*** Source: Thompson, Robert A., Historical and descriptive sketch of Sonoma County, California. Philadelphia: L.H. Everts & Co., 1877, 122 pgs. Notice: This data is donated to the Public Domain by TAG, 2004, and may be copied freely by anyone to anywhere. *** ---page 45--- If you make the trip over the narrow-gauge, don't stop short of Julian's, what- ever else you may do. The railroad company and the hotels do everything to encourage pleasure travel, and we predict for this locality the preference over any other within as easy reach of San Francisco. To those who knew the of Howard's creek and the valley of Russian river only a year ago, the change in that time will appear marvelous; the mills, with their little villages around them; the rapidly-growing towns of Moscow and Duncan's Mill, and the influx of population can hardly be ap- preciated by a single visit,--much less can they be described within the scope of a sketch so brief as this. ROADS AND HIGHWAYS. Sonoma county covers a large area of territory. In the mountains, a number of large streams rise, flow across the plains, or through the valleys, to tide-water, emptying either into the Pacific ocean or into the bay of San Pablo. At least three estuaries lead inland, two of them forming, at high tide, navigable streams. One of the inland streams (Russian river) has its source in the high mountains of Mendocino, more than one hundred miles from its mouth, drain- ing an immense territory. In winter, during the wet season, this is a very bold stream. With so large a scope of country, traversed by so many streams, the matter of building roads and bridges was, from the organization of the county, of great importance and great expense. With the exception of the subsidy voted by the people to the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad, and twenty thousand dollars bonds for a recorder's office, the whole indebtedness of the county comes from the building of roads and highways. We now propose to give the reader an idea of the approximate cost of the public roads, number of miles of roads, number of bridges, and their cost by townships. Analy township--miles of road, 111; bridges, 131; cost of bridges, $27,000; culverts, 275; cost, $2,439. Bodega township--miles of road, 46; bridges, 50; cost, $5,091. Cloverdale township--miles of road, 35; bridges, 11; cost, $6,125; culverts, 37; cost, $305. Knight's Valley township--miles of road, 22; bridges, 15; cost, $745; cul- verts, 13; cost, $78. Mendocino township--miles of road, 81; in this township Russian river is bridged twice; cost of bridges, $31,450; cost of culverts, $1,000. Petaluma township--miles of road, 80; bridges, 82; cost, $8,652; culverts, 312; cost, $2,218. Russian River township--miles of road, 64; bridges, 47; cost, $3,212. There are, also, on the line of this township four bridges across Mark West creek, which cost $6,700; culverts, 75; cost, $750. Redwood township--miles of road, 27; bridges, 30; cost, $1,748; culverts, 19; cost, $599. Sonoma township--miles of road, 80; bridges, 2; cost, $9,900; culverts and small bridges, 208; cost, $4,028. *** end ***