Wingo, California | |
|---|---|
  Wingo, California Location in California | |
| Coordinates: 38°12′33″N122°25′36″W / 38.20917°N 122.42667°W [1] | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | Sonoma |
| Elevation | 7 ft (2 m) |
| Time zone | UTC-8 (Pacific (PST)) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC-7 (PDT) |
| Area code | 707 |
Wingo is a ghost town [2] located in Sonoma County, California in the United States. It can be found on older maps as a dot along the sloughs of Sonoma Creek, south of Sonoma and Schellville, and west of Buchli.
Wingo was a steamship station known as Norfolk until 1879 when it was given the name Wingo by the Railroad. [3] [4] Now a ghost town of a few barns, cabins, and a train trestle, it was once a bustling town that served as a stop for steamer passengers from San Francisco. [5]
Wingo and its surrounding area of 738 acres (299 ha) was included in the Napa-Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area overseen by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife. [6]
The Northwestern Pacific right of way runs through the town. Just before it enters Wingo, it crosses a manual, chain-operated drawbridge that is planked for both cars and trains to cross.[ citation needed ]
Formerly open to tidal action, the area was diked to create agricultural lands. During winter rains natural seasonal ponds are created. [6] Since this area is on a major migration route for many species of birds, [7] efforts are being made to create more seasonal and permanent freshwater ponds and to plant crops and grasses for wildlife. [6]
Wildlife that can be seen in and around Wingo include Golden eagles, American kestrels, Red-tailed hawks, Northern harriers, Owls, California quail, ring-necked pheasant, Bitterns, Turkey vultures, Coyotes, Cottontail rabbits, Waders, Ducks, Kingfishers, Herons, Egrets, Mourning doves, Woodpeckers, Swallows, Songbirds and others. [6] [7]
Wingo has been referenced in at least two songs. Norton Buffalo mentioned the town in his song "High Tide in Wingo", [8] and later collaborated with Roy Rogers in "Ain't no Bread in the Breadbox", with a music video filmed in the ghost town. [9]
Wine Country is a region of California, in the northern San Francisco Bay Area, known worldwide as a premier wine-growing region. The region is famed for its wineries, its cuisine, Michelin star restaurants, boutique hotels, luxury resorts, historic architecture, and culture. Viticulture and wine-making have been practiced in the region since the Spanish missionaries from Mission San Francisco Solano established the first vineyards in 1812.
The Napa River is a river approximately 55 miles (89 km) long in the U.S. state of California. It drains a famous wine-growing region called the Napa Valley, in the mountains north of the San Francisco Bay. Milliken Creek and Mt. Veeder watersheds are a few of its many tributaries. The river mouth is at Vallejo, where the intertidal zone of fresh and salt waters flow into the Carquinez Strait and the San Pablo Bay.
The California State Coastal Conservancy is a non-regulatory state agency in California established in 1976 to enhance coastal resources and public access to the coast. The CSCC is a department of the California Natural Resources Agency. The agency's work is conducted along the entirety of the California coast, including the interior San Francisco Bay and is responsible for the planning and coordination of federal land sales to acquire into state land as well as award grant funding for improvement projects. The Board of Directors for the agency is made up of seven members who are appointed by the Governor of California and approved by the California Legislature, members of the California State Assembly and California State Senate engage and provide oversight within their legislative capacity.
Located in northern California, the Suisun Marsh has been referred to as the largest brackish water marsh on west coast of the United States of America. The marsh land is part of a tidal estuary, and subject to tidal ebb and flood. The marsh is home to many species of birds and other wildlife, and is formed by the confluence of the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers between Martinez and Suisun City, California and several other smaller, local watersheds. Adjacent to Suisun Bay, the marsh is immediately west of the legally defined Sacramento-San Joaquin Delta as well as part of the San Francisco Bay estuary.
Sonoma Creek is a 33.4-mile-long (53.8 km) stream in northern California. It is one of two principal drainages of southern Sonoma County, California, with headwaters rising in the rugged hills of Sugarloaf Ridge State Park and discharging to San Pablo Bay, the northern arm of San Francisco Bay. The watershed drained by Sonoma Creek is roughly equivalent to the wine region of Sonoma Valley, an area of about 170 square miles (440 km2). The State of California has designated the Sonoma Creek watershed as a “Critical Coastal Water Resource”. To the east of this generally rectangular watershed is the Napa River watershed, and to the west are the Petaluma River and Tolay Creek watersheds.
The Napa Sonoma Marsh is a wetland at the northern edge of San Pablo Bay, which is a northern arm of the San Francisco Bay in California, United States. This marsh has an area of 48,000 acres (190 km2), of which 13,000 acres (53 km2) are abandoned salt evaporation ponds. The United States Government has designated 13,000 acres (53 km2) in the Napa Sonoma Marsh as the San Pablo Bay National Wildlife Refuge.
Tolay Lake is a shallow freshwater lake in southern Sonoma County, California, United States. The lake, nestled within the southern vestiges of the Sonoma Mountains, is the site of significant Native American prehistoric seasonal settlement. In 2005, Sonoma County acquired the entirety of the lake and virtually its whole drainage basin from the Cardoza family for the sum of $18 million; the county's intention is to utilize the property as Tolay Lake Regional Park for ecological and archaeological preservation, as well as public use and enjoyment. Tolay Lake and its immediate drainage area is home to several nesting pairs of golden eagles, Aquila chrysaetos, and a number of rare, threatened or endangered species including the California red-legged frog, Rana draytonii; Western pond turtle, Actinemys marmorata; and Western burrowing owl, Athene cunicularia.
