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Goodman Library
The Goodman Library is one of the oldest continually occupied library buildings in California. Built between 1901 and 1902 through a generous donation of land and money by local bank magnate George E. Goodman, the library offered a permanent…
Napa Register Building
While not Napa’s first newspaper, the Napa Register is without a doubt Napa’s longest running and most influential daily. The building at 1202 First St. is today the site of law offices and a restaurant, but for most of the 20th century it housed…
Napa County Courthouse
The regal Napa County Courthouse Building has a lengthy and storied history. It has been the venue for the trials of film pioneers and corrupt sheriffs and helped to popularize the insanity defense. Most notably, it was the site of California’s…
Recent Stories
A River in Time: The Napa River Ecological Reserve
All rivers change the way they meander and flow across the landscape over time. Weather, geography, and human use can alter the course of a waterway, and the Napa River is no exception. The river we see flowing through our valley today is very…
Busy Beavers! Unlikely Watershed Heroes on the Napa River
The hard work of beavers can be seen all along the Napa River and its tributaries. Scientists and biologists working in our local waterways estimate there to be at least 20 different colonies (families of beavers) spotted as far up the valley as St.…
Down By The Bay: Exploring the Estuary of Wetlands Edge Park and the Napa River & Bay Trail
The wetlands, waterways, grasslands and hills you see in the park are all part of the Napa River Watershed. Miles of trails with interpretive signage explore the troubled history of land use and the impressive rebound the wetlands have made after…
Water Water Everywhere! The Napa River Watershed
Nature has devised an extraordinary system that stores rainfall in our watershed for plants, animals, and people to use all year long. A watershed is a drainage area defined by mountains and ridgelines, where all the streams and rivers flow to a…
One Fish, Two Fish: Counting Salmon & Steelhead at the Rotary Screw Trap
Over 30 species of native and non-native fish have been observed in the Napa River through the use of a rotary screw trap. It can be tricky to track fish in the river; some species, like Steelhead, swim up the river to spawn at night or when the…
Jess Romero
The grandchild of immigrants from Sonora and Jalisco, Mexico, Jess Romero was born in Alameda, California in 1960, and grew up here in Napa. Romero’s mother, having grown up in Oakland, didn’t like the rural lifestyle in the Napa Valley, so his…
Explore Napa
A project by Napa County LibraryExplore Napa is a free mobile app and website from the Napa County Library that allows you to explore the rich history of Napa County. With Explore Napa you can learn the stories of Napa's everday places and look through a window into the past with historical images and documents. This project was made possible through a NorthNet Library System Innovation Grant.
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