From the first Black-owned business in Petaluma in the 1920s to today’s renowned legacy establishments, here are just a few of the county’s most prominent Black business owners through history.
February’s Black History Month theme for 2025, according to the Association for the Study of African American Life and History, is “African Americans and Labor.” Throughout the history of Sonoma County’s labor force, there have been a number of Black Americans who worked for themselves, to the benefit of their communities.
Petaluma’s first Black-owned business
After serving in the U.S. Army for five years — during which he was a member of the now-vindicated, all-Black unit known as the Buffalo Soldiers— Henry Chenault made his way to Petaluma in 1926.
It was on the city’s Main Street (now Petaluma Boulevard North) where Chenault opened up his first shoeshine stand, later relocating the popular business to the front of the Arcade Barber Shop on Western Avenue in 1945, according to a Petaluma Argus-Courier article on Jan. 14, 1969, the day of Chenault’s death at age 73.
His death was an immense loss to the community of Petaluma, where he was the city’s first Black business owner as well as one of its most prominent citizens. Chenault was known for his friendly greetings, love of sports and vast knowledge of the community, including everybody’s name.
According to a Dec. 6, 1949, article in The Press Democrat, which referred to him as “Petaluma’s second chamber of commerce,” Chenault donned the role of “unofficial ambassador of the Redwood Empire” for his nearly 25 years of civic promotion at his shoeshine stand.
Chenault embraced many other titles over the years, according to articles in the Petaluma Argus-Courier from the 1940s through ’60s, including “Mr. Petaluma,” the “Petaluma Philosopher” and the “Mayor of Western Avenue.”
The largest Black-owned business in the Petaluma-Santa Rosa area
In 1980, Seattle native John Evans ‘Jes’ Smith moved to Petaluma and started a small tailoring shop with the help of his father co-signing for sewing machines, according to a Jan. 18, 1993, article in The Press Democrat. He expanded his popular tailoring business to a tuxedo shop, called Jes For You, in 1983. For over a decade, Smith’s formalwear shop was among the most popular for proms, weddings and other special occasions.
“We’re the largest tuxedo supplier in the North Bay, and the largest minority-owned business of its kind in the state,” said Smith in the June 17, 1992, Petaluma Argus-Courier.
In the late 1980s, Smith opened a second shop in Santa Rosa, called Club Jes Formalwear, while his brother, Wayne Eugene Smith, managed the Petaluma store. In 1994, the jazz-loving ‘Jes’ Smith opened Club Jes After Six, a jazz and blues nightclub in Santa Rosa, which took over the former Joe Frogger’s nightclub, according to the March 4, 1994, Press Democrat.
A year later, Smith handed over ownership of the nightclub to David Marona. His Petaluma formal wear shop remained in business through 1998. All the while, Smith was active in local community organizations, such as supporting local Boys and Girls Clubs and the Petaluma Valley Hospital Foundation.
See the gallery above to view photos of some of Sonoma County’s historic, prominent Black business owners. See where to celebrate Black History Month in Sonoma County here. Find more Black-owned businesses in the North Bay, go here.