Photo courtesy of Benicia Historical Museum

Pictured: The Union Hotel still stands at 401 First Street in Benicia. It initially opened in the 1800s and has had various names such as the Newport, the Bella Union and the Old Union. A major renovation was begun in the 1970s after the building was condemned and slated to be destroyed. The Union Hotel now has 12 historically decorated guest rooms as well as a dining room and a bar. It is claimed that the hotel is haunted by ghosts, some of whom are "Disappointed Mary", "Mrs. Miniver" and a tall man wearing a black suit.

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Robert Arneson

Robert Carston Arneson (1930 – 1992) was an American sculptor and professor of ceramics in the Art department at University of California at Davis who was born in Benicia and died in Benicia. He graduated from Benicia High School and spent much of his early life as a cartoonist for a local paper. Arneson studied at California College of the Arts in Oakland, California for his BFA and went on to receive an MFA from Mills College in Oakland, California in 1958. One of his most famous (and controversial) sculptures was a bust of assassinated San Francisco Mayor George Moscone. Photo courtesy of Google.

Our Library

The Genealogy Society of Vallejo-Venicia Reference Library is located on the 2nd floor of the Vallejo Naval and Historical Museum located at 734 Marin Street in Vallejo, California.

Our small but well-stocked library is open to members and to the public.

The catalog may be found at:

https://www.librarything.com/catalog/GSVB

The library hours are:

Every Tuesday: 1:00 -- 3:30 pm

2nd Thursday of the month: noon -- 3:30 pm

1st and 3rd Saturdays: noon -- 3:30 pm

Other times may be arranged by appointment.

Our librarian will welcome your questions and be available to help with your family research.

To contact our librarian directly, please e-mail Research@gsvb.org.

Ancestry.com, Newspapers.com, and Fold3 are available, in addition to numerous genealogical publications.

We also have use of the Vallejo Naval & Historical Museum's reference library.