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The City of Sebastopol is a small semi-urban community located in California, on the western edge of the Santa Rosa plain. It is 50 miles north of San Francisco, 8 miles west of Santa Rosa, 10 miles from Bodega Bay, and about 15 miles from the Russian River. The City, incorporated in 1902, currently has a population of about 7,800 people and serves a trade area population in excess of 50,000 people.
The area's first known inhabitants were the native Miwok and Pomo peoples. The town of Sebastopol formed in the 1850’s with a U.S. Post Office and as a small trade center for the farmers in the surrounding agricultural region. As California’s population swelled after the westward migration and the Gold Rush of the 1850’s, more and more settlers drifted into the fertile California valleys north of San Francisco to try their hand at farming.
The name of Sebastopol first came into use in the late 1850’s as a result of a prolonged and lively fistfight in the newly formed town, which was likened to the long British siege of the Russian seaport of Sevastopol during the then-raging Crimean War. Britain, France, Sardinia and Turkey fought Russia in this war, one of the first wars to be directly reported by journalists and photographers. The Crimean War was also the origin of improved medical care of the wounded, primarily due to the efforts of Florence Nightingale, who formed a nursing corps to care for wounded British soldiers. Evidently, many Americans in the west sympathized more for the Russian than for the British cause as there were at one time four other Sebastopol’s in California; one in Napa County, renamed Yountville, one each in Tulare, Sacramento, and Nevada counties.
The apple industry brought a steady rural prosperity to the town and Sebastopol was incorporated in 1902 with schools, churches, hotels, canneries, mills, wineries, and an opera house to its credit. The 1906 earthquake reduced most of these early buildings to rubble, but as elsewhere in the county, the town was rebuilt.
In the second half of the Twentieth Century, the apple industry struggled to compete with other apple producing regions and gradually declined in its economic significance. With greater personal mobility and the rise of larger shopping centers in other Sonoma County communities, Sebastopol changed from a full-service town with a complete range of stores to one with a more limited range of goods and services.
Local Government
Sebastopol has a Council-Manager form of government, with five Council members elected at-large. The City has its own Police, Fire and Public Works departments, as well as other city departments. With a very low crime rate, Sebastopol remains among the safest cities in Northern California.
Schools
Sebastopol's public schools rank among the highest in the area in terms of student achievement, and also enjoy strong community and parent support.
Housing
There are a diversity of housing types in the Sebastopol area, ranging from 100-year old Craftsman bungalows and farmhouses to modern subdivisions, apartments and condominiums. In the countryside surrounding Sebastopol, properties with vineyards, apple orchards, redwoods, streams and other features are not uncommon. Home prices and rental rates tend to be higher than some other areas of Sonoma County.
Agriculture
The City is located in a region that produces the majority of the world supply of Gravenstein apples and more recently has become a significant grape-growing region for high quality wines. Sebastopol is also the gateway to the popular Russian River and coastal recreation areas.
Recent Developments
A new General Plan in 1994 set the stage for limited and carefully controlled growth. In 1996 the voters adopted an Urban Growth Boundary consistent with the General Plan.
In the 1990’s several key new businesses were opened, including a multi-plex theater (reborn from an old apple brandy distillery) and two hotels. Two significant civic improvements also were developed: a Downtown Plaza, along with downtown streetscape improvements, and the first elements of the Laguna de Santa Rosa Wetlands Preserve. In addition, faced with the planned closure of Sebastopol’s Palm Drive hospital, the community successfully banded together in a remarkable grass-roots effort to buy the hospital and keep it in operation.
Future Progress
Although future growth will be modest, Sebastopol is a dynamic community. The Sebastopol Community Center is in the early stages of planning for complete replacement and upgrade of its facilities to address flooding problems. And the City of Sebastopol is planning streetscape improvements to Gravenstein Highway South, and further additions to the Laguna de Santa Rosa Wetlands Preserve.
Learn more about this city
City of SEBASTOPOL, CA official site
City of SEBASTOPOL, CA chamber of commerce
City of SEBASTOPOL, CA general information
City of SEBASTOPOL, CA yellow pages
City of SEBASTOPOL, CA newspaper
County of SONOMA, CA official site
State of California official site