Sonoma Plaza

Sonoma Plaza is the central plaza in the former town of Sonoma (pueblo de Sonoma, in Spanish), now known as Sonoma, California. The town is centered on this plaza, the largest plaza in California. This plaza is surrounded by many historical buildings, including the Mission San Francisco Solano, Captain Salvador Vallejo's Casa Grande, the Presidio of Sonoma, the Blue Wing Inn, and the Toscano Hotel. In the middle of the plaza, Sonoma's early 20th-century city hall, at the plaza's center and still in use, was designed and built with four identical sides in order not to offend the merchants on any one side of the plaza. The plaza is a National Historic Landmark and still serves as the town's focal point, hosting many community festivals and drawing tourists all year round. It provides a central tourist attraction. It is also the location of the Farmer's Market, held every Tuesday in the summer. Sonoma City Hall was dedicated in 1908.

This location was where the Bear Flag Revolt took place in 1846, which led to the Mexican-American War.

Sonoma

Sonoma may refer to:

Wine Country

Wine Country refers to areas where wine grapes are grown and/or enotourism exists.

Best-known regions

Lesser-known regions

Other uses

Plaza

A plaza /ˈplɑːzə/ is an open urban public space, such as a city square.

Throughout Spanish America and the Spanish East Indies, the plaza mayor of each center of administration held three closely related institutions: the cathedral, the cabildo or administrative center, which might be incorporated in a wing of a governor's palace, and the audiencia or law court. The plaza might be large enough to serve as a military parade ground. At times of crisis or fiesta, it was the space where a large crowd might gather. Like the Italian piazza, the plaza remains a center of community life that is only equaled by the market-place.

Most colonial cities in Spanish America and the Philippines were planned around a square plaza de armas, where troops could be mustered, as the name implies, surrounded by the governor's palace and the main church. A plaza de toros is a bullring.

In modern usage, a plaza can be any gathering place on a street or between buildings, a street intersection with a statue, etc. Today's metropolitan landscapes often incorporate the "plaza" as a design element, or as an outcome of zoning regulations, building budgetary constraints, and the like. Sociologist William H. Whyte conducted an extensive study of plazas in New York City: his study humanized the way modern urban plazas are conceptualized, and helped usher in significant design changes in the making of plazas.

Sonoma, California

Sonoma is a historically significant city in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County, California, United States, surrounding its historic town plaza, a remnant of the town's Mexican colonial past. Today, Sonoma is a center of the state's wine industry for the Sonoma Valley AVA Appellation, as well as the home of the Sonoma International Film Festival. Sonoma's population was 10,648 as of the 2010 census, while the Sonoma urban area had a population of 32,678.

History

Origins

The area around what is now the City of Sonoma, California was not empty when the first Europeans arrived. It is near the northeast corner of the territory claimed by the Coast Miwok, with Southern Pomo to the northwest, Wappo to the northeast, Suisunes and Patwin peoples to the east.

Mission Period

Mission San Francisco Solano was the predecessor of the Pueblo of Sonoma. The Mission, established in 1823 by Father José Altimira of the Franciscan Order was the 21st, last and northernmost mission built in Alta California. It was the only mission built in Alta California after Mexico gained independence from the Spanish Empire. In 1833 the Mexican Congress decided to close all of the missions in Alta California. The Spanish missionaries were to be replaced by parish priests. The commander of the Company of the National Presidio at San Francisco (Compania de Presidio Nacional de San Francisco), Lieutenant Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo was appointed administrator (comisionado) to oversee the closing of Mission San Francisco Solano.Governor José Figueroa's naming of Lieutenant Vallejo as the administrator to secularize the Mission was part of a larger plan.