
To sign up please visit World Wide Photo Walk - Historic Santa Rosa.
We will gather in front of the Pacific Market at 9:00am to introduce ourselves and take a quick group photo before we get on our way.
After the photo it is all up to you to either follow some of my suggestion or take it as you go, it is totally up to you, Remember you are here to have fun.
This year I thought that we could take a leisure walk through one of the oldest parts of Santa Rosa. This area of Santa Rosa is rich with history and beautiful homes.
As you walk through the historic streets be sure to look up down and all around as photographic treasure are everywhere.
There is really is no set path for this walk it is up to you. When I scouted the area I found most of my favorite photographic opportunities to be along the outlined route, but please feel free to explore other streets.
I do ask that you respect the privacy of the residents and not photograph into their homes. Also please do not trespass onto their yards unless they give you permission.
The McDonald Ave. area is not only a historic district but it’s also one of most prestige and charming neighborhoods in Santa Rosa. Four movies were filmed on this street, including Scream, Pollyanna and Alfred Hitchcock’s Shadow of a Doubt, as well as its remake.

Along with being one of Santa Rosa’s most prestigious addresses, the McDonald neighborhood is also one of the city’s most charming areas.
Part of the prestige and charm can be attributed to all those stately homes situated along the exceptionally wide street. But, much of the charm comes from all the old, tall trees lining the street and sidewalks.

Currently under renovation the McDonald Mansion (a.k.a. Mableton Mansion) is Santa Rosa’s most prominent historic home. The 14,000-square-foot house was built in the late 1870s by Col. Mark Lindsay McDonald, owner of Santa Rosa’s water company, builder of the Santa Rosa Street Railway and one of the town’s most eminent early citizens. He had it built in a style to evoke the plantations along the Mississippi. The National Register of Historic Places, in which the mansion is recorded, lists the style as Stick-Eastlake, a type of Victorian architecture.
Back in McDonald’s day, many notable visitors came to the house, including Mark Twain, and railroad magnates Leland Stanford and Charles Crocker. In 1960, the mansion was used as the home in Walt Disney’s Pollyanna, a classic film about a perpetually optimistic young girl.
Towards the end of the walk if you continue east all the way down McDonald Ave., you’ll end up at the historic Rural Cemetery. Many of Santa Rosa’s best known residents have been buried here. Unlike most cemeteries, this one is used regularly by people just strolling around or jogging, walking their dogs, or even sitting down for a peaceful rest in a park-like setting.
Around 11:30am those that want to sit down and enjoy a lunch and share photos and talk about the walk. We are gathering at Carmen’s Burger Bar located at 1612 Terrace Way

Parking
There is parking all along Elizabeth way and also along Terrace way. There is parking in front of Town and Country shops but it is only thirty minutes and is for customers only.

Here it is in a nutshell.
- From Pacific Market we will head down Elizabeth way and cross Pacific Ave and then turn left.
- Right on Austin way.
- Right on St. Helena Ave.
- Left on Park St.
- Left on Spring St.
- Right on Thirteenth St.
- Right on McDonald Ave.
- Right on Terrace or continue to straight to Santa Rosa’s Rural Cemetery (which is awesome by the way).
- Meet at Carmen’s Burger Bar.

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