In May 1856, and Irish immigrant named James Daly opened a grocery on Upper Main Street just beyond Washington Street, one door above the offices of the Sonoma County Journal office.[1]
He was joined in the business in July 1857 by John Sroufe, a native of Ohio who had just moved to town from El Dorado County, where he and his wife settled after coming to California for the gold rush in 1850.[2] The grocery was renamed Daly & Sroufe. That same month they moved into a new, fireproof store at was then numbered 102 Main Street, across from the Plaza (most likely today 226 Petaluma Boulevard North).[3]
In August 1862, Daly & Sroufe moved their grocery into a new brick building adjacent to their old store at 88-90 Main Street (today 218 Petaluma Boulevard North). They added iron fronts to the building.[4] In 1865, Sroufe bought out Daly, and in 1868 changed the name of the grocery to J. Sroufe & Co.[5]
In 1870, Sroufe sold his grocery to B. Reinhardt and D. Hildburgh, who renamed it Hildburgh & Reinhardt, and moved to San Francisco, where he became a wealthy liquor wholesaler. In 1873, Hildburgh bought out Reinhardt, and renamed the grocery Hildburgh & Bros.[6]
In 1881, Hildburgh & Bros. declared they were insolvent. Their grocery was taken over by James L. Winans and Marcus Goshen. In 1887, Winans bought out Goshen, changing the name of the grocery to J.L Winans & Son.[7]
After Winans died in 1910, his widow sold the grocery to Herman Peters, a native of Penngrove, who combined it with the Grand Saloon he operated in the adjacent building. He brought his brother Henry in as a partner, and the two combined the saloon and grocery as Peters & Peters.[8]
In 1922, Herman bought out his brother Henry, and continued to operated Peters & Peters until his retirement in 1947.[9]
The grocery was briefly taken over by George’s Food Center, before being purchased in 1949 by the Auto Parts Supply Company, ending its days as a grocery.[10] The Auto Parts Supply Company sold the building in 1960. Since then, the building has been occupied by a number different businesses over the years, including, since 2011, the Thrifty Hippy Thrift Store.[11]
For more on John Sroufe:
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FOOTNOTES:
[1] “Death of James Daly,” Petaluma Courier, June 27, 1888; First ad for James Daly grocery, Sonoma County Journal, May 17, 1856.
[2] “Was Petaluma’s First Merchant,” Petaluma Courier, July 18, 1904; “List of Letters: John Sroufe,” Sonoma County Journal, October 10, 1856; Findagrave.com: Mollie Sroufe Merrill (1853 to 1925) and E. Sroufe Loosley (1856 to 1940). Sroufe’s first daughter Mollie was born 1853 in El Dorado County, and his second, Susan, was born in Petaluma in 1856.
[3] Ad for “New Firm—Daly & Sroufe,” Sonoma County Journal, July 17, 1857; Ad for Daly & Sroufe, 102 Main Street, Sonoma County Journal, May 6, 1859.
[4] “Dissolution Notice, Sonoma County Journal, August 29, 1862.
[5] “Grocery Store,” Petaluma Argus, January 19, 1865; “Change of Business,” Petaluma Journal & Argus, August 25, 1868: Sroufe’s brother David joins him at J. Sroufe & Co.; “Our County Fair,” Petaluma Argus, October 7, 1868.
[6] First ad for Reinhardt & Hildburgh, Petaluma Argus, May, 1870; “Dissolution Notice,” Petaluma Argus, May 14, 1873.
[7] “Insolvent notice,” Petaluma Courier, October 12, 1881; “New Firm,” Petaluma Argus, November 11, 1881; “Dissolution of Copartnership,” Petaluma Argus, July 2, 1887.
[8] “Are Retiring From Business,” Petaluma Argus, January 28, 1910; Peters & Peters purchase, Petaluma Courier, February 15, 1910.
[9] “Herman Peters Buys Interest of Brother,” Petaluma Courier, April 19, 1922; “Peters & Peters Store to Close; Owner Will Retire,” Petaluma Argus-Courier, March 15, 1947.
[10] “Henry Reynaud Buys Peters & Peters Building on Main Street,” Petaluma Argus-Courier, March 17, 1947: Ad for George’s Food Center, 218 Main Street, formerly Peters & Peters, Petaluma Argus-Courier, February 10, 1949; “Auto Parts Firm in New Location,” Petaluma Argus-Courier, September 21, 1949.
[11] “Auto Parts to Move to 4th Street,” Petaluma Argus-Courier, October 20, 1960: Auto Parts Supply Company build a new store at 32 4th Street; First listing of Thrifty Hippy Thrift Store, Petaluma Argus-Courier, October 4, 2012; https://patch.com/california/petaluma/thrifty-hippy-is-one-hip-thrift-store