Category Archives: History

Architecture, History, Jewish History, Now and Then, Resorts

Rosenthal’s Resort, Part Two

We left off with Selig Rosenthal’s death in 1938. But the story of Rosenthal’s Resort did not end there.doraswedding1939In June of 1939, Dora Rosenthal married Joe Winters, a well-known local tailor.

it1938wintersfirstmentionadwintersoldshop1956Joe Winters’ shop was for many years located next to the El Dorado Hotel. The red and white awning of the Raymond Real Estate office would not get past the Sonoma Design Review Commission now!

Winters was very involved with the rodeo in 1939. The rodeo was started in 1929 and ran through the 1950s, on the Millerick Ranch near Schellville. it1939wintersrodeophoto

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In 1939, National Geographic amgazine came to Sonoma and photographed the Rodeo “Kangaroo Court,” which included Joe Winters.

Winters was a Polish citizen. He applied for dual citizenship in 1940. R.R. Emapran was one of his witnesses. Emparan was the grandson of General Mariano G. Vallejo.winterspolish

In that year Harry Lyons was again partnering to run the resort.

In 1941, “the main building of the Winters resort near Boyes Springs, formerly Rosenthal’s hotel, is being remodeled by Mr. and Mrs. Joseph Winters into seven apartments.”

Rental accommodations were in high demand for defense workers at Mare Island. In 1942, the IT reported that many other resorts were being converted for war housing: “Farrell’s, Parente’s, Rosenthal’s, and Maurel Villa used to be popular in the good old summer time, but are now rented to all year round tenants, cottages being especially in demand. Fetters Hot Springs has its share too.”

In 1945 the IT said the Winters had sold their resort and retired to San Francisco. They had actually sold the resort in 1943 to Mrs. Mary Kalivoda, who ran it as Acacia Grove Resort until 1955, when it was sold to A. R. Wilson of El Cerrito.

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Here is another example of the serendipity that happens when you search newspaper archives. On the same page as the item about the new Acacia Grove owners is this photo of Charlie Peluffo’s house being moved. Peluffo was the developer of the Plaza Center Building at the old Boyes plaza site. The house stood where shopping center at Verano Avenue is, and was move to a lot on Lomita Avenue. Is it still there?

The building that houses the Thai restaurant now (2016) was originally a store.

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rosenthalstore-thaiPhoto from 2008 of the Rosenthal Store building, housing E Sann Thai restaurant.

The building was the home of Lee and Lia Chinese restaurant from 1976 to 1987.

As with the Springs in general, the economic downturn that came with the end of the resort era, brought a certain amount of crime associated with Acacia Grove.

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However, positive things were happening also. In 1966 contractro R.A. Lof added a new laundry room and showers.

Jack Weiler bought Acacia Grove in 1971 and his family still owns it in 2017.

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Interesting buildings from the Rosenthal days:rosenthalchickencoopThe chicken coop. Poultry husbandry was common and popular in the Springs in the early 20th Century.rosenthaltankhouse

The resort was served by a well. The water was stored in the tank house, which is a residence today.rosenthallasalletteThis building was La Salette Restaurant for a few years, but has been vacant a long time. What function did it serve in the heyday of the resort? grangehall1930swebgrange2008mural2012web

The Grange Hall in the 1930s, 2008, and 2012.

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Boyes Hot Springs, History, Jewish History, Resorts

Rosenthal’s Resort, Cantor’s Resort, and Acacia Grove. Part One

Introduction

There would be no reason for many people today to know the name Selig Rosenthal. I came across it because, as a Grange member, I got to look at the organization’s archives and saw the property plat. It didn’t take much digging to reveal the outlines of an interesting story, or several stories, one with a tragic ending. What spurred me to write was a conversation and walk around the property with its current owner, George Weiler, with whom I share an interest in the history of the site.

Dear Reader, please indulge me as I refine my style and methods in writing these articles. In the following I purposefully followed several digressions that begged for more information. This is interesting for me, but may make for pieces that are too long or hard to follow. If so, I apologize.

