About  Guerneville, California, 95446  Area code 707
Sonoma County, San Francisco North Bay, Ca. USA

valley had the greatest biomass density on the planet (according to local lore, anyway). The local Pomo Indians used it as a summer camp and called it "Ceola" (Cee-Oh-Lay) which meant "shady place". Except for a large, beautiful stand of truly ancient trees preserved in the Fife Creek watershed (which are now the centerpiece of Armstrong Woods Park) they were logged in the 1800s, giving rise to the first English name for the place - "Stump Town". The annual town parade is still called the Stumptown Day Parade. Stumptown was renamed Guerneville to honor George Guerne. There are extensive redwood forests on the surrounding mountains, but they are not even two centuries old because much of the area had been logged and then new trees were planted.

For more on the history of the area, see John C. Schubert's "Guerneville Early Days" (second printing). Another book to try would be "Out of the River Mist".

Modern Guerneville is an exceptional fusion of small town charm and cosmopolitanism. It has a plaza in the town center with permanent chess tables. There are no fast food restaurants. A public beach area in the heart of town along the Russian River is used for fishing, swimming, boating, and sunbathing. It features a kiddie lagoon in the summer and is open to the public in the summer and (when not being used as a festival site) it features free admission, free parking, boat and umbrella rentals, and a concession stand with a varitey of food items such as sno-cones and hamburgers.