Junior College. Because of the Doyle Trust, the Exchange Bank (still headquartered in Santa Rosa) can never be bought or sold.
William Mark Felt, Watergate informant known as 'Deep Throat'
Guy Fieri, celebrity chef
Paul Gilger, author of the musicalShowtune
Thomas Lake Harris, mystic and prophet
Chris Hayes, musician, member ofHuey Lewis and the News
Richard Heinberg, ecological journalist
Dan Hicks, singer and songwriter
Joseph and William Hunt, founders ofHunt'sfoods
Levi Leipheimer, cyclist and 3-time winner of theTour of California
Julie London, singer and actress
Ray Luv, Bay Area Rapper. Native of the West 9th district.
Kanaye Nagasawa (1852–1934) was a Japanese-American who became known as 'The Grape King,' 'The Baron of Fountaingrove.' and 'The Japanese Wine King of California'. He was a follower and adoptive son ofThomas Lake Harris. For his efforts to improve U.S.-Japanese relations, he was awarded theOrder of the Rising Sun. Nagasawa Community Park is named after him.
Ernie Nevers, football star
Vicky Nguyen, television reporter
Stephan Pastis, cartoonist ofPearls Before Swine
Robert Ripley, columnist ofRipley's Believe It or Not
Charles M. Schulz, cartoonist ofPeanuts
Pete Stringfellow, country music artist
David Terrell, fighter
Natalie Wood, film actress
Film locations
Santa Rosa has served as a location for many major films, including:The Happy Land(1943) Shot in Santa Rosa andHealdsburg.Natalie Wood's first movie, at age four.
Shadow of a Doubt(1943)Alfred Hitchcock's personal favorite, filmed at Santa Rosa Railroad Depot, NWP Engine #140, Old Courthouse Square, Public Library, and McDonald Avenue. The 1991 telefilm involved eight weeks' filming on McDonald Avenue.
The Sullivans(1944) Shot on Morgan Street.
All My Sons(1948) Shot on McDonald Avenue.
The Wonderful World of DisneyThe 'Inky the Crow' episodes (beginning in the late 1960s) filmed in the Fountain Grove area.
Storm Center(1956)Bette Davisspent six weeks on location at the Santa Rosa Main Library, which keeps a collection of clippings. It also includes scenes from downtown and a house on Walnut Ct.
Pollyanna(1960) Featured the Mableton Mansion (also known as the McDonald Mansion), on McDonald Avenue.
Little Dog Lost(1963) Filmed in Santa Rosa andCloverdale.
It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World(1963) The sequence involving the plane and the control tower was shot at the Sonoma County Airport (in unincorporated Sonoma County between Santa Rosa and Windsor).
The Candidate(1972) directed byMichael Ritchiewas shot in Howarth Park and Schlumberger Gallery.
Slither(1972) Highway 101 south of Santa Rosa, and Cloverdale.
Steelyard Blues(1973) Shot in downtown Santa Rosa and at the Sonoma County Airport.
Smile(1975) Shot at the Veterans Memorial Auditorium and many other nearby locations. Made into a1986 Broadway musical of the same namewith music byMarvin Hamlisch.
Little Miss Marker(1980) Shot at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds.
Shoot the Moon(1982) Used a real Carl's Jr. on Industrial Drive at Cleveland Avenue. Also filmed at Wolf House at Jack London State Park.
Cujo(1983) Locations include Santa Rosa andPetaluma.
Smooth Talk(1985) Locations include Santa Rosa shopping malls andSebastopol.
The Blue Yonder(1985, TV) 'Lower' 4th Street (west of Highway 101) in Railroad Square.
Peggy Sue Got Married(1986) Locations includeSanta Rosa High Schooland Petaluma.
Wildfire(1988) Wood Pontiac & Cadillac on Corby Avenue.
Wired(1989) Filmed in Santa Rosa.
Die Hard II(1990) Scenes shot at Santa Rosa Air Center.
Shadow of a Doubt(1991, TV) McDonald Avenue and the Train Depot.
Stop! Or My Mom Will Shoot!(1992) Shot over a four-week period at Santa Rosa Air Center.
Phenomenon(1996) UsedSanta Rosa Junior Collegeas an establishing shot forUC Berkeley. Also used 'The Wagon Wheel' bar off of Highway 101 for bar scenes.
Scream(1996) A house on McDonald Avenue, a local grocery store and the Bradley Video Store on Piner Rd.
Inventing the Abbotts(1997) Shot at Santa Rosa High School and inPetaluma.
Mumford(1999) Shot at Santa Rosa Junior College, other Santa Rosa locations, and inGuernevilleandHealdsburg.
Bandits(2001) Locations included the Flamingo Hotel
The Man Who Wasn't There(2001) Set in Santa Rosa.
Cheaper by the Dozen(2003) Filmed in Railroad Square.