St. Helena Timeline

From the Wappo people who first called this valley home to the vineyards and visitors of today, the story of St. Helena spans thousands of years. Explore the eras that shaped our town.

Native Americans (before 1831)

The Wappo Indians were the sole inhabitants of the Napa Valley. The village of Anakotanoma stood where Sulphur Creek meets the Napa River.
Their population numbered roughly ten thousand before the Gold Rush; by 1908 it had declined to about forty people.
Their language was transmitted orally, and their culture emphasized respect for elders and honor for children.
They developed sophisticated weaving techniques for waterproof cooking baskets and quarried obsidian from Glass Mountain for trade.

Spanish California (1769–1821)

1769 — The first Alta California mission is established at San Diego.
1823 — Mission San Francisco Solano is founded in Sonoma. Don Francisco Castro and Father Jose Altimira, with an escort, become the first Europeans to explore the Napa Valley.

Mexican California (1821–1848)

1833 — The Mexican government enacts secularization of the California missions.
1836 — Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo establishes the Sonoma Barracks. George C. Yount receives the Mexican land grants Rancho Caymus and Rancho La Jota.
1841 — Dr. Edward Turner Bale receives the land grant Rancho Carne Humana.
1843 — Dr. Bale and his wife, Maria Soberanes, relocate to their Whitehall Lane home.
1844 — Colonel Joseph B. Chiles is granted Rancho Catacula in Pope Valley.
1846 — Bale’s Grist Mill is completed.
1847 — Nathan Coombs founds the town of Napa.
1848 — James Marshall discovers gold at Coloma; valley farmers remain on their land.

Early Napa Valley Settlement (1846–1880)

1846 — The Bear Flag Revolt lasts twenty-six days; California becomes a state in 1850.
1848 — John York discovers White Sulphur Springs.
1849 — Dr. Bale dies; Maria begins selling portions of the 17,962-acre grant.
1854 — Henry Still and Charles Walters buy 126 acres from Maria Soberanes de Bale and found the town of St. Helena.
1857 — Sharon Baptist Church is built on Church & Hunt Streets.
1858 — Charles Krug makes the first wine in Napa Valley for John Patchett, using a small cider press. Dr. George Crane purchases vineyard land.
1867 — The Methodist Church is built at Adams & Oak Streets.
1868 — The Napa Valley Railroad reaches St. Helena; Chinese laborers mine gravel from Sulphur Creek.
1874 — The St. Helena Star newspaper begins publishing.
1876 — St. Helena is incorporated as a town.
1878 — The Rural Health Retreat (later St. Helena Hospital) is founded by W.A. Pratt.

Wine Industry Beginnings (1858–1880)

1858 — Charles Krug creates the first commercial Napa Valley wine.
1860 — Krug marries Carolina Bale, whose dowry includes 540 acres; newcomers plant vineyards across the valley.
1861 — Charles Krug Winery and David Fulton Winery are founded. Dr. Crane plants European grape varieties from Sonoma’s Agoston Haraszthy.
1875 — Jacob Beringer purchases his property; the St. Helena Viticultural Club is organized.
1876 — Phylloxera is recognized in the valley, and growers begin searching for solutions.
1877 — Beringer Brothers Winery is built.

Mid-Valley Boom & Bust (1880–1910)

1883 — The St. Helena Gas Company is founded, providing the first street lighting.
1886 — The population reaches 1,800 as diverse residents arrive.
1889 — Electric lights illuminate the streets; the company closes in 1890.
1893 — Half of Napa Valley’s vineyards are infested with phylloxera; the stock market crashes.
1894 — The St. Helena Library is founded.
1908 — Electric interurban streetcar service begins January 1.
1909 — Power is switched on June 12; residents gain twenty-four-hour electricity. Pacific Union College purchases Angwin’s Resort.

Recovery & World War I (1910–1920)

1912 — The new St. Helena High School opens; the first Vintage Festival is held.
1917 — World War I cuts off European wine imports; Napa Valley sells all of its production.
1918 — The United States enters WWI; soldiers train locally before deployment to Europe.
1919 — Soldiers return, seven having died. On January 16, Congress passes the “Bone Dry” 18th Amendment outlawing alcohol.

Prohibition (1920–1933)

1920 — Prohibition takes effect; most wineries close unless producing sacramental or kosher wine, and growers ship grapes eastward.
1927 — Charles Lindbergh flies over St. Helena in September.
1929 — The stock market crashes; the last scheduled passenger train makes its final run.
1933 — On December 5 the 21st Amendment is ratified, repealing Prohibition. Louis M. Martini Winery is founded.

Agriculture Changes (1934–1940)

1934 — Prohibition ends; the revived Vintage Festival is celebrated. The Napa Valley Cooperative Winery begins bulk operations.
1937 — Cesare Mondavi and Jack Riorda incorporate Sunny St. Helena Winery (now Merryvale).
1938 — Georges de Latour convinces Andre Tchelistcheff to leave France to work at Beaulieu Winery.
1940 — A new post office is completed with a basement air-raid shelter. Charles Laughton and Carole Lombard come to St. Helena to film They Knew What They Wanted.

World War II (1939–1945)

1940 — Roosevelt orders a peacetime draft; National Guard troops depart August 9.
1941 — December 7, Japan attacks Pearl Harbor; blackouts are ordered within a fifty-mile radius of San Francisco. The St. Helena Militia trains at the American Legion Hall.
1942 — Price controls and rationing are implemented; automobile fuel is limited.
1943 — The first bus carrying Mexican Bracero laborers arrives to fill the wartime labor shortage.
1944 — The first Mexican Independence Day celebration is held.
1945 — An April fire destroys the St. Helena Catholic Church interior. President Roosevelt dies; the war in Europe ends May 8 and in the Pacific August 14. Fourteen local men died in the war.

Wineries Recover (1946–1966)

1953 — Napa Valley produces 5,500,500 gallons of wine.
1955 — A new city hall is completed.
1958 — Rock Hudson visits Inglenook for the film This Earth is Mine.
1959 — Robert Louis Stevenson Middle School is dedicated April 26.
1964 — The Bracero program ends.

Rapid Growth (1966–1980)

1966 — Robert Mondavi builds his winery; crushing begins before construction is complete.
1967 — United Farm Workers picket Christian Brothers Winery.
1968 — Napa County supervisors pass the Agricultural Preserve ordinance.
1969 — Rafael Rodriguez becomes the first Hispanic elected to the St. Helena School Board.
1975 — Francis Ford Coppola purchases Inglenook (excluding the brand), renaming it Niebaum-Coppola.

St. Helena Discovered (1981–present)

1986 — February rainfall far exceeds annual averages; over 13,000 acres flood, with severe damage in St. Helena.
1989 — The Napa Valley Wine Train makes its inaugural trip September 16; the October 17 Loma Prieta earthquake causes minor local damage.
1995 — A severe weather event again floods the valley.
1998 — The community debates a Safeway expansion; the store opts to remodel its existing location.
Today — Napa Valley’s fame continues to grow, and the St. Helena Historical Society works to preserve and share the stories of the people and places that made our town.