Sebastopol, California
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Sebastopol ( ) is a city in
Sonoma County, California 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 ...
, with a recorded population of 7,521, per the 2020 U.S. Census. Sebastopol was once primarily a plum- and apple-growing region. Wine grapes are the predominant agriculture crop, and nearly all lands once used for orchards are now vineyards. The creation of The Barlow, a $32 million mall on a floodplain in Sebastopol, has converted old agricultural warehouses into a marketplace for dining, tasting rooms, and art, and has made Sebastopol a Wine Country destination. Horticulturist Luther Burbank had gardens in this region. The city hosts an annual Apple Blossom Festival in April, Gravenstein Apple Fair in August, and is home to the Sebastopol Documentary Film Festival.


History


Etymology

The settlement was originally named Pine Grove. The name change to Sebastopol has historically been attributed to a bar fight in the late 1850s, which was allegedly compared by a bystander to the long Allied siege of the seaport of Sevastopol (1854–1855) during the
Crimean War The Crimean War was fought between the Russian Empire and an alliance of the Ottoman Empire, the Second French Empire, the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland, and the Kingdom of Sardinia (1720–1861), Kingdom of Sardinia-Piedmont fro ...
of 1853–1856. The original name survives in the name of the Pine Grove General Store downtown.


Indigenous history and early settlers

The area's first known inhabitants were the native Coast Miwok and Pomo peoples. The town currently sits atop multiple village sites. The town of Sebastopol formed in the 1850s with a U.S. Post Office and as a small trade center for the farmers of the surrounding agricultural region. As California's population swelled after the westward migration and the
California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...
of 1848–1855, more and more settlers drifted into the fertile California valleys north of San Francisco to try their hand at farming. Sebastopol's early settlers included immigrants from a variety of national origins, including a substantial Chinese population that formed a Chinatown in the present-day downtown core beginning in the 1880s.


Gravenstein era, incorporation and 1906 earthquake

Sebastopol became known as the " Gravenstein Apple Capital of the World." The apple industry brought a steady rural prosperity to the town. In 1890 the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad connected Sebastopol to the national rail network. The town was incorporated in 1902, with schools, churches, hotels, canneries, mills, wineries, and an opera house to its credit. The 1906 earthquake reduced most of these early buildings to rubble (Sebastopol is only from the city of Santa Rosa, the worst-hit town in the 1906 earthquake) , but as elsewhere in the county, the town was rebuilt. Contemporary research from the U.S. Geological Survey found that Sebastopol experienced the highest intensity shaking during the earthquake. The Enmanji Japanese Buddhist Temple was dedicated in 1934. Originally built by the Manchurian Railroad Company and exhibited in the Chicago World's Fair of 1933, the
Kamakura , officially , is a city of Kanagawa Prefecture in Japan. It is located in the Kanto region on the island of Honshu. The city has an estimated population of 172,929 (1 September 2020) and a population density of 4,359 people per km2 over the tota ...
-style temple was dismantled and shipped to Sebastopol, where it was reconstructed without the use of nails. In the second half of the 20th century, the apple industry struggled to compete with other apple-producing regions and gradually declined in economic significance. With greater personal mobility and the rise of larger shopping centers in other Sonoma County communities, many residents now often commute to work and shop in the neighboring towns, and a majority of local vehicle trips end in Santa Rosa.


Railways and highways

Sebastopol once had working railroad trains on Main Street, and the tracks were removed in the late 1980s. Passenger service had ceased in the 1930s, and regular freight service ended in the late 1970s. This was documented by Analy High School students in a 1979 video ''Our Train Down Main: a History of the Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railroad''. The canneries and apple-processing plant are gone from downtown, and vineyards and housing developments have replaced many apple orchards, reducing the demand for freight service. The region's last remaining apple processing plant, Manzana Products, announced in 2024 that they would relocate operations to the Yakima Valley of Washington by early 2026. Around the time of the removal of rail tracks, the Gravenstein Highway (Route 116) was redesigned with a pair of one-way streets. Main Street and Petaluma Avenue were designated one-way streets in the 1980s in an attempt to deal with the town's perennial traffic problem.


