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Today, Sonoma is known for vineyards and wine tasting so when you’re driving down the road that the old Sonoma State Hospital is located on, you hardly expect to come across the site. Buildings start to come into view, some set closer to the road than others, almost as if an old forgotten town suddenly sprang up out of the trees and vegetation.

As you continue, you can turn into a long driveway where the 1890s brick building that used to be known as the Sonoma State Home sits. Surrounding the brick structure are other buildings that were built over time. “In 1884, Frances H. Bentley and Julia M. Judah founded a small school for children with developmental disabilities, including their own. First located in Vallejo and Santa Clara, the State began operating the school and purchased the land in Sonoma Valley in 1889 as the center’s permanent home” (permitsonoma.org).

Soon children as well as adults with developmental disabilities were provided with residential living quarters and could access the facility’s farms and gardens. The campus eventually started using the “cottage plan” where more clients could live in smaller buildings. In the early 1900s, the eugenics movement had a very strong impact on the clients. A bench that sits at the top of the stairs leading up to the building doesn’t let anyone forget what happened on this site.

The bench reads, “From 1909 through 1979, thousands of people who lived in state-run hospitals, homes, and institutions were involuntarily sterilized under California eugenics laws. Although these laws were repealed in 1979, it was later found that forced or coerced sterilizations continued to be performed on people living in state facilities. This memorial is in recognition of the survivors and those who have dedicated themselves to educating others on the history of eugenics and deeply harmful sterilization practices to create a more just society.”

The facility changed from the Sonoma State Home to the Sonoma State Hospital in 1961 “and it became more medically oriented, with new hospital-like buildings and training for self-reliance” (permitsonoma.org).

In the 1970s and 1980s acres were given to Jack London State Park and the facility was eventually renamed Sonoma Developmental Center. Clients continued to live and be educated there until 2018 when the facility closed. Today, the buildings are not open, but the site is used for recreation which means people like me who love old architecture and long forgotten structures can check it out. If you’re ever in the area, make sure to stop by and see a part of Sonoma’s history.