By KATHERINE J. RINEHART / Towns Correspondent

Photo curtousey of Jeanne McCarter Pratt

Bill McCarter opened his “Electric Hatchery” in 1927 at 5701 Old Redwood Highway in Penngrove. Today, it is an official Sonoma County Landmark.

Bill McCarter was born in British Columbia in 1897. Around 1915 he moved with his parents to Reno, and eventually to San Francisco. After hearing talk of chicken ranching up north, the McCarter family chose Penngrove as their permanent home, first as guests of the Penngrove Hotel and later in a house on Ely Road.

As a young man, Bill McCarter worked for Frank Denman at his chicken ranch. Denman sent McCarter to UC Davis to learn more about the “business” of chicken ranching and also provided financial assistance when it came time for McCarter to open his own hatchery.

Although the Penngrove Hatchery was established in 1919, the present building was not constructed until 1927 when McCarter purchased what was then a portion of the Rancho Cotati Subdivision No. 1 from Thomas and Hedvig Hedin. Its location along a major highway made it convenient to truck in eggs and ship out chicks.

Prior to this, there was a small building on the property that was later moved behind the Hatchery and converted to a small residence.

McCarter’s new building included a hatchery as well as a residence for Bill, his wife Lillian, and their daughters Jeanne, Wilma and Beverly. It had a large lawn that extended to Old Redwood Highway and a tennis court at the rear.

When McCarter sold the property in 1944, the Hatchery had a laying capacity of approximately 360,000 eggs at a setting.

During the 1990s, the Penngrove Hatchery was owned by Benson Investments. The building hadn’t been occupied for many years and was in a dilapidated state when Petaluma building contractors Dave Martin and Jim Nelson purchased it in 2003.