BlockFrom the record
One of 73 National Register listings published here for Sonoma County · listed in 1986 · category: Building.
Sources: the case file at the National Archives · the National Register database, National Park Service
Petaluma Silk Mill
Listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1986. 11 historic topographic surveys show this location, the earliest from 1914.
The listing
- What is counted as historic. The nomination lists 1 building, 1 structure as contributing to the listing.
- Address. 420 Jefferson St., Petaluma, 94952
- When was it listed? March 1986
- Category. building
- Census division. Petaluma
- National Register reference number. 86000386 - the number the National Park Service assigned this property when it was listed, and the key its nomination file is catalogued under at the National Archives.
Then and now
1914 to 1983The ground this property stands on, surveyed 69 years apart. Drag the handle to wipe between them. Both sheets are United States Geological Survey originals; neither has been altered.
Fires near this property
311 since 1992Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal wildfire occurrence database lists 311 fires within 5 miles of Petaluma Silk Mill between 1992 and 2020, burning about 788 acres in total. 3 started naturally. 16 were recorded as arson. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a fire counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Reported cause | Fires |
|---|---|
| Equipment and vehicle use | 124 |
| Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 117 |
| Arson/incendiarism | 16 |
| Misuse of fire by a minor | 16 |
| Debris and open burning | 15 |
| Power generation/transmission/distribution | 10 |
| Smoking | 7 |
| Natural | 3 |
| Recreation and ceremony | 2 |
| Fireworks | 1 |
The most recent of them, most recent first, with the day each was reported and the service that recorded it.
| Date | Cause | Size | Reported by | Name on the report |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 9 September 2007 | Equipment and vehicle use | under an acre | Sonoma-Lake Napa Unit | HWY 101 / KASTANIA RD 6 |
| 9 September 1995 | Arson/incendiarism | under an acre | Sonoma-Lake Napa Unit | D STREET |
| 7 September 2011 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | Sonoma-Lake Napa Unit | not named |
| 7 September 1992 | Recreation and ceremony | 35 acres | Sonoma-Lake Napa Unit | BARBONI |
| 7 September 1992 | Smoking | under an acre | Sonoma-Lake Napa Unit | ADOBE |
| 6 September 2018 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | under an acre | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
| 4 September 2012 | Missing data/not specified/undetermined | 5.4 acres | Sonoma-Lake Napa Unit | ADOBE |
| 3 September 2005 | Misuse of fire by a minor | 2.0 acres | California Department of Forestry & Fire Protection | not named |
Mines and quarries near this property
10 of 20 shownRegional context, not property-specific evidence. The federal mineral resources record lists 20 workings within 5 miles of Petaluma Silk Mill: 11 producers, 4 past producers, 3 occurrences, 1 unknown. 11 still produce. What was taken out: Stone, Sand and Gravel, Construction, Stone, Crushed/Broken, Graphite. Distance is straight-line from the map coordinates, so a quarry counted here may appear on a neighbouring settlement's page as well.
| Where | Site | Commodity | Status | Recorded |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Massa Hill | Gemstone | Occurrence | 1950 | |
| Petaluma Mine | Mercury | Producer | ||
| Petaluma Plant No. 7 | Stone, Dimension | Producer | ||
| West Mayacmas District Report | Chromium, Mercury | Producer | 1850, 1861 | |
| Skinner Ranch | Graphite | Producer | ||
| Skinner Ranch | Graphite | Past Producer | ||
| Hell's Half Acre Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Hillside Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Petaluma Quarry | Stone, Crushed/Broken | Producer | ||
| Afsten Sand Pit | Sand and Gravel, Construction | Producer |
Storms near this property
15 since 1998Regional context, not property-specific evidence. The National Weather Service names Petaluma, the town this property stands in, in 15 storm reports between 1998 and 2020: 6 hail, 5 flash flood, 3 flood, 1 lightning. No death or injury is recorded in these reports. Each account below is quoted exactly as the forecast office filed it, from the NOAA Storm Events Database, and each date opens the federal record of that event.
