Occidental is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sonoma County, California, United States. The population was 1,115 at the 2010 census, down from 1,272 at the 2000 census. Occidental has a total area of 4.97 sq mi (12.9 km2), all of it land. The large number of craft breweries and wineries in the area have made Barley and Hops Tavern and Sonoma Fine Wine store in downtown Occidental local and tourist destinations. [1]
GenealogyOnline: About
the Town Occidental .
. . Link
Surnames: O'dell
LDS genealogy.com: Occidental . . . Link
Roadside Thoughts: Occidental
California . . . Link
Sonoma County Genealogical Society . . . Link
The web site "The Cockrill Family of Sonoma County" [Link] has a wonderful collection of
local genealogy including the following with ties to this
town: John
Chistopher Parmeter,
Founded in 1876, Occidental was a stop on the North Pacific Coast Railroad connecting Cazadero to the Sausalito ferry. In return for donating right-of-way to the railroad, a local landowner named "Dutch Bill" Howards received a lifetime railway pass, and the station was named after him. The railway caused a rapid expansion of the timber industry, and by 1877 there were six sawmills in the Occidental area. Trains also brought vacationers from San Francisco. Howard’s Station Cafe is a restaurant that is located at the old narrow gauge railroad stop in downtown Occidental. [1]
Occidental
Occidental started as a railroad
town. The first settler was Michael Kolmer who leased part
of the Bodega Rancho Spanish land grant in 1848, two and a
half miles west of Occidental in Coleman Valley, once
known as Kolmer Valley. The settlement was later called
Howard's Station, after William Howard, who had come here
in 1848 and was the first settler to own his land. The
first mill in the immediate area of Occidental, was built
about a mile south of the present townsite in 1859 and run
by Messrs. Mudge, Phelps and Perkins until 1862. In 1866,
Melvin C. Meeker began processing lumber through a mill
located close to the site of the original Mudge operation.
By 1876, nine months after the completion of the North
Pacific Coast Railroad, there were three sawmills in the
Occidental area, and by 1877 there were six. In 1876, the
post office was named the Occidental Post Office. In 1877,
the population of the town of Occidental was estimated at
around 50 people, and an 1880 census describes 97
residents. . . . [Archived
Website. Link [6]]
American Towns . . . Link
Permit Sonoma: Occidental . . . Link
Occidental - Russian River Historical Society . . . Link
Occidental Today [Niche] (has a
map of location) . . . Link
Occidental Wikipedia Page . . . Link
Sonoma County Life Opens Up: Occidental. . . Link
WikiVoyage: Occidental . . . Link
Check Sonoma Historian (SCHS) for articles about the towns. . . . Link
Howard's Station (1876-1937) . . . Link
The depot in Occidental, initially called Howards Station, was a wood framed gable roofed building with vertical wood siding divided into a ticket office, waiting room, and baggage room. The train began running to Occidental in 1876. The Occidental Depot was demolished circa 1937. [7]
Melvin Cyrus Meeker . . . Link
In 1866, Melvin C. Meeker began processing lumber through a mill located close to the site of the original Mudge operation. [6]
In 1876, Melvin Cyrus “Boss” Meeker arrived in the area; he was successful in acquiring land for timber and began his own steam powered sawmill in 1866 (Hill1997). Meeker, anticipating the economic benefits of the approaching North Pacific Coast Railroad laid out and built the adjacent town of Occidental in a grid pattern. [7]
Messrs. Mudge, Phelps and Perkins . . . Link
The first mill in the immediate area of Occidental, was built about a mile south of the present townsite in 1859 and run by Messrs. Mudge, Phelps and Perkins until 1862. [6]
Michael Kolmer . . . Link
The first settler was Michael Kolmer who leased part of the Bodega Rancho Spanish land grant in 1848, two and a half miles west of Occidental in Coleman Valley, once known as Kolmer Valley. [6]
Occidental Methodist/Episcopal Church (1876) . . . Link
Meeker was instrumental in helping to construct the Occidental Methodist/Episcopal Church in 1876, as well as the Union Hotel in 1879. [7]
Summit House (Altamont Hotel) (1876-1924) . . . Link
In 1876 Cyrus Meeker commissioned the construction of a 29-room hotel to coincide with the arrival of the North Pacific Coast Railroad. The hotel is named Summit House, but its name is later changed to the Altamont Hotel. The hotel is one of the earliest businesses in Occidental. In 1924, the Altamont Hotel was destroyed by a fire which burned approximately two blocks on the east side of Occidental between Second and Minna Streets. [7]
Taylor Building (1886-1906, rebuilt) & William Freeman Taylor . . . Link
In 1886, the original Taylor Building was constructed by William Freeman Taylor, a Nova Scotia native who ran a grain warehouse and livery stable on adjoining lots, as a general merchandise store with living quarters above. The building was destroyed by fire in 1906 and was rebuilt by Taylor in a replica of the original 1886 building. [7]
Union Hotel (1879) . . . Link
Meeker was instrumental in helping to construct the Occidental Methodist/Episcopal Church in 1876, as well as the Union Hotel in 1879. [7] In 1879 Amelia Jones constructed a two story building, the Union Hotel and Saloon, on land sold to her by William Howard. The Union Hotel was damaged by the [1924] fire, but not destroyed. [7]
William Howard . . . Link
The settlement (in Kolmer Valley) was later called Howard's Station, after William Howard, who had come here in 1848 and was the first settler to own his land. [6]
. . . the town of Howard’s was the creation of one of the area’s early settlers and principal landowners, William Howard (also known as “Dutch Bill”) who arrived in the around 1849. Howard’s holdings, which composed the town of Howards, included the land north of 3rd Street (at the present day Altamont Bar and Grille). [7]
Maps
Map of Occidental, with boundaries [BingMaps] . . . Link
Map of Occidental [MapQuest] . . . Link
Occidental, 1955 . . . Link
[1] Wikipedia contributors. "Occidental, California." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 9 Aug. 2022. Web. 28 Sep. 2022. . . . Link
[2] "Historical and Descriptive Sketch Book of Napa, Sonoma, Lake, and Mendocino: Comprising Sketches of Their Topography, Productions, History, Scenery, and Peculiar Attractions", C.A. Menefee, 1873 . . . Link
[3] "Historical and Descriptive Sketch of Sonoma County, California" Robert Allan Thompson. L.H. Everts, 1877 - Sonoma County (Calif.) - 104 pages. [ ??? pp 100-101] . . . Link
[4] "History of Sonoma County: Including Its Geology, Topography, Mountains, Valleys and Streams ...."' United States, Higginson Book Company, 1880. (page ???.) . . . Link . . . Text at CAGenWeb
[5]
"An Illustrated
History of Sonoma County, California: Containing a
History of the County of Sonoma from the Earliest
Period of Its Occupancy to the Present Time",
Lewis Publishing, 1889
. . . Link
[6] Archived Website: "Towns of Sonoma County Past and Present". Accessed on 15 Sep 2022.
https://web.archive.org/web/20071021085407/http://users.ap.net/~chenae/socotown.html
[7] Website: "Permit Sonoma: Occidental". Accessed on 15 Sep 2022. Run by Sonoma County.
https://permitsonoma.org/divisions/planning/historicresources/sonomacountyhistory/occidental