Petaluma is a riverfront city along the Highway 101 corridor, a little north of Novato, a bit south of Santa Rosa and west of Sonoma. Chartered in 1858, it was an agricultural center during the Gold Rush and prospered thanks to its namesake waterway, which kept it reachable by steamships that paddled up from San Francisco Bay. Sunset magazine described Petaluma' downtown area as a “well-watered, well-fertilized, mature Main Street USA, and it’s not hard to see why. The core area, which survived the 1906 earthquake relatively unscathed, is listed on the National Register of Historic Places, along with 65 additional sites in town. SMART trains stop smack in its center, conveniently close to its many breweries and biergartens. Hometown pride takes form in frequent fairs and festivals like the Butter & Egg Days Parade, an unconventional yet highly entertaining event that attracts some 3,000 each year.