Healdsburg, California

Healdsburg is a city in Sonoma County, in the North Bay region of California, United States, set on the Russian River at the point where three wine-producing regions meet: the Alexander Valley, the Dry Creek Valley and the Russian River Valley. It had a population of 11,340 at the 2020 census. Pomo people built villages in open areas along the river long before settlement. Harmon Heald, an Ohio businessman who had been squatting on Rancho Sotoyome since 1850, bought part of the rancho in 1857, which gives the city its official founding date, and the town was incorporated in 1867. The San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad reached it in 1872, and orchards and truck farms were common within the present city limits from the 1890s into the 1940s. The city covers about 11.4 square kilometres of land and is crossed by Foss Creek, and it owns two open space preserves, Healdsburg Ridge and Fitch Mountain. It forms part of the San Francisco Bay Area and contributes to the California wine industry. The seasoning lemon pepper was first developed commercially here in 1967.