Historic Homes and Buildings Survey

This online document provides a photograph, physical description, and historical significance of each building in the current historic districts in Benicia.

Benicia's Historical Buildings Tour

Perhaps you've seen some QR codes around town on a sign saying: This Place Has History! Each of those codes links to information on our website. Clicking the header above (for Benicia's Historical Buildings Tour) will bring you to a list of all of these landmarks.

Historical Articles

These articles are from people who were here and witnessed the many events and changes that happened in Benicia over the years. Ruth McGraw Workman grew up in Benicia, not far from St. Catherine’s Academy, at the upper end of First Street and has lived here for nearly 80 years. She has vivid memories of the town and maintained contact with numerous people she grew up with as well as many others who knew so much of its history. Reg Page has been a resident for 50 years and written several articles about Benicia’s past and contributed to Richard Dillon’s Great Expectations, the Story of Benicia, California. The articles here were submitted to the Benicia Herald and published beginning in 2023. Clicking the header above (for Historical Articles) will bring you to a Google Drive folder containing all 21 of these articles.

List of Historic Buildings in Downtown Benicia

Want to know if a house in the Downtown Historic District is identified as a historic resource? This webpage on the City of Benicia's website will help guide you. To access a list of houses organized by street, click the header above (List of Historic Buildings in Downtown Benicia) and then select the "Historic Survey (DPR) Forms by Address" link.

Historic Preservation in Benicia

The City of Benicia values its local history and is home to two historic districts: the Downtown Historic District and Arsenal Historic District. The local recognition of Benicia’s place in State and National history began over fifty years ago with the establishment of a downtown historic preservation district in 1969, and is now embodied in various aspects of the City’s government and culture. In addition to the Benicia General Plan, the City has adopted various documents to inform and guide the community in protection of our historic resources: This website includes a link to Is This Building Historic?

Museum of History Benicia

The Mission of the Museum of History Benicia is to engage the community and the greater public in the evolving history of Benicia and its contributions to the development of our state and country. Dedicated to our children and future generations, our work fosters understanding, connectivity, identity, and pride. The Museum complex is at the heart of Benicia’s historic preservation and heritage promotion programs through its exhibits, educational outreach, events and activities, and online archives.

Museum of History Benicia Archives

The Museum has been collecting and cataloguing historical artifacts, documents, photographs, and narratives. Their online collection currently contains approximately 29,000 entries and is growing.

Historic MapWorks Residence Genealogy

Their map and photo collection numbers over 1,662,956 individual images for you to explore. Track your ancestors to their homes; see the roads they traveled on, and the names of the neighbors they talked with. Multiple layers allow you to see an area change through time, and our Geocode feature allows you to compare historical and modern maps.

Old Maps Online

OldMapsOnline.org indexes over 400,000 maps. This is only thanks to the archives and libraries that were open to the idea and provided their online content. OldMapsOnline developed out of a love of history and heritage of old maps. The project began as a collaboration between Klokan Technologies GmbH, Switzerland and The Great Britain Historical GIS Project based at the University of Portsmouth, UK thanks to funding from JISC. Since January 2013, the project is improved and maintained by volunteers and the team of Klokan Technologies GmbH in their free time.

Thomas & West Atlas Map of Benicia - 1874

The David Rumsey Map Collection was started over 25 years ago and contains more than 150,000 maps. The collection focuses on rare 18th and 19th century maps of North and South America, although it also has maps of the World, Asia, Africa, Europe, and Oceania. Digitization of the collection began in 1996 and there are now over 53,000 items online, with new additions added regularly. The site is free and open to the public. Here viewers have access not only to high resolution images of maps that are extensively cataloged, but also to a variety of tools that allow to users to compare, analyze, and view items in new and experimental ways.

David Rumsey Map Collection

This historical map collection has over 57,000 maps and images online. The collection includes rare 16th through 20th century North American and South American maps and other cartographic materials. Historic maps of the World, Europe, Asia, and Africa are also represented.

Solano History Database Of Benicia

This website is an online, interactive database containing historical articles, photos, books, and other content relating to the history of Solano County, CA. The Vacaville Heritage Council updates this site on a regular basis.

Granizo in Benicia

In late 1980, Granizo moved to Benicia, California, where he spent the last two decades of his life. The City of Benicia (formerly the state capital of California) became the center of "Bill's" art world and Benicia has honored him in many ways by recognizing his art as a part of its city. More on his tiles are on this website.