Lakeville, California facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Lakeville, California
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Lakeville Marina
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 Lakeville, California
Location in California
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| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | Sonoma |
| Elevation | 10 ft (3 m) |
| Population | |
| • Total | 67 persons (in 1910) |
| Time zone | UTC−8 (Pacific Time Zone) |
| • Summer (DST) | UTC−7 (PDT) |
| ZIP code |
94954
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| Area code(s) | 707 |
| FIPS code | 06-39878 |
| GNIS feature ID | 1658935 |
Lakeville is a small, quiet community in Sonoma County, California, United States. It is an "unincorporated community." This means it is a place where people live, but it does not have its own city government. Instead, it is managed by the larger county government.
Lakeville is located near the Petaluma River. It is about 4 miles (6.4 km) southeast of the city of Petaluma.
Contents
Discover Lakeville, California
Where is Lakeville?
The main road through Lakeville is Lakeville Road. This road runs north and south. It connects State Route 116 to State Route 37.
The back entrance of Sonoma Raceway is on Lakeville Road. On race days, this can cause a lot of traffic.
What's in the Name?
Lakeville gets its name from Tolay Lake. This lake is about 2 miles (3.2 km) east of the community.
Local Services
Lakeville has its own fire department. It has one fire station, which was started in 1973. You can find it east of where Lakeville Highway and Stage Gulch Road meet.
A Look at Lakeville's Past
Early Days and Land Grants
The area where Lakeville is today was once part of a large land grant. This grant was called Rancho Petaluma. In 1834, Governor José Figueroa of Alta California gave this land to Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo.
Draining Tolay Lake
In 1859, a person named William Bihler bought about 8,000 acres (32 km²) in the Lakeville area. That same year, Bihler used dynamite to break a natural dam at Tolay Lake. He did this to drain the lake. His goal was to create more land for farming crops like potatoes and corn.
A Hub for Travel
Lakeville was settled by C. H. Bodwell. It became an important stop for steamships. These ships connected San Francisco with Sonoma County. In the 1870s, Lakeville was also a stop on the San Francisco and North Pacific Railroad.
Life in the Early 1900s
In 1879, a travel guide described Lakeville as "not a very pretentious place." This means it was seen as a simple, modest community.
During the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, Lakeville felt the shaking. Reports from that time said that chimneys fell over. Plaster on walls cracked badly, and dishes broke. Chimneys and other objects were thrown towards the southeast.
Based on the 1910 United States census, Lakeville had a population of 67 people. A book from 1911 called History of Sonoma County mentioned this number. It noted that some places were just small hamlets or post office stations.
