Napa is the largest city in and thecounty seat ofNapa County and a principal city ofWine Country inNorthern California, United States. Located in theNorth Bay region of theBay Area, the city had a population of 77,480 as of the end of 2021.[9] Napa is a major tourist destination in California, known for its wineries, restaurants, and arts culture.
The word "napa" is of Native American derivation and has been variously translated as "grizzly bear", "house", "motherland" or "fish". Of the many explanations of the name's origin, the most plausible seems to be that it is derived from the Patwin wordnapo, meaning "house".[10]
Further adding confusion, Napa was originally spelled with two Ps: Nappa.[11] There are maps and deeds dating back to the mid-1850s bearing this spelling. Shortly thereafter, the present spelling was adopted; the reasons for this are unclear.
At the time of the first recorded exploration into Napa Valley in 1823, the majority of the inhabitants consisted of Native Americans. Padre José Altimira, founder ofMission San Francisco Solano inSonoma, led the expedition. Spanish priests converted some natives; the rest were attacked and dispersed by Mexican soldiers.[12]
The first American settlers began arriving in the area in the 1830s.
Prior to theConquest of California by the U.S., Napa Valley was in California's District of Sonoma. At the time, its boundaries also included Lake County to the north. By this time, the indigenous people were either working as field laborers or living in small bands in the hills surrounding the valley. Tensions between the white settlers and Native Americans broke into war in 1850, resulting in soldiers hunting down and massacring all the natives they could find, driving the remainder north toward Clear Lake.[13] By 1870, the Native American population consisted of only a few laborers and servants working for the white settlers.
The City of Napa was founded byNathan Coombs in 1847.[14] GeneralMariano Guadalupe Vallejo had paid to survey for a township downriver at Soscol Landing, where riverboats could turn around prior to Napa's founding. Instead, the Napa town site was surveyed on property Coombs had received from Nicolas Higuera, original holder of theRancho Entre Napa, aMexican land grant. The first record of a ship navigating the river was theSusana in 1842, though by 1850 theDolphin became the first passenger steamship to navigate theNapa River in order to open another path of commerce.
In the mid-1850s, Napa's Main Street rivaled that of many larger cities, with as many as 100 saddle horses tied to the fences on an average afternoon.John Patchett opened the first commercial winery in the county in 1859.[15] TheNapa Valley Register, founded by J.I. Horrell and L. Hoxie Strong, made its debut on August 10, 1863, with weekly publications until becoming a daily newspaper in 1872.[16]
TheCalifornia Gold Rush of the late 1850s expanded Napa City. A tent city was erected along Main Street. Many cattle ranches were maintained, and the lumber industry had greatly expanded. Sawmills in the valley were in operation cutting up timber that was hauled by team to Napa and then shipped out on the river toBenicia andSan Francisco.
TheSam Kee Laundry, built 1875, is the oldest commercial building in Napa.
In 1858, the great silver rush began in Napa Valley, and miners eagerly flocked to the eastern hills. In the 1860s, mining carried on, in a large scale, with quicksilver mines operating in many areas of Napa County. The most noted mine was the Silverado Mine, near the summit ofMount Saint Helena. At this time, the first wave of rural, foreign laborers from coastal villages of China's Canton province arrived in California and at Napa County mines. A settlement for Chinese laborers in Napa was established in the early 1860s. At its peak from the 1880s to the early 1900s, the Chinese population grew to a population of over 300 people.[18]
In 1869, F. A. Sawyer established Sawyer Tanning Company in Napa and was joined in the business by his father B. F. Sawyer a year later. It went on to become the largest tannery west of theMississippi River. The world-famousNappa leather or Napa leather was invented by Emanuel Manasse in Napa in 1875 while working at the Sawyer Tanning Company.
Napa was incorporated on March 23, 1872, and reincorporated in 1874 as the City of Napa.
Napa had become the primary business and economic center for the Napa Valley by the dawn of the 20th century. TheSan Francisco, Napa and Calistoga Railway was established in 1905 for passenger and freight service. The railroad carried passengers fromferry boats in Vallejo to stops in Napa and other locations in the valley.[20][21]
As agricultural and wine interests developed north of the city limits, much of the light industry, banking, commercial and retail activity in the county evolved within the city of Napa and in earlier times along the Napa River through the historic downtown. Napa Glove Factory was established in 1903 and was the largest plant of its kind west ofChicago.
Edwin Pridham andPeter L. Jensen invented the moving-coil loudspeaker in 1915 in their Napa workshop while working on an improvement for the telephone receiver. Pridham and Jensen went on to found theMagnavox Company in 1917.[22] In the late 19th century and early 20th century, Napa was known for having a sizablered-light district, withbrothels primarily concentrated on and around Clinton Street.[23]
Following studies made by theU.S. Department of the Interior in 1930–40s, theU.S. Congress authorized channel improvements on Napa River and construction of a dam on Conn Creek as part of theFlood Control Act of 1944, though funding was never approved. The City of Napa funded and built the dam in order to create the water conservation reservoirLake Hennessey in 1948; however, flooding continued to be a problem.
