Since the young days of Napa Valley wine country, St. Helena has been the bustling hub of Upper Valley. The many wineries of our historical lore began planting vineyards and building beautiful stone wineries around the 1880s. The phenomenon of picture postcards celebrating the wonders of the Valley didn’t come along until the turn of the century in the very early 1900s. In Calistoga, ten miles north of St. Helena, master photographer I. C. Adams (1874–1960) had arrived in Calistoga as a young boy in 1882. A well-loved figure in Calistoga history, he was not only a successful photographer (1903–1950), but “a celebrated musician, historian, philosopher, poet, and more.” His real-photo postcards of the Geysers, Mt. St. Helena, surrounding vineyards and local wineries are wine country treasures. And in St. Helena, there was Joe Galewsky, photographer, publisher and purveyor of local postcards.
Joe Galewsky. Stationer & News Dealer. Headquarters For Postcards. St. Helena, 1906
Descended from pioneer St. Helena retailers who established their Main Street general store in 1858, the handsome, fashionable, lifelong bachelor, Joe Galewsky (1869–1959), operated the downtown Galewsky store for sixty years. Considered a prankster as a young man, as an adult, Galewsky entered the political arena and was twice appointed St. Helena Postmaster, in 1915 and again in 1936 by Franklin Roosevelt for a six-year term; he dutifully ran the post office from his popular stationery store. Joe Galewsky was a civic-minded charter member and president of several service clubs, and placed frequent ads in the SHStar alerting the townspeople to fascinating new merchandise in the store. From the earliest Vintage Festival celebrations that began in 1912, he was a much-appreciated committee chairman or member. Although he advertised “Get Your Vintage Festival Picture Post Cards” at his store, I have not seen any Festival cards published by him. As a novel historic Galewski aside, in 1909, Joe Galewsky and partner Julius Goodman opened the G & G Theater, the first in St. Helena (and third in the State!). Later renamed Cameo Cinema, today the iconic St. Helena downtown building proudly holds the distinction of being California’s oldest continuously operating single-screen movie theater.
St. Helena Main Street, Looking North From Spring Street, c1908
This set of three outstanding hand-colored postcards of St. Helena scenes are truly some of the most beautiful cards imaginable. Certainly, although not marked, the photos were taken by Turrill & Miller,* none better in wine country, and very early. Printed on the back of each postcard is a long descriptive caption, very unusual for the early postcards. “St. Helena has a population of 2000 and is situated 60 miles north of San Francisco. The climatic conditions of St. Helena make it an ideal place to live. Fruits of all kinds in abundance. This card published by Joe Galewsky, St. Helena’s Leading Stationer. Printed in Germany.” *See March 2024 SLO Newsletter article.
St. Helena Main Street Looking South From Pine Street, c1908
Galewsky’s promotional back caption reads: “St. Helena, the Garden Spot on Earth. The Town of ‘No Worries’ and many pleasures, Fruits and Flowers. A Paradise of the Sportsman: Hunting and Fishing and the Champion Amateur Base Ball team in California.” These two views of Main Street show the two-block downtown, built in the late 1880s and very much recognizable today. The first house past town on the right, white picket fence along the front, is the Galewsky family home – a short stroll to the store – and a longtime St. Helena landmark with its giant, magnificent magnolia tree [both now gone].
U.S. Special Bonded Warehouse Nr.3, St. Helena, c1908
This third card of our extremely rare and historically invaluable Galewsky series is known to be a Turrill & Miller photograph taken during their Napa wine country journey in 1906–1907 shooting promotion photos for the county. Galewsky writes on the back: “Wine making is one of the chief industries of St Helena. Brandy is also made in large quantities. This picture shows the Government Store House for Unstamped packages of brandy.” As early as 1878, a group of St. Helena pioneer winemen, Krug, Thomann, Beringer, Weinberger et al formed the S. H. Warehouse Assn. to provide U.S. government bonded storage for grape brandy. The large, handsome stone warehouse was one of the earliest built on Church Street adjacent to the railroad tracks, just south of Hunt. As the distilling industry grew, the original 35′ x 60′ was enlarged twice to 105′ x 135 feet. At one time, Joe Galewsky’s brother Emanual was in charge of the warehouse, after earlier watching over the huge Vina brandy warehouse in Tehama County. The solid structure has had many lives since its bonded warehouse days, fittingly including a wine storage company.
