The History of Bodega, California

Geographic Setting

The village sits at roughly 82 feet above sea level in the rolling hills of western Sonoma County, about five miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. Bodega is part of the Salmon Creek watershed, which drains west to the sea, and lies in a Mediterranean climate zone — cool, foggy summers and mild, wet winters. The surrounding landscape is a mix of coastal grasslands, oak woodlands, and family ranches.

The Coast Miwok people lived in this watershed for thousands of years before European arrival, with two named villages — Kennekono and Suwutenne — known to have stood near what is now the Bodega townsite. American settlement followed the 1843 Mexican land grant of Rancho Bodega and accelerated through the Gold Rush years, when the village served as a stop on the stage route between Petaluma and the coast.