A CAGenWeb Project 

Sonoma County Genealogy

Valley Ford

  • Genealogy
  • About The Town
  • People & Other Entities
  • Maps
  • Photos
  • Citations
Table of Contents

Valley Ford is an unincorporated community and census-designated place (CDP) in western Sonoma County, California, United States. It is located on State Route 1 north of San Francisco. Like all of Sonoma County, Valley Ford is included in both the San Francisco Bay Area and the Redwood Empire. [1]


The village lies just north of Americano Creek, about 5 mi (8 km) from the Pacific Ocean. It is 7 mi (11 km) north of Dillon Beach, California, 9 mi (14 km) east of the town of Bodega Bay and 20 mi (32 km) southeast of Jenner, California. The Estero Americano is protected by the Estero Americano State Marine Recreational Management Area. [1]



Genealogy


Gedcom Index for Valley Ford, CA. . . . Link

Surnames: Fields


GenealogyOnline:  About the Town Valley Ford . . . Link

Surnames: Howland


LDS genealogy.com: Valley Ford . . . Link


Roadside Thoughts: Valley Ford 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: Ada R. FOWLER, Ellesif Arrabella COCKRILL, James Edgar Fowler, John Henry FOWLER, John W. RIEN, Lurana Elizabeth COCKRILL, Obadiah Haight HOAG, Phebe Elizabeth AMES, Rebecca Hildreth Nutting Woodson, Sarah Ann FRISBIE, Stephen Cornel Fowler, Stephen Lawrence Fowler, William C. FOWLER, William Riley Robertson


About The Town


For millennia, the indigenous Coast Miwok and Pomo people have hunted, fished and gathered in the area. A Miwok village named Ewapalt has been documented in the Valley Ford area. Europeans explored the coastline in the early 17th century but did not settle until 1812, when Russian fur traders came south from Alaska and built Fort Ross about 22 mi (40 km) northwest of Valley Ford. The Russians remained until 1841, when the area came under Mexican rule. In September 1850, California became a US state, the area was made part of Sonoma County. [1]


Valley Ford had a grain mill in the mid-19th century. Starting in the 1870s, Valley Ford was a stop on the North Pacific Coast Railroad connecting Cazadero to the Sausalito ferry, enabling local ranchers and fishers to export produce to San Francisco. Open from 1856 to 1967, Watson School once served as Valley Ford's school, and is located in a Sonoma County Regional Parks Department historic park about 3.5 miles north of Valley Ford. [1]


Check this website for town info. [Unknown original source, I got it from Link. ]



Valley Ford
Valley Ford was first called Fowlerville for Stephen L. and James E. Fowler, who in 1849 purchased of F. G. Blume 640 acres of land lying between the Ebabias creek and the Estero, and built a house two hundred yards from the ford. Thomas Smith, who had been engaged in running a saw-mill with Messrs. Hendy and Duncan built a cabin on the point between Ebabias creek and the Estero, on land they also had purchased from F. G. Blume.


Whitehead Fowler came to the country in 1852. The same year E. Thurber settled upon the tract east of town. These were the first settlers at Valley Ford and the adjoining ranches. In May, 1854, Stephen C. Fowler and his wife, the parents of S. L., James E., and W. Fowler, with their three sons, John H., Benjamin, and Nathaniel, arrived at Valley Ford. Mrs. Fowler was the first female resident of the town.


In 1856 Thomas Smith ran his grist-mill with twelve horses and two runs of stone. Two years later a steam engine took the place of horses, and the mill soon became famous for the excellent quality of flour made there. In the fall of 1861 Daniel Hall opened a blacksmith shop. In the spring of 1861 John H. Fowler opened a general merchandise business. James E. Fowler opened a lumber-yard, and E. B. & J. W. Palmer built a carpenter shop. In 1863 the Methodist church was built. J. N. Rien built the Valley Ford hotel in 1864. An express and post-office was established. In 1876 P. E. Merritt opened a new grocery store in the place. J. Parry opened a tin shop, and John Hunter opened a meat market. . . . [Archived Website. Link]



American Towns . . . Link


A Short history of Valley Ford [Wendtrot.com] . . . Link


Permit Sonoma: Valley Ford Hotel. . . Link


Sonoma County Life Opens Up: Valley Ford . . . Link . . . Vally Ford Hotel


Valley Ford Historical Society . . . Link


Valley Ford Wikipedia Page . . . Link


Visit Sonoma Coast: Valley Ford . . . Link



Sonoma Historian (SCHS) has numerous articles about the town of Valley Ford. . . . Link

The Journal, 1978, no. 1, p. 5: notes about Grist-mills in the late 1870’s . . . Link [pg. 5]
The Journal, 2021, no. 2, p. 10: Western Sonoma-Marin Dairy Cattle Show held in VF in 1920’s . . . Link


People & Other Entities


A. P. Garver . . . Link . . The same year E. Thurber settled upon the tract east of town, now owned by A. P. Garver.


Christo and Jeanne-Claude [Running Fence Art Piece] . . . Link

In 1976, Christo and Jeanne-Claude's installation art piece Running Fence passed through Valley Ford on its way from Cotati to Bodega Bay.


