More about Santa Rosa in the summer of 1925. See INTRO for overview and index.
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The 4th of July fell on a Saturday in 1925, and tens of thousands of San Franciscans emerged from their foggy summer climes to drive around sunny Sonoma county. (It actually rained here that morning, but hey, it was still a relief from the city’s usual June Gloom.) One slight problem: There was no Golden Gate Bridge yet, so 15,000 cars had to get here by ferry. And that’s not counting a large number that crossed a day or so earlier, parked in Sausalito as their drivers took the ferry back to the city as pedestrians to finish up the workweek.
The ferries ran all Friday night to keep up with the demand and in Marin 40 deputy marshals were sworn in just to manage traffic. As an example of how many visitors crowded into the North Bay, about a thousand attended the Independence Day celebrations in little Dillon Beach. “Every house, cabin, tent, garage and woodshed was brought into use to accommodate the large gathering,” reported the Press Democrat. It would be another dozen years before the Bridge was finished, but the PD – an indefatigable booster that promised tolls would pay for the project after a few years – pointed to the size of the horde as another reason why it must be built without delay. During that month there was pressure on the Humboldt County Board of Supervisors to join the Bridge District which would fund construction (spoiler alert: They didn’t). For more on the Golden Gate Bridge saga, read “IF YOU BRIDGE IT THEY WILL COME.” Aside from the holiday daytrippers, there was a steady influx of visitors driving here for summer vacation. Encouraged by the State Automobile Association in the early 1920s, Santa Rosa and every other city in Sonoma created “auto camps” – the word “motel” did not even exist yet. The auto camp here was in Veterans’ Park at the intersection of Spencer and McDonald avenues, presently the presbyterian church compound. It was free, but what amenities it offered other than running water were unmentioned (let’s hope there was a privy) and no improvements were ever described. This auto camp was managed by the Chamber of Commerce. The PD printed a weekly list of where tourists hailed from and how many currently were there; the peak was 500 during the week of July 4th. Enthusiastic local business owners told the paper that campers were heavy shoppers and the Chamber’s manager often claimed some of them were planning to move here because Santa Rosa treated them so swell. Not so enamored was the toney McDonald Ave. neighborhood, which viewed the camp as a blight. The PD wrote, “…property owners and residents of McDonald avenue are annoyed by the noise and dust of machines going to and from the camp, the personal appeaiance of campers in soiled outing garments, vandalism on the part of some of those using the park, such as trampling on lawns and picking flowers, and occasional thefts.” The Santa Rosa auto camp closed in September, 1925 and visitors were directed to a for-profit camp north of town. From the mid-1920s on, commercially run campgrounds outside of city limits became common, some offering bungalows with electricity and even private bathrooms.
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DILLON BEACH ENTERTAINS BIG HOLIDAY CROWD – The little village of Dillons Beach celebrated the Fourth of July in oldtime patriotic style by having athletic contests, “big eats” and a grand ball in the evening. Fully a thousand people came in from southern Sonoma, northern Marin, Woodland and Vallejo. Only 800 of this crowd could be housed Friday and Saturday evenings and some 200 people motored back to Petaluma to spend the night, but returned next day to enjoy the festivities of the day. Every house, cabin, tent, garage and woodshed was brought into use to accommodate the large gathering…Marin county will hold a special election sometime in August or September to bond the county for $1,250,000 for road purposes. This will insure paved highways for all sections of the county and will place Marin in the forefront of progressive counties. With the building of the Golden Gate bridge there will be experienced a great boom among the resorts of the county and a great increase in the assessed valuation of the county and a consequent reduction of the rate of taxation. The tax-payers led by Martinelli and Hunter, are making a drive for the bond issue in this section. (July 7)
WHAT THE BRIDGE WILL MEAN – Automobile traffic from San Francisco north is said to have been much heavier over the Fourth this year than ever before, breaking all records. This is but natural. The automobile is coming into more general use each day, while the scenic attractions of this favored section are constantly becoming better known. Each season for several years past has seen an increase over the year before in the number of summer visitors up this way.
But gratifying as the showing this year may have been, it was nothing compared to what it might have been with better facilities for crossing San Francisco bay. The ferry companies did their best, but were taxed beyond their capacity. Many automobilists waited for hours to get across. Others, benefiting from past experience, sent their cars over to Sausalito the day before, crossing later as foot passengers and beginning their drive from this side of the bay. In numerous instances people gave up the trip altogether on arriving at the ferry and learning that they faced a long delay.
If the Golden Gate bridge had been in operation, no such delays or inconveniences would have been noted. Where hundreds visited Sonoma county over the Fourth, thousands would in all probability have made the trip. The mere fact that there was such a bridge would have increased the traffic to enormous proportions, and automatically.
The splendid section north of San Francisco bay can never come into its own until the great bridge has been made an actuality. Income from tolls will pay for the bridge within a few years. Its construction, now regarded as a certainty, will mean more to Sonoma county and the north bay section than anything else that could possibly happen here. (July 7)
275 TOURISTS AT AUTO CAMP – One hundred and nineteen automobiles, carrying 275 tourists from seven states, used the Santa Rosa automobile park during the past week, it was reported at the chamber of commerce offices yesterday. The registration at the park at the foot of McDonald avenue shows that there were 103 California cars, seven from Oregon, 3 from Colorado, two each from Utah and Wisconsin, and one each from Idaho and Washington. Many of the tourists expressed themselves as pleased with the facilities provided at the park, and all were high in praises of Santa Rosa, Sonoma county and the Redwood Highway. (July 1)
500 MOTOR TOURISTS STOP AT PARK HERE – More than 500 motor tourists, travelling in 162 cars from six states and one foreign country, availed themselves of the facilities offered by the Santa Rosa automobile camping grounds at the foot ot McDonald avenue during the past week… (July 8)
MODERN AUTO CAMP PLANNED NORTH OF CITY – A new automobile tourists camp, which may later replace the camp maintained by the Chamber of Commerce at the foot of McDonald avenue, is now being erected at the intersection of Steele Lane with the Redwood Highway, a mile north of Santa Rosa. J. C. McFarland, former engineer with the local shoe factory, is the owner.
McFarland plans the construction of several campers’ cottages, modeled after the auto camp grounds. Light and water are available at the grounds, and an extension of city mains is planned to make gas available for cooking purposes. A large community cook cottage, equipped with gas plates, is to be erected… (July 29)