Preston is an

unincorporated community An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

Sonoma County Sonoma County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, its population was 488,863. Its seat of government and largest city is Santa Rosa. Sonoma County comprises the Santa Rosa-Petaluma ...

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

, United States. The community is on

U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a major north–south highway that traverses the states of California, Oregon, and Washington on the West Coast of the United States. It is part of the United States Numbered Highway Syst ...

north of Cloverdale.

History

Preston derives its name from Madame Emily Preston (née Burke), a

faith healer Faith healing is the practice of prayer and gestures (such as laying on of hands) that are believed by some to elicit divine intervention in spiritual and physical healing, especially the Christian practice. Believers assert that the healing ...

who established a religious colony and health resort at her husband's ranch in 1875. Revenue from Preston's ministry and the settlement of followers in the area led to the construction of a church, railroad depot, post office, and a commercial district on both sides of the Russian River. The community began a slow decline after Preston's death in 1909, continuing to hold services into the 1940s. Most of the buildings associated with the Preston community were destroyed in a wildfire in 1988.

References

Unincorporated communities in California Unincorporated communities in Sonoma County, California {{SonomaCountyCA-geo-stub