1860
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1860's
1869 - January
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1869 - Fall
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1872 - October
The Methodist Episcopal Church, South on Mulberry St. is built in the summer and dedicated in October. The M. E. Church, South was a separate denomination which split from the M. E. Church over the issue of slavery prior to the Civil War.​​
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1872 - November
1878 - August
1860
The Cloverdale School District is formed. Cloverdale founder James A. Kleiser donated the lot now known as Kleiser Park. A small school was built which was also used as a church for a time. In the fall of 1870, the schoolhouse was replaced with a new, two-story school building. In 1882, an addition was built on the back for an additional classroom. In 1889, the school curriculum was upgraded to an approved, full grammar course. In 1891, a high school curriculum was added.
The Gould-Shaw House is built. Thomas Jefferson Gould, the local blacksmith, built a brick house on West St. which he sold to Thomas Shaw in 1869. Thomas Shaw added a two-story extension on the back to accommodate his large family. In 1875 the house was acquired by Isaac E. Shaw, a local merchant. After his first wife died, he married Minerva McCray of the local McCray family. Isaac lived there for the next 30 years until his death. Minerva likewise remained until her death in 1938. When the Historical Society acquired the house in 1983, it named it the Gould-Shaw House Museum in honor of Thomas Gould and Isaac Shaw. The Gould-Shaw House is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
The Congregational Church is organized and a church building is completed the same year on land donated by Mr. and Mrs. James A. Kleiser. The original building was a 30’ x 50’ rectangle with a tall, narrow steeple and belfry. A parsonage was built on the south side around 1878. In 1905, church member Susan Chalfant donated $10,000 to build a new sanctuary as desired by her recently deceased husband, John. The parsonage was also remodeled in the summer of 1905 to harmonize with the new church architecture. The original church building was moved back from the street and the new sanctuary was built onto the front and completed in 1906 by the Hoyt Brothers of Santa Rosa who constructed the Bank of Cloverdale building at the same time. The church had leaded, stained-glass windows and a pipe organ that was powered by a Pelton wheel connected to the city water system.
In the 1970s, both the Congregational and Methodist churches found it financially difficult to support a minister. They decided to combine their congregations and in 1979 they formally became the United Church of Cloverdale, retaining the historic Congregational Church as their place of worship. In June 2025, due to declining membership, the church trustees donated the property to the non-profit La Familia Sana.​​​
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1872
The first passenger train arrives at the Cloverdale Depot. Cloverdale was the end of the line for the next 17 years until the railroad was extended to Ukiah in 1889. People from Anderson Valley, Ukiah and north, and Lake County brought their products to Cloverdale to ship to San Francisco. These included wool, tanbark, lumber, deer hides, hops, mineral waters, prunes, and grapes. The railroad played a role in the success of the Citrus Fair. Extra passenger cars were added to carry the hundreds of passengers who traveled from the Bay Area and Sonoma and Mendocino counties to visit the Fair. In addition, the railroad made it easy for tourists to travel north to Cloverdale and then on to other destinations such as the Geysers and various resorts in the area. Passenger service continued until November 1958.
1872
Cloverdale is incorporated by the passage of California Assembly Bill 288 on February 20, 1872. An election was held May 6 to elect five town trustees, a treasurer, a marshal, and an assessor. At a subsequent trustee meeting, Harry Kier was elected President and J. A. Linville was elected Town Marshall. An order was made to survey and map the incorporated area of town. The first ordinance passed was the assessment and collection of taxes; the second to appoint a Pound keeper.
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1872
Cloverdale Library - As early as 1872, numerous efforts were made to start a library. The Young Ladies Literary Society, the Congregational Church, the Womens Christian Temperance Union, and the Cloverdale Library Association all maintained small libraries, either free or by subscription, for varying periods of time. However, it wasn’t until 1913 when the Woman’s Improvement Club was formed that a permanent library was finally achieved. Through a small property tax and with a great deal of fund-raising on the part of the Woman’s Improvement Club, the Cloverdale Free Library was established in the Citrus Fair building where it remained until 1921.
A Covered bridge crossing the Russian River is built two miles above Cloverdale by the Pacific Bridge Company of San Francisco at a cost of $5,543. It was completed within 80 days. It was 168 feet long, 20 feet wide, and 18 feet high. Originally the bridge was built with the sides enclosed. Rectangular holes were later cut into the sides to let sunlight into the interior. It was reported to be one of the last two covered bridges in California. Upon completion, there was a big picnic and dance on the bridge (dances included the Quadrille, the Schottisch, the Polka and the Esmeralda) with fiddle music provided by Bill Sink and Tip Thomas. This bridge remained in use (with some upgrades) until a new steel truss bridge was completed in 1934. Demolishing of the covered bridge had started when it collapsed into the river two days after the new bridge was completed.
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1875
The Isaac E. Shaw Mercantile Building is constructed just at the beginning of Cloverdale's settlement stage, after the coming of the railroad insured both the existence of the town and its slow growth. The building served as the town's post office and express office until 1880. Once Isaac Shaw moved to larger quarters, the building became the first home of The Cloverdale Reveille, the only newspaper to survive in the town and the city's weekly for over 130 years.
The original Shaw Mercantile Building would house many more businesses over the next hundred years. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.
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The Sulphur Creek Flour Mill is dedicated on the 4th of July with the reading of the Declaration of Independence, a patriotic oration, an ample dinner prepared by the ladies, and a dance. The mill was built by Bane and Warner on Sulphur Creek, 1½ miles north of Cloverdale. The structure consisted of three floors, 72 feet high, with a wheel of 40 or 50 feet in diameter and, according to one account, several miles of flume bringing water from a high point on Sulpher Creek down to the wheel to power the grinding of grain. The mill had several owners over time and ceased operation about 1886.
St. Peter's Catholic Church on Main and Broad St. is completed and dedicated in September. Michael and Mary Menihan, owners of the Cloverdale Hotel, were large supporters. It was named St. Peter's after Peter Donahue, owner of the Northwestern Pacific Railroad, due to his patronage of the parish. In 1954, the church acquired five acres of land on Healdsburg Ave. through a combined donation and purchase. They started a building fund and in 1962, the new St. Peter's Catholic Church was completed on the site. The old rectory was largely destroyed by fire in 1956. The old church met the same fate in 1963 and then was completely destroyed by the fire department in a 1965 training exercise.
The United States Hotel is built by Fred Gerkhardt on the southeast corner of West and Second streets. A number of additions were made in later years until it extended about 100 feet down each street. Michael Menihan purchased the hotel in 1883 and ran it for over 30 years. He was well-known for his hospitality. Visitors to the Citrus Fair and the Geysers stayed there including Ulysses S. Grant, Jr. and the Anheiser-Busch family. Residents often went to the hotel for dinner after dances. In 1947 the hotel suffered a devastating fire and was totally destroyed.