Calistoga – Napa Valley Hotel Lodging and Accommodations
Calistoga History
By the Mount View Hotel & Spa Resort, Calistoga, California
– Napa Valley
Called the "Hot Springs of the West," the history of
Calistoga began millions of years ago, when a volcano (Mt.
Konocti) erupted twenty miles away, layering huge deposits
of volcanic ash over the area, and creating fissures deep in
the earth. Ancient waters were heated by the earth's magma
at 4,000 feet and escaped as geysers through the fissures.
The volcanic activity that formed the valley left it
fertile, and protected by mountain ranges. More than 500
years ago, the Wappo Indians discovered its geothermal hot
springs and natural mineral pools were helpful in easing
sore and injured muscles and stiff joints.
The first American settlers began arriving in the 1840's.
In early 1846, California pioneer and entrepreneur Sam
Brannan boarded the ship Brooklyn and set sail from New York
to Yerba Buena - later renamed San Francisco. Brannan
started the city's first English-language newspaper, the
California Star.
In 1848, gold was discovered at Sutter's Mill, and the
California "Gold Rush" was on. The population of San
Francisco exploded, and Brannan cashed-in, becoming
California's first millionaire.
It was 1852 when Samuel Brannan first visited the Napa
Valley, drawn by the stories of the healing hot springs and
the natural beauty. He decided that this was the spot to
build a health spa to rival Saratoga Springs in New York.
Brannan purchased more than 2,000 acres, and mapped out the
town he would need to supply his resort. Working feverishly
to attract people to build homes and start businesses, he
donated land and gave away more than 80 additional plots,
founding the town of Calistoga in 1859.
As folklore has it, Brannan was drinking and dining with
friends one evening, when he declared he would make the area
"the Saratoga of California!" but it came out, "the
Calistoga of Sarafornia!" Hence the town's name.
Brannan's resort opened in 1862. With it's lavish
centerpiece, the Hot Springs Hotel, it included twenty-five
cottages, elaborately landscaped parks, bathing pavilions,
arboretum, a pavilion for dancing and a huge skating rink, a
swimming pool, goldfish pond and a forty-acre complex with a
mile-long racetrack and stables, distillery, and a
tent-shaped observatory.
Wealthy, elite San Franciscans were intrigued by the hot
spring resort north of the city, but the journey to
Calistoga was long and often times uncomfortable. So Brannan
and a group of businessmen incorporated the Napa Valley
Railroad Company on March 26, 1864 to spearhead the building
of a railroad from the bay area to Calistoga.
By 1864, California's gold rush had ended, but Brannan's
resort thrived until the mid-1870's, when Brannan went
bankrupt. Leland Stanford took over until the turn of the
century, and at one point considered building his university
there.
Calistoga became a transportation hub-in addition to the
Southern Pacific Railroad, the San Francisco, Napa &
Calistoga Railroad had electric car service to Calistoga
from 1911 to 1938 -- a resort destination, and an
agricultural center.
The resort Brannan founded still exists, now in its fourth
reincarnation. Today it is known as Indian Springs, and
Calistoga is home to more than a dozen other spas and
resorts.
