Sonora, one of the oldest cities in California,
was incorporated on May 1, 1851. Only ten
cities have been incorporated longer. Sonora
was historically referred to as the "Queen of
the Southern Mines."
Like so many Gold Rush towns, Sonora had a wild
reputation in its early days. According to
Frank Marryat, who wrote about his 1851
experiences in Sonora, “No church bells here
usher in the Sabbath . . . every man carries
arms, generally a Colt revolver, buckled behind,
with no attempt at concealment.” While not
totally accurate as to the lack of church bells,
since the Catholic Padre Arnault was here in the
fall of 1849 to establish St. Patrick’s, it does
give one a feeling that Sonora was a pretty wild
place.
Sonora’s prosperity during the late 1800s and early
1900s is evidenced by many of the historic homes and
buildings we treasure today. Residences such as
those of Nicol, Curtin, Steinmetz, Symons, Rosasco
and Street-Morgan, as well as public and commercial
buildings such as the Sonora Dome, Sonora High
School, Tuolumne County Courthouse, Opera Hall and
the Bradford Building all give testimony to the
faith our ancestors had in the future of Sonora.
In 1986, Sonora was chosen as one of the first “Main
Street” cities in the State of California. Working
with the National Trust for Historic Preservation
and the California Main Street program, the City
Council committed over a quarter of a million
dollars in an effort to revitalize the city’s
historic downtown. The restoration of the
Sonora Opera Hall was a component of this
revitalization effort. Elements of the
“Main Street” program are now carried on by the
Sonora Redevelopment Agency.
Sonora can look with great pride to its
transformation from a country town to a small, vital
city that provides a way of life enjoyed by few
other communities, it is still the “Queen of the
Southern Mines.” |
