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Contra Costa County is a suburban County in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. State of California . As of the 2000 Census , it had a population of 948,816. The County Seat is Martinez . HISTORY Pre-human In prehistoric times, particularly the Miocene Epoch , portions of the landforms now in the area (then marshy and grassy Savanna ) were populated by a wide range of now extinct Mammals , known in modern times by the Fossil remains excavated in the southern part of the county. These included Pig s the size of the modern Rhinoceros and rhinoceri the size of modern pigs. In the northern part of the county, significant coal and sand deposits were formed in even earlier Geologic Eras . Other areas of the county have ridges exposing ancient but intact (not fossilized) seashells, embedded in Sandstone layers alternating with Limestone . Layers of volcanic ash ejected from geologically recent but now extinct Volcanos , compacted and now tilted by compressive forces, may be seen at the site of some road excavations. This county is an agglomeration of several distinct ''geologic terrains'', as is most of the greater San Francisco Bay Area , which is one of the most geologically complex regions in the world. The great local mountain Mount Diablo has been formed and continues to be elevated by compressive forces resulting from the action of Plate Tectonics and at its upper reaches presents ancient seabed shale rock scraped from distant sedimentation locations and accumulated by these great forces. Native American period There is an extensive but little recorded human pre-European invasion history in this area, with the present county containing portions of regions populated by a number of native American tribes. The earliest definitively established occupation by modern man ('' Homo Sapiens '') appears to have occurred six to ten thousand years ago. However, there may have been human presence far earlier, at least as far as non–settling populations are concerned. The known settled populations were hunter-gatherer societies that had no knowledge of Metals and that produced utilitarian crafts for everyday use (especially woven reed baskets) of the highest quality and with graphic embellishments of great aesthetic appeal. Extensive trading from tribe to tribe transferred exotic materials such as Obsidian (useful for the making of arrowheads) throughout the region from far distant Californian tribes. Unlike the Nomad ic native American of the Great Plains it appears that these tribes did not incorporate warfare into their culture but were instead generally cooperative. Within these cultures the concept of individual or collective land ''ownership'' was nonexistent. Early European settlers in the region, however, did not record much about the culture of the natives. Most of what is known culturally comes from preserved contemporaneous and excavated artifacts and from inter-generational knowledge passed down through northerly outlying tribes of the larger region. Spanish colonial Early interaction of these Native Americans with Europeans came with the Spanish colonization via the establishment of Missions in this area, with the missions in San Jose, Sonoma, and San Francisco and particularly the establishment of the Presidio Of San Francisco (a military establishment) in 1776. Although there were no missions established within this county, Spanish influence here was direct and extensive, through the establishment of land grants from the King of Spain to favored settlers. Mexican provincial land grants In 1821 Mexico gained independence from Spain, although little changed in ranchero life in the remote province centered upon San Francisco . The Mexican Revolution , however, did lead to the beginning of land grants under the Mexican Federal Law of 1824. Eighteen land grants were made in what became Contra Costa County. The smallest unit was one square league, or about seven square miles, or 4,400 acres (18 km&2), maximum to one individual was eleven leagues, or 48,400 acres (196 km&2), including no more than 4,428 acres (18 km&2) of irrigable land. Rough surveying was based on a map, or diseno, measured by streams, shorelines, and/or horseman who marked it with rope and stakes. Lands outside Rancho grants were designated ‘el sobrante,' as in surplus or excess, and considered common lands. The law required the construction of a house within a year. Fences were not required and were forbidden where they might interfere with roads or trails. Locally a large family required roughly 2000 head of cattle and two square leagues of land (fourteen square miles) to live comfortably. Foreign entrepreneurs came to the area in order to provide goods that Mexico couldn’t, and trading ships were taxed.
