Libraries often offer a wealth of local history or other distinctive topics and will create a special area dedicated to certain histories or topics. This can be a formal collection with a unique room or a section of the library overseen by Special Collections librarians. Or it might be a shelf or two that highlights special materials telling a specific story. 

The Sonoma County Library has three special collections: History & Genealogy (H&G), located in Santa Rosa, that collects materials from all over the county; the Wine Library at the Healdsburg branch that connects Sonoma County’s wine culture to its historical story; and the Petaluma History Room in Petaluma.

 The Petaluma History Room collects materials from Petaluma, some points south into Marin County, north to Penngrove and over to the coast. We collect those documents that provide a compelling look at our local history which includes a diverse cast of characters and events that help us understand how we got to where we are today.

These special collections house a multitude of historical documents and other items of interest to researchers, historians, students and residents of Sonoma County. They are archives that tell our story. 

 These materials come to us from a variety of places and people.  They might have been stored in an attic or barn, in trunks or boxes or hidden in closets for many years.  

That’s one of the joys of archives...many of these materials weren’t created to be seen by others: diaries, recipes, letters, receipts and the like. Their value comes to us through their unique perspective created ‘at the moment’. 

And now that we live in the digital age, we are also saving digital items such as emails, digital photos and other online works.  

Here in the Petaluma History Room, our archives center on the activities in Petaluma, from the famous to the obscure. We collect from a variety of sources with most coming from local donations. We love discovering new perspectives and highlighting different events, families, businesses and more. Each donation adds to the city’s story. 

Mary Fuller McChesney’s family papers add to the story of her life as a sculptor, artist, and author. We get to peek into how she worked as well as how she lived. What a wonderful story that is! 

The Helen Putnam papers, covering her years as a school principal, the first woman mayor, and county supervisor is a testament to commitment, desire to serve and plenty of hard work. It is our largest collection: her influence was wide and included seminal events in the city’s history. 

Petaluma Blacks for Community Development started as one woman’s dream and grew into a yearly celebration of Black culture, accomplishments and pride. The papers of PBCD share that journey.  

The Miss Petaluma Pageant scrapbooks and papers collection – the Terri Hohener Miss Petaluma Ambassador Collection –covers the decade of the pageant’s history. The Miss Petaluma Ambassador Program was created and overseen by Hohener from 1988-1998. A scrapbook was created to document each year and include video from different events, newspaper clippings and other materials.

Our other collections include Christo’s Running Fence, newspapers and magazines, LumaCON archives, the Ugly Dog Contest, high school yearbooks, a big vertical file of newspaper articles, artifacts and so much more. 

And if you have questions about the history of your house, your family, a building or other Petaluma topic we are here to help get you started on your research. 

Drop by the newly remodeled Petaluma Branch and stop in the History Room... you’re going to love it!

History Room hours will be posted when we reopen.