*** 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 53--- signifying "little hills." There would have been a local fitness in the last name, and by a change of one or two letters only in Petaluma, we have words meaning little hills. The close observer cannot have failed to notice the low mounds in many parts of the valley, of uniform shape and size. These hillocks were much more noticeable before the occupation and cultivation of the soil than they are now, and when the first adventurers found their way into the beautiful valley the mounds must have formed a peculiar and marked feature in the landscape--hence the name, valley of the “little hills.” By a change of letters the words lost their identity, but not the sound of the original. These peculiar mounds may be seen in their natural shape and position in great numbers on the Cotate plain, the surface not having been disturbed by cultivation. We do not assert that they are of artificial origin, or that the name of the valley was derived from them, but only that it is a plausible theory for the derivation of the name. The solution of the question we leave to the research of the philologist or the curiosity of the antiquarian. The city of Petaluma is situated on Petaluma creek, at the head of naviga- tion. It is thirty-seven miles northwest of San Francisco, with which it is connected by sailing vessels, by steamer, and by the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad. Trains pass through the town every day, going south, con- necting at Donahue with the steamer for San Francisco. Two trains also pass the city every day, going north to the terminus of the road, at Cloverdale. The time between Petaluma and San Francisco is about two hours, which will be reduced to one hour and a half during this year, by extending the railroad and shortening the trip across the bay. Petaluma creek is an estuary or arm of the bay, with water sufficient at high tide to float vessels of considerable size at the wharf of the city. A mile and a half above the town the plain rises to the level of high water, and both marsh and creek terminate. The great Central valley of Sonoma, and the Bodega and coast country, lies within easy reach of Petaluma, where its pro- duce finds a home market, or may, at the option of the owner, be shipped by steamer direct, by sailing vessel or by railroad--thus all danger of a monopoly of transportation is barred. The town is built on undulating ground; all the important streets are well graded, graveled and curbed, having gutters, sewers and open drains. Many of the business houses are imposing structures, with iron fronts in the latest style of modern city architecture. There are in and around the town hand- some residences, with spacious and highly-cultivated grounds, but even more attractive are the many homes of well-to-do mechanics and laboring men, half hidden in flowers, indicating that the people are thrifty and prosperous through all gradations of society. The hills upon which the town is partly built afford a view of the opposite plain and range of mountains, including within its far- reaching scope the distant crest of St. Helena, and still further beyond the conical and shapely summit of Geyser peak--to the southward the creek may be traced winding through the green marsh, sometimes doubling back upon its course, making in a distance of a eight miles a direct progress of but two. This tortuous water-course gives a picturesque beauty to the scene in that direction--especially, as is often the case, if half a dozen sailing craft, with *** end ***