City of Sonoma Begins Historic Resources Survey and Context Statement Process

By Larry Barnett

At a public gathering on April 22 at Vintage House, the City of Sonoma introduced representatives from the firm of Page and Turnbull, a full-service architecture and planning firm specializing in historic preservation, which has been selected to begin a Historic Resources Survey and Context Statement process.

This effort is coincident with the update of the City’s General Plan, and will supplement it. The Historic Resources Survey, is a systematic study of buildings, sites, landscapes and other features within the City of Sonoma to identify historically significant places, as well as historic districts. Using an age-eligible criteria of 45 years, it will identify resources that have not been previously catalogued as historic.

A previous survey was conducted in 1978 which examined more than 600 resources within the city and Sonoma Valley. It was updated in 1998, and evaluations have been periodically conducted of individual properties or districts since then. It is expected that many properties which are now age-eligible have not been surveyed and may pose historic significance. New historic districts may be identified, and the boundaries of existing districts may be revised.

The survey will use the Historic Context Statement’s evaluative criteria as the basis of evaluation, focusing on properties not previously identified as historically significant.

The Historic Context Statement will consider properties that are agricultural, residential, commercial and industrial, civic and institutional, transport and infrastructure related, social, religious, cultural, and recreational.

That process will include reviewing existing documentation, research, information provided by the community, and identifying potentially significant themes and sites. Public input will be gathered throughout the process at workshops, including submitted comments, and from meetings of the Sonoma City Council.

The result will be the creation of an historical overview by time periods and notable milestones. Significant themes, patterns, trends, events, places and people will be included. Property types and an evaluative criterion will be developed.

Attendees at the meeting were asked to enter information on a form with questions about the value of history, important topics of themes, organizations and community groups of significance, places of historic significance, and the benefits and importance of preservation. An online version of the information form is available on the city’s website.

It is anticipated that the process will be completed by the summer of 2027.