Back when the Petaluma Argus Courier was publishing the Petaluma Magazine I was lucky enough to contribute a regular feature called Changing Landscape where I'd provide a historic photo of a building, park, etc. with 500 words of background information. Terry Hankins, Argus photographer at the time, would take a current picture of the same site. I always planned to include this photo of New Labor Temple. The Temple was located at the southeast corner of Western Avenue and Liberty Streets.
Back when the Petaluma Argus Courier was publishing the Petaluma Magazine I was lucky enough to contribute a regular feature called Changing Landscape where I'd provide a historic photo of a building, park, etc. with 500 words of background information. Terry Hankins, Argus photographer at the time, would take a current picture of the same site. I always planned to include this photo of the New Labor Temple. The Temple was located at the southeast corner of Western Avenue and Liberty Streets. The building was a remodel of the Methodist Episcopal Church South. Local builder, H.P. Vogensen, was responsible for the transformation from church to labor hall that occurred in the early 1920s. Ione "Sissy" Vogensen donated this photograph to the Sonoma County Library. Ione's husband was Richard Vogensen who was a grandson of H.P. Vogensen.
The building was torn down in the 1960s, and today the site is occupied by the Alphabet Soup Thrift Shop. For those who have been around for a bit, you'll remember this building as also being the former home of Plum Tuckered.