St. Helena Railway Depot – Built 1895. c1908
Railway history in the Valley dates back to 1864 when Sam Brannan constructed the line to bring visitors to his new spa-resort he named Calistoga. Throughout the 1880s and into the 20th century, the railroad played a vital role in the growth of the wine industry and provided regular passenger service to its communities. In 1895 this new depot was built on the north end of town. Amazingly, the depot still sees passenger activity today as it serves as the northern terminus of the excursion Napa Valley Wine Train, “one of the world’s most elegant trains.” The superb photograph capturing the relatively new St. Helena depot is certainly Turrill & Miller and used by Joe Galewsky to produce such a beautiful, hand-colored postcard. It is becoming quite obvious to me that Chas. Turrill and Joe Galewsky became well-acquainted during the photographer’s stay in St. Helena in 1906-07.
“Lonely” Near St. Helena, 1905
This is such an incredible postcard! An outstanding view of “Lonely,” a personal message written by the publisher Joe Galewsky, and an ever so early 1905 postmark. The story: In the early 1870s, Dr. Charles Hitchcock bought 1000 acres four miles north of St. Helena, now included in Bothe-Napa Valley Park. In a wooded canyon, shaded by tall trees and close to Ritchie Creek, he built his country home. His wife named it “Lonely.” A few years later, Dr. Hitchcock built a house for his daughter Lillie, three miles from “Lonely” on the east side of the valley. Lillie named her 400-acre ranch and country home Larkmead. She planted some 130 acres in grapevines and built a small wooden winery. In 1892, Felix Salmina leased the property, then bought it in 1903 from Lillie Hitchcock Coit, who returned to life in the City. In 1905–06, Salmina constructed a sizeable stone wine cellar. The property essentially remained in the Salmina family until 1953, when Hanns Kornell made it home to his Champagne Cellars; it is now in the hands of the Frank Family. A wonderful postcard story. Galewsky’s message is charming: “At present, I have no Mission cards but will send shortly. I’ve lost my geography, what county are you in. Joe Galewsky, St. Helena.”
Ewer — Vance Residence, St. Helena, 1909
Shortly after arriving in St. Helena in 1870, Seneca Ewer built this grand residence for his family on a 13-acre parcel at the end of Main Street north of town. He planted a vineyard in Rutherford, four miles south, and in 1885 built a large McIntyre-designed stone winery (which became Beaulieu Winery in 1915). The Ewer family occupied the magnificent home for some thirty activity-filled years.* When Joe Galewsky published his stunning postcard of the prominent town residence c1908, Mr. Ewer was gone and his heirs had sold the property in 1906 to Mrs. Marie Hyatt Vance, who owned it until 1910. (By this time the Beringer Bros. Winery and Rhine House were firmly established on the north side.) Comparing this image to other postcards of the “Beautiful Residence,” it is very likely Galewsky used another Turrill & Miller photograph for his historic postcard. Amazingly, the old building still sits majestically on the hill as an integral feature of an upscale resort. *See SLO Newsletter May 2024 for more of the story.
Beringer Bros – Distillery, St. Helena, c1908
This very rare postcard of the Distillery at Beringer is another Joe Galewsky gem hand-colored in Germany – a great view of the small, sturdy stone structure with its turreted corner tower accents. The sign over the arched doorway identifies “Registered Distillery No.234.” Sadly, the building has been lost over time, so this postcard is doubly appreciated. Most early postcards of the Beringer wine estate feature images of Villa Beringer, familiarly known as the Rhine House, built in 1884 in a style reminiscent of the family home at Mainz-on-the-Rhine. Interestingly, there are less than a handful of Pre-Prohibition postcards showing a winery activity – prized antique carved barrels or the hand-hewn tunnels, but none of the winery.
