John Michael McCarty's Blog, page 9

Guernewood Park & Fishing

Guernewood Park and fishing were synonymous at one time when angling tales were aplenty along the banks of the lower Russian River.  A 1905 issue of the Santa Rosa Republican reported that “Salmon are running at the present time in vast schools…It is no task at all to catch more salmon than one can carry, and small boys are catching them on pitchforks instead of the usual gaffs required.”

The 1930’s photo (top) shows a group catching their limit.  When the tide was low, locals would breach the sandbars at the mouth in Jenner with sticks of dynamite to allow the fish to run upstream.  Bill Schaadt, who lived in Monte Rio, was regarded as one of the top fly fishermen in the world during the 1950’s.  Quirky and elusive, he became the object of countless tales.

Fishing along the Russian River:

Fishing along the Russian River was a passion for Bill Schaadt.  To save money in order to feed his obsession, he backed his trailer into his living room, forcing the county officials to red-tag his home, which in turn allowed him to be free of paying property taxes.  In order to discourage others from fishing his favorite spot near Guernewood Park, he would solder a razor blade to his hook and cut the lines of nearby fishermen.  The mural behind the counter at Pat’s restaurant in Guerneville was painted by Schaadt.  If you study it, you can see the “Hacienda Hole” on the other side of the old Summer Crossing near present-day Dubrava where he enjoyed spending his free hours.  The photo on the bottom shows an eight-foot white sturgeon caught in this very same hole in 1998.

For more on your favorite towns and neighborhoods of the Russian River and San Francisco, scroll to the bottom of this page.  To see reviews and sample chapters of my historical fiction novels, go to the top and click on “Novels”. 

 

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Guernewood Park Recreational Activities

There were many recreational activities at Guernewood Park during the sixties.  Besides dancing at the Tavern and watching flicks on the outdoor screen, you also had a peewee golf course and a roller skating rink across the street where the Garden Grill is today.  If that wasn’t enough, there was an indoor bowling alley where Ferrellgas stands.  Next door on the site where the Chinese restaurant is, you had the horse stables.  The pony rides did the loop down Old Cazadero Road and back along Lover’s Lane.  The hayrides (top photo) took you thru Guerneville to Armstrong Woods Park where you would enjoy a BBQ before returning.  Rich Caselli remembers as a kid working the stables as well as riding the back of the wagon to insure no one fell off (circa 1949-1954).  Misty Moreno became good friends with Tom Stoy whose father brought the horses out to the river each summer.  I’m betting she got a free pony ride out of the deal.

Guernewood Park Beach:

The Guernewood Park Beach rested behind the Tavern (bottom photo).  There was a diving board at the end of a pier as well as concession stands where you could rent anything from a one-piece bathing suit to an umbrella to a sno-cone and canoe.  In addition there was a forty-foot high-dive platform, but only the lifeguards were allowed on the top level.  Perhaps one of the most fun features was a forty-foot slide that took you for a ride into the shallows.

For more on the Russian River, scroll to the bottom of this page and click on your favorite town/neighborhood.  Also, several scenes from the historical fiction novel Stumptown Daze took place at Guernewood Park.  For more on this book, go to the top and click on “Novels”.  Have fun!

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Guernewood Park Tavern

The Guernewood Park Tavern along the Russian River was built around 1905.  The photograph at the top was taken in 1938.  The building was the entrance to the beach, which sat behind the tavern.  During these yearly years, it was the largest resort in the area and a popular destination for the Big Bands.  Other dance halls included the Palomar on Fitch Mt., Rio Nido, Mirabel Park, The Grove in Guerneville, and Monte Rio.  Artists like Buddy Rogers, Duke Ellington, Harry James, Woody Herman and Ozzie Nelson stopped in Portland first and then traveled along the Russian River before moving on to Santa Cruz. There was dancing six nights a week in rural Sonoma County with the cost being 50 cents on weeknights and 75 cents on weekends.   

Guernewood Park: Ginger’s Rancho

The site at Guernewood Park became known as Ginger’s Rancho (bottom photo) and was a popular destination in the sixties.  It included a restaurant, bar and cabins.  Julie Jueletha remembers going square dancing in the hall next to the Tavern at the far end of the paved area.  Besides the beach area in the back, there was a fire pit and outdoor movie theater in the front.  Other activities included horse and hay rides, bowling and roller skating.  The Tavern was later abandoned, vandalized and burned down about 1974.  There was no effort to rebuild until the development of the Dubrava Village condominiums in the late eighties.

For more on Guernewood Park, scroll down to the bottom of this page and click on “Guernewood Park”.  The area is also featured in Stumptown Daze, a romance/comedy novel that takes place in 1960.  For reviews, sample chapters, etc., go to the top and click on “Novels”.  Explore and have fun.

