Petaluma’s Upper Main Street

A history snapshot of Petaluma Boulevard North at Washington Street

Main Street looking south from Washington Street, circa 1890s (photo Sonoma County Library)

Petaluma was founded in 1852 by George H. Keller, a failed gold miner from Missouri, who laid out Main Street between Oak and B streets on what had originally been part of a Coast Miwok trading route.

Main Street looking south from Washington Street, 1911 (photo Sonoma County Library)

The intersection of Main and Washington streets, from which these shots were taken over time, served as the initial center of town, a crossroads for carriage traffic and wagons from outlying farms. Citizens gathered in nearby Hill Plaza (today’s Penry Park) for community events.

Main Street looking south from Washington Street, 1950 (photo Petaluma Historical Library & Museum)

From the docks of the Petaluma River behind the street, flat-bottom scow schooners plied the Petaluma River to San Francisco, laden with potatoes, meat, and grains. Grain mills and warehouses lined both upper Main Street north of Washington Street, and lower Main Street from Western Avenue to B Street.

Construction in 1882 of the Masonic Lodge, capped by a town clock, shifted the center of town to Main Street and Western Avenue.

Petlauma Boulevard North (formerly Main Street) looking south from Washington Street, 2022 (photo courtesy Scott Hess)

Author: John Patrick Sheehy

John is a history detective who digs beneath the legends, folklore, and myths to learn what’s either been hidden from the common narrative or else lost to time, in hopes of enlarging the collective understanding of our culture and communities.