I love this old postcard (far left) of early Guerneville as the town gets ready for the Stumptown Daze Parade. If you look closely, you can see various businesses that were the heartbeat of the community. For example, on the right was the Louvre saloon, which had a card room in the back and also bragged that boxing great, Carl Bubba Olsen, was a regular. The Stork Club (Rainbow Cattle now) had the same horseshoe bar as today.
The Redwood Cafe, Five & Dime, King’s News & Tackle, Fry’s Pancake, Pat’s, and Bank of Guerneville (later the Bank of Sonoma, then Centennial Savings and Loan) filled out the north-west end of town. Note: There used to be a small record shop (jewelry shop today) where band leaders would come in and autograph albums.
Early Guerneville:
Across Main Street in early Guerneville was the Mercantile and Owl Drug store. As you head down the block you would run into Buchanan’s Cafe, Food Center, and Ferenz’s Sport Shop. The Rendezvous Bar (where Trio’s is now) was owned by Bob Evangelistic. He tells the story that during the eighty-six flood, actor Fred MacMurray rowed a canoe into the saloon and had a drink. The Grove Theater showed two films/day, not to mention newsreels, cartoons and sneak previews. The Grove Dance Hall (where Bull Pen is today) was a hot spot for the Big Bands, open every night except Sunday during the summer. It burned down around 1964. Gori’s Tavern came close by and then a barber shop, the Bank Club (another saloon–it was said that one could drown in this neck of the woods without ever stepping foot into the river) and Associated Gas Station (there were six gas stations during the early 1960’s). And that was just half the town. Busy place. Do any of these places spark a memory???