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Indie Book Award

I am proud to say that my latest novel, Don’t Stop the Music, is the recipient of Shelf Unbound’s Notable Indie Award for 2018 historical fiction.  The book was released last year to celebrate the fiftieth anniversary of the Summer of Love (1967).  It is an action/adventure read with iconic scenes and names from San Francisco’s Haight Ashbury District as well as the backwoods of the Russian River area in rural Sonoma County. 

For Reviews, historical photos, go to http://www.johnmccarty.org

 

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Guernewood Park, the Early Days

George Guerne, a Swiss immigrant who in 1870 had Stumptown (Guerneville) renamed in his honor, purchased adjoining parcels, which became known as Guernewood Park.  The top photo (1920’s) shows the entrance to the area, which was located where the empty lot is today next to the Dubrava complex.  This was the largest resort along the Russian River at the time, comprising almost 15 acres. When the last train pulled out from the station in 1935, auto routes experienced heavy traffic.  The dirt road down Pocket Canyon was asphalted in ’29, the concrete for which came for the old sand and gravel plant that was just downstream from the Odd Fellows Bridge (you can still see remnants of the piers there today).  Another route was across the Monte Rio Bridge.  The original one was constructed around 1915 at a cost of $25,000, which was replaced in 1934 by the current span.

Guernewood Park:

In later years, a building housed various businesses in front of the Guernewood Park Tavern and beach entrance (not shown).  The bottom photo depicts the 1947 structure with its grocery store, bakery, Sportsmen’s Club bar, and restaurant.   Ben Larner remembers that his grandfather and father (Rip Larner) ran the butcher shop inside the grocery store.  Sam Sirdofsky recalls the dentist office across the old Highway 12 from the grocery store where the half-blind Dr. Papov worked on Sam, his teeth chattering with every slip of the drill.  Sam was allowed to work off the expenses for some bad  dentistry by building models for the doc’s mini-golf course, which stood where the childcare center is today.  Pam Copple managed the miniature golf course from 1959-1965.

For more memories of the area, scroll to the bottom of this page and click on “Guernewood Park”.  Note: the area is featured in Stumptown Daze, a romance-comedy novel that takes place in 1960.  For reviews, sample chapters, etc, click on “Novels” at the top.  Enjoy!

 

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Guernewood Village, Then and Now

Guernewood Village, then and now, shows campers relaxing by the open pit fire next to their tent in the early part of last century along the Russian River.  Guernewood Village preceded Guernewood Park and existed behind the present-day Garden Grill.

During more recent times, neighbors in the area complained about the illegal activity at Spooner’s RV Park.  The locals pleaded for relief from the squalor, illegal drug use, theft and noise associated with the tenants at Spooner’s. “It’s the scourge of Guernewood Park,” said Old Cazadero Road resident Patricia Hall.   “We smell, see and hear what’s going on there,” said Fred Uren (no pun intended) of Lover’s Lane.  “It’s anything but pleasant.”  Note: Lover’s Lane where it meets Highway 116 used to be the entrance to Guernewood Village.

Guernewood Village, Then and Now:

Spooner’s RV Park, where the old Guerewood Village once stood, faced threats of legal action by the community and $3,000 in abatement costs and civil penalties.  A group of investors from Santa Barbara bought the two-acre site a couple of years ago and have developed a glamping destination named AutoCamp Russian River.  The project includes 24 Airstream trailers and luxurious canvas tents with plush interiors on the property where the old Molly Brown’s Restaurant and Bar was situated.  Also included are a modern clubhouse, fire pit lounges, concierge service and Wi-Fi throughout.  Accommodations can cost upwards of $300/night.  “I’m happy with the development,” said Chris Gulledge of the Guernewood Neghborhood Association.  But beware, do you want to trade in the former sordidness for a gentrified future?  So far, the answer is yes.  We shall see.

For more on the Russian River (or San Francisco), scroll to the bottom of this page and click on your favorite neighborhood, town, etc.  If you’re in the mood to explore, click on “Novels” at the top for historical fiction reads of the area.  Enjoy!

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Guernewood Village along the Russian River

Guernewood Village, which was established in the 1920’s, existed prior to Guernewood Park and was located north of Highway 12 (now highway 116).  The top photo (early 1940’s) depicts the entrance to the village with Hulbert Creek running behind it.  As you strolled under the sign, an amusement walk led the way to a cafe, various game booths including Skee-Ball and a baseball toss with milk bottles.  Further down the lane would be an indoor bowling alley, an outdoor amphitheater where some of the Big Bands played.  The most popular local band was the Harry Davis’ Guernewood Village Bowl Orchestra.

