Sonoma County Points of Interest
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4 June 2004
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Shadow of a Doubt © Universal Studios
4th Street in Railroad Square
Santa Rosa
Built 1903
The original Northwestern Pacific Railroad Depot was built in 1903 and was a depot for rail passengers until 1958.
The building was a location in Alfred Hitchcock's 1943 film, Shadow of a Doubt.
The depot contributes to Railroad Square Historic District which was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1979.
Italian stonemasons immigrated to Sonoma and Napa counties at the beginning of the 20th century to escape political unrest. Peter Maroni, Natale Forni, Massimo Galeazzi, Angelo Sodini, and others had acquired the skill of cutting hard stone in the quarries of Northern Italy. Stone was quarried in Santa Rosa and Kenwood, dropped from bunkers into horse-driven wagons, and conveyed to building sites where stone was finish cut and set in place. (Source: NRHP nomination form for Railroad Square Historic District in Santa Rosa.)
Many of their structures survived earthquakes, floods and urban renewal and are here today:
Dal Poggetto Buildings in Sonoma
Hotel La Rose in Santa Rosa
Jack London's Ranch in Glen Ellen
Pinelli Buildings in Sonoma
Santa Rosa Depot
Sonoma City Hall