Environmental innovation

In 1985, the city passed an ordinance declaring Sebastopol a nuclear-free zone. The town does not use pesticides in city landscaping. Sebastopol became the second city in California (after Lancaster) to require solar panels on all new homes in 2013, a requirement implemented statewide by 2020. The neighboring city of Petaluma passed the first ban in the world on new gas stations in 2021; Sebastopol also imposed a ban along with the North Bay cities of American Canyon, Calistoga, and Rohnert Park.


Housing and growth limits

Sebastopol adopted an urban growth boundary in its 1994 general plan to restrict urban development outside the boundary. The boundary was formally adopted by a ballot initiative in 1996, and was renewed and extended with additional ballot initiatives as recently as 2016. After decades of minimal development and stagnating population, the city has responded locally to the larger California housing shortage with affordable housing for low-income residents and people experiencing
homelessness Homelessness, also known as houselessness or being unhoused or unsheltered, is the condition of lacking stable, safe, and functional housing. It includes living on the streets, moving between temporary accommodation with family or friends, liv ...
. In 2007, the city purchased land on the banks of the Laguna de Santa Rosa to operate Park Village, a city-owned mobile home park for both long-term residents and people exiting homelessness. In partnership with the County of Sonoma and using Project Homekey funds, the former Sebastopol Inn was converted to
supportive housing Supportive housing is a combination of housing and services intended as a cost-effective way to help people live more stable, productive lives, and is an active "community services and funding" stream across the United States. It was developed by ...
during the
COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...
and renamed Elderberry Commons. An 84-unit
affordable housing Affordable housing is housing which is deemed affordable to those with a household income at or below the median, as rated by the national government or a local government by a recognized housing affordability index. Most of the literature on ...
development, including 48 units for farmworkers funded through
USDA Rural Development USDA Rural Development (RD) is a mission area within the United States Department of Agriculture which runs programs intended to improve the economy and quality of life in rural parts of the United States. Rural Development has a loan portfolio o ...
, was approved under a Senate Bill 35 streamlined approval process in 2022.


Fiscal crisis

In April 2021, $1.2 million was stolen from the city’s reserves account in email-based cyber fraud. The fraud came as the city was already facing a looming budget deficit, estimated at $2.9 million by 2024. Initial actions to curb the fiscal crisis included a 37% water and sewer rate increase in 2024. The rate hike generated controversy, with the mayor indicating that she was “utterly shocked” that the city would charge interest on an internal loan transferring money between the general fund and wastewater fund. Local residents passed a ½ cent sales tax in the 2024 general election to prevent further deficit spending. The tax would push Sebastopol’s sales tax over the state cap of 10.25% to 10.5% if approved by the
California Attorney General The attorney general of California is the state attorney general of the government of California. The officer must ensure that "the laws of the state are uniformly and adequately enforced" (Constitution of California, Article V, Section 13). The ...
, and would become the highest local sales tax in the state outside of Alameda County.


Modern agricultural economy

Sebastopol is home to national food and beverage producers including Guayakí, Redwood Hill Creamery, Traditional Medicinals, and Bachan’s. Cideries have grown in Sebastopol in celebration of the Gravenstein apple legacy. Ace Cider was founded in 1993, and Golden State Cider, which started with apples from a Sebastopol orchard, established a tasting room in The Barlow District in 2019. Sebastopol is in the Russian River Valley AVA, and a variety of wineries and tasting rooms are located in the area. Several local producers and establishments specialize in natural wine, including The Punchdown, an Oakland-originated natural wine bar nominated for a James Beard Award in 2022. As of 2024, Sebastopol has two restaurants with Bib Gourmand recognition in the annual
Michelin Guide The ''Michelin Guides'' ( ; ) are a series of guide books that have been published by the French tyre company Michelin since 1900. The ''Guide'' awards up to three Michelin star (classification), stars for excellence to a select few restaurants ...
: Khom Loi and Ramen Gaijin.