Greystone Winery, St. Helena, Postmark 1908
When constructed in 1889 of locally quarried stone, giant Greystone was immediately hailed as the largest wine cellar in the world, and most postcard sellers in Napa Valley carried a good supply for locals and visitors. Joe Galewsky himself issued at least six views of Greystone. As a certification of its popularity, the count in my collection is thirty-five different Pre-Prohibition postcard views. Most of these have become quite rare and treasured. Throughout its revered lifetime – Greystone, and then Christian Bros. in 1950 until 1993 when the Culinary Institute of America moved in – the great building has provided the perfect Napa Valley wine destination, with a feast of beautiful postcards to document and preserve it. (See SLO Newsletter Jan 2024, “Multiple Lives of Greystone Cellars.”)
Greystone Winery, St. Helena, c1906
Joe Galewsky published a stunning winner with this very early, undivided-back postcard (prior to 1907) that is the only one ever seen that shows this awesome winery scene of the endless row of mammoth casks in the cellar. The card’s sender, obviously having been surrounded by these giant casks in the wine cellar, wrote “This gives you some idea of the size of these wine cellars.” Absolutely.
Greystone Arch, St. Helena, 1906
The arched entryway at Greystone, a dramatic finishing touch to the massive facility, has been a favored postcard subject since it was constructed. Driving through the arch, the great winery is to the right, as we can see in the Greystone card above. Over the years, it has been interesting to collect arch postcards from different years and watch the changes: from no grape vines to vines covering the entire rock structure. Joe Galewsky was keenly aware of the attractions of the St. Helena area for postcard senders – churches, schools, estates, town views, old Bale Mill, Mount St. Helena, and especially the wineries and vineyards – and made sure he carried them in his general stock as St. Helena’s “Headquarters for Postcards.” If you are wondering, the 135-year old stone arch still stands proudly and the target of some finely crafted modern day photos.
Mount St. Helena, Napa Co. Calif, 1908
Called by the poetic-minded “The Sentinel of Napa Valley,” Mt. St. Helena at 4343′ high, defines the north end of the Valley, cuddling-up to Calistoga. The towering mountain overlooks Napa wine country with a protective eye, and the vineyard and winery scenes are gloriously endless for postcards. Joe Galewsky has made one of my most cherished early wine country images – a grape stake fence in the foreground, two old scrub-oaks framing the flowing vineyard behind that reaches to Mount St. Helena. So perfect.
Chas. Krug Winery, St. Helena, c1908
German-born Charles Krug (1825–1892) is revered as the man who introduced modern winemaking into Napa Valley in the year 1858. With a borrowed a cider press and using methods he had studied and mastered, he made wine for Mr. Patchett in Napa City. He next went up-valley to Edward Bale’s vineyard near St. Helena to make the wine, and met and married his daughter Caroline, whose dowry was 540 acres. He planted grapes and, by 1872, had a fine stone winery with a capacity of 250,000 gallons, the first commercial winery in Napa Valley. Historian Sullivan describes Krug as “the conscience of his winemaking community, a pillar of constant integrity, a steady voice in favor of higher standards and better quality.” In the back caption of his beautiful postcard, Joe Galewsky salutes Krug Winery: “This card pictures the Pioneer Winery of California. Chas. Krug planted the first vineyard in Northern California and manufactured the first California wine, which is known throughout the United States.” [Not exactly accurate, but deserving praise.] In 1941 C. Mondavi & Sons purchased and modernized the Krug property, keeping the name. By the 1960s, Charles Krug Winery had 600 acres of grape vines and a refurbished winery with a two-million gallon capacity. But there is much more in this wine country story. P.S. As far as I know, this superb postcard is the only Pre-Prohibition card of Krug Winery, and I have a feeling it is a Turrill & Miller photo c1907.
