Santa Rosa

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Santa Rosa

California, United States

Written and fact-checked by The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica

Last Updated: Nov 22, 2024 • Article History

News •

Storm dumps record rain and heavy snow on Northern California. Many in Seattle still without power • Nov. 22, 2024, 12:42 AM ET (AP)

Santa Rosa, city, seat (1854) of Sonoma county, western California, U.S. It is situated on Santa Rosa Creek, at the foot of the Sonoma Mountains, 50 miles (80 km) north-northwest of San Francisco. Founded in 1833 by Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo and named for St. Rose of Lima, it developed as a processing-shipping centre for agricultural produce of the Sonoma Valley. Agriculture no longer dominates the economy, which now mainly depends on retail-service industries catering to an increasing residential population. The city has been the site of several utopian-living experiments, including Fountain Grove (1885), founded by Thomas Lake Harris. The home and gardens of horticulturist Luther Burbank were given by his widow to Santa Rosa Junior College (founded 1918). The city’s Church of One Tree Museum (built from a single redwood tree) honours “Believe It or Not!” creator and Santa Rosa native Robert L. Ripley. In the nearby Valley of the Moon is Jack London State Historic Park, which contains the ruins of his home, Wolf House; a museum where the writer’s original manuscripts are displayed; and his grave. Also nearby are Annadel, Bothe–Napa Valley, and Sugarloaf Ridge state parks. Inc. 1868. Pop. (2010) 167,815; Santa Rosa–Petaluma Metro Area, 483,878; (2020) 178,127; Santa Rosa–Petaluma Metro Area, 488,863.

This article was most recently revised and updated by Jeff Wallenfeldt.