NEW ARTICLE OUT!

A Brief History of Calistoga's Petrified Forest

When I drove up just last week and met Janet Angell, one of the current operators of the park, the heat of the sun was already weighing down the morning light and making the oaks and bays appear dusty from the dry air. Janet appeared to always be staring off into the distance. I couldn’t tell if it was fatigue from the sun, running the Petrified Forest Park, or just a normal dazed expression printed on her face. It was probably all of it. 

Janet, a lawyer by trade, helps to run the park with her sister Barbara. Barbara couldn’t talk when I arrived seeing as she had to drive back to Piedmont where she lives, maybe avoiding the heat as well. I also met their other sister, Max. She was out most of the day I was there, tending to the land, watering plants and cleaning the forest of debris. She said that she came out here to take care of the land. The business wasn’t something she was interested in partaking in, but rather, caring for the land itself. The land, it seemed in a bit more explicit way than Janet or Barbara, was why she was here. 

These are the last women in a line of owners of this land. 

Out of necessity, the Petrified Forest in Calistoga has been run by women since its last purchase in 1914 by Ollie Bockee. And now, after just over a century, the 500 acre property is being sold. The family is selling the property due to a mix of family matters, wanting to retire, and perhaps a younger generation not being able to take charge just yet.

Read more about their family history in my newest article out with the North Bay Bohemian!

https://bohemian.com/petrified-forest-for-sale-in-calistoga/