Determination of Eligibility, Condition Assessment and Stabilization Plan for Sonoma Developmental Center Orchard at Jack London State Historic Park.

摘要

The Sonoma Developmental Center Orchard at Jack London State Historic Park has a rich history that began in the early part of the 20th-century. Planted between 1908 and 1912 by the Sonoma State Home on the hills behind the hospital grounds, nearly 100 acres of orchards, comprising of approximately 60 acres of fruit trees in the upper orchard and nearly 40 acres in the lower, were maintained by patients and employees from the 1910s through the mid 1960s. During this period of development, the orchards served as a primary means of sustenance for hospital patients. The orchards, together with the hospital piggery, dairy farm, poultry house and vegetable garden allowed the institution to remain virtually self-sufficient for several decades. As patient population and demographics changed in the early 1960s, the hospital, which eventually became the Sonoma Developmental Center, was no longer able to maintain the orchards. Subsequently, the orchards were leased to private parties and later abandoned. In 2002, the historic orchards were added to the Jack London State Historic Park, near Eldridge, California. The orchards are significant for their association with the development of state hospital farms in California. Additionally, the orchards are significant as an excellent example of pre-World War II horticultural practices that are archaic today. Today, nearly 21-acres of apple, apricot, cherry, pear, plum, prune and quince trees are extant in the upper orchards and 5.5 acres of plums are present in the lower orchard. Additionally, 52-acres remain as cleared land in the upper orchard, while 32-acres of cleared land remain associated with the lower orchard, out of approximately 100 total acres historically. Reflecting the spatial organization, circulation, land use, vegetation and the natural systems and features that were developed during the period of significance, 1908-1957, the orchard and associated fruit trees possess significance and integrity.