Event Calendar
West End Neighborhood History Walking Tour
Please join us for a one-hour walking tour that showcases this unique historic neighborhood.
Houses represent the modest residential architecture from the 1880s through the 1940s primarily consisting of bungalows and Queene Anne cottages intermixed with historical industrial and commercial buildings. Discover the rich cultural heritage created by immigrants who settled in this part of Santa Rosa. Primarily from Tuscany, the largest wave of Italian immigrants to arrive in Santa Rosa came in very large numbers after the 1920s. Many of these new arrivals found work in the cannery on West Third Street and made their home in the West End Neighborhood or “Little Italy”. Many of Santa Rosa’s historic Italian families have their roots here, yet so do others such as Japanese, Filipino, and Pomo families.
Learn about neighborhood architecture, the history and contributions of Italians and other immigrants, and personal stories of those who lived in the neighborhood. Our guides will be West End Neighborhood Association President, Allen Thomas, North Bay Italian Cultural Foundation historian Kathy Bertolini Dowdall and special guests Mary Bertolini Dowdall and Bob Bertolini who grew up in the neighborhood on their family’s truck garden. Reservations are required - space is limited.
The tour departs at 11:00 am from the the Railroad Depot, (now the California Welcome Center) located at 9 Fourth Street.