Sonoma State Historic Park — Attraction in Sonoma

The last mission and the only one built by the Mexican government. All the other missions were built by the Spanish government. The docent this afternoon was very knowledgeable and really made the history very interesting, she was awesome. Today was Children's Day and had many interesting activities and period crafts for kids and families. The docent let us know to check out the California Buckeye tree that was blooming with large white flowers. We were lucky to see this tree today because it only blooms once a year, and the flowers would be gone in ten days. The California Poppy flowers were blooming in front of the mission and the ranger had a friendly burro for kids to pet. I was greeted by the 2016 Alcalde of Sonoma, Mr. Patrick Garcia who was nice enough to introduce himself to me on his way into the Children's Day event, and what an interesting gentleman he was. I learned from him that he is a direct descendant of a member of the DeAnza expedition that founded San Jose, CA. What an interesting coincidence, since I live in San Jose. On exhibit are artifacts of the mission period and water color paintings of all the missions as they were in the mid 1800's. The mother in law of General Vallejo is buried in the chapel. This mission was in operation for only eleven years and unfortunately has some dark history in that over 900 Native American men, women and children died of disease they had no immunity to. These people were literally buried under your feet in unmarked mass graves. A plaque was placed in 1999 outside the mission in memory of these local people who died here. Like many parts of California, the history is not all pleasant, but it happened and we deserve to know about our past. This place is fascinating and I encourage anyone in Sonoma to go see it and enjoy learning about California history. Very...

Sonoma State Historic Park, located at 20 E Spain St. #5729 is situated in the charming and well-kept town of Sonoma. My visit to this park was a bit different from the usual sightseeing trip. I was exploring the area and looking for a quiet place to enjoy lunch, and this park came up as a recommended spot.

The park has a long gravel driveway leading to a parking lot where the setting seemed peaceful and inviting especially when I saw the lovely garden with picnic benches. I started taking pictures of the outside area, appreciating the natural beauty and hoping to capture more of the park’s charm. However, my experience was disrupted when a staff member approached my guest and I, abruptly asking if we had paid the entry fee. The interaction felt confrontational, and it left me feeling uncomfortable and defensive.

Unfortunately, this impacted my visit, and I wasn’t able to explore much beyond the initial area. While I did get a few lovely nature shots, I didn’t have the chance to fully enjoy or experience the park.

To the beautiful people of Sonoma County people and visitors abroad, all I can say is I hope this was an isolated incident, as the park itself seems like it has much to offer for those interested in...

I was pretty shocked and saddened to see how outdated the signage in this mission was. The tribal maps are over 50 years old and incorrect. Sugar-coated language that described native people "providing" their labor are misleading and unacceptable. The mission system led to the death of thousands of native peoples. It was abusive and horrifically punitive, fundamentally just another colonial tool used to steal land and decimate culture. I thought the California State Parks were more progressive than this messaging. Reparations are sorely overdue.

If you want an idea of just how horrific this mission was, check out the gravesite next to it, which contains the remnants of hundreds of native children that died of starvation, disease, and abuse.

EDIT: I was very glad to see the response by the parks team below, it looks like we can look forward to more updated signage and informed language...