Wineries &
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Map of Napa Valley
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St. Helena is a picturesque small town with an area of 4 square miles and a population of approximately 6,000. The City of St. Helena was incorporated as a City on March 24, 1876 and reincorporated on May 14, 1889. St. Helena is located about 68 miles northeast of San Francisco on highway 29, also known as the St. Helena highway.
Follow the links in the left side column to view panoramas and pictures of the wineries and landscape around St. Helena. Scroll down for a map of the Napa Valley, wine tours and St. Helena history. Use the blue column links, right side, to visit other areas in the wine country, to tour San Francisco or to book Discount Travel reservations.
A Brief History of St. Helena in the Napa Valley
The Silverado Museum is located at 1490 Library Lane in St. Helena. It's open 12 – 4 every day except Mondays and holidays. The museum houses one of the most distinguished collections of Robert Louis Stevenson memorabilia in the world.
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Robert Louis Stevenson came to the Napa Valley hoping to improve his health and in 1880 spent his honeymoon in what was then a ghost town. His book, Silverado Squatters, tells the story of this stay.
 The Culinary Institute of America—The CIA— was begun in 1946 and is the only residential college in the world devoted entirely to culinary education. Since 1995 the CIA's Napa Valley Campus has occupied the former Christian Brothers Winery — Greystone Cellars “the largest stone winery in the world.” Greystone is on Highway 29, just north of the town of St. Helena.
Greystone's exterior walls are 22-inch thick tufa stone. Built in 1888 it has survived two major earthquakes. Greystone was used by the Christian Brothers to make sparkling wines from 1950 to 1989.
 The Rudd Center for Professional Wine Studies is one of the newest additions to The Culinary Institute of America's Napa Valley campus. Courses for Chef, Restauranters, Hoteliers, Food and Beverage Directors, Caterers and Club Managers or courses for Wineries, Distributors and Importers are provided. Certification as a Wine Professional can be acheived by passing an examination that takes place over two days.
Merryvale, founded in 1983, was the first winery built in the Napa Valley after Prohibition. The picturesque winery, located a quarter mile south of downtown St. Helena and next door to Tra Vigne restaurant, has an impressive Cask Room and intimate Wine Barrel Dining alcove.
Bale Grist Mill State Historic Park is just 3 miles north of St. Helena and Bothe-Napa Valley State Park is located 5 miles north of St. Helena. The Napa County Historical Society was conceived and the inaugurated at the Old Bale Mill in 1948 one hundred and two years after its construction in 1846 by Dr. E. Bale.
Jacob and Frederick Beringer founded the Beringer Brothers Vineyards in 1876, now the oldest, continuously operating winery in the Napa Valley. Frederick built the historic 17-room Rhine House in 1883 as a recreation of the family home in Germany.
The Hudson House — originaly built in 1852 for David Hudson, an employee at the Bale Grist Mill and participant in the Bear Flag Revolt — was moved from the current site of the Rhine House and remodled as a home for Jacob L. Beringer in 1883, and remodeled again in 1989 to become the Beringer vineyards Culinary Arts Center. Read about the historic Beringer Vineyards caves in my illustrated article—Champagne Cellars and Wine Caves Tour.
The first winery founded in the Napa Valley was the Charles Krug Winery in 1861. Charles Krug, a Prussian immigrant, introduced a number of innovations including varietally-labeled wines and the cider press for wine making. The Mondavi family purchased the winery in 1943, after Prohibition, and continue to run it today.
The St. Helena Community Center and Carnegie Library at 1360 Oak Avenue is a beautiful example of the Mission style. Opened in 1908, it was designed by William Corlett of Napa.
The St. Helena Public Library is also known as The George & Elsie Wood Public Library because of the contributions of Dr. George Wood.
St. Clement Vineyards Hospitality Center is in the historic Victorian Rosenbaum House, which was first used as a winery in 1878. The Rosenbaum House was one of the first bonded wineries in the Napa Valley.
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