Heritage Napa

The City of Napa’s Cultural Heritage Commission developed a Historic Resources Field Guide after studying Napa’s historic resources. In order to highlight the unique architecture of the City of Napa, the Cultural Heritage Commission enlisted Linn Design Studio to create a public sign system.

We developed a sign program to identify 9 distinct historic districts.

Discovery

We started by researching the history of Napa and the various districts. The town of Napa has 9 distinct districts - and concluded that Heritage Napa needed a logo to help unify the system.

Strategy

What was originally a request for a sign to highlight the architecture of Napa became a system that would highlight the residents of each district and put a spotlight on why the people were there.

Solution

The Heritage Napa bronze medallion helps to unify the whole system. It appears on the pole sign, the monument sign, and it will be awarded to worthy, historic buildings, for prominent placement.

The Big Picture

We developed a variety of shapes and sizes to add interest to the sign program.
This will also enable The City to choose which signs will best suit the installation location as the program is implemented.

Details

Colors for each district are based on historic color palettes from the era when each district was built.

Moving Forward

We’ve already chosen historic colors and an icon to represent each district as they all move forward towards installation.

The Unveiling

On a rainy day in Napa, the Mayor, City Council members and Cultural Heritage Commissioners attended the ceremonial unveiling just before The City went into lockdown due to COVID19.

Collateral

An invitation to announce the unveiling of the first pilot district, Calistoga Avenue.

Surprise Details & Variation

The City wouldn’t allow for signs to be placed on both sides of the pole. We opted for a one-color version of the sign on the back, for interest.

The design system includes some variety in the signs for interest. The City can choose which signs to put in different areas.

UNEXPECTED DETAILS

A Bronze Sidewalk Plaque, installed on the ground, marks the Calistoga Avenue District. The plaque’s design will change with each additional district and will reflect the district as it was. It’s a subtle way of letting people know they’re somewhere special. The background image is modeled after historic photos of the area.

Concrete needed to be poured so we also developed a concrete stamp displaying the founder of The City and the date it was founded. This is another way to convey key information

Why a railcar?

Napa’s Calistoga Avenue District is so named because of an electric railcar that once enabled residents to move farther away from the Napa river. Calistoga Avenue used to be a main thoroughfare that helped to connect Calistoga to San Francisco. The railway is long gone and Calistoga Avenue is now just a small street - the long street has been renamed.

Logo Design & Bronze Marker

The Heritage Napa Logo was made into a bronze medallion which will be awarded to worthy historic buildings.

The Calistoga Avenue District was the first of the 9 historic districts to receive the sign system but we created a system for adding more districts to the program. Each district will have its own unique symbol, colors and illustrations that will make it stand apart from the others. Are you a fan of the sign system - drop a note to the Napa City Council and let them know that you’d like to see it continue. Some of the districts are still awaiting official “historic” status.

Kind Words

In the News

New signs will put spotlight on Napa’s historic Calistoga Avenue | see the Napa Valley Register article here

Napa has a streetcar district? It does and new signs will tell its story | see the Napa Valley Register article here

Historic Calistoga Avenue may become first Napa district with new signs | see the Napa Valley Register article here