The town of Bodega was known historically as Bodega Corners or Bodega Roads, to distinguish it from the Port of Bodega or Bodega Bay, as it is known today, which is about 4 miles (6 km) from Bodega. Bodega and Bodega Bay are named for discoverer of the bay, Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, who first sailed into the harbor in 1775. There were formerly two Coast Miwok villages in the area: one (called Kennekono) sited near the current town and another (called Suwutenne) further north. The first Europeans in the area were Russians who established temporary settlements at Bodega Bay and the Salmon Creek Valley, in the vicinity of Bodega, in 1809.
Passages that mention Bodega, cut from the printed page as they were published.
History of Sonoma County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county, who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present time1911 · page 130Read the page →
Read the text
However, Smith did not wait for events to come his way, he went after them. He soon had the machinery of his new colony unloaded from his little "windjammer" of a bark and it was not very long before the original town of Bodega, including the steam flour and saw mills, were ready for business. The two latter, however, were about one mile northwest from the "Corners," as the village is called, and at the foot of a range of hills upon which grew thickly the great forest of redwoods he had picked upon for his saws, and for the future frame buildings of Sonoma and other settlements of California. -Ml
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
History of Sonoma County, California, with biographical sketches of the leading men and women of the county, who have been identified with its growth and development from the early days to the present time1911 · page 883Read the page →
Read the text
he was empty-handed and without friends, while today he is a large land-holder and retired from active labor, surrounded by many friends who have watched his progress with a keen interest and have rejoiced in his prosperity. Besides his home property of six acres in Bodega, he owns Willow Creek ranch, a place of thirteen hundred and sixty-three acres on the Russian river, in Bodega township, which he now leases to a tenant, finding all the activity that he needs in caring for the home place in Bodega.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
An illustrated history of Sonoma County, California. Containing a history of the county of Sonoma from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time1889 · page 29Read the page →
Read the text
around Fort Ross became exhausted by continuous farming they extended their farming operations southward between tlie Russian River and Bodega Bay, and ultimately inland to the neighborhood of the present village of Bodega Corners. At the latter i)lace there were sevei-al Russian graves, in the midst of which there stood a (xreek cross, long after the Americans came into
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
An illustrated history of Sonoma County, California. Containing a history of the county of Sonoma from the earliest period of its occupancy to the present time1889 · page 168Read the page →
Read the text
Bodega is eighteen miles north of Petaluma, and located on Bodega Bay in the midst of a line dairy country from which, with the fishing business, it derives its support. It boasts of a hotel, postoffice and express office.
Text read by machine from the scan; it may contain errors.
Scans and text from the Internet Archive. Books published in 1930 or earlier, which are in the public domain.
Timeline
Bodega, 1852 to 1942
Woven from the archive, old maps, post office records, the National Register and the people born here.
Founding dates: Wikidata, Wikipedia, the U.S. post office records of Blevins & Helbock (CC0) and the Census. Homes by year built: Census ACS 2020–24. National Register of Historic Places: National Park Service (list of May 22, 2026). Old photos, postcards and papers: Wikimedia Commons, the Library of Congress and other public archives, credited on each item’s page. Maps: U.S. Geological Survey historical topographic maps (via Esri) and Sanborn fire-insurance maps (Library of Congress). History text and census tables: Wikipedia (CC BY-SA 4.0). Places that used to be: USGS Geographic Names Information System (2021). How TownRatings grades history →
From Wikimedia Commons (6), the National Register of Historic Places (1), Wikipedia, U.S. Geological Survey historical maps, the US Post Offices dataset (Blevins & Helbock), the USGS Geographic Names Information System and old county and town histories (Internet Archive). Archive images are copied here with their credits and licenses, shown on each photo’s page. Refreshed monthly.
1877
2023
2018
2013
2011
