Information on Napa
Visiting the City of Napa is an essential part of any trip to America's
premier winegrowing region. The City of Napa offers a growing list of Zagat-rated
restaurants, more than 20 wine bars and tasting rooms, top quality lodging,
theaters and galleries, and diverse shopping opportunities. TripAdvisor
travelers voted Napa a top World destination.
Napa is an old City by California standards, founded in 1847. It’s a place
with a colorful past – a jumping off point for 49ers bound for the gold
rush, birthplace of famous leather, and neighbor to some of the most
prestigious vineyards in the world.
For the past 30 to 40 years, the City of Napa has been in transition. The
City that was once known for its tanneries, prune processing and State
hospital is now more known for its hospitality, fine food, and luxury
hotels. While yesterday’s jobs came largely in heavy industrial pursuits at
Kaiser Steel, Basalt Rock, Napa Pipe and Mare Island Shipyard, today’s
workforce is mostly white collar and the economy is increasingly based on
tourism.
The City of Napa features 43 neighborhood parks, community parks and open
space areas, totaling some 748 acres. Portions of the Napa River Trail have
been completed - a trail that will some day run the full six mile length of
town from north to south. In addition, more park and trail opportunities are
just a stone's throw from the City limits. |
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A Brief History
The name Napa was probably derived from the name given to a southern
Nappan village whose people shared the area with elk, deer, grizzlies and
panthers for many centuries. At the time of the first recorded exploration
into Napa Valley in 1823, the majority of the inhabitants consisted of
Native American Indians. Spanish and then later Mexican control remained
until the Bear Flag Revolt, and American farmers began arriving in the
1830s.
The City of Napa was founded by Nathan Coombs in 1847. The first business
establishment in the town was a saloon built by Harrison Pierce. Napa's
first general store was opened a year later in 1848 by Joseph P. Thompson.
By 1850 the Dolphin became the first steamship to navigate the Napa River in
order to open another path of commerce.
The California Gold Rush of the late 1850s expanded Napa City. After the
first severe winter in the gold fields, miners sought refuge in the young
city from snow, cold, floods and disease. In 1858 the great silver rush
began in Napa Valley, and miners eagerly flocked to the eastern hills. In
the 1860s, mining carried on, in a large scale, with quicksilver mines
operating in many areas of Napa County.
Napa was incorporated in 1872 and reincorporated again in 1874 as the City
of Napa. In 1915 Edwin Pridham and Peter L. Jensen invented the moving-coil
loudspeaker in their Napa workshop while working on an improvement for the
telephone receiver. Pridham and Jensen went on to found the Magnavox Company
in 1917.
On December 31, 2005, the Napa River overflowed and flooded the entire
downtown area and thousands of acres all over Napa County. More than 4,000
residents were evacuated and 1,000 homes were flooded or destroyed. The 2005
flood was the 23rd most serious flood of the Napa River on record since
1865. |