Bear Flag Republic and the statehood of California See Also: Bear Flag Revolt The exclusive land ownership by Hispanics would soon end. This change began with the Bear Flag Revolt in 1846 when a few settlers from the United States declared a Republic , and immediately petitioning for statehood. Following the Mexican-American War of 1847, California was annexed to the U.S. in 1848 and was admitted to the Union in 1850. The land titles in Contra Costa County may be traced to multiple subdivisions of a few original land grants. The grantee's family names live on in a few city and town names such as ''Martinez'' , ''Pacheco'' and ''Moraga'' and in the names of streets, residential subdivisions, and business parks. A few mansions from the more prosperous farms have been preserved as museums and cultural centers and one of the more rustic examples has been preserved as a working demonstration ranch, Borges Ranch . Contra Costa's creation and division Contra Costa County was one of the original counties of California, created in 1850 at the time of statehood. The county was originally to be called Mt. Diablo County, but the name was changed prior to incorporation as a county. The county's Spanish Language name means ''opposite coast,'' because of its location opposite San Francisco , in an easterly direction, on San Francisco Bay . Southern portions of the county's territory, including the all of the bayside portions opposite San Francisco, and Northern portions of Santa Clara County were given up to form Alameda County in 1853. 1941-45 During World War II , Richmond hosted one of the two Bay Area sites of Kaiser Shipyards and wartime pilots were trained at what is now Concord/Buchanan Field Airport . Additionally, a large Naval Weapons Depot and munitions ship loading facilities at Port Chicago remain active to this day, but with the inland storage facilities recently declared surplus, extensive redevelopment is being planned for this last large central-county tract. The loading docks were the site of A Devastating Explosion in 1944. Port Chicago was bought out and demolished by the Federal Government to form a safety zone near the Naval Weapons Station loading docks. At one time the Atlas Powder Company (subsequently closed) at the town of Hercules produced gunpowder and dynamite. The site of the former Atlas Powder Company is located at Point Pinole Regional Shoreline , part of the East Bay Regional Parks District . Early postwar period With the postwar Baby Boom and the desire for suburban living, large tract housing developers would purchase large central county farmsteads and develop them with roads, utilities and housing. Once mostly rural walnut orchards and cattle ranches, the area was first developed as low cost, large lot suburbs, with a typical low cost home being placed on a "quarter acre" (1,000 m&2) lot — actually a little less at 10,000 square feet (930 m&2). Some of the expansion of these suburban areas was attributable to White Flight , although in this politically liberal region, the phenomenon was mostly due to larger houses and lots at little additional cost, a desire for a less intensely urban environment, and higher school quality. POLITICAL GEOGRAPHY According to the U.S. Census Bureau , the county has a total area of 2,078 Km&2 (802 Mi&2 ). 1,865 km&2 (720 mi&2) of it is land and 213 km&2 (82 mi&2) of it (10.25%) is water. It is bounded on the south and west by Alameda County ; on the northwest San Francisco Bay ( San Francisco and Marin Counties); on the North by San Pablo Bay , the Carquinez Strait , and Suisun Bay ( Solano and Sacramento Counties); and on the east by the San Joaquin River ( San Joaquin County ). PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY Contra Costa County's physical geography is dominated by the bayside alluvial plain, the Oakland- Berkeley Hills , and Mount Diablo , an isolated 3,849-foot (1,173 m) upthrust peak at the north end of the Diablo Range of hills. The summit of Mount Diablo is the origin of the Mount Diablo Meridian and Base Line , on which Surveying of much of California and western Nevada are based. The Hayward Fault Zone runs through the western portion of the county, from Kensington to Richmond. The Calaveras Fault runs in the south-central portion of the county, from Alamo to San Ramon. The Concord Fault runs through part of Concord and Pacheco, and the Clayton-Marsh Creek-Greenville Fault runs from Clayton at its north end to near Livermore. These slip-strike Earthquake Fault s and the Diablo Thrust Fault near Danville are all considered capable of significantly destructive earthquakes and many lesser related faults are present in the area that cross critical infrastructure such as water, natural gas, and petroleum product pipelines, roads, highways, railroads, and BART rail transit. Cities and towns West County Incorporated places Unincorporated places
Central County Incorporated places Unincorporated places East County Incorporated places Unincorporated places Other named regions and developments
Adjacent counties
LANDMARK OF MOUNT DIABLO See Also: Mount Diablo The most notable natural landmark in the county is 3,849' Mount Diablo, at the northerly end of the Diablo Range. Mount Diablo and its neighboring North Peak are the centerpiece of Mt. Diablo State Park (MDSP), created legislatively in 1921 and rededicated in 1931 after land acquisitions had been completed. At the time this comprised a very small portion of the mountain. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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