Petaluma Boulevard North Spent 2026 Bringing Its Old Buildings Back

When did the neon chick at 620 Petaluma Blvd. North last say "Baby Chicks"? For decades, the honest answer was that nobody quite remembered. Someone had painted the word "Restaurant" over the original lettering, and the sign stayed dark.

On the evening of June 14, around 8:30, about 150 people watched it light up again. The yellow outline, white feet and blue eye were back, along with "Baby Chicks" and "The Hatchery" in neon.

That sunset ceremony set the tone for the rest of the north Boulevard's year. Every business that has opened along this stretch since then moved into an older building and kept what made it recognizable.

The Sign That Went Back to Its Original Words

The sign's history is the Boulevard's history in small. Poehlmann Hatchery opened in 1927, and the neon chick was up by 1935, a marker of the poultry trade that once defined Petaluma. At its peak, the hatchery turned out more than a million chicks a year. Operations wound down in the mid-1970s.

The sign came down on April 16 and went back up on June 11. It took a crew to bring it back. FastSigns of American Canyon/Vallejo led the restoration, with Mark Barber, Erik Hernandez and Mike Knief on the work. Paul Barber did the painting, Randall Ann Homan made the patterns, and Blue Flame Neon bent the replacement tubing. Community fundraising and donations covered the cost, which came to more than $22,000. Local historian Katherine Rinehart, who helped organize the effort, posted a project update titled simply "We did it!".

What matters for the rest of the street is the choice the restorers made. They could have kept the "Restaurant" wording. They went back to the original.

Two Businesses That Kept the Bones

A few blocks south of the chick, at 216 Petaluma Blvd. North, Erin Blanton Eames and her husband Ryan Eames spent about a year fitting out Blanton's Boot and Hat in a building that once held a hardware store and, later, Silver J, an earlier western-wear shop. The high ceilings and exposed brick stayed. The new pieces they added came with their own histories. A large set of doors at the back came from the Naval Academy in Annapolis, the checkout cabinetry came from a dilapidated bridge in St. Helena, and the tumbleweeds came from her mother's house in southwest Colorado.

Inside, prices run from $150 to $1,500. A resident hat-maker fits stock hats and adds feathers or hatbands, and dogs can get cowboy hats too. The shop's website lists it as open. In June, the owners said they hoped to time the lighting of their oversized neon boot sign, made by an artist in Austin, with the chick sign's return. That plan also involved Katherine Rinehart.

Farther north, at 821 Petaluma Blvd. North, Jeremy Engman has taken over the Westerterp Brothers Garage. The building dates to 1947 and is easy to spot by its high arched windows and terra cotta tile roof. Over the years it housed automotive and flooring supply businesses. Now it is Wild Pottery, a studio with wheels, a kiln, timbered ceilings and wrought iron fixtures.

"I saw this storefront empty for so long. It took me a while to find the space I really wanted." Jeremy Engman, to the Petaluma Argus-Courier

Engman's earlier studio at Fiber Circle Studio on Kentucky Street focused on painting and glazing pre-made pieces. On the Boulevard, people learn to build ceramics by pinching or on the wheel. He offers classes, a membership plan with off-hours studio time, and private parties. The studio is in soft opening now, with an official grand opening expected sometime in early November.

The North Boulevard, Address by Address

Taken together, the changes fill a stretch of less than a mile. Heading north, it looks like this:

1. 125 Petaluma Blvd. North. Sapo Coffee, owned by Stephanie Martinez, was waiting on permits in April and hoped to open between summer and fall. As of early October, its website still lists hours as "Coming Soon!"
2. 216 Petaluma Blvd. North. Blanton's Boot and Hat, in the former hardware store and Silver J building.
3. 620 Petaluma Blvd. North. The restored Poehlmann Hatchery sign. During the June ceremony, event parking was reached from Lakeville Street.
4. 821 Petaluma Blvd. North. Wild Pottery, in the 1947 Westerterp Brothers Garage.

Just off this route, near the river, is the biggest change of the summer.

A Backyard Where The Block Used to Be

For years, The Block Petaluma ran at 20 Grey St. Owner Cody Hildreth described his exit as "passing the torch," and The Block held its farewell party on May 9. Old Caz Backyard officially opened in the same spot on Aug. 8. That morning, 300 cyclists and 50 walkers made a 7.3-mile procession from the brewery's Rohnert Park taproom, carrying the handmade tap handle that poured Old Caz's first beer. It was installed in Petaluma in front of a crowd of 500.

For the founders, the location is personal. Tom Edwards and Bryan Rengel met on the Sonoma State rowing team and used to row on the Petaluma River near the new taproom. "Bryan and I met 100 feet from here when we were 19 years old," Edwards told the Argus-Courier.

The setup is built for families. There is a kids' play area with a miniature Old Caz trailer, a fire pit, 30 taps, local wine and cider, and rotating food trucks. The in-house kitchen, Caz Eats, is run by chef Elijah Trujillo and Kayla Hendrix and serves pizza, salads and vegetables. Hours are 3 to 9 p.m. Monday through Thursday, 3 to 10 p.m. Friday, 11 a.m. to 10 p.m. Saturday, and 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Sunday.

Downtown Did the Same Thing

South of Washington Street, the same pattern played out in three more buildings.

Mateo Zarco moved Uptown Vintage from an out-of-the-way industrial corridor into the former Bank of America building at 200 Kentucky St., across from Hotel Petaluma. The new space has triple the square footage, a lounge corner with couches and arcade games, and a new mural by Petaluma muralist Ricky Watts. Zarco is 20. Hours are noon to 7 p.m. Wednesday through Friday and 11 a.m. to 6 p.m. on weekends.

Mike and Lorraine Barber brought Barber Cellars, the Petaluma Cheese Shop, Barber Lee Spirits and Nightcap Dessert Bar together as Taste Petaluma. It opened in early July inside the Barber Lee distillery, a former brick warehouse at 120 Washington St. "The ability to have one space that melds everything we create just made sense," Mike Barber told the Petaluma News. It stays open until 10 p.m. Wednesday and Thursday, 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and 9 p.m. Sunday.

At the west end of 111 Kentucky St., Alchemia Gallery closed for months after a fire in Telephone Alley last December scorched part of the building's historic exterior and left smoke damage inside. Rebuilding Together Petaluma helped clean up and remodel the space, and the gallery began a gradual reopening in June. Alchemia supports artists with intellectual and developmental disabilities, and every work in the gallery is made by those artists.

The one ground-up project that was moving forward this year, EKN Development's four-story hotel at B Street and Petaluma Boulevard South, ended differently. The developer told the city it would not build. The approved plan remains available to another developer.

Where to Be This Fall

Several of these rooms have dates on the calendar before the year ends.

Alchemia is also building a community altar for Día de los Muertos for its front window. It invites neighbors to bring a small framed photograph or offering to the Oct. 16 event.

If you own one of Petaluma's older homes and want to know how its original details, like brick, arched windows or old-growth timber, play into what it is worth today, Ashley McSweeney is happy to walk through it with you. Request a free home valuation and consultation, and we'll start with the house's own history.