The Town of
Windsor
- Genealogy
- History of Windsor
- The Town Today
- Places of Interest
- People of Interest
- Maps
- Pictures
Table of Contents
Windsor is an incorporated town in Sonoma County, California, United States. The town is 9 miles north of Santa Rosa and 63 miles north of San Francisco. The population was 26,801 as of the 2010 census. Windsor was once home to a waterslide park known as Windsor Waterworks, or as the Doom Flume, from 1980 to 2006. Windsor also has a bowling center which sits right next to the site where the former Windsor Waterworks waterslide park sat until its 2006 closure. [1]
Genealogy
Gedcom Index for Windsor, CA. . . . Link
Surnames: Bell, Keyser, Pitkin,
LDS genealogy.com: Windsor . . . Link
Roadside Thoughts: Windsor California . . . Link
Sonoma
County Genealogical Society . . . Link
History of Sonoma
The site now occupied by the town of Windsor was originally inhabited by the Southern Pomo. It was known as Tsoliikawai (ćol:ik:o=wi), meaning "blackbird field", a name also applied to the village, tribe or tribelet at the site. This group was probably part of the Kaitactemi tribe that ruled from the Healdsburg area down to Mark West Creek. [1]
Windsor's first European settlers arrived in 1851. In 1855, Hiram Lewis, a Pony Express rider, became the town's first postmaster. He named the town Windsor because it reminded him of the grounds around Windsor Castle, a medieval castle from his home country of England. In 1855, a post office was established in Windsor. The following year, a business enterprise was built in eastern Windsor, which included a goods store, a shoe shop, a grocery and meat market, a saloon, a hotel, a boarding house, and two confectionery shops. The Northwestern Pacific Railroad was completed through the town in 1872, providing a faster and cheaper link to the Bay Area. [1]
On May 21, 1905, a fire destroyed the center of Windsor. Fanned by heavy winds, the fire destroyed several businesses, including a hotel and a barber shop. The damage was at an estimated $30,000 worth of property. The Great San Francisco Earthquake caused major damage to numerous buildings in Windsor, many of which were still in the process of repair and reconstruction from the major fire the previous year. In 1915, the Old Redwood Highway through Windsor was paved. Up until then, all roads in the area had been dirt. [1]
During World War II, a United States Army Air Forces training air base (currently the Charles M. Schulz – Sonoma County Airport) was built in southern Windsor, and it was common to hear fighter aircraft and bombers flying over the town. In 1943, a camp for German prisoners of war was built west of downtown Windsor, on the site of a former migrant labor camp. The camp was a branch camp of the much larger Camp Beale POW camp. Those assigned to the camp worked (for $0.80 per day) at farms in the county, picking apples, prunes, hops, and other crops, packing apples, and doing similar work. On July 1, 1992, Windsor was incorporated as a town. Prior to that, it had been part of unincorporated Sonoma County. Windsor's economic growth and population boomed in the 1980s, when housing development rapidly grew during this decade. Prior to that, Windsor's economy was predominately based on agricultural work, mainly involving wine grapes. [1]
Windsor
In 1851, R. T. Mitchell
was the first settler of Windsor, located on the county
road between Healdsburg and Santa Rosa. The next year Mr.
White and his wife Josephine came to live here. They were
joined by Squire Prewett, Mr. Slusser, Alex Smith, A. B.
Nalley and Major Calhoun. The town was first named Poor
Man's Flat, by a prominent citizen, Tom Sewell. The first
marriage was in 1851, when John Prewett and Bettie Brooks
were married at the home of Mr. Chitwood. The same year,
Harrison Barnes was elected first Justice of the Peace. In
1853, the first schoolhouse was built with John Prewett as
schoolmaster. In 1854, Hiram Lewis established a post
office and gave it the name of Windsor. In 1857, he sold
it to Thad Deshier. As settlers came, a public house, the
Windsor Retreat was built in 1856. Windsor's first store
was opened by a man named Buckalew in 1856. About the same
time, Davis W. Graham started a blacksmith shop. The next
year a store was opened by T. K. Wilson, followed by the
Rosenburgs. Henry Bell opened a mercantile store on his
160 acres where Windsor now stands. The town was laid out
in 1858, on recommendation of Sam Emmerson, who opened the
first hotel, known as the Windsor Hotel. He later sold it
to Thomas Hopkins. . . . [Archived
Website. Link]
Check Sonoma Historian (SCHS) for articles about the towns. . . . Link
History of Windsor
[City Page] .
. . Link
Native American Tribes & the Indian
History in Windsor, California . . . Link
Windsor Historical Society . . . Link . . . Official City Page . . . County Office Page
*Their Newsletter has many good stories of Windsor's people and history.
