Trolley History

We Were Blessed
Well, let us set the stage. To start with, Petaluma is as far north as the steamers could go to trade with the valleys farther north which have this perfect “bloomin” weather. They have just the right amount of sun and rain over a rich, loamy soil. That’s what Luther Burbank saw. In addition, he noted that on the third day of a heat spell, we are close enough to the ocean so that fog can be drawn in, to cool things off. Those were the days mind you, when a years’ work depended on the qualities of Mother Nature, not on pesticides, fertilizers and aqueducts. In these valleys, fruit didn’t wither, grain grew plentifully and chickens had a field day. The steamers and mills brought in supplies and took back food to the 49ers in San Francisco. The Petaluma River was a major channel of commerce.

Trouble On The River
The dawn of the 20th Century had all the promise of a new era, but Petaluma’s prosperity was threatened. The San Francisco and North Pacific rail lines passed by the Petaluma River and instead went to the Sausalito and Tiburon Ferries. Petaluma’s Riverboats were being driven out of business, but the future held promise in new technology. It was electric. To us that meant incubators and can you imagine electric trains. They were cleaner, quieter and easier to operate. McNear and his associates in the Petaluma Chamber of Commerce set out to break the monopolistic hold of the all-powerful railroad. Farmers were happy to give the right of way and that’s why in 1903 they built the Petaluma & Santa Rosa Railway, (the P&S.R.).