Created in 1850, Napa is the Napa County Seat and is located north of San Francisco, California.. With a population of close to 70,000, Napa has the largest population of all the towns in the Napa Valley, representing over half of the county’s population. The highest concentration of historic homes including Napa Bed and Breakfasts is in the Old Town section of downtown Napa. The word napa translates to grizzly bear in the Native American Indian language. In 1848, the city of Napa was laid out by Mr. Coombs on property he acquired from Nicholas Higuera's Rancho Entre-Napa, an 1836 Mexican Land Grant. In the early 1850s the gold rush caused the city of Napa to grow. When the winter storms hit the gold fields, miners moved to the city of Napa to keep warm. There was plenty of work on the cattle ranches and in the lumber industry. Napa sawmills were cutting redwood (used extensively in the historic Napa Bed and Breakfast mansions)and pine timber that was hauled by horse team to the downtown docks where it was shipped out via the Napa River to Benicia and San Francisco. Jack London lived in Napa from 1905 till 1916. Napa, once the producer of many different crops including apples, barley; cherries, wine grapes, kiwifruit; oats; peaches, pears, plums; prunes, raspberries; strawberries, walnuts, and wheat is known today for its wine industry, rising in the 1960s to be one of the leading wine regions with France and Italy. Napa is the most popular wine making region in the United States. The combination of natural beauty, pleasant Mediterranean type climate, and proximity to major metropolitan areas has made it into the 2nd most visited attraction in the US. The historic Napa bed and breakfast inns, restaurants and interesting places to shop for gifts, clothing or antiques are just some of the delights of the area.