Katherine J. Rinehart — Historian

  • The Bank of Italy, Petaluma at 201 Main Street (now Petaluma Blvd. North). The bank was designed H.A. Minton and completed in 1928. Courtesy of the Petaluma Museum.
  • Penngrove Hatchery, 5701 Old Redwood Hwy., Penngrove, Calif. Credit: Jeanne McCarter Pratt
  • Fourth Street, Santa Rosa, California. Hand-colored postcard. Credit: Sonoma County Library
  • Sonoma County Hospital, a PWA project that opened in 1937. Credit: Sonoma County Library
  • John A. and Hattie McNear residence on Fourth Street, Petaluma. The site is occupied by the post office and the United Methodist Church today. Credit: Petaluma Museum
  • House built for my great grandparents, Edward P. and Florence Johnson, in 1907 by Miller & Laursen. The house is located at 33 West 28th Street, Los Angeles. The house is now owned by the SAE Fraternity. Credit: KJR
  • Credit: Scott Hess
  • South side of Western Avenue between Main and Kentucky Streets, Petaluma. Circa 1949. Credit: Sonoma County Library
  • Credit: Merrill Avila
  • petaluma elks baseball team
    Petaluma Elks baseball team, 1924. Credit: Sam Brown
  • Carlson family, Kingsburg, California, 1933. Credit: KJR
  • Petaluma Carnegie Library, circa 1929. Postcard by Zan. Credit: Petaluma Museum

Discovering, sharing, and preserving history.

About

Katherine J. Rinehart, Historian
Photo by Scott Hess

Katherine J. Rinehart, author of Petaluma: A History in Architecture and co-author of The Petaluma River: A Sketch Journal and Brief Historical Overview, is a consulting historian with an MA in History from Sonoma State University and founder of the Petaluma Signs Project. She previously managed the Sonoma County History & Genealogy Library and Sonoma County Archives and is co-chair of the Advocates for the Sonoma County Archives.

With over 30 years of experience, she has held various roles within special collections and archives, historic preservation, heritage tourism, and interpretation.

Ms. Rinehart specializes in house history documentation, archival organization, general research, teaching, writing, and creating exhibits.

Katherine is proud to be an official Petaluma Good Egg — an honor bestowed annually to individuals who have advanced the story of Petaluma’s unique and fascinating past and contributed to the positive promotion of Petaluma.