Elkhorn Slough is a 7-mile-long (11 km) tidal slough and estuary on Monterey Bay in Monterey County, California. It is California's second largest estuary and the United States' first estuarine sanctuary. The community of Moss Landing and the Moss Landing Power Plant are located at the mouth of the slough on the bay.
The Boggs Lake Ecological Reserve is a nature reserve in Lake County, California. The land area is about one quarter of a square mile and contains a large vernal pool as well as endangered plants such as the Boggs Lake hedge-hyssop.
Bull Island is an island in the Napa River, in Napa County, California. From the 1880s onward, it was owned by the Money family, who constructed levees and reclaimed the land, using it to farm grain and potatoes. It was described as a "fine ranch" in 1918. After a levee failure in 1954, it gradually eroded into the water, becoming a salt marsh; for some time afterward, it was used as an evaporation pond for the industrial production of salt by the Leslie Salt Company. Beginning in the 1970s, Bull Island was proposed for inclusion in a variety of riparian preservation projects, but none came to fruition. However, in 1997, the Money family sold it to the California State Lands Commission, who turned it into a wildlife habitat; today it is administered as part of the Fagan Marsh Ecological Reserve, and hosts animals of numerous endangered species.
Little Island is a partially submerged marsh island in the Napa Slough, branching off from the Napa River upstream of San Pablo Bay. It is almost entirely in Napa County, California, although part of its southern tip is in Solano County; it is managed as part of the Napa-Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area. Its coordinates are 38°10′48″N122°21′05″W, and the United States Geological Survey measured its elevation as 3 ft (0.91 m) in 1981.
Coon Island is an island in the Napa River, upstream of San Pablo Bay. It is in Napa County, California, and managed as part of the Napa-Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area. Its coordinates are 38°11′33″N122°19′24″W, and the United States Geological Survey measured its elevation as 3 ft (0.91 m) in 1981.
Edgerly Island is an island in the Napa River, upstream of San Pablo Bay. It is in Napa County, California, and managed as part of the Napa-Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area. Its coordinates are 38°12′12″N122°18′52″W, and the United States Geological Survey measured its elevation as 3 ft (0.91 m) in 1981.
Green Island is an island in the Napa River, upstream of San Pablo Bay. It is in Napa County, California, and managed as part of the Napa-Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area. Its coordinates are 38°12′09″N122°18′16″W, and the United States Geological Survey measured its elevation as 23 ft (7.0 m) in 1981. It, long with Island No. 1, Island No. 2 and Tubbs Island, are labeled on a 1902 USGS map of the area.
Island No. 1 is a partially submerged island in the Napa River, upstream of San Pablo Bay. It is in Napa and Solano County, California, and parts of it are managed as part of the Napa-Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area. Its coordinates are 38°08′35″N122°20′40″W, and the United States Geological Survey measured its elevation as 3 ft (0.91 m) in 1981. It, along with Island No. 2, Green Island and Tubbs Island, are labeled on a 1902 USGS map of the area.
Island No. 2 is a mostly-submerged island in Solano County, California. Formerly swampland, it was reclaimed into productive farmland, and became the subject of lengthy legal disputes in the early 20th century. Since then, it has become again submerged, and is now part of the Napa-Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area.
Knight Island is a mostly-submerged island in the Napa River, upstream of San Pablo Bay. It is in Solano County, California, and managed as part of the Napa-Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area. Its coordinates are 38°08′09″N122°17′58″W, and the United States Geological Survey measured its elevation as 3 ft (0.91 m) in 1981.
Russ Island is a mostly-submerged island in the Napa River, in Napa and Solano Counties, California. It was reclaimed in the late 19th century, and spent many years as productive farmland; in the 1950s, however, it was purchased by the Leslie Salt Company, and deliberately submerged to serve as an evaporation pond for salt production. The company allowed parts of it to be used for duck hunting. By the 1990s, it was acquired by the California Department of Fish and Game, who turned it into a wildlife preserve, and allowed it to return to marshland; it is now managed as part of the Napa-Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area, and is open to hunting, fishing, birdwatching, photography and hiking activities.
Tubbs Island is an island in San Pablo Bay. It is in Sonoma County, California, and parts of it are managed as part of the Napa-Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area. Its coordinates are 38°08′59″N122°25′27″W, and the United States Geological Survey measured its elevation as 0 ft (0 m) in 1981. It, long with Island No. 1, Island No. 2 and Green Island, are labeled on a 1902 USGS map of the area.
Buchli is an unincorporated community in Napa County, California. It lies at an elevation of 16 feet between Los Carneros AVA and the Napa-Sonoma Marsh. In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, a railway station in the community was used to ship produce grown in Napa and Sonoma counties along the Southern Pacific Railroad to San Francisco. In 1946, Press Wireless, Inc. constructed a radio station in Buchli which received and processed most news reports from East Asia. The station was the first in the Western United States to receive signals from Sputnik 1. Leslie Salt purchased land to the south in the 1950s, which it developed into salt evaporation ponds. Starting in the 1970s, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife purchased much of the land around Buchli to set aside as a wildlife area.
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