Articles
Stories, research, and reflections on the history of St. Helena and the upper Napa Valley.
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Brewing Beer in St. Helena
By Mariam Hansen, St. Helena Historical Society. Beer is a necessity of life. This was especially true in 19th century…
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Dowdell Wine Saga: A Story of Wine Gone Bad
By Mariam Hansen, St. Helena Historical Society. James Dowdell was born in Ireland in 1845 and came to America in…
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Wine History and Production 1878
St. Helena Star, December 27, 1878. Transcribed by Mariam Hansen for the St. Helena Historical Society. The manufacture of wine…
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A View of Chinatown in the 1870s
By Mariam Hansen, 2011. When a visitor approached St. Helena on Main Street in the 1870s and looked to the…
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William “Uncle Billy” Baldridge
This worthy pioneer was born near Newport, Cocke County, Eastern Tennessee, December 2, 1811, and is the son of James…
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The Dowdells: From the Emerald Isle to St. Helena in 1869
By Mariam Hansen. James Dowdell was born in County Louth, Ireland, August 29,1845, where he resided until he was nineteen…
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Honorable Gurden Backus III
Gurden Backus was born on November 6, 1820 in Burlington, Vermont, the son of Gurdon and Lucy Nichols Backus. His…
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Memoirs of an Old Timer: Alphonse Bell
As told to the St. Helena Star, April 9, 1953. In May 1879 I had the first glimpse of St.…
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Charles Krug Obituary
St. Helena Star, November 4, 1892. Transcribed by Mariam Hansen, 2023. The pioneer winemaker passes away after a lingering illness;…
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Winemaking in the 1880s
By Henri Pellet, St. Helena Star. White wine is supposed to be the product of white grapes, although in some…
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Logan-Ives-Bellani House
By Mariam Hansen, February 2010. 738 Main Street, St. Helena. Beginnings The land on which 738 Main Street was built…
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St. Helena’s Chinese Heritage
In 1868, railroad construction brought the first large group of Chinese immigrants to the upper Napa Valley. They built the…