With Halloween approaching, I’m joining my fellow sign enthusiasts to spotlight one of Petaluma’s lesser-known ghost signs.
On the riverside at 521 First Street, at the foot of H Street, you’ll find a ghost sign for what was likely the first foundry in what we now call the Riverfront Warehouse District. I was inspired to feature it after touring the property today with architect Carl Elefante, a leading authority on sustainable architecture, urbanism, and historic preservation. He is known worldwide for coining the phrase “the greenest building is… the one that is already built.” Petaluma Urban Chat brought Elefante to town to speak on many of the subjects featured in his new book, Going for Zero: Decarbonizing the Built Environment on the Path to Our Urban Future.
During his visit, he toured our downtown core and the Riverfront Warehouse District. Both areas offer prime examples of adaptive reuse and historic structures that still house the kinds of businesses they were built for, from retail to industrial. 521 First Street is one such industrial building.
Ground was broken for the Stayner Foundry, also known as the Petaluma Foundry, on March 4, 1912. Charles A. Stayner and his partner, Sidney F. Spurgeon, built the facility on land leased from the City of Petaluma for $1 a year, part of a city policy to encourage new industrial plants. Two years later, Stayner leased the plant to the Ajax Foundry of San Francisco. In 1917, the City purchased the building for $700 and leased it to the Presto Electrical Manufacturing Co. of San Francisco, but canceled that lease within a few months. For decades afterward, the City used the building as a corporate yard. Today, A & G Tool & Die and Kwakman Calls are based here.
Sources:
“Ground was Broken Monday Noon for New Foundry on Water Front,” Petaluma Argus, March 4, 1912, pg. 4
“Certificate of Partnership Transacting Business Under a Fictitious Name,” Petaluma Argus, March 21, 1912, pg. 9
“M’Cargar Gets the Contract for the New Foundry Building,” Petaluma Argus, April 1, 1912, pg. 8
“Ajax Foundry Company has Leased the Petaluma Foundry,” Petaluma Argus, February 11, 1914, pg. 5
“City Council Purchases the Stayner Foundry Building Outright,” Petaluma Argus, May 15, 1917, pg. 4
“Presto Factory to be Operating August 1st,” Petaluma Daily Morning Courier, May 23, 1917, pg. 1
“Commenced Work on the Factory,” Petaluma Argus, June 12, 1917, pg. 7 (describes remodeling of the foundry building to be occupied by the Presto Electric Co.)
“Council in Regular Session,” Petaluma Daily Courier, February 5, 1918, pg. 8 (a resolution was passed declaring the lease of the foundry building to the Presto Electric Company as forfeited.)
Library of Congress, Geography and Map Division, Sanborn Maps Collection, December 1923 map for the City of Petaluma, Sheet 34
We Did It!