After saying a lovely, ghost-free night in the Swiss Hotel it was time to finish up our summer adventure.
A very short drive from our hotel we came to the
Vineyard and Winery (San Francisco Solano Mission Vineyard) CHL 739.
This cute old building sits on the land that the missionary fathers used to make sacramental wine for the mission. They say that this is the first vineyard in Sonoma, as it was established in 1825.
After secularization of the missions Vallejo continued to produce award-winning wine here. In the early 1900s the vineyard was purchased by Samuele Sabastiani and it is still in operation today as a winery.
Next we drove to the
Haraszthy Villa (CHL 392-1).
This was built in 1857 as the home for Count Agoston Haraszthy, who was called the Father of California Viticulture.
The gorgeous home was the site of the first ball to celebrate a harvest in this area... and guess who was in attendance?
General and Mrs. Vallejo, of course!
A short drive away, we continued to learn about Agoston Haraszthy and the Buena Vista Winery and Vineyards (CHL 392).
Colonel Agoston Haraszthy founded this vineyard in 1857.
This is considered the "Birthplace of California Wine"-- although many places claim to be the first place wine was grown in California.
Agoston brought cuttings over from Europe to grow here...
he also oversaw the digging of the wine storage tunnels.
The property has a cool display as you walk toward the tasting room about the history of wine.
The tasting room was beautiful and they had a photo booth!
They also have this quote on the wall :)
The
Temelec Hall (CHL 237) was a challenge to locate. It was even more challenging to find the plaque, but we persevered and found it!
This building was built in 1858 by Captain Gravnille P. Swift, who was a member of the Bear Flag Party. It was made of stone quarried nearby using Native America Labor thanks to Swift's generous funding after his good fortune during the gold rush.
The mansion is now the centerpiece of a retirement community and sits on the National Register of Historic places, as well as our list.
We made a quick detour based on a recommendation of a local resident to the
California Missions Museum.
This is a really neat little place where you can see models of every mission in the order in which they were constructed.
It is located on the grounds of a winery...
and there are lots of birds native to California along the walkway to the museum.
We even found a pheasant named for our amazing school librarian, Mrs. Reeves!
Next we drove off to Benicia for more sites. The first site in Benicia was the
Turner/Robertson Shipyard 1883-1918 (CHL 973).
Matthew Turner was a shipbuilder in San Francisco who moved his ship-building productions here to Benicia in 1882.
Turner is famous for building more sailing vessels than anyone in America! He built 228 vessels total-- 154 of which were built here in Benicia!
You can still see the remnants of the docks and tools used to build his ships.
James Robertson bought the shipyard in 1913 and operated it until 1918.
According to the state you can see the yard sways and the whaler ship Stamboul, which was used as a work platform, at low tide.
I'm not sure if we were there at low tide--
but there was lots to see!
Benicia does a wonderful job of highlighting all of the history in their town. They have signage everywhere which helps when you are hunting for sites!
We next came to the
Benicia Seminary (CHL 795).
This school was founded in 1852 as the Young Ladies' Seminary, it was acquired by Mills College in 1865.
It was established as the first school of higher education open to women in the west.
The school was sold to Cyrus and Susan Mills in 1865 and changed names to Mills College. The college moved to Oakland in 1871.
The site of the
First Protestant Church (CHL 175) is also located in the same park as the Benicia Seminary.
On this site in 1849, Revered Sylvester Woodbridge Jr. organized the first Protestant church in California with an ordained resident pastor.
You can see the signage that they have-- it's very helpful!
There is a play structure very near this site-- so we had to pause for a few moments to get some oogies out!
Libi is always on the lookout for a playground!
Our next site has possibly the longest name for any CHL--
First Building Erected in California by a Masonic Lodge for use as a Hall (CHL 174).
The building was built in 1850 and served as the Masonic Temple for Benicia until 1888.
It has also been used as a boys' club and American Legion Post since its days as a Masonic Hall.
It was reestablished as a Masonic Hall in 1950.
We drove a little ways to
Saint Paul's Episcopal Church (CHL 862).
The structure was built by men from the Pacific Mail and Steamship Company in 1859.
It has been in continuous use as an Episcopal church since 1860.
According to their church website, they are the third oldest Episcopal parish in Northern California following St. Paul's in Sacramento and St. John's in Marysville.
I bet you didn't know that our state capitol was once in Benicia? I am born and raised here and I had no idea! Our next site was the
Benicia Capitol (CHL 153).
The state used this as their capitol for a little over a year from February 4, 1853- February 25, 1854.
It was the third location of the capitol-- but it is the only building that has survived.
The capitol next moved to Sacramento and there it has remained.
There is now a museum inside, but it was closed when we arrived.
This is one of our favorite sites-- it is a two-for-one...
because it is located right next to
Fischer-Hanlon House (CHL 880).
Joseph Fischer bought this land in 1858 and moved a building that was a hotel here to serve as his home.
We drove on to the
Benicia Arsenal (CHL 176).
The Arsenal was created in August 1851. It was the west coast base for Civil War operations and the short-lived camel corps.
One of the buildings still remains and it is used as an office space.
Our final stop in Benicia was the
Site of the Former Benicia Barracks (CHL 177).
The plaque was stolen and there isn't anything remaining of the site, so it was a quick stop.
Rounding out Solano County we drove to the
Rockville Stone Chapel (CHL 779). The chapel was dedicated in 1857 to hold services for the pioneers of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. The original building deteriorated, but the cemetery next to it still has many pioneer graves.
They restored the chapel in 1940 and it still stands behind this plaque-- I'm not sure what happened, but I didn't take a photo of it.
The Vaca-Pena Adobe (CHL 534) was part of the Rancho Los Putos (hence the name of the plaque).
The rancho was granted to Juan Felipe Pena and Manuel Cabeza Vaca by Pio Pico.
The adobe (that still stands today) was built in 1843 and as of 1955 when the CA historical landmark guidebook was written, it was still owned by descendants of their families.
The town of Vacaville was named after Manuel Vaca.
Finally in the middle of a farm in the middle of nowhere we came to the
University of California Experimental Farm, Wolfskill Grant (CHL 804).
In 1842 John Wolfskill came here with seeds and cuttings and began the fruit industry that now thrives in this area. His daughter bequeathed this land to the UC system to use as an experimental farm in 1937.
It was such a fun few days of exploring Northern California!
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