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ABOUT
GLEN ELLEN AND THE SONOMA WINE COUNTRY
Glen
Ellen is a census-designated place (CDP) in Sonoma Valley, Sonoma County,
California, USA. The population was 992 at the 2000 census. Glen Ellen
is home to the Wolf House of Jack London, the home of Hunter S. Thompson
at a point in his life, the location of Sonoma Valley Regional Park and
a raft of excellent fine dining venues and small inns.
Points of interest
Writer Jack London lived in Glen Ellen from 1909 to his death in 1916,
where he devoted much of his time to development of his Beauty Ranch and
the building of his mansion, Wolf House. Many of his novels and stories,
notably The Iron Heel and The Valley of the Moon mention Glen Ellen and
Sonoma County. ("The Valley of the Moon" is a translation of
Sonoma Valley's name given by the Pomo and Coast Miwok peoples.)
The
site of his ranch is now Jack London State Historic Park, which contains
the ruins of Wolf House, several ranch buildings, the grave of Jack and
Charmian London, and a museum housed in Charmian London's "House
of Happy Walls." The Wolf House Restaurant discontinued daily restaurant
service in January 2008, but is open for special events. The Bar remains
open. Glen Ellen is also home to the Jack London Educational Research
Foundation and the Jack London Bookstore. The Sonoma Developmental Center
is located just outside Glen Ellen near the Jack London ranch. Its predecessor,
the California Home for the Care and Training of Feeble Minded Children,
was the setting for Jack London's story "Told in the Drooling Ward."
Glen
Ellen is located in the Wine Country and is part of the Sonoma Mountain
AVA. Like all the communities in Sonoma Valley, Glen Ellen is home to
many vineyards and wineries including B.R. Cohn Winery, Benziger Family
Winery?, Mayo Family Winery?, and Valley of the Moon Winery?
The
nearby city of Sonoma (approximately five miles) is heralded as the birthplace
of California and contains four of the first ten California Historical
Landmarks. On the other side of Sonoma Mountain, but only about three
miles (5 km) away on the map, is the Fairfield Osborn Preserve, a diverse
ecological study area with limited access hiking trails.
Sonoma County's Dry Creek Valley: Sonoma is the southwestern county of
California's Wine Country region, which also includes Napa, Mendocino,
and Lake counties. It has thirteen approved American Viticultural Areas
and over 250 wineries. In 2002 Sonoma County ranked as the thirty-second
county in the United States in agricultural production.[1] As early as
1920 Sonoma County was ranked as the eighth most agriculturally productive
U.S county and a leading producer of poultry products, hops, grapes, prunes,
apples, and dairy products,[2] largely due to the abundance of high quality
irrigation water. More than 7.4 million tourists visit each year, spending
more than $1 billion in 2006. Sonoma County is the home of Sonoma State
University and Santa Rosa Junior College.
Sonoma
County was once home to several Native American tribes, who lived within
the carrying capacity of the land; by 1850, European settlement had set
a new direction that would prove to radically alter the course of land
use and resource management of this region. As of 2007, Sonoma County
has rich agricultural land, albeit now largely divided between two nearly
monocultural uses: grapes and pasturage. The voters have twice approved
open space initiatives[3] that have provided funding for public acquisition
of natural areas, preserving forested areas, coastal habitat, and other
open space.
The
county includes the City of Sonoma and the Sonoma Valley, in which the
City of Sonoma is located. However, these are not synonymous. The City
of Sonoma is merely one of several incorporated cities in the county.
The Sonoma Valley itself makes up only the southeastern portion of the
county, which includes many other valleys and geographic zones. Moreover,
the Sonoma Valley itself includes not only the City of Sonoma, but a portion
of the City of Santa Rosa and the unincorporated communities of Kenwood,
Agua Caliente, Boyes Hot Springs, and Fetters Hot Springs. Other regions
of the county beyond the Sonoma Valley include, among others, the Petaluma
Valley, the Santa Rosa Plain, the Russian River, the Alexander Valley,
and the Dry Creek Valley.
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