Wineries &
Sonoma Valley Map
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Healdsburg, located in Sonoma County in the Northern California wine country, is a picturesque city of approximately 9,500 with a historic town square.
Follow the links in left hand column to view panoramas and pictures of the wineries and landscape around Healdsburg. Scroll down for a map of Sonoma County. Use the blue column links, right side, to visit other areas in the wine country or to tour San Francisco.
Take our small group Wine Country Tour, Redwoods and Wine Tour or Wine Country Jeep Tour.
Healdsburg area Wineries
Our Wine Trails articles include maps, many pictures and detailed directions to Wineries in the Russian River Valley along the Westside Road on Dry Creek Road and Chalk Hill Road and Alexander Valley.
Visit area wineries and break for lunch and some game time at the nearby River Rock Casino when you wine tour with California Jeep Tours.
Our comprehensive wine and winery guides include maps to the wineries, many pictures and panoramas, wine labels, wine tasting notes, wine pairing recipes and more.
A Brief History of Healdsburg
Healdsburg's history dates back to the mid-1800's when farmers and gold miners began settling in the area where the Alexander, Dry Creek and Russian River Valleys come together.
The land was owned by Captain Henry D. Fitch, who had been given the 48,000 acre Rancho Sotoyome land grant by the Mexican government in 1844. Soto was an important chief of the Southern Pomo village of Wotoakka'ton. The native inhabitants of the region surrounding what was to be Fitch Mountain were known as the Sotoyomi. Fitch, who had business to manage in San Diego, sent Cyrus Alexander to develop the property. Alexander received 10,000 acres in what is now known as Alexander Valley for his efforts.
Josefina Carillo—another daughter of Senora Maria Ignacia Lopez Carrillo, General Mariano Vallejo's mother-in-law—had eloped with Captain Henry D. Fitch. Josefa and her children moved to the Sotoyome Ranch after Fitch's death in 1849. In 1856, Josefa had to auction off part of the ranch to pay taxes.
Harmon Heald, an unsuccessful gold miner who had been squatting on the Sotoyome Ranch for six years, purchased 100 acres at the auction for $200. He later acquired another 65 acres from relatives. Heald had opened a small store in 1851, using the profits to buy some of Josefa Fitch's land.
Heald laid out a town complete with a central Spanish-style Plaza which remains one of the few examples of early California town planning still in existence.
Healdsburg was officially incorporated in 1867. The arrival of the Northwestern Pacific Railway in 1871 contributed to the towns success.
The Madrona Manor, built as a country retreat in 1881 by John Alexander Paxton and on the National Register of Historic Places, later became a bed and breakfast. The oldest golf course in Sonoma County, Tayman Park Golf Course in Healdsburg, was established in 1921 and has some of the best views in the county.
The Healdsburg Museum, founded in 1976, is in the former Healdsburg Carnegie Library building at 221 Matheson Street. The building, which dates to 1910, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Exhibits include Northern Sonoma County history and 19th-century clothing, antique firearms, tools, and Pomo Indian basketry. Admission is free. Open Tues. through Sun., 12:00 noon to 5:00 p.m.
(707) 433-4275
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