"Windsor History: World War Two in
Windsor" [Article] . . . Link
Windsor Oaks Vineyards History (Antonio Perelli-Minetti, Bob
Stein) . . . Link
Windsor Odd Fellows History . . .
Link
Windsor Unified School
District History . . . Link
The Town Today
American Towns . . . Link
Profile
of Windsor, CA [101 Things to do in
Sonoma County] . . . Link
Visit California: Windsor . . . Link . . . Guide to Windsor
Welcome to Downtown Windsor . .
. Link
Wikipedia Page: Windsor. . . Link
WikiVoyage: Windsor . . . Link
Windsor Chamber of Commerce . . . Link
"Windsor’s historic Cunningham house
receives local award" [Article] . . . Link
Windsor Homepage . . . Link . . . County Page . . . Link
Windsor Today [Niche] (has a map of location) . . . Link
Places of Interest
Bell House . . . Link
Cunningham House . . . Link
People of Interest
Buckalew . . . Link . . Windsor's first store was opened by a man named Buckalew in 1856.
Davis W. Graham . . . Link . . [1856]. About the same time, Davis W. Graham started a blacksmith shop.
Harrison Barnes . . . Link . . Harrison was elected first Justice of the Peace [1851].
Henry Bell . . . Link . . . Henry opened a mercantile store on his 160 acres where Windsor now stands.
Hiram Lewis . . . Link . . In 1854, Hiram Lewis, a Pony Express rider, established a post office [1855] and gave it the name of Windsor.
John Prewett. . . Link . . The first marriage was in 1851, when John Prewett and Bettie Brooks were married at the home of Mr. Chitwood.
In 1853, the first schoolhouse was built with John Prewett as schoolmaster.
R. T. Mitchell . . . Link . . In 1851, R. T. Mitchell was the first settler of Windsor, located on the county road between Healdsburg and Santa Rosa.
Sam Emmerson . . . Link
The town was laid out in 1858, on recommendation of Sam Emmerson, who opened the first hotel, known as the Windsor Hotel.
Thad Deshier . . . Link . . Hiram Lewis established a post office and gave it the name of Windsor. In 1857, he sold it to Thad Deshier.
Thomas Hopkins . . . . Link . . Sam Emmerson . . opened the first hotel, known as the Windsor Hotel. He later sold it to Thomas Hopkins.
T. K. Wilson . . . Link . . The next year [1857] a store was opened by T. K. Wilson, followed by the Rosenburgs.
Tom Sewell . . . Link . . The
town was first named Poor Man's Flat, by a prominent
citizen, Tom Sewell.
Mr. White & Wife Josephine . . . Link . . The next year [1852] Mr. White and his wife Josephine came to live here.
Winsor Pioneers who came in/after 1852: A. B. Nalley, Alex Smith, Major Calhoun, Squire Prewett, Mr. Slusser . . . Link
Windsor's Historically Important Families Marker (families listed below) . . . Link
David H. DuVander: at 295 Windsor River Road is the David H. DuVander Home. This house was built in the late 1800s and was the residence of Mr. DuVander, a merchant in Windsor, who was responsible for bringing the first branch of Exchange Bank to Windsor.
Hembree family: The
Hembree family arrived in Windsor in 1860, and were active
in Windsor's early commercial development in the late
1880's, following completion of the San Francisco and
North Pacific Railroad.
Henry Bell: The Bell
Ranch House, a large two story residence designed with the
influence of Greek Revival architecture, was constructed
in 1860 by Mr. Henry Bell. One of the first settlers in
Windsor, Mr. Bell owned considerable property, and
established the first mercantile store on the 160 acres he
purchased from the land office in San Francisco. Those 160
acres encompassed a large portion of Windsor, south of
Windsor River Road.
Robert Cunningham, his wife,
Isabella, and daughter Mary Jane: Mr. Cunningham
was a successful farmer who built the first corral - a
site which was used by American and Spanish settlers for
branding livestock. The Cunningham family helped build
Windsor's earliest public structures such as the school
and Methodist Church.
Maps
Map of Windsor, with boundaries [BingMaps] . . . Link
Map of Windsor [MapQuest] . . . Link
Photos
Town, 1955 . . . Link
Citations
[1] Wikipedia
contributors. "Windsor,
California." Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia.
Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia, 29 Aug. 2022. Web. Viewed on
10 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. [Bodega pp 100-101] . . . Link
[4] "History of Sonoma County: Including Its Geology, Topography, Mountains, Valleys and Streams ...." United States, Higginson Book Company, 1880. (page 205.) . . . 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
