To Serve as a Commercial Hay and Grain Warehouse
G. P. McNEAR WAREHOUSE
FOUNDATION WALL
"THIS IS A FOUNDATION WALL FROM A BUILDING THAT WAS
BUILT BY THE G.P McNEAR COMPANY TO SERVE AS A
COMMERCIAL HAY AND GRAIN WAREHOUSE. IN THE EARLY 1900'S
HAY AND GRAIN FOR ANIMAL FEED BECAME ONE OF PETALUMA'S
MAJOR INDUSTRIES. THE McNEARS AND OTHER MERCHANTS
SOLD GRAIN FROM THEIR MAIN STREET STOREFRONTS AND
BUILT WAREHOUSES ALONG THE RIVER TO STORE HAY, FEED,
APPLES, EGGS AND POTATOES. TEN-THOUSAND CARLOADS A YEAR
WERE BROUGHT IN BY THE PETALUMA TROLLEY (P & SR) FOR
SHIPMENT BY STEAMER TO SUPPLY THE 49ERS IN SAN FRANCISCO.
BUILT IN 1902, THE MAIN PLANT, KNOWN AS THE GREAT
PETALUMA MILL IS STILL LOCATED ON THE NORTHEAST CORNER OF
PETALUMA BLVD. AND B STREET. JOHN McNEAR, FOUNDER OF
THE BUISNESS, AND GEORGE PLUMMER McNEAR, HIS SON AND
SUCCESSOR, WERE INSTRUMENTAL IN SHAPING THE COMMERCIAL
AND CIVIC DEVELOPMENT OF PETALUMA.