Wine, yes, but Napa has a lot more history for visitors to explore

Napa “born, raised and educated,” Sheli O. Smith went on to become an anthropologist specializing in maritime archaeology. She has been involved with the Napa County Historical Society since 2019 and in 2021 became its executive director.

The organization is housed in the Goodman Library, built in 1901 by the Goodman Brothers and gifted to the community. Offering tours and information, the group is also a research center, fielding 500 inquires each month and welcoming 24,000 visitors a year.

The Journal asked Smith about the idea that “heritage,” or historical information about an area, is a niche of the tourism industry, and about the efforts she and other organizations are making to craft more opportunities for visitors to explore history in the Napa Valley.

The society has been doing tours of historic homes for some time, but how do you see those tours fitting in with any Heritage Tourism campaign?

We actually promote the Landmarks Commission and other group tours of historic homes and architecture.

For example, the Opera House on Main Street represents Italianate-style architecture but beyond the facade, it represents the drive in early historic Napa to provide culture and entertainment for the burgeoning resort/hospitality industry.

Also, tell us about two projects related to the idea you have going on now, that is the poster to promote and how Napa Makes — a city effort to highlight community or groups which manufacture items in the city — will link up with any effort to promote Heritage Tourism.

We are working on an art poster that delineates where historic (pre-1919) wineries still exist. It will be both informative and framable.

We are supporting the City of Napa Makes corridor by helping create the context of why the historic warehouses exist, and what was their purpose. The buildings were erected soon after the 1911 railroad began running. They represent Napa’s response to Prohibition when vineyards were supplanted by prune and nut orchards.

Conveniently located alongside the tracks, this was Napa’s fruit and nut distribution hub. In turn, the historic information can be tied to the continuous drive of entrepreneurs in the Valley. The Makers of the corridor are in the process of making heritage.

So people no doubt have a concept about what "tourism" is, but in a basic sense, how does "Heritage Tourism" change what we think of as tourism?

I think of tourism as a family with numerous siblings, all bearing a resemblance to one another but each having its own unique qualities or aspects.

Heritage Tourism ties into the foundational fabric of a community, bringing forward what is seen and unseen in the rich tapestry of history. It provides context.

Wineries did not spring full-blown out of the head of Zeus, the industry depended on visionaries and environment, tenacity and grit — women and men willing and able to play the long game.

Heritage Tourism helps visitors understand that. Heritage Tourism also helps everyone understand that Napa was not created as a monolithic culture. In prehistoric times, the Napa inhabitants developed complex networks of trade in obsidian and basketry. Napa was already well known before the Mexican settlement in the 1830s.

Mexicans, Chinese, Europeans, and U..S citizens all played decisive roles in the development of historic Napa. Heritage Tourism helps visitors find personal connections.

Do you think there is a certain demographic group which is looking for something like Heritage Tourism? Which groups and why?

Exit questions and a study of our demographics reveal that 90% of summer visitors are from outside the 60-mile circle and they are particularly interested in our timeline, as well as exhibits that present Napa’s heritage out to the world.

Over the summer we featured News, The Story of Our Lives. We used 161 years of Napa newspapers to tell the stories of historic Napa Valley couched in world news headlines. We were able to present insights into everyday life, politics, leisure and business from 1854 to today. This exhibit was very popular with visitors from outside Napa.

In the winter our demographics shift to a 60/40 split and the resident visitors (40%) are interested in seeing their particular story celebrated.

Currently, we have Hilos Visibles/Visible Threads showing at the Goodman. The exhibit celebrates Hispanic/Latinx heritage in the Valley as told visually through iconography captured in quilt squares. We are seeing an uptick in resident visitation.

This information helps us plan our exhibits with different focuses but with the same consistent goal of growing an understanding of the role of heritage in the communities of the Valley. In turn, this understanding amplifies visitor appreciation of other tourism aspects.

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