Geography

The downtown intersection of State Route 12 and State Route 116 (Gravenstein Highway) is approximately west of U.S. Route 101. Sebastopol is situated on the edge of the Laguna de Santa Rosa, which is fed by Santa Rosa Creek and other tributaries, including three minor tributaries within the city limits: Zimpher Creek, Calder Creek and Witter Creek. The Laguna is a
wetland A wetland is a distinct semi-aquatic ecosystem whose groundcovers are flooded or saturated in water, either permanently, for years or decades, or only seasonally. Flooding results in oxygen-poor ( anoxic) processes taking place, especially ...
area that is home to many species of wildlife and vegetation and divides the town from neighboring Santa Rosa. The Laguna frequently floods during the winter, cutting off State Route 12, and often flooding the low-lying businesses and homes on the eastern side of Sebastopol. The Pitkin Marsh lily and White sedge are two rare species of plants that are found in the vicinity of Sebastopol. The city has a total area of , all land.


Demographics


2020

The 2020 United States census reported that Sebastopol had a population of 7,521. The population density was . The racial makeup of Sebastopol was 78.0%
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 0.9%
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 1.1% Native American, 2.5% Asian, 0.2%
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 5.7% from other races, and 11.7% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 14.4% of the population. The census reported that 98.5% of the population lived in households, 0.5% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 1.1% were institutionalized. There were 3,411 households, out of which 25.2% included children under the age of 18, 36.7% were married-couple households, 7.5% were cohabiting couple households, 38.4% had a female householder with no partner present, and 17.4% had a male householder with no partner present. 35.0% of households were one person, and 22.1% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.17. There were 1,910 families (56.0% of all households). The age distribution was 17.5% under the age of 18, 5.7% aged 18 to 24, 20.7% aged 25 to 44, 27.0% aged 45 to 64, and 29.0% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 50.0years. For every 100 females, there were 81.2 males. There were 3,562 housing units at an average density of , of which 3,411 (95.8%) were occupied. Of these, 52.7% were owner-occupied, and 47.3% were occupied by renters. In 2023, the US Census Bureau estimated that the median household income was $99,600, and the
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
was $52,441. About 3.6% of families and 8.3% of the population were below the poverty line.


2010

The 2010 United States Census reported that Sebastopol had a population of 7,379. The population density was . The racial makeup of Sebastopol was 6,509 (88.2%)
White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no chroma). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully (or almost fully) reflect and scatter all the visible wa ...
, 72 (1.0%)
African American African Americans, also known as Black Americans and formerly also called Afro-Americans, are an Race and ethnicity in the United States, American racial and ethnic group that consists of Americans who have total or partial ancestry from an ...
, 60 (0.8%) Native American, 120 (1.6%) Asian, 19 (0.3%)
Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, Pacificans, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the list of islands in the Pacific Ocean, Pacific Islands. As an ethnic group, ethnic/race (human categorization), racial term, it is used to describe th ...
, 298 (4.0%) from other races, and 301 (4.1%) from two or more races.
Hispanic The term Hispanic () are people, Spanish culture, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or broadly. In some contexts, Hispanic and Latino Americans, especially within the United States, "Hispanic" is used as an Ethnici ...
or Latino of any race were 885 persons (12.0%). The Census reported that 98.3% of the population lived in households and 1.7% were institutionalized. There were 3,276 households, out of which 902 (27.5%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 1,220 (37.2%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 478 (14.6%) had a female householder with no husband present, 156 (4.8%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 206 (6.3%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 52 (1.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 1,132 households (34.6%) were made up of individuals, and 498 (15.2%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.21. There were 1,854 families (56.6% of all households); the average family size was 2.82. The age distribution was1,515 people (20.5%) under the age of 18, 471 people (6.4%) aged 18 to 24, 1,587 people (21.5%) aged 25 to 44, 2,525 people (34.2%) aged 45 to 64, and 1,281 people (17.4%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 46.1 years. For every 100 females, there were 79.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 76.7 males. There were 3,465 housing units, with an average density of , of which 52.9% were owner-occupied and 47.1% were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.7%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.2%. 53.7% of the population lived in owner-occupied housing units and 44.5% lived in rental housing units. The median income for a household in the city was $60,322 (+29.9% from 2000), and the median income for a family was $74,020 (+32.7% from 2000). The median
per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or average income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. In many countries, per capita income is determined using regular population surveys, such ...
for the city was $29,470 (+28.8% from 2000). For comparison, statewide California median per capita income in the 2010 Census was $27,885 (+22.8% from 2000).