The1986 Napa River flood revived public interest in finding a remedy. After a plan to widen the river channel proposed by theArmy Corps of Engineers was presented in 1995 and roundly rejected, a group of special interests called Friends of the River formed, which built consensus on a "living river" plan. Voters in the County of Napa narrowly approved an increase of sales tax in a March 1998 election to fund theNapa River Flood Project.[24] In 2005, the Napa River again flooded the entire downtown area and destroyed 1,000 homes across the county.[25]
An ambitious redevelopment plan encompassing several blocks of downtown Napa's retail property was undertaken by the city in the early 1970s, though it did little to improve the city's economy. Downtown Napa finally began to recover and emerge from a long economic slumber in the 2000s, triggered by a significant growth in Main Street restaurants and hotels. The redevelopment of First and Main streets and the Napa Mill complex helped to stimulate investments along the Napa riverfront.
According to theUnited States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 18.4 square miles (48 km2), of which 18.0 square miles (47 km2) is land and 0.3 square miles (0.78 km2), or 1.67%, is water. Napa was the first location in California to be part of the North CoastAmerican Viticultural Area.[30] Renowned for its wine due to the Mediterranean climate, surprisingly only about 9% of Napa's acreage is planted with grapes.[31]
TheNapa River traverses the city on its journey to theSan Pablo Bay. The city has conducted a variety of waterfront development along the banks of the river, including certain fill operations governed by the United States Army Corps of Engineers regulations.[32] The Napa River Flood Project has been in progress since the late 1990s, with the goal of mitigating the risk of flooding along a 6-mile (9.7 km) stretch of the river and 1-mile (1.6 km) of Napa Creek.
Aerial view of theNapa Valley, with the city of Napa is located in the center.Yountville is on the left andSan Pablo Bay is on the right.
Napa has aMediterranean climate similar to many other parts of Northern California. Winters are cool and damp and summers are warm and dry. During the summer months rain is rare. Occasionally there may be a day or two of light rain in June and September. Heat waves do occur, with the temperatures rising above 100 °F (37.8 °C). Wildfires can be a problem during the summer months. The fall is pleasant and many people come to visit Napa at this time. The winters are quite wet and cool and flooding can be a problem. Nighttime temperatures occasionally drop below freezing (32 °F or 0 °C). The rainy season is from October to April and occasionally into May. Snow is rare. The hottest temperature recorded in Napa was 114 °F (45.6 °C) on September 6, 2022, while the coldest was 14 °F (−10 °C) on December 22, 1990. The wettest "rain year" was from July 1982 to June 1983 with 50.18 inches or 1,274.6 millimetres, and the driest from July 1923 to June 1924 with only 10.26 inches or 260.6 millimetres. The most rainfall in one month was 16.13 inches or 409.7 millimetres in December 1955.[33]
Climate data for Napa, California (Napa County Airport), 1991–2020 normals, extremes 1893–present
The census reported that 97.0% of the population lived in households, 1.8% lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 1.2% were institutionalized.[52]
There were 29,356 households, out of which 30.7% included children under the age of 18, 48.3% were married-couple households, 7.3% werecohabiting couple households, 28.3% had a female householder with no partner present, and 16.1% had a male householder with no partner present. 26.5% of households were one person, and 13.6% were one person aged 65 or older. The average household size was 2.62.[52] There were 19,236families (65.5% of all households).[53]
The age distribution was 20.6% under the age of 18, 7.7% aged 18 to 24, 26.9% aged 25 to 44, 26.4% aged 45 to 64, and 18.5% who were 65years of age or older. The median age was 40.9years. For every 100 females, there were 95.7 males.[52]
There were 31,071 housing units at an average density of 1,721.7 units per square mile (664.8 units/km2), of which 29,356 (94.5%) were occupied. Of these, 56.2% were owner-occupied, and 43.8% were occupied by renters.[52]
Napa's economy is characterized by its position as one of the principal cities ofWine Country, resulting in a significant portion of jobs in the city relating to wineries, restaurants, hotels, and other hospitality industries.
Valley Intercity Neighborhood Express,[58] more commonly known by the acronym "VINE Transit", is thepublic transportation service for Napa as well as for Napa County. It is managed under the Napa County Transportation and Planning Agency and is operated byVeolia Transportation. VINE has additional service throughout the county and has connections to other public transportation systems in the nearby counties.
TheAmtrak Thruway 7 bus makes daily stops in Napa to/from the Soscol Gateway Transit Center at 825 Burnell Street. From there, connections are available toMartinez to the south, andArcata to the north.[59]
Wine Country Airport Shuttle, Napa Valley Airporter provides daily service to and from Oakland International Airport and San Francisco International Airport daily from their main office on CA-29.[60]
^Section 404 (b) 1 Alternatives Analysis Pursuant to 40 CFR 230.10 for the Safeway Longs Center, Napa, Ca., Earth Metrics Inc., U.S. Army Corps of Engineers Document, August 1989
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