What to See in Sonoma - Top Sights and Attractions

Sports venue in Sonoma County, California. Sonoma Raceway is a road course and dragstrip located at Sears Point in the southern Sonoma Mountains of Sonoma, California, United States. The road course features 12 turns on a hilly course with 160 feet of total elevation change. It is host to one of the few NASCAR Cup Series races each year that are run on road courses. It has also played host to the IndyCar Series, the NHRA Mello Yello Drag Racing Series, and several other auto races and motorcycle races such as the American Federation of Motorcyclists series. Sonoma Raceway continues to host amateur, or club racing events with some open to the public. The largest such car club is the Sports Car Club of America. The track is 30 mi north of San Francisco and Oakland.

With the closure of Riverside International Raceway in Moreno Valley, California after the 1988 season, NASCAR wanted a West Coast road course event to replace it, and chose the Sears Point facility. Riverside Raceway was razed for the Moreno Valley Mall.

In 2002, Sears Point Raceway was renamed after a corporate sponsor, Infineon Technologies. On March 7, 2012, it was announced that Infineon would not renew their contract for naming rights when the deal expired in May 2012.^[1]

Barracks in Sonoma, California. The Sonoma Barracks is a two-story, wide-balconied, adobe building facing the central plaza of the City of Sonoma, California. It was built by order of Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo to house the Mexican soldiers that had been transferred from the Presidio of San Francisco in 1835. The Presidio Company and their commander, Vallejo, were also responsible for controlling the Native Americans living on the northern border of Mexican California.

On June 14, 1846, the Pueblo of Sonoma was taken over by a group of American immigrants seeking to establish their own California Republic. The barracks became the headquarters this short-lived insurrection later known as the Bear Flag Revolt.

Believing that war with Mexico had been declared, ships of the U.S. Pacific Squadron took over Monterey on July 7 and Yerba Buena (now San Francisco) on July 9, 1846. The U. S. flag was raised at the barracks that same day – ending the California Republic and the Bear Flag Revolt. After that, the barracks was used by U.S. forces until 1852. Throughout the Mexican–American War and the subsequent California Gold Rush these forces continued to confront Native Americans hostile to invaders occupying their lands.

When the military left, the building was used for a number of civilian purposes until being acquired by the State of California in 1957. The Sonoma Barracks is now part of Sonoma State Historic Park.^[5]

Building in Sonoma, California. Mission San Francisco Solano was the 21st, last, and northernmost mission in Alta California. It was named for Saint Francis Solanus. It was the only mission built in Alta California after Mexico gained independence from Spain. The difficulty of its beginning demonstrates the confusion resulting from that change in governance. The California Governor wanted a robust Mexican presence north of the San Francisco Bay to keep the Russians who had established Fort Ross on the Pacific coast from moving further inland. A young Franciscan friar from Mission San Francisco de Asis wanted to move to a location with a better climate and access to a larger number of potential converts.

The Mission was successful, given its short eleven year life, but was smaller in number of converts and with lower productivity and diversity of industries than the older California missions.

The mission building is now part of the Sonoma State Historic Park and is located in the city of Sonoma, California.^[7]

State park in Sonoma, California. Sonoma State Historic Park is a California State Park located in the center of Sonoma, California. The park consists of six sites: the Mission San Francisco Solano, the Sonoma Barracks, the Blue Wing Inn, La Casa Grande, Lachryma Montis, and the Toscano Hotel.

The park was founded in 1909 and originally contained only the Mission San Francisco Solano. The State of California has, over the years, added additional historic locations to the Park. Many of the added venues were associated with the life of Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo who was central to secularization of the Mission; the founding and improvement of the Mexican pueblo of Sonoma; and, the development of Sonoma as an American city.^[8]