Daniel Hall . . . Link . . In the fall of 1861 Daniel Hall opened a blacksmith shop.


E. B. & J. W. Palmer . . . Link

John H. Fowler opened a general merchandise business. James E. Fowler opened a lumber-yard, and E. B. & J. W. Palmer built a carpenter shop.


E. Thurber . . . Link

Whitehead Fowler came to the country in 1852. The same year E. Thurber settled upon the tract east of town. These were the first settlers at Valley Ford and the adjoining ranches.


Frederick Gustavus Blume . . . Link . . Bio

Thomas Smith, . . . built a cabin on the point between Ebabias creek and the Estero, which tract they had purchased of F. G. Blume, and with his partner, R. Gahen, prepared to put in a crop of potatoes.



FOWLERS:

Benjamin Fowler . . . Link . . . Tree


James E. Fowler . . . Link . . . Tree

Valley Ford was first called Fowlerville for Stephen L. and James E. Fowler, who in 1849 purchased of F. G. Blume 640 acres of land lying between the Ebabias creek and the Estero, and built a house two hundred yards from the ford. . . James E. Fowler opened a lumber-yard, and E. B. & J. W. Palmer built a carpenter shop.


John H. Fowler . . . Link . . . Tree .. . In the spring of 1861 John H. Fowler opened a general merchandise business.


Nathaniel Fowler . . . Link . . . Tree


Stephen L. and James E. Fowler . . . Link . . . Tree

Valley Ford was first called Fowlerville for Stephen L. and James E. Fowler, who in 1849 purchased of F. G. Blume 640 acres of land lying between the Ebabias creek and the Estero, and built a house two hundred yards from the ford.


Stephen C. Fowler & Wife (Rebecca Lawrence Link) . . . Link

In 1854, Stephen C. Fowler and his wife, the parents of S. L., James E., and W. Fowler, with their three sons, John H., Benjamin, and Nathaniel, arrived at Valley Ford. Mrs. Fowler was the first female resident of the town.


Whitehead Fowler . . . Link . . Tree

Whitehead Fowler came to the country in 1852. The same year E. Thurber settled upon the tract east of town. These were the first settlers at Valley Ford and the adjoining ranches.



H. M. LaBaron (Reference to Grist mills?). . . Link [pg. 5] . . . His family also gifted money to help preserve Armstrong Woods Park . . . Link [p. 9]


J. N. Rien . . . Link . . .Tree. . J. N. Rien built the Valley Ford hotel in 1864.


J. Parry . . . Link . . . In 1876 P. E. Merritt opened a new grocery store in the place. J. Parry opened a tin shop, and John Hunter opened a meat market.


John Hunter . . . Link . . . In 1876 P. E. Merritt opened a new grocery store in the place. J. Parry opened a tin shop, and John Hunter opened a meat market.


John Vanderleith . . . Link

Thomas Smith, who had been engaged running a saw-mill with Messrs. Hendy & Duncan, near where John Vanderleith now lives, built a cabin on the point between Ebabias creek and the Estero


Messrs. Hendy and Duncan [Saw mill] . . . Link


Messrs. Huntley and Cook (c. 1876 ) [Grist mill] . . . Link [pg. 5]


P. E. Merritt . . . Link . . In 1876 P. E. Merritt opened a new grocery store in the place. J. Parry opened a tin shop, and John Hunter opened a meat market.


R. Gahen . . . Link

Thomas Smith, . . . whit the tract they had purchased of F. G. Blume, and with his partner, R. Gahen, prepared to put in a crop of potatoes.


Sanford & Stone . . . Link

Sanford & Stone located across the creek on the place now owned by Roach & Webber. They received a portable grist-mill from the east, and in the winter of 1852 and 1853 they ground the grain raised in the neighborhood. The mill was small and the flour coarse and unbolted, but they were kept busy by the settlers, who waited their turn at the mill.


Thomas Smith [ran Grist-mill] . . . Link . . . Link

In 1856 Thomas Smith ran his grist-mill with twelve horses and two runs of stone. Two years later a steam engine took the place of horses, and the mill soon became famous for the excellent quality of flour made there.


Valley Ford Hotel . . . Link . . .

One of the few remaining buildings dating from the 19th century, now houses Rocker Oysterfeller's Kitchen & Saloon and six guest rooms. The Historic Valley Ford Hotel built in 1864 and updated with modern amenities and luxury bedding at competitive rates. Built by the Rein family in 1864 to provide lodging for coastal travelers, the Valley Ford Hotel has seen stagecoaches, the North Pacific Coast Railroad and now Coast Highway One roll across it's doorstep.


Watson School (1856 to 1967) . . . Link



Maps


Map of Valley Ford, with boundaries [BingMaps] . . . Link


Map of Valley Ford[MapQuest] . . . Link



Photos


Town, 1955 . . . Link







Citations:


[1]   Wikipedia contributors. "Valley Ford, 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