The bottom photo shows the Guernewood Grocery, known from the 1940’s to the mid-1950’s as Noble’s Grocery Store.  It was located just under the Guernewood Village sign and just west of the present-day Garden Grill.

Guernewood Village:

Guernewood Village also featured an outdoor roller skating rink where the tennis courts are today.  To complete the recreational scene there was an outdoor movie theater.  A housing boom along Old Cazadero Road in the twenties thru the fifties propelled the area into the limelight.  Most of the homes were built on stilts to withstand floods.  A typical three-bedroom abode in 1952 would set you back approximately $4,000, the same price for that year’s Buick station wagon.

Guernewood Park is featured in Stumptown Daze, a romance/comedy novel that takes place in 1960.  For sample chapters, reviews, etc, go to the top of this page and click on “Novels”.  For further photos and historical tidbits of Guernewood Park, scroll down and click on “Guernewood Park”.  Enjoy.

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Guernewood Village, Russian River

Before the 1950’s, one of the largest resorts along the Russian River was Guernewood Village, which should not be confused with Guernewood Park.  The former was on the north side of present day Highway 116 while the latter was on the south side.   The top photo on the left depicts the Old Monte Rio Road, which was also known as the Monte Rio Highway, connecting Monte Rio with Guernewood Village.  Also in the same pic is the gated entrance “To The Height” that was a summer home development and is now the intersection of Lover’s Lane.

Just east of the gated community and Lover’s Lane was the outdoor Catholic Church.  The bottom photo shows a 1954 Sunday service in Guernewood.  During the summer months, the regular indoor worship sites such as St. Elizabeth’s in Guerneville, St. Catherine’s in Monte Rio, and St. Colman’s in Cazadero were full to capacity. 

Guernewood Village:

Traveling priests initiated outdoor churches to accommodate the overflow.  One local tells the story of her husband’s grandfather not only handling the offering basket on Sunday at the Guernewood Village church but also going door-to-door after the mass to make sure that everyone had contributed their fair share.  Also, horse riders had to take alternate routes so as not to disturb the worshipers.

For more, go to the bottom of this page and click on “Guernewood Park”.   This resort was featured in Stumptown Daze.  For a quick summary, chapter samples and reviews of this historical fiction book, go to “Novels” at the top.  Have fun exploring.

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Trains Along the Russian River

When the first excursion trains rumbled to the Russian River area on Sunday, March 25, 1877 the passenger cars were an assortment of open-end platform wooden coaches.  Fifty years later the same type of cars were still bringing thousands of excursionists to the local resort towns. It must have been something to see the black smoke billowing from the balloon stack, listening to the whistle as ol’ NO. 11 rolled into the station.  Perhaps the best part of the summer months was having the entire lower river available as your personal playground. When passenger and freight trains weren’t scheduled, the railway used the tracks to offer a kind of trolley service using an ancient steam engine and open railway car recycled from the old timber days.

Trains Along the River:

Meeting your friends at a particular swimming hole for a picnic by catching a ride on the “Coffee Grinder” –  which looked like an oversized toy, and puffed away at less than ten miles per hour – added to summer’s delight along the Russian River.  This chapter of the resorts ended in late 1909, when the NWP line finally met the narrow gauge railway that came up the coast. After that the railroad began promoting the “Triangle Trip” Sunday excursions, a 150-mile ride.  A day out of the city sitting on trains while watching some nice scenery, which started in Sausalito and continued up present-day Highway 101 to Fulton Station.  From there you would transfer to the Russian River line and travel to Rio Nido, Guerneville, Monte Rio, Occidental and on to the coast thru Valley Ford and Point Reyes Station.  Your final leg encompassed the beautiful San Geranimo Valley until reconnecting with your ferry by the bay.

For more info, go to the bottom of this page and click on “Railroads”.  If the mood strikes you, check out some of the historical fiction books of San Francisco and the Russian River by scrolling to the top and clicking “Novels”. 

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Guernewood Park, Russian River

During the early days, the North Pacific Coast R.R. (later the North Western Pacific R.R.) would take you from the ferry building at Sausalito on a four-hour trip through San Geranimo Valley to Point Reyes Station, Valley Ford, Freestone, Occidental, Monte Rio and eventually to Guernewood Park and beyond along the Russian River. 

 

Guernewood Park:

The historical postcard (upper left) depicts one of seven tunnels you would pass through on your journey to Guernewood Park.  This particular passage was between Occidental and Monte Rio above the present-day fish ladder in Dutch Bill Creek. The railbed is still visible and used by local hikers.  The 1912 black and white photo (upper right) shows the tracks coming into Guernewood Park and joining up with Old Monte Rio Road.  The railroad path was converted into Highway 12 in 1936, which is now Highway 116.  

For more info on the Russian River, select a neighborhood below on this website page and explore.  Enjoy!

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