Location: County: Sonoma. Nearest City: Sonoma.
Campsites, facilities: No campsites. Point of interest
to visit while on tour.
Reservations, fees: Call park for information.
Contact: Phone the District Office 1-707-938-1519.
Local Web site: www.napanet.net/~sshpa/
Operating hours, seasons: Daily 10:00 a.m. to 5:00
p.m. | Closed Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Years.
Directions: The historic park is on 20 East Spain Street
at 1st Street, Sonoma.
Weather, clothing: The weather can be changeable; layered
clothing is recommended.
Trip notes: Sonoma State Historic Park is the site
of the barracks, and General Vallejo's home ("La Casa Grande"),
set on 49 acres of land. The Sonoma Mission in the park is the
last of California's 21 missions. It was completed in 1823. A
few years later, the Mexican government instructed Mariano Guadalupe
Vallejo, commander of the San Francisco presidio, to move his
troops to Sonoma and secularize the mission settlement. Vallejo
directed Sonoma's development until 1846 when a group of American
settlers seized the town and imprisoned General Vallejo in the
"Bear Flag Revolt." Vallejo was released and later
became a State Senator and mayor of Sonoma. Visitors to the park
can stroll through the streets surrounding the town's historic
central plaza. There are over a dozen buildings, constructed
between 1823 and 1855, including some from the Mission period.
The mission contains the Jorgensen Collection of mission paintings.
The park also has restaurants, shops and a museum. Nearby, Vallejo's
second Sonoma home, known as "Lachryma Montis," an
American-style Victorian, is open to the public.
© 2001, Miwok Lodge 439, Order of the
Arrow, Santa Clara County Council Inc., BSA
Revision 1.2