Arts and culture

Places of interest in Sebastopol include: * Sebastopol Center for the Arts * Luther Burbank's Gold Ridge Experiment Farm * Guayaki Sustainable Rainforest Products world headquarters * The historic Hogan Building: This was the Power House for the Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railroad, an electric railway. The first cars were run on the line in 1904, and the later named Hogan Building, built of stone from a local quarry, is one of the few in the area to withstand the 1906 earthquake. * West County Museum, operated by the Western Sonoma County Historical Society in the former Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railroad passenger depot * George A. Strout House * Ives Park, summer home of the Sonoma County Repertory Theater * Ragle Ranch Regional Park * Joe Rodota Trail * West County Trail * Laguna de Santa Rosa * Sebastopol Community Cultural Center * The Barlow, an outdoor mall on the eastern edge of town, built on the floodplain of the Laguna de Santa Rosa


Government


Local

The city council consists of five members, each serving four-year terms. The city's laws are enforced by the Sebastopol Police Department. City council races are not partisan, so each member does not officially represent any party; however, since 2000 there has been a decent amount of attention given to the individual party membership of city council members in Sebastopol. This happened because, with the election of Craig Litwin and Sam Spooner to the city council in that year's election, the town had a Green Party majority—or would have, if city council races had been partisan. This was only the second time this had ever happened in California, the first being the town of Arcata in 1996. The mayor is Stephen Zollman. A former mayor, Robert Jacob, who was selected by the city council in December 2013, was the owner of two
medical marijuana Medical cannabis, medicinal cannabis or medical marijuana (MMJ) refers to Cannabis (drug), cannabis products and cannabinoid, cannabinoid molecules that are prescription drug, prescribed by physicians for their patients. The use of cannabi ...
dispensaries in Sonoma County. He was reported to be the first American mayor to be involved in the industry.


State and federal

In the
California State Legislature The California State Legislature is the bicameral state legislature of the U.S. state of California, consisting of the California State Assembly (lower house with 80 members) and the California State Senate (upper house with 40 members). ...
, Sebastopol is in , and California's 2nd State Senate district, represented by Mike McGuire. Federally, Sebastopol is in . According to the
California Secretary of State The secretary of state of California is the chief clerk of the U.S. state of California, overseeing a department of 500 people. The Secretary of state (U.S. state government), secretary of state is elected for four year terms, like the state's o ...
, as of February 10, 2019, Sebastopol has 5,285 registered voters. Of those, 3,346 (63.3%) are registered Democrats, 518 (9.8%) are registered Republicans, and 1,137 (21.5%) have declined to state a political party.


Education

Sebastopol Union Elementary School District and West Sonoma County Union High School District are the local school districts.
Text list
/ref> Both districts cover the entirety of city limits, while the Twin Hills Union School District, Gravenstein Union School District, and Oak Grove Union School District serve the rural outskirts of Sebastopol and feed into the West Sonoma County Union High School District. Analy High School is the primary high school serving grades 9-12 in the West Sonoma County Union High School District. Following the merger of Analy and El Molino High School in 2021, Analy serves the broader west Sonoma County community. The high school district also operates Laguna High School, a continuation school located on the former El Molino campus in nearby Forestville. Sebastopol Union operates two schools: Park Side ( TK-4) and Brook Haven (5–8). The Sebastopol Union School District also acts as the sponsor district for the Sebastopol Charter School, a K-8 public Waldorf charter school. The Twin Hills Union School District sponsors the K-8 SunRidge Charter School within the city. Sebastopol Charter had the highest percentage (58%) of kindergarten students with medical exemptions to vaccines in California as of the summer of 2018.


