Above: Another image of the "Hole in the Head" during construction, circa 1963. Credit to Thomas Wellock.
Below: An aerial view of Bodega Head, in relation to the San Andreas Fault. Credit to Thomas Wellock.
Embedded Files
Above: The Album Blues Over Bodega, by the Lu Watters Jazz Band. Watters came out of retirement to record this album, which featured protest songs written in response to the events at Bodega Head.
Right: The album recording of "Blues Over Bodega"
In 1958 Pacific Gas and Electric proposed to build a nuclear power plant at Bodega Head, on the Sonoma County coast. PG&E’s proposal led to a dispute with local residents that lasted six years, until PG&E abandoned its Bodega Head plans; the controversy continued to influence the national discussion on nuclear power for many decades after.
In February 1979, Gaye LeBaron, a local historian writing in the Press Democrat, published a column on the changes made to the Sonoma County coast through the years. The next day, local activist Jay Newbern drafted a response to LeBaron’s column, believing his response would tie in “perfectly” with her column. Never published, Newbern’s response is made public here for the first time.
Newbern was an anti-nuclear activist who participated in the opposition at the Bodega Head in the early 60s, and he insisted that the battles were not over. Though local activists defeated PG&E at Bodega Head, the oil industry now threatened Sonoma's sacred coast. Newbern wrote about the protests he witnessed at the Bodega Head and the events that lead to the “Battles” of Bodega Bay. Newbern believed that there was still much to do to protect the Sonoma coast, and hoped the example of past activism would inspire future efforts to protect the Sonoma coast against oil companies and nuclear energy.
Below: The liner notes of Blues Over Bodega, written by noted Bodega protester David Pesonen.
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