TranslateSonoma Developmental Center Site History
History of the Sonoma Developmental Center Site
Humans have lived in or around the Sonoma Developmental Center site for at least 11,300 years. Early inhabitants likely include the Yukian ancestors of the Wappo people and Pomo people; the Miwok controlled the area by the time of the Californio incursion. The property was then part of two land grants, and was used for lumber and agriculture.
In 1884, Frances H. Bentley and Julia M. Judah founded a small school for children with developmental disabilities, including their own. First located in Vallejo and Santa Clara, the State began operating the school and purchased the land in Sonoma Valley in 1889 as the center’s permanent home. Construction on the campus began in 1890.
SDC soon expanded to serving adults with developmental disabilities as well as children, and provided residential living quarters, schooling, and practical training. Developed according to the “Kirkbride model,” the campus was laid out with patients under a single long roof, with access to rural amenities like farms and gardens. As the Center’s population grew, the campus transitioned to a “cottage plan” to accommodate more clients in small, widely spaced buildings. By 1900, SDC had around 450 clients and hundreds more on the waitlist.
In the early decades, clients performed most of the work on the campus, including construction, cooking, housekeeping, and laundry. The Center had productive farms and orchards, and operated a school.
The growth of the eugenics movement in the early 1900s had a significant impact on the SDC and the lives of the clients. The California legislature passed a law legalizing involuntary sterilization in 1909, and juvenile courts began sending growing numbers of “defective delinquents” to live at Sonoma State Home, as it was called at the time. Between 1909 and 1952, a total of 5,530 men and women were involuntarily sterilized at Sonoma State Home, more than at any other state hospital or at any single facility in the nation. The campus expanded across Arnold Drive and Sonoma Creek with new buildings to house growing numbers of clients. Although the sterilization program effectively ended by 1952, forced sterilization remained legal in California until 1979.
By 1961, the facility was renamed to be Sonoma State Hospital, and it became more medically oriented, with new hospital-like buildings and training for self-reliance. Sunrise Industries, a vocational program that provided both on- and off-campus employment, trained clients for employment in electronics packaging, landscaping, and recycling. Growth slowed as many clients were relocated to community-based residences, and little new campus development occurred.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, several hundred surplus acres were transferred to Jack London State Park. The facility was renamed again, to Sonoma Developmental Center, and continued to house and educate clients until the State of California closed the facility in 2018.
Today, there are a few organizations still operating on the site, including the Sonoma Ecology Center, but most of the buildings are vacant. The lands surrounding the old campus are home to significant biodiversity, and the campus acts as one of the most important wildlife corridors of Sonoma Valley, connecting the mountains on either side of Sonoma Creek. The site is also well-used by the community for recreation, with many well-used trails beloved by local residents and their dogs.