Far Niente Wine Cellar, Oakville Near St. Helena. c1908
“This is one of the most picturesque Wineries in the Valley. It is built of stone and overgrown with ivy and Virginia Creeper. Its hospitality is widely known, as is the genial manager, Thos. Williams,” touts the back caption. The beautiful, exquisitely rare postcard is another of Joe Galewsky’s brilliant local promotion series. This one illustrates the story of wealthy San Francisco real estate investor John Benson who came to Oakville in the 1870s to purchase five hundred acres and develop an agricultural estate. He named it Far Niente, “without care” in Italian. In 1885, he hired noted Napa Valley winery architect H. W. McIntyre to construct his grand 300,000-gallon winery. Yet he never did much with it and had only a small vineyard. In 1978, the winery began a new life when Gil Nickel acquired the place, restored the winery, and planted 167 acres of vines. Nickel trimmed the rampant Virginia Creeper, and it is once again one of the most beautiful wine estates in Napa Valley, producing premium wines.
Entrance To A St. Helena Home – Lyndenhurst. c1908
Publisher Joe Galewsky pitches the scene in the back caption: “St. Helena is noted for its beautiful homes, being only 2 hours from San Francisco. Many of its people have their summer homes in St. Helena.” Except this particular beautiful property was not a “summer” home. German immigrant and hotelier George Schoenwald (1843–1918) founded his Esmeralda Winery in 1882 on the southwest edges of town, located just up the street from his lovely Lyndenhurst estate that overflowed with flowers and exotic trees of all kinds, including the “tallest palm in Northern California,” so a fellow postcard claimed. In 1912, the home and its well-tended gardens were featured on several Vintage Festival advertising postcard treasures. The wine estate, with its grand stone-pillared entrance, was later owned by the Spotts family (1910–1972) who named it Spottswoode, which it is still called today and graces the archway. In 1972 Jack and Mary Novak bought the historic estate with its forty-acre vineyard, expanded the acreage, and later purchased the vintage winery just down the street.
Spring Mtn. Vineyard, Near St. Helena, 1907
Postcard harvest scenes are painfully rare and so exciting to find. This early Joe Galewsky mountain-top view of a Spring Mountain Vineyard harvest is pure luxury – grape harvesters scattered amongst the vines, a pair of steadfast mules hauling a wooden sled laden with grape-filled boxes. And they still have to get down the mountain! The first wine estate established here on the mountain was Charles Lemme in 1876. At the turn of the century, it became part of Claus Schilling’s holdings, and in 1903, the 320-acre prized property was incorporated as Spring Mtn. Vineyard, our postcard years, while later it became La Perla Vineyard Co. Following Prohibition, several owners were recorded, including Mangels & Lanza, Draper, Maytag’s York Creek Vineyards. Eventually, in 1974, Mike Robbins bought Miravalle, Tiburcio Parrott’s historic estate lower on the mountain, and established his Spring Mountain Vineyards Winery. He became famous for his award-winning Chardonnays and Cabernets and as the setting for the “Falcon Crest” television series.
Woodworth’s Summer Resort, Howell Mt, Napa Co, Cal. c1906
Anyone interested in California wine history appreciates these postcard views of the small wine growers. They are sometimes connected to a “resort” in grape country where the vines flourish and wine is made for the guests, and the market. We thank Joe Galewsky for his early postcard of Woodworth’s mountain vineyard. William Woodworth (1825–1894) and his growing family settled on the Pope Valley side of Howell Mountain in 1875 and planted a vineyard. By 1891 he had twenty-five acres of Riesling, Muscat, and Malvoisie and produced some sixty tons annually. Several postcard images in the collection show the beautiful setting of the popular summer resort at the Woodworth & Muller family farm. The resort remained in operation for forty-five years, until closed by the Depression.
Bunch Of California Grapes. St. Helena, Cal. Postmark: 1904
What a great California wine country postcard to send to anybody, anytime! Pretty, and cheery. Joe Galewsky ordered this gem from publisher Edward Mitchell in San Francisco, one of the earliest and most productive postcard publishers in America, and had him add “St. Helena, Cal.” and the Galewsky imprint to the card. I have another copy of this “California generic” postcard without the St. Helena – Galewsky name. Both cards are very old in the realm of California wine postcards and hardly seen for sale these days. It is a lovely card to end our story and tour of Joe Galewsky and his wine country postcards preserving priceless views of the Upper Valley.