*** 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 97--- GUERNEVILLE. Guerneville is a lumber manufacturing village in the Russian River red- woods, and situated about sixteen miles northwest of Santa Rosa. It was first settled on the 1st of May, 1860, by R. B. Lunsford. It is located on the bank of Russian river, on what is known as Big Bottom. Here stood the finest body of timber in the State; the bottom is about four miles long, and was covered by a dense growth of mammoth redwood trees, which, in the best localities, would yield at least eight hundred thousand feet of lumber to the acre. The largest tree in the bottom measured eighteen feet in diameter, and made one hundred and eighty thousand feet of lumber. The tallest tree was three hundred and forty-four feet nine inches in height. There was a hollow stump which stood just above the town, in which twenty horses could readily stand. An estimate of the timber in the Big Bottom appears elsewhere. Heald & Guern’s saw and planing-mill is located in the town. It employs about sixty men, and cuts between three and four million feet of lumber a year, making mouldings, brackets, scroll work, &c. Murphy Bros.’ saw and planing- mill is located half a mile from the town; it cuts from twenty to twenty-five thousand feet a day, and employs about forty men. R. B. Lunsford’s shingle- mill, near by, cuts from fifteen to twenty-five thousand shingles a day. There is one general merchandise store in the town, one grocery store, one market, one boot and shoemaker, two hotels and one restaurant, one livery stable, one blacksmith shop and one wagon shop, one church, one public-school, one lodge, (Enterprise, No. 356 of Independent Good Templars), and one chair- factory, run by S. W. Faudre. J. W. Bagley is postmaster. A branch of the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad runs from Fulton on the main trunk to Guernville. This road has just been completed, and connects the great Central valley of Sonoma county with the timber section. This affords a fine opportunity for tourists to see the redwood trees of Sonoma, second only in size to the mammoths of Calaveras. Four miles from Guernville, Mount Jackson and the Great Eastern quicksilver mines are located. A wagon-road is proposed, and will be built from Guerneville to the coast, which will turn a large portion of the coast-travel via Guerneville to San Francisco. It is said that the narrow-gauge road will be extended from Moscow, its terminus on Russian river, to Guerneville. FREESTONE. General Vallejo says he was ordered by his government to extend the settle- ments of the frontier colony on the northwest, in the direction of the Russians, in 1835, and he invited the settlement of James McIntosh, James Dawson and James Black,--three James’. They settled on land afterwards granted to Black, called the Canada de Jonive, near the town of Freestone. They were the very first settlers, except the Russians, in all the Bodega country. They formed a partnership to build a saw-mill on Salmon creek. Black got from the Mex- ican government a grant of the Jonive ranch for this purpose. McIntosh and Dawson agreed to make application jointly to the Mexican government, for the grant known as the Estero Americano. Dawson furnished the money for McIntosh to go to Monterey to get the necessary papers. He accomplished *** end ***