2026 Summer Picnic

Join fellow SCHS members for our Annual Picnic at the Caretaker’s House at Howarth Park, 630 Summerfield Road, Santa Rosa 95405 on August 2, 2026, 11:00am – 2:00pm.

Find out about the house’s history, SCHS’s plans for its restoration and use, and take a look inside. A lunch of hot dogs, chips, and drinks will be provided by SCHS. Bring a side dish or dessert to share.

The Caretaker’s House is a charming piece of Santa Rosa history that the wrecking ball did not strike. Originally on the demolition list in 2019, many people were disheartened that another piece of Santa Rosa history would be gone forever. Ray Johnson, a Sonoma County Historical Society board member, saw the possibilities for the house. SCHS has not had a home base for quite some time. It is a full-circle moment for society to return to Summerfield Road, where it had not been in almost 50 years, when it shared space at the Codding Natural History Museum.

It is believed the house was originally built around 1915 on Ripley Ave. During the 1980s, it was moved to make way for the expansion of Armory Drive. After being used for housing by the parks department, it sat empty. Vandalism, including broken windows and trespassing, led to the house being boarded up. The City of Santa Rosa deemed it not historical because it was moved and claimed it was dilapidated. Initial inspections showed that the house is quite solid and that the roof is in good condition.

On October 22, 2025, SCHS secured the lease. It was agreed that the house will be used for the community, which aligns with the city’s commitment to connecting residents with Santa Rosa’s history through education and engagement. After restoration is completed, including accessibility and other improvements, the house will be used as a meeting place, for public lectures, and as a research space.

2025 Summer Picnic

It was out in the wilds of West County that nearly fifty SCHS members and friends closely and carefully followed 90-year-old Bob Sturgeon as he led a detailed tour through his family’s now-nonprofit, steam-powered lumber mill, parts of it more than 110 years old. Stepping around myriad equipment and piles of lumber, and passing by razor-sharp saw blades, local historians got (uncomfortably?) close to the technology of another age at the society’s summer picnic on August 17, 2025.

The mill began operation in Coleman Valley in 1914 and moved to its present location on Green Hill Road in 1923. Changing partnerships, mechanical upgrades, and a new generation of operators followed in the subsequent decades. Partners Ralph Sturgeon—Bob’s father—and Jim Henningsen decided to stop operations in 1964. Bob told the tour group that even after the mill closed, his father continued to fire up the equipment regularly to make sure it could return to life when the right time came.

That time came in 1992, when the owners’ descendants, former mill workers, and historians formed the nonprofit Sturgeon’s Mill Restoration Project. Now the logging camp continues to operate to educate school groups and casual visitors in the history of the local lumber industry and the operation of old-style machinery.

Harvey Henningsen and Tom Schaeffer shared this story at the SCHS annual meeting in March when they—along with Bob Sturgeon—were awarded the SCHS Brainerd Jones Preservation Award.

“Last year we featured the Windsor memorial to lost WWII flyers at the 2024 annual meeting and then followed up with a picnic at the Windsor Museum,” said Emily Walski, SCHS president. “This year, we decided to meet here at the mill in the summer to add a real-life experience to the spring talk about its history. We hope to continue this pattern in the years to come.”