Freestone is an unincorporated community in

Sonoma County Sonoma County () is a county (United States), county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States Census, its population was 488,863. Its county seat and largest city is Santa Rosa, California, Santa Rosa. It is to the n ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, in the United States. A former stone and logging town, Freestone is the entryway to the Bohemian Highway. In 1974, Freestone became the first

historic district A historic district or heritage district is a section of a city which contains older buildings considered valuable for historical or architectural reasons. In some countries or jurisdictions, historic districts receive legal protection from c ...

named by Sonoma County. The downtown comprises a handful of historic buildings with a selection of local businesses, including a cheese shop, winery, bakery, and a

day spa A day spa is a business that provides a variety of services for the purpose of improving health, beauty, and relaxation through personal care treatments such as massages and facials. The number of day spas in the US almost doubled in the t ...

. Freestone has a population of 32.

History

Freestone is named after a

sandstone Sandstone is a clastic sedimentary rock composed mainly of sand-sized (0.0625 to 2 mm) silicate grains. Sandstones comprise about 20–25% of all sedimentary rocks. Most sandstone is composed of quartz or feldspar (both silicates) ...

quarry A quarry is a type of open-pit mine in which dimension stone, rock, construction aggregate, riprap, sand, gravel, or slate is excavated from the ground. The operation of quarries is regulated in some jurisdictions to reduce their envi ...

that was developed in the area around 1861. The area once consisted of three ranchos:

Rancho Cañada de Jonive Rancho Cañada de Jonive was a Mexican land grant in present day Sonoma County, California given in 1845 by Governor Pío Pico to James Black. The grant encompassed the town of Freestone. History At the direction of Governor José Figueroa in ...

Rancho Estero Americano Rancho Estero Americano was a Mexican land grant in present-day Sonoma County, California given in 1839 by Governor Pro-tem Manuel Jimeno to Edward Manuel McIntosh. The rancho takes its name from Estero Americano. History At the direction of ...

, and Rancho Cañada de Pogolimi. The area was split into three ranchos as the result of a dispute between three early settlers, James McIntosh, James Black, and James Dawson. The three men were allowed to settle on the land by

Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo Don Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo (4 July 1807 – 18 January 1890) was a Californio general, statesman, and public figure. He was born a subject of Spain, performed his military duties as an officer of the Republic of Mexico, and shaped the trans ...

in the 1830s, where they built a

saw mill A sawmill (saw mill, saw-mill) or lumber mill is a facility where logs are cut into lumber. Modern sawmills use a motorized saw to cut logs lengthwise to make long pieces, and crosswise to length depending on standard or custom sizes ( dimens ...

. Eventually the three men left the area. Jasper O'Farrell moved into the area in 1849, after exchanging Nicasio Rancho for Rancho Cañada de Jonive. He eventually purchased Rancho Estero Americano. A

land surveyor Surveying or land surveying is the technique, profession, art, and science of determining the terrestrial two-dimensional or three-dimensional positions of points and the distances and angles between them. A land surveying professional is ca ...

, O'Farrell surveyed the surrounding area, which he called Analy Township. O'Farrell found success in the area, acquiring a total of 560 acres of land. He was elected to the

California State Senate The California State Senate is the upper house of the California State Legislature, the lower house being the California State Assembly. The State Senate convenes, along with the State Assembly, at the California State Capitol in Sacramento, Cal ...

in 1859. Within a year he had to sell his land and in 1870 he moved back to San Francisco. North Pacific Coast Railroad in Freestone, California (1893)

Freestone had a saloon by 1849, followed by a general store the next year. Freestone became a stop on a new

stagecoach line A stagecoach is a four-wheeled public transport coach used to carry paying passengers and light packages on journeys long enough to need a change of horses. It is strongly sprung and generally drawn by four horses although some versions are draw ...

in 1853. That same year, an inn was built as well as two blacksmith shops. The inn burned down in 1861. A depot for the

North Pacific Coast Railroad The North Pacific Coast Railroad (NPC) was a common carrier narrow-gauge steam railroad begun in 1874 and sold in 1902 to new owners who renamed it the North Shore Railroad (California) (NSR) and which rebuilt the southern section into a standar ...

was built in Freestone, with the train starting to stop in the village in September 1876. A second inn, the Hinds Hotel was built by the depot in August, just prior to the train stop opening. The railroad transported lumber and produce to and from San Francisco. In 1930, the railroad stopped operating due to the growing popularity of cars and trucks. The first school was built in Freestone by the 1880s, which was used for schooling until 1958. In 1881, the first church was built in Freestone, a

Methodist church Methodism, also called the Methodist movement, is a group of historically related Christian denomination, denominations of Protestantism, Protestant Christianity whose origins, doctrine and practice derive from the life and teachings of John W ...

. That church was eventually destroyed and a second church was built in 1907, only to be demolished in the 1960s. The town had a post office by the 1880s. The end of the railroad service to Freestone is considered the end of "the era of development and prosperity" historically. In 1974, Freestone was deemed a

by the County of Sonoma, making it the first historic landmark designated by the County. The district comprises 30 properties, consisting mainly of residential and commercial buildings in the

Greek Revival The Greek Revival was an architectural movement which began in the middle of the 18th century but which particularly flourished in the late 18th and early 19th centuries, predominantly in northern Europe and the United States and Canada, but ...

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style drew its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century Italian R ...

and Queen Anne architectural styles. The Hind's Hotel was designated Landmark #2 in the County that same year, followed by the now-demolished Morgan Williams Residence, and the remaining Freestone Schoolhouse and Freestone Country Store.

Economy

Historically, Freestone was first a lumber town, with a saw mill on the Salmon Creek. Eventually, a sandstone quarry was operated in the area. Railroad service eventually began, transporting lumber and produce to San Francisco. The railroad depot closed in 1930, halting economic growth in Freestone. Today, the economy is primarily hospitality based.

Tourism

Freestone comprises a handful of businesses, including a bakery, cheese store, general store, a gift shop, and the

Osmosis Day Spa Sanctuary Osmosis (, ) is the spontaneous net movement or diffusion of solvent molecules through a selectively permeable membrane, selectively-permeable membrane from a region of high water potential (region of lower solute concentration) to a region of ...

References

{{authority control Unincorporated communities in California Unincorporated communities in Sonoma County, California