The Calistoga Parlor of the Native Sons of the Golden West has been around since the early 1890’s. Located in the Upper Napa Valley, this small yet energetic Parlor is here to help the community to record and teach Calistoga of its rich and diverse history.
For the last 5,000 years, Calistoga was home to the Wappo Native American Tribe. Wappo is a term that was translated from guapo, meaning “Handsome” or “Brave” in Spanish. Using the natural hot springs at Mt. St. Helena as a source of life, the Wappo thrived in the Napa/Sonoma Counties. Once Mexico started to colonize California, the Wappo Tribe tried to resist the Mexicans in effort to keep their lands. But ultimately, the Tribe was unsuccessful in retaining their villages and way of life. In 1836, Satiyomi, a Wappo leader, signed a peace treaty with the Mexicans after a year of fighting to defend the Wappos homeland. The first American Settlers that came to these parts of the West quickly realized of the Hot Springs and spread the news from town to town, and eventually caught the ear of Samuel Brannan.
Painting of Wappo Indians at spring grounds
Samuel Brannan visited the Upper Napa Valley in the early 1850’s to layout his new plan for a Resort that would draw thousands to the “Healing Powers” of the Natural Hot Springs. Brannan purchased more than 2,000 acres and sold off plots of land to finance his dream – Calistoga, Hot Springs of the West.
Samuel Brannan
After Brannan opened his Hot Springs Hotel in 1862, wealthy individuals made the trip from the populated Bay Area and stop into Calistoga during the summer months to relax and enjoy the natural volcanic hot springs. To simplify the lengthy trips the people would travel to come, Brannan installed a railroad that streamlined throughout the Napa Valley and made its final stop in Calistoga. The Napa Valley Wine Train recreates this historic journey in a wonderful dining and experience that is taken by a restored locomotive. People from all over the world visit on its daily round-trip service from Napa to St. Helena.
Wonderful Wine Train
Beginning as a home for James H. Francis, a local merchant, the Francis House has been a landmark building in Calistoga since it was built in 1886. Renowned for its Second Empire architecture, and realizing its important significance to many Calistoga residents, the House was donated andconverted to the Calistoga Hospital (1919-1946). Change in ownerships, natural disasters and the passing of time all contributed to the fading of this remarkable property. It was shut down by the State in 1965. Uninhabited since then, it is now carefully being restored, rehabilitated and redesigned. It will continue to be called The Francis House as it is now being converted into a B&B in Calistoga.
Francis House, 1886
Calistoga Hospital – ≈ 1940’s
The Francis House (2016)
Today, Calistoga is still the Hot Spot for our natural Hot Springs. Just take a trip down to the Old Faithful Geyser and watch as a Natural Hot Spring erupts out of the ground beneath you.