The following snippets of history are drawn from the pages of the Healdsburg Tribune, the Healdsburg Enterprise and the Sotoyome Scimitar, and are prepared by the volunteers at the Healdsburg Museum & Historical Society. Admission is always free at the museum, open Wednesday through Sunday, 11 a.m. to 4 p.m.
100 years ago – June 30, 1921
Literary club hears of plans for acquiring tavern for movies
Touching on moving picture life in Los Angeles and expounding on the possibilities of northern California as the third great center for “the youngest industry,” David R. Gally of the San Mateo Studios, “home of the Gully-Lambert photoplays,” on Tuesday created great enthusiasm for the possibility of Healdsburg becoming a “location” center in a talk before the Sotoyome Literary Club. Three important considerations enter into Mr. Gally’s conclusion that northern California must become the great moving picture center of the future. These are, first, that Los Angeles is surrounded with a hard shell of old-fashioned ideas which prevent progress of the industry toward the demands of the new ideas. Second, that the public wants art in its motion pictures—the art of the story teller and the director instead of the art of the individual star, with the picture cut to fit the actor — and the Los Angeles “ring” of producers is not ready to accept the new order of things. Third, but not at all the least important, that the scenes available in southern California have been “shot” until they have become as stereotyped as ordinary canvas stage settings, and the pictures must seek new scenery and new settings. Such a locality is found on the Russian River, at Fitch Mountain tavern, and the tavern can be acquired, he stated. Support of the business men of this city would bring to realization the project for a motion picture studio here, he said, in asking for cooperation.
50 years ago – June 24, 1971
Inaccessible area means long hike for firemen
It turned out to be a long hike for foresters last Thursday as they battled a blaze on Buck’s Knoll to keep it from spreading. California Division of Forestry crews got a 7:30 a.m. fire call in the area past Mill Creek Road and had to walk in three miles in order to fight the blaze which was believed started from embers left by a rain improvement burn four weeks ago in the same area. The CDF dispatcher reported that apparently smoldering logs had reignited. Five pumpers followed a bulldozer into the area and kept the burn down to one acre. During the fight, firemen used 3,000-foot hoses and were on the scene all day.
25 years ago – June 26, 1996
Ukrainian city’s mayor seeks Healdsburg’s advice on
water
While Healdsburg residents worry about chlorine in their drinking water, the mayor of Kaniv, Ukraine, worries about radiation. Alexander Pantelyshin toured Healdsburg’s water system last week looking for solutions to a system plagued by contamination and outmoded wells left behind by the former Soviet Union. Kaniv lies on the Dnipro River about 140 miles downstream of Chernobyl. The city relies upon the river to power its electric plant and provide potable water. A filtration system similar to Healdsburg’s was employed for purification, following the 1986 Chernobyl disaster. The shallow wells became contaminated with radioactive silt and are unusable. Accompanied by a translator, Pantelyshin inspected the Fitch well field, the Gauntlett field and the wastewater treatment ponds on Foreman Lane.
