Kenwood, California

Infobox Settlement
official_name = Kenwood, California
settlement_type = unincorporated town
pushpin_

pushpin_label_position = right
pushpin_map_caption = Location within the state of California
subdivision_type = Country
subdivision_name = United States
subdivision_type1 = State
subdivision_name1 = California
subdivision_type2 = County
subdivision_name2 = Sonoma
timezone = PST
utc_offset = -8
timezone_DST = PDT
utc_offset_DST = -7
latd = 38 |latm = 24 |lats = 50 |latNS = N
longd = 122 |longm = 32 |longs = 46 |longEW = W
elevation_footnotes = [gnis|226527|Kenwood]
elevation_m = 129
elevation_ft = 423
postal_code_type = ZIP codes
postal_code = 95409/95452
area_code = 707
blank_name = FIPS code
blank_info = 06-38156
blank1_name = GNIS feature ID
blank1_info = 226527

Kenwood, California is an unincorporated town in Sonoma County, California, United States, located on State Route 12 between the citites Santa Rosa and Sonoma. It lies east of Sonoma Creek in the upper part of Sonoma Valley, a region sometimes called the Valley of the Moon. Bennett Mountain lies southeast of the town, and Sugar Ridge to the northwest.

Like all of Sonoma County, Kenwood is considered part of the Wine Country. Viticulturally, it lies in the Sonoma Valley AVA. The Kenwood area is known for vineyards and wineries, restaurants, and a European-style resort. An area landmark is the Kunde Estate Winery on State Route 12, which was first planted in 1879. [cite web
url=http://www.kunde.com/about_us/
title=Kunde Estate Winery - About Us
accessdate=2007-12-31]

Parks

Kenwood Plaza Park, located two blocks south of State Route 12 at 200 Warm Springs Road, is managed by the Sonoma County Regional Parks Department. [cite web
url=http://www.sonoma-county.org/parks/pk_kenwd.htm
title=Kenwood Plaza Park - Regional Parks - County of Sonoma, California
accessdate=2007-12-31]

Annadel State Park lies to the west, Hood Mountain Regional Park lies to the north, and Sugarloaf Ridge State Park lies to the northwest.

History

Under Mexican rule in the 1800s, the community was part of an Alta California land grant named Los Guilicos. In 1887, the Sonoma Land & Improvement Company, which owned the property on which the town now sits, laid out lots in anticipation of the railroad which would arrive the following year. The infant community tried on many names: Rohrerville, for one of the owners of the land company; Los Guilicos, and then South Los Guilicos, for the Mexican land grant.

A number of townspeople were unhappy, complaining the "Guilicos" was hard to pronounce. Around 1895 a vote was taken to change the name again. One story says that Kenwood won because many of the settlers had come from Kenwood, Illinois. Another traces the choice to the fact that many landowners in the area were from old English families and so were familiar with London's Kenwood House. It is possible that both stories are true, and the name's permanence stemmed from its acceptability to different groups.

Ray Flugger founded Flowmaster, Inc. in 1983 while working out of a small barn in Kenwood. [cite web|url=http://www.flowmastermufflers.com/about.html|title=Flowmaster, Inc.|accessdate=2007-12-09]

Telephony

Western California Telephone Company provided telephone service to Kenwood, Los Gatos, Morgan Hill and Novato. In the 1970s it was acquired by General Telephone, (later GTE and then Verizon). These four areas are now all served by Verizon.Fact|date=December 2007 Part of Oakmont, a large residential development within the city limits of Santa Rosa, is actually inside the Verizon service area, causing that portion to have Kenwood prefixes. The area code for Kenwood is 707.

References

ee also

*North Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)

External links

* [http://www.kenwoodfire.com/ Kenwood Fire Protection District home page.]
* [http://www.kenwooddepot.com/ Kenwood Community Club, a.k.a. Kenwood Depot home page.]
* [http://www.kenwoodschool.org/ Kenwood Elementary School District home page.]