Recent Work

My sketching continues to be along the Petaluma River for the most part. Below are some of the places I have been exploring.
There are older blog posts linked below about the new The Changing Upper River and the Hatcheries.

This sketch shows the riverfront downtown in April of 2022 contrasted to the Golden Eagle Mill on the right at the turning basin before it was demolished for the Golden Eagle Shopping Center. All we see now is the back side of the shopping center. Click on the image for a larger view.

The Changing Upper River

When I began sketching along the Petaluma River, Brewster’s Beer Garden was and isolated restaurant and gathering spot at the end of Water St. There were, and are, a scattering of other businesses at the end of a what was a dead end street. The drone photo from December 2020 shows the land beyond Brewster’s in its early stages of site development. Work is now being completed on 184 new dwelling units that will house 300-400 new residents. Water Street will now go through to the extension of Oak Street off of Petaluma Boulevard North. The bridge across the river leading to the Lynch Creek Trail will still be intact. I’m not sure if Bob’s Beach will ever come back to life.

The site of new development, December 2020

Developer’s rendering of proposed housing along Water Street extension.

Brewster’s will have a lot of potential new customers!

Hatcheries

As documented in Of Mills & the River, the poultry industry was the major economic driver of early Petaluma and activity on the river to supply the industry and transport product to San Francisco and beyond. Incubator companies, and hatcheries are evident throughout central Petaluma.

What was once “The World’s Largest Baby Chick Hatchery” still remains, if somewhat hidden from common view at 7th and F Streets in in an older residential area.

Many of the old, and now repurposed, buildings north of Washington St. were once used for poultry and egg processing .

Evidence of the hatcheries and the poultry industry are evident throughout Petaluma and surrounding communities.