Two

STREET SCENES

Street scene postcards provide a fascinating snapshot of daily life in any city. These photographs or lithographic views freeze a moment in time. They show people involved in their daily activity and vehicles moving about the town. Look at these cards with a magnifying glass and little details appear. You can read signs advertising businesses or events long past, each a clue in identifying a location or determining a date.

The Santa Rosa shown in the postcards from 1915 through the 1940s is a busy place, the commercial center for a large geographic area. In many ways it appears to be a larger city than it does today. All of the retail businesses, professional services, and many residences were packed into the downtown area. People lived, worked, and played in much closer confines than today.

Take your time when you look at these postcards—some buildings and businesses will be familiar, others only memories.

EARLY VIEW OF FOURTH STREET, C. 1900. This photocard shows the 400 block of Fourth Street looking east. Note the water wagon in the foreground washing the streets, and the streetcar and its track down the middle.

FOURTH STREET, C. 1905. This view looks west at the corner of Mendocino Avenue and Fourth Street. The double tracks enabled busy streetcars to pass each other on Fourth Street.

FOURTH STREET, C. 1905. The horse-drawn Dohn’s Express Wagon was probably delivering freight from the railroad depot.

FOURTH STREET, C. 1912. A good view of the Exchange Bank building at the corner of Fourth Street and Mendocino Avenue is visible in this card.

FOURTH STREET, C. 1906. This postcard says, “As it appeared April 17, l906,” one day prior to the earthquake.

FOURTH STREET, C. 1915. This printed postcard’s view looks west from the intersection of Fourth and Mendocino. The fine cast-iron street clock appears in numerous views of Fourth Street.

AERIAL VIEW OF FOURTH STREET, C. 1905. A photographer climbed to the top of the courthouse tower to get this shot of the intersection of Fourth and B Streets in the center of the postcard.

FOURTH STREET, 1910. A street fair is in progress in this view down Exchange Avenue to Third Street.

AERIAL VIEW OF FOURTH STREET, C. 1910. This postcard shows several retail establishments in the 500 block of Fourth Street. Note the awning advertising E.R. Sawyer Jewelers.

FOURTH STREET, C. 1910. In this view looking west on Fourth Street at the intersection of Exchange Avenue, one can see the LaBria Cigar ad painted on the side of the building. This sign appears in many Fourth Street views.

FOURTH STREET, C. 1905. This is Fourth Street looking east from the corner of Exchange Avenue.

THIRD STREET, C. 1905. In this view looking west on Third Street, the courthouse is visible on the right, bounded by Exchange Avenue on the west and Hinton Avenue on the east. Main Street, now Santa Rosa Avenue, is the intersection on the left.

DOWNTOWN, 1915. A parking space in downtown Santa Rosa on Fourth Street must have been at a premium in 1915. The same thing can be said for today’s parking on Fourth Street!

MENDOCINO AVENUE, C. 1925. This view is looking south from Sixth Street toward the courthouse. The Native Sons Building appears on the left.

MENDOCINO AVENUE, C. 1925. Looking south from Fifth Street, the Rosenberg Building is visible on the left and the Chamber of Commerce occupies an office on the right.

COURTHOUSE AND PLAZA, C. 1917. A photocard view of the plaza with Fourth Street and Exchange Avenue shows the former Santa Rosa Bank Building, which became the Bank of Italy.

COURTHOUSE AND PLAZA, C. 1930. The Bank of Italy by this time had changed to Bank of America. Note the large cannon on the corner of the plaza.

FOURTH STREET, C. 1930. This view looking north on B Street from the intersection of Fourth Street shows several landmarks, all of them now gone. They are The White House, the Roxy and California Theaters, and the Occidental Hotel.

MENDOCINO AVENUE, C. 1935. The intersection of Mendocino Avenue and Fourth Street was the focal point of downtown. This view taken from the courthouse shows the Redwood Highway sign that arched over Mendocino Avenue until the new Highway 101 was constructed in 1948.

FOURTH STREET, C. 1917. This postcard shows Fourth Street looking east past the Occidental Hotel. The unusual feature of this card is the “tipped-in” or painted-in automobile in the foreground. Many publishers used this device to make a scene more interesting.

FOURTH STREET, C. 1935. This is the same scene as above, but years later. Hardisty’s Homewares was located on the corner of Fourth and B Streets.

FOURTH STREET, C. 1937. This great photocard view shows Fourth Street looking west toward Railroad Square. The Tower Theater, located at 730 Fourth Street, and Rosenberg’s Department Store are pictured on the left. One could catch a double feature at the movies for 20¢. The water tower west of the NWP railroad depot is visible in the background.

UPPER FOURTH STREET, C. 1905. This postcard view shows upper Fourth Street looking west toward downtown. Notice the beautiful Victorian homes on both sides of the dirt street.

UPPER FOURTH STREET, C. 1910. This wonderful photocard, another view of upper Fourth Street, but this time looking east, shows the trolley that ran the length of this street.