"What questions might you ask about this picture?"

While working at the children’s desk recently, I showed this image to several young people. I then asked: what questions does this image make you think of? They jumped right in and asked:

"Why is it painted white? Who lives there? When was it built? How much does it cost to live there? Where is it? What does the backyard look like? Is it in Petaluma?"

Instead of answering them, I showed them this image with the explanation, “Here is where the house used to be.”

Surprised by this, they then asked more questions:  Where did the house go? Did it fall down? Was it torn down? Who tore it down? Why didn’t they build something else?

These are the same questions historians ask when they encounter a new place, event, person, or idea. Wondering why the landscape changes and how it changes as it does, brings a unique view of our community. Digging into that history provides a sense of that change, and helps outline where a community is heading, as well as where it’s been. Two other examples highlight some of these changes:

The Hill Opera House, seen in this 1910 postcard, was built in 1904 on Washington Street at the corner of Keller. The last show was held on July 31, 1924. In 1955, the building became home to the California Theatre, and later, the Phoenix Theater. Although the building was proposed for conversion to offices in 1999, the project failed to go forward and the building remains (2023) an entertainment space.

Phoenix Theater, 2019

Unlike the Hill Opera House, Petaluma's old City Hall, seen here in a 1910 postcard, did not survive redevelopment. Located at 19 Kentucky Street, the building served as the city hall from 1886 until it was demolished in 1955. The site became a City parking lot.

Established in 1973 by the National Trust for Historic Preservation, each year local preservation groups including museums, historical societies, civic organizations, and libraries create a wealth of activities designed to highlight the local built environment. This year, Petaluma, under the leadership of the Petaluma Historical Library and Museum, together with the Petaluma History Room, The Petaluma Adobe, and Heritage Homes are hosting a variety of activities to bring this history to life. 

During this month, you can explore Petaluma’s eclectic environment with walking tours throughout the month led by Petalumans of Yesteryear, a kickoff event with a City Proclamation, a presentation by Katherine Rinehart, Petaluma Adobe Living History Day, and the Spring Heritage Homes tours. Check the dates and times at the Petaluma Historical Library and Museum National Heritage Month website.  Come by the library to test yourself with “then and now” images of different places here in town throughout the month.

About that house -- the Healey Mansion...

Built in 1903 for Dennis and Maggie Healey, owners of Healey’s Grocery on Main Street the house was designed by J. Cather Newsom, a well-known San Francisco architect who also designed the Petaluma City Hall.

Construction went smoothly, but I wondered what might have happened to poor Mr. Newsom, as he placed this ad in April 1903

Some good soul must have found them because the home was completed. Throughout the following years, the Healey Mansion became the setting for numerous social gatherings, Rotary Club meetings, beautiful floral arrangements, holiday festivities, and the Catholic Ladies Aid Society, of which Maggie Healey served as president.

In 1904, the Healeys sold their grocery and opened a furniture store on Kentucky Street. Dennis was subsequently elected to the city council in 1911. In 1916, we learn that Councilman D.J. Healey left the furniture business to become an undertaker, building a new funeral parlor on Washington Street between Keller and Liberty Streets. He sold the funeral parlor four years later to John Mount (who later sold it to Art Parent in 1938).

Empty nesters by 1920, Dennis and Maggie sold their mansion on Washington Street to a former employee at Healey Funeral Parlors, and downsized, moving into a cottage next door. A year later, Frank Blackburn, a second-generation undertaker in town, purchased the mansion, continuing to operate it as a funeral parlor.

Dennis J. Healey passed away from an appendicitis attack in the city’s Hillside Hospital across from Penry Plaza in 1922. His funeral was held in his former mansion, by now the Blackburn Funeral Parlor.

Fast forward to the years after World War II, and a growing town begins to ‘modernize,’ tearing down older homes and commercial buildings. In 1968, a group of interested citizens led by Mrs. P.E. Butti, decide to push back by forming the Heritage Homes Club. 

And the Healey Mansion? That same year, Sorensen Funeral Home, which occupied the mansion at the time, built a new mortuary on Petaluma Boulevard North (site of today’s Petaluma Police Station), and abandoned the mansion.

Petaluma Argus-Courier columnist Bill Soberanes raised the question on everyone’s mind.

 After futile attempts to save it, the mansion fell in April 1969 to the bulldozer, and was soon replaced by a gas station, which itself was eventually torn down. Today, the corner of Washington and Keokuk streets where the Healey Mansion once stood is a vacant lot.

John Sheehy tells us that “The demolition of the Healey Mansion became a rallying cry that ignited the local preservation movement, eventually transforming Butti’s club into Heritage Homes of Petaluma.” 

Today, thanks in large part to the group’s continued efforts over the years, Petaluma’s historical buildings fall under the eagle eye of the Historic and Cultural Preservation Committee.

Join in the celebration this month and see for yourself how Petaluma has grown, changed, and yet, kept in touch with its history.  See the Petaluma Historical Library and Museum National Heritage Month website for a full schedule. 

Thank you to John Sheehy, Katherine Rinehart, and Katie Watts for their valuable expertise and help with this research.

Subscribe to their blogs to read more about the Healey Mansion and other Petaluma stories:

Petaluma Historian (John Sheehy)

Down the Rabbit Hole (Katherine Rinehart)