The present name Guerneville was introduced to honor Swiss immigrant George Guerne, a local businessman of the 1800s who owned the town's sawmill. The extensive redwood forests on the surrounding mountains are less than 200 years old, having been replacement plantings for the much of the logging done in the 1800s.
The area became popular with vacationers from San Francisco in the late 1800s. The Northwestern Pacific Railroad provided access to the town from its origin in southern Marin County, just north of San Francisco at the mouth of San Francisco Bay. Even with the demise of train service in the late 1930s, the area's resorts remained popular with vacationers who came by automobile through the 1950s.