Katherine J. Rinehart — Historian

  • Unidentified hop-pickers, Sonoma County, California. Credit: Museum of Sonoma County
  • 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, is a consulting historian who holds an MA in History from Sonoma State University. She is the former manager of the Sonoma County History & Genealogy Library and Sonoma County Archives and co-chair of the Advocates for the Sonoma County Archives.

For more than 26 years, she has worked in various positions within the fields of special collections and archives, historic preservation, heritage tourism, and interpretation.

Ms. Rinehart specializes in house history documentation, archival organization, general research services, teaching, writing, and exhibit creation.

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.