Biohazard Cleanup Near Downtown Cotati Cotati, CA

Cotati is a small incorporated city in Sonoma County, about 45 miles north of San Francisco on the Highway 101 corridor between Rohnert Park and Petaluma.

With a population of 7,584 at the 2020 Census, Cotati is the least populous incorporated city in Sonoma County.

The city's name traces to the Coast Miwok village of Kota'ti and to Rancho Cotate, a 17,234-acre Mexican land grant that covered present-day Cotati, Rohnert Park, and Penngrove; the legendary Chief Cotati appears on the city's logo.

Cotati began as Page's Station, a wood-and-water stop on the Petaluma and Santa Rosa Railroad completed in 1870, on land held by Dr. Thomas Page's family from 1849 to 1929 - the last of the Sonoma County ranchos to remain intact.

In 1892 the Cotati Land Company subdivided the ranch and laid out the town around a hexagonal plaza - one of only two hexagonal town plans in the United States, now a California Historical Landmark.

Cotati calls itself the 'Hub of Sonoma County' for its central location and its historic hexagonal downtown plaza, La Plaza Park.

Voters approved Cotati's incorporation on July 2, 1963 by a 284-to-41 margin, and the city incorporated on July 16, 1963 - largely to keep the brand-new neighboring city of Rohnert Park from absorbing it.

Cotati has about 3,195 households, averaging roughly 2.33 people per household.

Since 1991, La Plaza Park has hosted the Cotati Accordion Festival each August - one of the largest accordion festivals in the United States, drawing players from around the world; a statue of co-founder Jim Boggio stands in the park.

The city also hosts a Cotati Jazz Festival each June.