| When | Event | Place named | Harm | What the report says |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| February 1998 | Flash Flood | Petaluma | $2,000,000 | Flash Flood on Willow Brook at Stoney Point Road near Petaluma. 25 homes near the river were evacuated as well as 40 to 50 residents of a Mobile home park. |
| January 2008 | Flash Flood | Petaluma | $800,000 | Very heavy rain caused flash flooding around Petaluma late Friday night, January 26th. The Petaluma River near Corona Road went over its flood stage of 25.5 feet reaching nearly 30 feet. At least a dozen homes were flooded as were several businesses. |
| December 2012 | Flood | Petaluma | $100 | Minor Flooding on Willow Brook observed. |
| March 2020 | Hail | Petaluma | - | Video on social media showing small hail near Petaluma. |
| February 2019 | Flood | Petaluma | - | Near creek roadway flooded, D St at San Antonio Rd. |
| January 2018 | Hail | Petaluma | - | BB sized hail. |
| January 2018 | Hail | Petaluma | - | Spotter reported thunderstorms with pea sized hail and lightning. |
| January 2018 | Hail | Petaluma | - | CoCoRaHS observer reported pea sized hail near Petaluma. |
| March 2018 | Lightning | Petaluma | - | The Press Democrat in Santa Rosa reported that lightning struck a PG&E circuit at 11 am the morning of the 14th causing a power outage for 25 Petaluma residents lasting through the evening|http://www.pressdemocrat.com/news/8113975-181/rainfall-hail-in-sonoma-county?gallery=8113553&sba=AAS. |
| March 2018 | Hail | Petaluma | - | The Press Democrat in Santa Rosa showed multiple reports of accumulating small hail in downtown Petaluma|http://www.pressdemocrat.com/gallery/8113553-181/reader-submitted-photos-rain-hail-hits?sba=AAS&artslide=0. |
| December 2016 | Flood | Petaluma | - | Northbound SR 121 closed due to flooding - Junction of Route 116 and 121, Arnold Drive, Fremont Drive to Schellville Road, Eighth Street. |
| February 1998 | Flash Flood | Petaluma | - | On Willow Brook |
| February 1998 | Flash Flood | Petaluma | - | On Willow Brook |
| February 1998 | Flash Flood | Petaluma | - | On Willow Brook |
| January 2018 | Hail | Petaluma | - | no account filed |
Maps showing this location
11 surveysUnited States Geological Survey topographic sheets whose coverage includes this point. Matched by taking the coordinate the National Park Service records for this property, then testing that coordinate against the published boundary of every sheet.
- 1914 USGS Petaluma quadrangle1:62500 - 5 printings
- 1942 USGS Petaluma quadrangle1:62500
- 1947 USGS Santa Rosa quadrangle1:250000
- 1949 USGS Santa Rosa quadrangle1:250000 - 2 printings
- 1953 USGS Petaluma quadrangle1:24000 - 3 printings
- 1954 USGS Petaluma quadrangle1:24000
- 1954 USGS Petaluma quadrangle1:62500 - 3 printings
- 1958 USGS Santa Rosa quadrangle1:250000 - 3 printings
- 1962 USGS Santa Rosa quadrangle1:250000
- 1964 USGS Santa Rosa quadrangle1:250000
- 1983 USGS Napa quadrangle1:100000
Listed places nearby
6 within 8 milesOther National Register properties close enough to walk or drive between, ordered by distance from this one. Both positions come from the same geocoding pass that matched these properties to their map sheets.
| Photograph | Property | Distance | Listed |
|---|---|---|---|
 | Petaluma Historic Commercial District | 0.5 miles | 1995 |
 | US Post Office-Petaluma | 0.5 miles | 1985 |
 | Free Public Library of Petaluma | 0.6 miles | 1988 |
 | Ellis-Martin House | 0.6 miles | 2006 |
 | Old Petaluma Opera House | 0.6 miles | 1978 |
| Petaluma Woman's Club | 0.6 miles | 2024 |
Sources for this property
| National Archives record | The nomination case file for reference 86000386 in Record Group 79. |
| Sonoma County | All 73 listed properties in this county. |
Provenance
- Listing record. National Park Service National Register of Historic Places, listed-properties dataset, current to 2026-05-22.
- Map join. Address geocoded through the United States Census geocoder, then tested against the published boundary of every sheet in the USGS Historical Topographic Map Collection.
- How this page is made. Listing fields come from federal records; map-sheet coverage is a labelled coordinate-to-boundary calculation, not a source-field claim.
- Wildfire. Short, Karen C. 2022. Spatial wildfire occurrence data for the United States, 1992-2020 [FPA_FOD_20221014]. 6th Edition. Fort Collins, CO: Forest Service Research Data Archive. https://doi.org/10.2737/RDS-2013-0009.6 Collected with United States Government funding and usable without additional permissions or fees.
- Mines and quarries. USGS Mineral Resources Data System (MRDS) https://mrdata.usgs.gov/mrds/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105.
- Storms. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database https://www.ncei.noaa.gov/stormevents/ A work of the United States government, no copyright under 17 U.S.C. 105. Narratives are quoted verbatim from the National Weather Service report and are not edited or summarised.