Rosenthal’s Resort was about ¼ mile south of the Boyes Springs depot, on the highway, on land bounded on the south by Agua Calliente Creek. In 2016 the property encompasses Acacia Grove Mobile Home park, E-Saan Thai restaurant, the old La Salette restaurant building, and surrounds the Sonoma Valley Grange property, which was carved out if the land in 1934.rosenthalsmaprosenthalsplot

As the inscription on this plat states, the land was sold to Selig Rosenthal by Nathan Cantor in 1920.

The first mention of Nathan Cantor in the Index Tribune is in 1912 when we learn that “George Grose (sp) is erecting a first class windmill on the Cantor place in Verano.” (Here again notice the flexibility in place names. Cantor was just across Agua Caliente Creek from the Verano depot of the Santa Rosa and Carquinez Railroad, but that locale is frequently called Boyes Hot Springs.)

In 1913 we learn from the I-T that…

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The same year…

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But in 1917, life was getting more dangerous…

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And the resort business could become contentious.

On Thanksgiving Day, 1919, Nathan Cantor got into a “neighborhood feud” with two rival resort keepers, Tommy Farrell and J. Trahan. Cantor said the men attacked him and tore his clothes. His opponents said Cantor’s dog bit them. Cantor swore out a warrant and the assailants went before Judge Small. The results of that hearing were not reported by the Index Tribune.

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In February of 1920, Nathan Cantor sold his resort to Dora and Selig Rosenthal.

The Index Tribune noted “the new owners are former popular and prominent residents of the metropolis and will no doubt continue to conduct the well-known resort with great success. Cantor’s Resort is one of the most popular in Sonoma Valley, and is crowded every season. Mr. Cantor and his partner, Jennie Boseck, will go to San Francisco.”

Rosenthal was off to a fast start, improving the resort, building some new cottages, some of which still stand in 2016, and planning a “$10,000 hotel.”

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Cottage at the Acacia Grove Mobile home Park, formerly Rosenthal’s Resort, 2016.

By 1922 the improvements at the resort included the new dance hall which had a maple dance floor 36’x 60’. The dance hall building was sold to the Sonoma Valley Grange in 1934. The building still stands, and still has the maple floor.

it1922rosenthallargeadDancing every night to the “four Piece Syncho-Harmony Orchestra!”

Selig Rosenthal became quite involved in the Chamber of Commerce, which was advocating for a road to Petaluma in 1924. He was also prominent in the Sonoma Valley Improvement Club (office said to be located at the corner of State Highway and Park Ave. The building may still stand, though closer to Mountain Ave. and the Highway. See map below.) In 1925 he ran for president of the Boyes Springs contingent.

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1956 Chamber of Commerce map (partial) showing Sonoma Valley Improvement Club building near the corner of Mountain Ave. (not Park Ave.) and Hwy 12.

In 1929, Selig Rosenthal was “preparing plans for converting the property into an up to date auto camp,” said the Index Tribune, (calling it the “former resort.”) The ascendancy of the automobile over train travel spurred many resort owners to do the same. In January of 1930, the IT tells us “Rosenthal’s new auto-camp cottages are nearing completion, Stevenson Brothers Sonoma Vista contractors, handling the big job.”

rosenthalautocampad19311931, Index Tribune

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Jack Valente’s resort in Agua Caliente, near Marin St. The building no longer exists.

Selig Rosenthal was a prominent member of the Jewish community in Sonoma Valley.In 1932 a group of “Jewish capitalists” from San Francisco And Oakland came to the Valley looking for 100 acres on which to build a “model Jewish city,” to be run as a cooperative. Selig Rosenthal was one of the property owners they talked with. They also placed this ad in the Index Tribune:

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jewishcity1More research into the Jewish cooperative movement in the Bay Area is warranted.

Newspaper archive wanderings sometimes produce interesting unexpected results. A short article under the second page ending to the Jewish City piece, appears this, a heart-rending vignette of hard times in 1932:

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In March of 1933 Selig and Dora Rosenthal announced their partnership with Harry Lyons, who ran a resort in Sonoma Vista (across the Creek from Boyes Springs), in the opening of “a high-class kosher resort, the only one in California…Mr. Rosenthal states that a benefit will mark the opening of the resort, at which noted Rabbis will speak and to which congresswoman Florence Kahn will be invited.”

