An Egg Education

The chicken may have come before the

of them—that built this town.

By Christopher Hall

AAfter Lyman Byce and Isaac Dias perfected the chicken incubator in 1879, commercial egg production exploded, transforming the poultry trade into a modern industry.

Fast forward to the early 20th century, when Petaluma was hailed “The World’s Egg Basket,” millions of fresh Petaluma eggs each year graced breakfast plates across the country. With production focused on the Single Comb White Leghorn, a prolific breed capable of laying an average of 200 eggs annually, deposits swelled at local banks, making Petaluma one of America’s richest towns.

The town honored its feathered benefactors, naming a park and a baseball team for the breed, as well as erecting a statue of a broody hen nicknamed Betty. All of this paved the way to the Egg Day Parade, which often featured a chicken rodeo, an egg-laying contest, an Egg Queen Ball, a parade with poultry-themed floats and costumes, and the Egg Queen herself attended by her court.

Petaluma was so invested in its poultry industry that, in 1923, the town opened the Chicken Pharmacy, the world’s only store catering to poultry remedies, including tiny chicken “spectacles” to guard hens’ eyes from being pecked. (This niche shop even scored a mention in Ripley’s Believe It or Not.) Production in Petaluma and surrounding Sonoma County peaked in 1945 at an astonishing 612 million eggs.

Today, poultry no longer figures so prominently in the local economy, but Petaluma’s egg heritage remains front and center during the annual Butter & Egg Days Parade & Festival and in downtown’s historical buildings (a large swath of which was constructed thanks to egg-industry money). Now that’s a legacy worth crowing about. •

Living History

Once a Carnegie library, the Petaluma Historical Library & Museum highlights the area’s Indigenous Miwok history, as well as the poultry and dairy industries. View free exhibits Thursday through Sunday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.

If you fancy your history with some fresh air, then go on the museum’s walking tour, where costumed docents share stories of historic downtown. Tours happen most Saturdays (May to October). –Olivia Olsen