Description

Solomon Schocken Pioneer Jewish Merchant of Sonoma On Sunday May 25, 2025 starting at 9:30 am, Sonomans will gather in Sonoma Plaza to commemorate one of the city’s most historically significant citizens: Solomon Schocken. Schocken’s ingenuity, initiative, and industriousness elevated the city’s overall economic and civic well-being in numerous ways in the late 1800’s and beginning of the 1900’s. He established a series of businesses including a popular general store in the Sonoma Barracks building. He developed a water distribution system and electricity network for the city. He funded beautification projects around Sonoma Plaza, and established a very successful rock quarry on Battery Hill (now called Schocken Hill), which supplied paving stones used to construct the streets of San Francisco, San Jose, and Stockton. The quarry provided employment for hundreds of recent Italian immigrants including Samuele Sebastiani and Agostino Pinelli and the future cheesemakers Celso Viviani and Tom Vella. The event will take place from 9:30am go to no later than 11 am commencing at the Bear Flag Statue in the NE area of the Plaza and followed by a half-mile guided walking tour highlighting sites, photos, and original documents associated with the life of Solomon Schocken. Tickets available on Eventbrite https://www.eventbrite.com/e/1333619795709