Florence Kahn was Congresswoman from the fourth district from 1925 to 1937. She was the first Jewish woman to serve in Congress, and the first woman on the House Military Affairs Committee. A San Francisco resident, she was a frequent visitor to Sonoma Valley. (It is unclear how she could represent the Fourth District, while living in the City, because San Francisco is not in the district.)

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The Rosenthal-Lyons partnership lasted all of five months, dissolving in September of 1933.

In April of 1934, the Sonoma Valley Grange bought Rosenthal’s dance hall, an event apparently  overshadowed only by the opening of the Sebastiani Theater, according to the I-T.

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In 1934 the Rosenthal’s opened a cafe in San Francisco.it1934rosenthalexchangeslots

In 1935 the Rosenthal’s tried to sell their resort, but the deal fell through.

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In March of 1938., Rosenthal came under a doctor’s care.it1938rosenthalill
The beloved Dr. Andrews personally saved the Sonoma Grammar School from demolition and made it available as the home of the Sonoma Community Center. Andrews Hall is named for him.

Then, in June 1938…

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According to the Index Tribune, Rosenthal had been in ill health since 1935, and this was cited as the reason for his attempt at suicide. The article says “Rosenthal is recovering,” but, curiously, speaks of him in the past tense in the final paragraph.

Rosenthal succumbed to his illness in December of 1938. He was buried in the Jewish Cemetery in Petaluma.rosenthalobitrosenthalgravemarker

“The B’nai Israel Cemetery and Home of Eternal Peace Interfaith Cemetery aka Petaluma Jewish Cemetery is located within the fenced boundary of Cypress Hill Memorial Park at 430 Magnolia Avenue, Petaluma. The B’nai Isreal cemetery was established in 1871 for the Congregation Society B’nai Israel of Petaluma.”

Courtesy of findagrave.com

To Be Continued…
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History, mid-century

Mendel Cader

Mendel Cader was Sam Ganos’ step-son. Lillian Cader, Mendel’s mother, married Sam in the 1930s. Mendel married in 1944.

Sam Ganos emigrated from Greece in 1907. Making his way from New York to Sonoma Valley, he opened Sam’s Grill in 1916, in the building that still stands on the Highway, opposite Central Ave. It now houses La Hacienda Taqueria (2016.) This means there has been a restaurant in that building for 100 years. (See the post about Sam).

According to Todd Ganos, Sam’s grandson, Sam brought Mendel into the business in the late 40s, eventually turning it over to him, renaming it Mendel’s Café. In the early 1950s, the Café moved around the corner to the building on Boyes Blvd. These buildings later came to known as the “Uncle Patty’s” block.

bhs1950ssnapshots1-copyAn article in the Index Tribune of June 1, 1951, tells us the café would be open every day but Tuesday, starting Memorial Day. On the same page we learn that, “14,000 swam at Boyes Over the Weekend.” Also on the same page was an ad for Bob and Edith Lanning’s Resort Club, offering “Fun, Friendship and Fine Drinks…. Blue Pacific Strings are playing Saturday night.”nathansThe building next to Mendel’s, housing Nelson’s Delicatessen in the 50s, is thought to be the former Nathan’s, dating from circa 1910. (Photo courtesy of the California State Library.)mendelsopensnotelyRather than just citing newspaper stories, sometimes it’s interesting to look at the whole page, or part of a page, to give context. The above clipping is from the Index Tribune, November 14, 1952. It’s interesting that the “local boy” witnessing the H bomb test was permitted to write home about it! The Hot Springs Happenings columnist later became Gaye LeBaron who is well known as a journalist and historian of Sonoma County. Visit http://library.sonoma.edu/specialcollections/lebaron to find out about the Gaye Lebaron Collection at the Sonoma State University Library. (Reading newspaper archives is similar to reading the dictionary: all kinds of unexpected information and associations pop up.)

In March, 1955 Mendel sold the café to Mr. and Mrs. Tom Sterling. Cader had been running the café for eight years. The same year, Mendel was apparently managing the restaurant at the Sonoma Golf and Country Club. That New Years Eve he offered “dancing, favors, surprises” and a deluxe steak dinner for $7.50. In 1958, Mendel was hosting at the Broadway Café, located at #536 Broadway. The same year, he closed the Broadway Café and opened a bar in San Francisco, “with an uncle.”it1958mendelbroadwaycafecropSome time after the SF venture he again opened Mendel’s Café in Boyes, which had become “Millie’s.” He then sold it in 1963 and went on to operate Diamond Lil’s Restaurant in Petaluma with his brother Dave.diamondlilfrontandbackLillian Cader Ganos had inherited Sam Gano’s substantial estate, which she lavished on Mendel and his brother, who proceeded to go bankrupt in the 1970s.

 

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Architecture, Boyes Hot Springs, History, mid-century

The Boyes Springs Food Center

A sampling of the history of the Food Center, as told by the Index Tribune. Included are surrounding articles and advertisements, to give some sense of the life in the Springs in 1949. That year was indeed a special one in this area, and deserves and article of its own.

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1956. Presidential politics anybody?it1956foodcenterpolitics

Architect Hugh Duffy designed the Plaza Center building also.it1960bigthreearchitect-copy

One of Zan Stark’s wonderful photographs of the building, and more. 1950s.zane64lookingnorth2008. The tiled awning was still in place.foodcenter2008

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History, Place Names/Street Names

Valley of the Moon Map, 1962

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Architecture, Boyes Hot Springs, History

Leavenworth’s House

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A History of Boyes Hot Springs should begin in April, 1847, with the arrival at San Francisco of Thaddeus M. Leavenworth, a native of Connecticut, purporting to be an Episcopal chaplain. He had enlisted in Stevenson’s Regiment of New York Mexican War Volunteers. After serving as a controversial alcalde in San Francisco from October 1847 to June 5, 1849, where he also took part in school and church affairs, he became interested in farming, or, more specifically, farm land, and speculation in farmlands. The fertile fields available north of San Francisco brought him to Sonoma Valley, where he acquired a 320.23 acre piece of land which would figure prominently in history as the site of Boyes Hot Springs.

Actually, these 320.33 acres covered all the land now known as Agua Caliente, Fetters Hot Springs, and some of Maxwell Farm

In 1853, both Thaddeus Leavenworth and State Senator M.G. Vallejo made application to the Land Claims Commission for title to the 320.33 acres, both referring to the land as a portion of the Agua Caliente Rancho, and both contending before the commission that they were the successors in interest to Lazaro Piña, who purportedly had received title to the property on July 13, 1840, by grant from the Mexican Territorial Governor Juan B. Alvarado. Eventually, in1855, Leavenworth’s claim was approved, Vallejo’s claim having been rejected by the Commission. Apparently Leavenworth had better appearing forged documents than his adversary. From A History of Boyes Hot Springs by Robert Parmalee, 1992, used by permission of the author.

The plat of Leavenworth’s claim was drawn in 1860 by the US Surveyor General in SF. Near the center is a small square with the inscription “Leavenworth’s house.” Also on the plat are the township and range lines of the Public Land Survey System, with their alpha-numeric designations(“T5N R6W”). This system is still in use, allowing the US Geological Survey quadrangle map to be superimposed on Leavenworth’s plat. Ecological historian Arthur Dawson has done just that, writing in the names of the streets as we know them today(Queens, or Queeno street is the un-signed alley that runs along the south side of the Sonoma Mission Inn property.)

Thus we have a pretty good idea of where Leavenworth’s house was: within about 200′ of a point very near the base of the Sonoma Mission Inn water tower.

What did Leavenworth’s house look like? In 1884 TLM sold some of his land to Henry Boyes (and that is another long, interesting story) who incorporated Agua Rica Mineral Springs. They issued a post card showing a house. It might reasonably be assumed that the house, along with the land, was bought by Boyes from TLM, so the post card could be showing us Leavenworth’s house.

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Thanks to Arthur Dawson and Robert Parmelee for permission to use their work.

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