Infrastructure


Law enforcement

The Sebastopol Police Department employs 31 sworn and non sworn personnel, and 25 volunteers. The department was founded in the early 1900s.


Notable people

* Luther Burbank, horticulturist who established an Gold Ridge Environmental Farm in the township in the late 19th century * Les Claypool, bassist/vocalist of the band Primus * Peter Coyote, narrator/author/actor * Peter D'Amato, author * Jerry Garcia and
Mickey Hart Mickey Hart (born Michael Steven Hartman, September 11, 1943) is an American percussionist. He is best known as one of the two drummers of the rock band Grateful Dead. He was a member of the Grateful Dead from September 1967 until February 19 ...
of the
Grateful Dead The Grateful Dead was an American rock music, rock band formed in Palo Alto, California, in 1965. Known for their eclectic style that fused elements of rock, blues, jazz, Folk music, folk, country music, country, bluegrass music, bluegrass, roc ...
* Nina Gerber, guitarist * Laeh Glenn, visual artist * Schuyler Grant, actress of the 1985 adaptation of '' Anne of Green Gables'' * Nick Gravenites, singer/songwriter * Kitaro, Japanese New Age recording artist * Peter Krause, actor * J.Lately, rapper * Luke Lamperti, racing cyclist * Willard Libby, inventor of
carbon dating Radiocarbon dating (also referred to as carbon dating or carbon-14 dating) is a method for determining the age of an object containing organic material by using the properties of radiocarbon, a radioactive isotope of carbon. The method was ...
, went to Analy High School * Megan McDonald, an American children's literature author of more than 25 books including the Judy Moody & Stink Moody series * Terence McKenna, ethnobotanist * John Mitzewich, chef and YouTube host * Matt Nix, showrunner for '' Burn Notice'' * Johnny Otis, rhythm and blues pioneer * Justin Raimondo, author * Francine Rivers, novelist * Mario Savio, freedom activist * Dave Schools, bassist of the band
Widespread Panic Widespread Panic is an American rock band from Athens, Georgia. The current lineup includes guitarist/singer John Bell (musician), John Bell, bassist Dave Schools, drummer Duane Trucks, percussionist Domingo "Sunny" Ortiz, keyboardist John "JoJ ...
* Charles M. Schulz, cartoonist and creator of '' Peanuts'' * Smoov-E, rapper * Mary Lou Spiess, polio survivor, disability rights advocate and pioneer of disabled fashion * Rider Strong, actor * Karen Valentine, actress of the television show ''
Room 222 ''Room 222'' is an American comedy-drama television series produced by 20th Century Fox Television that aired on American Broadcasting Company, ABC for 112 episodes, from September 17, 1969, until January 11, 1974. The show was broadcast on 1969 ...
'' * Obie Scott Wade, screenwriter and creator of '' SheZow'', went to Analy High School *
Tom Waits Thomas Alan Waits (born December 7, 1949) is an American musician, composer, songwriter, and actor. His lyrics often focus on society's underworld and are delivered in his trademark deep, gravelly voice. He began in the American folk music, fo ...
, singer/songwriter/musician * Guy Wilson, actor * Kate Wolf, singer/songwriter


Sister cities

* Chyhyryn,
Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...
* Takeo,
Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...


See also

* Film locations in Sonoma County, California


References

*''Our Train Down Main : a History of the Petaluma & Santa Rosa Railroad''. Sebastopol, CA: Analy High School, 1979. Videocassette (ca. 22 min.)


External links

* {{authority control 1902 establishments in California Cities in Sonoma County, California Cities in the San Francisco Bay Area Incorporated cities and towns in California Nuclear-free zones in the United States Populated places established in 1902