Sebastopol, California

Sonoma County

06-70770

Sebastopol is about 80 kilometers north of San Francisco town in Sonoma County in California. It is located about 20 minutes drive from the Pacific coast, between Santa Rosa and Bodega Bay and is known for its rural charm. In 2000 the town had 7,774 inhabitants, including suburban there were about 50,000.

Sebastopol belongs to one of three U.S. cities in the Cittaslow international movement, which has set itself the quality of life in cities to the destination.

History

The territory of the present-day city was formerly inhabited by the Miwok and Pomo. In the 1850s, the city was founded by a branch of the United States Postal Service and a market which was supplied by farmers from the surrounding area. During the colonization of the West Coast and the gold rush, numerous people settled north of San Francisco, there to cultivate the fertile soil.

In the late 1850s the city was first called Sebastopol. The name is said to have emerged from a lively and prolonged boxing match, reminiscent of the British occupation of the Russian port of Sevastopol during the Crimean War. Also four other California cities were then renamed in Sebastopol.

Sebastopol became famous as the Gravenstein Apple Capital of the World. Fruit production brought the city to a modest wealth. 1890 introduced a range of Northwestern Pacific Railroad in the city. 1902, the infrastructure was greatly expanded: schools, churches, hotels, canneries, mills, wineries and an opera house were built. Just four years later the great earthquake of 1906 destroyed much of the city, but as another place, the city was rebuilt.

In the second half of the 20th century lost the apple growing, especially by competing regions in importance. The large growth of other cities in Sonoma County, such as Rohnert Park or Santa Rosa, had the consequence that many residents of Sebastopol there sought work and performed their business activities. This resulted in a small town Sebastopol is still remembered today.

Geography

Sebastopol extends over 4.9 km ² at an altitude 20-76 meters. The center is located at the intersection of California State Route 12 and 116, about 15 kilometers west of U.S. Highway 101 The city is bordered by the Laguna de Santa Rosa, a 658 km ² of natural state wetland, located in the east of Santa Rosa. The Laguna de Santa Rosa performs regularly in the winter flood, which has the consequence that the eastern districts of Sebastopol and parts of State Route 12 are flooded. In the bottom area can be found, including two rare plant species: Lilium pardalinum subsp. pitkinense, only about 200 to 300 individuals are detectable from and Carex albida.

Population

According to the latest census from the year 2000 7.774 inhabitants living in 3,250 households in Sebastopol. This means a population density of 1596.6 inhabitants per km ². 89.85 % of the population are white, 1.52 % Asian, 0.78% Native American, 0.66% African American and 3.96 % belong to other ethnic groups. Near the town there are several settlements of the Pomo Indians.

The average age was 42 years in 2000; 31 % of the population is younger than 24 years, 25 % are between 25 and 44, 27.6% are between 45 and 64 and 16.6 % are older than 65, the number of young adults is significantly lower than that of other age groups, which shows that this group of people leaving the region, at least for some time. The average net income is $ 22,881

Economy

The region was previously known for the plum and apple orchards, but now the wine has many of these crops replaced (see also the article Russian River Valley AVA and Green Valley of Russian River Valley AVA). The plant breeder Luther Burbank had gardens in this region. Every year there is an apple blossom festival and a Gravenstein Apple Fair in Sebastopol.

Sebastopol is the home of O'Reilly publishing house that publishes books on open source software.

Twinning

Sebastopol has two sister cities: Yamauchi - Takeo in Japan and Tschyhyryn in Ukraine.

Personalities

In addition to Luther Burbank are or were Charles Schulz, Les Claypool, Jerry Garcia, Mickey Hart, Tom Waits, Nick Gravenites and Peter Krause famous residents of the city.