Buchli, California

Buchli
unincorporated community
Buchli is located in California
Buchli
Buchli
Location in California
Buchli is located in the United States
Buchli
Buchli
Buchli (the United States)
Coordinates: 38°12′54″N 122°19′58″W / 38.21500°N 122.33278°W / 38.21500; -122.33278
Country United States
State California
CountyNapa County
Elevation
[1]
16 ft (5 m)

Buchli is an unincorporated community in Napa County, California.[1] It lies at an elevation of 16 feet (5 m) between Los Carneros AVA and the Napa-Sonoma Marsh, along the Brazos subdivision of the railway owned by Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit.[2]

History

In 1897, J. M. Buchli sold a strip of land to the Northern Railway Company, which constructed a station there along the line between Napa Junction and Schellville.[3] For the late 19th and early 20th centuries, the station was used to ship dairy, hay, and produce grown in Napa and Sonoma counties along the Southern Pacific Railroad to San Francisco.[4] Beginning in 1905, a second line opened between Napa and Buchli, carrying passengers round trip daily to San Francisco via the ferry at Tiburon. Although this service had ended on August 20, 1911, the line was used for freight until the tracks were torn up in December, 1939.[3]

In 1946, Press Wireless, Inc. constructed a radio station in Buchli which received and processed most news reports from East Asia. The station was the first in the Western United States to receive signals from Sputnik 1. After a corporate merger in 1966, the receiving equipment was relocated to Belmont.[5] Leslie Salt purchased land to the south in the 1950s, which it developed into salt evaporation ponds.[6] Starting in the 1970s, the California Department of Fish and Wildlife purchased much of the land around Buchli to set aside as a wildlife area.[6]

As of 2019, the right of way on the rail line passing through Buchli is owned by Sonoma–Marin Area Rail Transit. The line still carries freight, and proposals have been made for an expansion of the SMART passenger service eastward along the line.[2] Designs for reopening a station at Buchli as part of a wider infrastructure project in the Napa-Sonoma Marsh has also been proposed.[7]

Wildlife

The Huichica Creek unit of the Napa-Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area, run by the California Department of Fish and Wildlife, is adjacent to Buchli.[8] Hundreds of species of bird can be found in the various habitats,[9] including the western meadowlark and burrowing owl in the grassland, the killdeer, clapper rail, and double-crested cormorant in the tidal flats and brackish ponds, and waterfowl such the bufflehead resting in deeper ponds depending on seasonal salinity.[10]

References

  1. ^ a b "GNIS Detail - Buchli". geonames.usgs.gov. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  2. ^ a b Eberling, Barry (May 17, 2019). "Connecting Napa to Sonoma and Solano counties by passenger train could cost $1 billion". Napa Valley Register. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  3. ^ a b Pond, Fred (April 1972). "Carneros Road Names". Gleanings—Napa County Historical Society. 1 (2).
  4. ^ Saekel, Karola (March 18, 2004). "Hospitality train runs through Buchli Station". SFGATE. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  5. ^ Eberling, Barry. "This abandoned south Napa ruin once tracked Sputniks during Cold War". Napa Valley Register. Retrieved August 8, 2021.
  6. ^ a b Napa-Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area History by Unit, California Department of Fish and Wildlife
  7. ^ Eberling, Barry (July 21, 2018). "Grand vision sees improved Highway 37 winding through "Ecological Central Park"". Napa Valley Register. Retrieved September 28, 2024.
  8. ^ Napa Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area, California Department of Fish and Wildlife
  9. ^ Huffman, Tom (January 1999). "The Napa-Sonoma Marshes: Then and now". Outdoor California. California Department of Fish and Wildlife.
  10. ^ Napa-Sonoma Marshes Wildlife Area Wildlife by Unit, California Department of Fish and Wildlife