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Home of Alexander Calder with grist mill and distillery in Sebastopol, California, about 1881

Title

Home of Alexander Calder with grist mill and distillery in Sebastopol, California, about 1881

Creation Date (Original)

1881?

View on Alternative Site

View photo location on the Sonoma County Historical Photos Map hosted by the City of Santa Rosa

Description

The grist mill and distillery and home of Alexander Calder are visible behind a picket fence.

Item Format or Genre

["black-and-white photographs"]

Local History and Culture Theme

["Cities, Towns and Settlements"]

Subject (Topical)

["Dwellings","Historic buildings","Distilleries","Gristmills"]

Subject (Person)

["Calder, Alexander--Homes and haunts"]

Digital Collection Name(s)

["Sonoma County Library Photograph Collection"]

Digital Collections Identifier

cstr_pho_001974

Item Details
Image Details

Item Details

Title

Home of Alexander Calder with grist mill and distillery in Sebastopol, California, about 1881

Additional Title(s)

Old Mill, Sebastopol

View on Alternative Site

View photo location on the Sonoma County Historical Photos Map hosted by the City of Santa Rosa

Maps/StreetView

View location in Google Maps

Description

The grist mill and distillery and home of Alexander Calder are visible behind a picket fence.

Biographical or Historical Note

Alexander Calder was born in Scotland in 1803 and Sarah A. (Coleman) Calder was born in England on February 14, 1829. The Calders emigrated to California in 1850 -- by way of Australia -- and settled in Bodega, but relocated to Analy Township in July 1851. The Calders were among the earliest European settlers of what is now Sebastopol and were prominent in early Sebastopol life. In 1874, Alexander Calder obtained a land grant to an area southwest of the settlement of Pine Grove and later purchased additional land, including 25 acres from George Walker. He developed a large farm encompassing present-day Ives Park (including Calder Creek), and the fir-covered Calder Hill to the south, as well as many acres to the west. Calder Hill was consistently noted as "pine"-covered in early accounts and is at least a part of the source for the town's earliest name, "Pine Grove."

Calder built a flour mill powered by Calder Creek near the current-day Sebastopol Center for the Arts/Veterans' Memorial Building, with a large mill pond upstream. The Calders built a Greek Revival-style residence nearby. The flour mill and home were pictured in Honoria Tuomey's 1916 History of Sonoma County (this photo and one other can be found in the Sonoma County Library's Digital Collections). Calder also planted extensive vineyards to the west and also on the hills to the west of Calder Hill in the vicinity of present-day Leland and First streets; by 1879, Calder had about 100 acres in grapes and was a major contributor to the 100,000 gallons of wine produced annually by Sebastopol growers.

The Calders had seven children -- five of whom (John, William, Alexander, Isaac, and Elizabeth (Eliza)) died in childhood as young adults. Alexander Calder died in 1888, followed ten years later by Sarah Calder, in 1898. They were survived by their daughter, Anna M. Swain (1860-1958), and son, George W. Calder (1866-1928), the latter of whom inherited the Calder farm. George Calder was a self-described capitalist. By 1902 he had subdivided 72 acres of his parents' farm, encompassing a portion of present-day south Main Street (called Laguna Street at the time) and the area around present-day Calder Avenue; this area became known as the Calder Addition.

Creation Date (Original)

1881?

Item Type

["Still image"]

Item Format or Genre

["black-and-white photographs"]

Number of Parts or Pages

1 photographic print

Other Physical Details

black-and-white

Item Physical Dimensions

17 x 24 cm

Local History and Culture Theme

["Cities, Towns and Settlements"]

Subject (Person)

["Calder, Alexander--Homes and haunts"]

Subject (Time Period)

1881

Subject (Topical)

["Dwellings","Historic buildings","Distilleries","Gristmills"]

Country

["United States"]

State or Province

["California"]

California County

["Sonoma"]

City or Town

["Sebastopol"]

Geographic Feature

["High Street","Calder Creek"]

Street Address

181 High Street, Sebastopol, California

Latitude

38.4003672

Longitude

-122.8249689

Geocoding Status

["Exact geocoding"]

Credit line

Courtesy, Sonoma County Library

Local System Identifier

422885

Digital Collections Identifier

cstr_pho_001974

Digital Collection Name(s)

["Sonoma County Library Photograph Collection"]

Digital Collections Area Group(s)

["Local History & Culture"]

Physical Item Barcode(s)

37565039792873 (ANNEX PHOTO 1974);37565029154761 (ARCHIVES PHOTO 1974); 37565024878448 (ARCHIVES PHOTO 1974);37565024878372 (ARCHIVES PHOTO 1974)

Item Call Number(s)

ANNEX PHOTO 1974;ARCHIVES PHOTO 1974

Shelving Location of Physical Item(s)

Sonoma County History & Genealogy Library, 211 E Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95401 https://sonomalibrary.org/locations/sonoma-county-history-and-genealogy-library

Copyright Statement

The Sonoma County Library makes no assertions as to ownership of any original copyrights to digitized images and can claim only physical ownership of the image(s) described in this records. However, these images are intended for Personal or Research use only. Any other kind of use, including, but not limited to commercial or scholarly publication in any medium or format, public exhibition, or use online or in a web site, may be subject to additional restrictions including but not limited to the copyrights held by parties other than the Library. USERS ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE for determining the existence of such rights and for obtaining any permissions and/or paying associated fees necessary for the proposed use. Preferred credit line is: Courtesy, the Sonoma County Library. Please see additional reproduction and reuse information at https://sonomalibrary.org/locations/sonoma-county-history-and-genealogy-library/order-photo .

Contributing Organizations

Owned by Sonoma County Library.

Date Digitized

2012

Digitizing Agency

Sonoma CountyLibrary, 211 E Street, Santa Rosa, CA 95404 https://sonomalibrary.org

Digitization Note

Lower resolution scan: cstr_pho_p422885.tif

Archival File Data Quality

["High resolution master file image (600 ppi)"]

Acquisition Type

["Gift"]

Date of Acquisition

1992 (anonymous donation); 2016 (Santa Rosa Junior College)

Filename

cstr_pho_001974.jp2

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