Elizabeth D’Huart, Executive Director, Benicia Historical Museum at the Arsenal, with Tom Wilmer. Photo Credit: Jack Wolf
Benicia is situated 35 miles northeast of San Francisco. One of California’s oldest towns, it was established a year before the 1848 Gold Rush, and it has remained a vibrant part of California’s history ever since. The U.S. Army established a West Coast Arsenal here just a year after California Statehood in 1850. This is where Jack London hung out as a young man not long after a teenage stint as an oyster pirate on San Francisco Bay. Today, many of the buildings in town date to the 19th century, like the 3rd State Capital building, and even the same bar frequented by Jack London. The town is so safe and friendly, with an array of galleries and ma and pa businesses, that some have dubbed it a modern day Mayberry RFD.
TO LISTEN TO THE SHOW CLICK HERE Located just 30 from Napa Valley, Benicia is a recommended, hidden gem Northern California getaway destination. Join Correspondent, Tom Wilmer in Benicia for a visit with Peggy James, the innkeeper at the Shorelight Inn, the town’s only waterfront B&B. We’ll then stop in for a visit with Bonnie Silveria, the president of the Benicia Historical Society. And then we’ll head up to the Camel Barns at the old Military Arsenal for a visit with Elizabeth D’Huart, the Executive Director of the Benicia Historical Museum—a vibrant repository of the town’s history, from the pre-historic times to modern day.The camel barns got their name when the US Army cancelled their Camel Corps project at the advent of the Civil War and auctioned off the remaining dromedaries at the barns—the buildings were actually built as general stores warehouses in the early 1850s and not for Camels, but the Camel Barn name stuck, forever. Funding for the Lowell Thomas Award winning travel show, Journeys of Discovery with Tom Wilmer is provided by Hawaiian Reforestation Initiative. Subscribe to this podcast on iTunes or:
