Reflections on Our Plaza: Now and Then

This evening some friends chose to bring their musical instruments and play Celtic folk music on the Plaza. People just appeared out of nowhere and gathered 'round. Children and dogs played. A couple of men lay down on their backs relaxing on a warm evening. As I was taking all this in, I found myself trying to picture the Plaza in the olden days. Found this blurb once again from Hannah Clayborn's OurHealdsburg:   

Almost as soon as a town band became well established in the 1880's the Healdsburg Plaza became its unofficial headquarters.  The Plaza was a perfect location for regular seasonal Saturday night band concerts drawing people from far and wide.  The Healdsburg concerts were economical.  They cost next to nothing and admission was free.  They brought trade for local business because shops stayed open until 9 p.m. on those nights.  The concerts also provided much needed entertainment and social opportunities.

Requests for a permanent bandstand, to replace a temporary one constructed annually next to the bell tower, had been made for years.  But in 1895 a concerted movement for civic improvement began in Healdsburg.  This movement, which in other spheres resulted in a municipally-owned water and electric plant, had a drastic effect on the Plaza, and pushed the question of the band concerts to the forefront.

            It all started with agitation by the local newspaper and citizens beginning in April 1895, resulting in the destruction of old "Miss Bell Tower" in 1896.  Barely 15 years old, she was now considered an "eyesore" and was accused of causing false fire alarms with her rickety frame in high winds.

            A new circular bandstand appeared in her place, a gazebo-like structure with a conical roof built upon the old bell tower legs.  Following the elaborate styles of that era, it included open banister work, fancy brackets and cornices, and a "swaying" staircase”.  This whimsical Victorian bandstand soon became a favorite gathering place, especially for young single men and women who would assemble on warm evenings after chores were done.  http://www.ourhealdsburg.com/history/healdsburg_plaza.htm