A Little About Bodega Bay...

This quaint fishing town is named in honor of Juan Francisco de la Bodega y Quadra, a Spanish naval officer who explored the west coast of North America, as far north as Alaska, during multiple voyages of discovery in the late 1700s.

In 1853, the ranch owned by Captain Smith (an American turned Mexican to get a land grant) was renamed Bodega Corners, present day Bodega Bay. Smith developed the ranch as a harbor. The coastal roads met at the harbor, and the New England style town became the center of several coastal valleys. Bodega Bay had several periods of interest and decline. In the 1870s, it was the largest town that included three stores, one hotel, and three lodges. St. Theresa's Church, built by Yankee shipbuilders, served many local Irish. The Potter School, once the "finest in the county," had dances, social gatherings, and a Dramatic Society formed in 1874. The town flourished with agriculture, lumber, and particularly potatoes. Eventual silting of the harbor curtailed further commercial expansion.

Sportsmen, and later tourists, took advantage of the area opened by the railroads. A triangular route from San Francisco meant a trip could be made in one day to the Russian River from San Francisco. By 1900, wealthy residents of Santa Rosa bought summer homes in Bodega Bay. The tourist industry flourished after construction of roads, like State Highway 1, were built in the 1920s. In the 1930s, the Russian River area was popular, offering big bands and summer camps. Fishing was a year round business, and local fishermen would visit for the day. Bodega Bay was dredged in 1943, opening the bay for pleasure boats and commercial fishing. The fishing industry grew rapidly, and Bodega Bay became a fishing village. The tourist industry boomed after World War II and is today a major activity along the entire length of the Sonoma County coast.

This Commercial Fisherman Memorial is located at Spud Harbor. The statue pays tribute to the commercial fisherman lost at sea after sailing from Bodega Bay. These include those fishing for salmon, crab, abalone, and rockfish over the past two centuries.