thumbnail, 275px, Twin Sisters seen from the top of Mount Vaca.
Twin Sisters are the twin summits of the highest peak in the
Howell Mountains
The Howell Mountains, which are also known as the Mt. George Range, are one of the California Coast Ranges. They divide the Suisun Valley on the east side, from Napa Valley on the west. Historically the southern part of the range has been referred ...
of
Solano and
Napa Counties,
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 ...
.
Description
The peak straddles a ridge separating the
Suisun Valley
The Suisun Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area in Solano County, California, located just east of the Napa Valley wine region in the Coast Range. It was established as a wine appellation on 27 December 1982, making it among the first ...
wine region in
Solano County
Solano County () is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 453,491. The county seat is Fairfield.
Solano County comprises the Vallejo–Fairfield, CA Metropolitan Statistical Area, which is ...
on the east side from the
Napa Valley wine
Napa Valley is an American Viticultural Area (AVA) located in Napa County in California's Wine Country. It was established by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms (ATF) on January 27, 1981. Napa Valley is considered one of the premier ...
region on the west side, and is a prominent landmark visible from most points in Suisun Valley. The north summit at an elevation of is the tallest of the two, and the lower south summit rises to an elevation of . It is the second highest peak in Solano County,
Mount Vaca
Mount Vaca is a mountain in Napa and Solano counties of Northern California. It is both the highest point in the Vaca Mountains and in Solano County. It is also one of several peaks in the San Francisco Bay Area that receive winter snow.
Ori ...
being the highest.
Origin of name
The origin of the name Twin sisters is unknown. However, the name was evidently well established when Munro-Fraser (1879) wrote his ''History of Solano County''.
B18A bomber crash site
The lower (south) summit of Twin Sisters is the site of a pre
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposin ...
crash on 24 October 1941 of an
Army Air Corps Army Air Corps may refer to the following army aviation corps:
* Army Air Corps (United Kingdom), the army aviation element of the British Army
* Philippine Army Air Corps (1935–1941)
* United States Army Air Corps (1926–1942), or its p ...
B-18A Bolo bomber that killed all five crew members during a relatively short flight from
Hamilton Field military air base to nearby
McClellan Field McClellan is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
*Antwan McClellan, American politician
*Barr McClellan, Texas lawyer and author, father of Mark and Scott McClellan
*Beverly McClellan (1969–2018), American singer and contestant in ...
. The south summit is also the highest privately owned peak in the
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area Go ...
, which led in 2003 to the building of a controversial house, the "house above the morning clouds", very close to the summit crash site by ''Cigarettes Cheaper!'' entrepreneur John Roscoe. This led to subsequent calls for county ordinances to prevent future ridge-top building. Roscoe reportedly spent $34 million buying the property and building the house, then put it up for sale in 2005 for $19 million. Following his felony conviction for fraud in 2011, the house was listed for $4.9 million, and it finally sold in 2012 for $3.4 million. This house burned to the ground on Tuesday, 10 Oct 2017 when the
Atlas Fire
The Atlas Fire was a 2017 wildfire burning in Napa County, California north of the city of Napa, near Napa Soda Springs. It was one of fourteen large fires simultaneously burning in eight Northern California counties, in what was called the " ...
burned over 51,000 acres in the northern California wine country over several days in early October 2017. What little wreckage of the B-18A bomber remains is located only from the driveway leading to the charred ruins of this house.
See also
*
Howell Mountains
The Howell Mountains, which are also known as the Mt. George Range, are one of the California Coast Ranges. They divide the Suisun Valley on the east side, from Napa Valley on the west. Historically the southern part of the range has been referred ...
*
Suisun Valley
The Suisun Valley AVA is an American Viticultural Area in Solano County, California, located just east of the Napa Valley wine region in the Coast Range. It was established as a wine appellation on 27 December 1982, making it among the first ...
References
{{reflist , refs=
[{{cite gnis , id=236718 , name=Twin Sisters , accessdate=2013-06-15]
[{{cite book , author=Munro-Fraser, J.P. , year=1879 , url=https://books.google.com/books?id=R28UAAAAYAAJ , title=History of Solano County: And histories of its cities, towns, etc. , publisher=Wood, Alley & Co. , location=San Francisco , pages=41–42 ]
[{{cite news , author=Courtney, Kevin , url=http://napavalleyregister.com/news/the-house-in-the-clouds/article_90120f92-1639-5711-a718-6849399f0165.html , title=The House in the Clouds , newspaper=Napa Valley Register , edition=online , location=Napa, CA , date=17 May 2007 , access-date=8 July 2013]
[{{cite news , author=Thompson, Ian , year=2013 , url=http://www.dailyrepublic.com/news/military/traviss-death-among-countys-most-memorable-military-crashes/ , title=Travis' death among Solano's most memorable military crashes , newspaper=Daily Republic - online edition , location=Fairfield, CA , page=25 May 2013 , no-pp=yes , access-date= 8 July 2013 Thompson's article is based almost entirely on material in {{cite book , author1=Macha, Gary Patric , author2=Jordan, Don , name-list-style=amp , year=2002 , title=Aircraft Wrecks in The Mountains and Deserts of California , publisher=Info Net Publishing , page=509 p , no-pp=yes, edition=3rd ]
[{{cite news , author=Todorov, Kerana , year=2012 , url=http://napavalleyregister.com/news/local/cigarettes-cheaper-owners-must-pay-million-in-restitution/article_8c71d23c-9985-11e1-a69e-001a4bcf887a.html , title=Cigarettes Cheaper! owners must pay $10 million in restitution , newspaper=Napa Valley Register - online edition , location=Napa, CA , page=8 May 2012 , no-pp=yes , access-date=8 July 2013]
[{{cite news , author=Graff, Amy , url=http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/Glass-House-Fairfield-CA-fire-1700-Twin-Sisters-12281745.php , title=Fairfield's Infamous 'Glass House' Destroyed in Atlas Fire , newspaper=SFGate , edition=online , location=San Francisco. CA , date=17 Oct 2017 , access-date=2 November 2017]
External links
Exploring the crash site of B-18A (serial number 37-498)
Mountains of Solano County, California
Mountains of the San Francisco Bay Area
Landforms of Solano County, California
Mountains of Northern California
