Brentwood Press - Index

Brentwood Press - WelcomeMagazine_08.09 - Index

HIsToRy
Photo courtesy of East Contra Costa Historical Society
East County Goes Way Back
The Stone House
built in 1856 by
East County icon
John Marsh has
attracted a
remarkable
network of
agencies
determined to
preserve the
historic treasure.
A process is
presently underway
to formulate
a General Plan for
a future historic
state park and the
Stone House as its
centerpiece.
More than 100 years ago, Native Americans called the East County area home. The Bay Miwok and Yokut Indians
preceded Spanish explorer Pedro Fages, who in 1772 led the first European parties through the area. More
than a century passed before European settlers arrived in the area to put down roots.
anTIoCH
U.S. Navy.
New Orleans and San Francisco. The
On Sept. 16, 1850, the first settlers
By 1970, Antioch had grown to
English land speculation company Balfour
arrived at the foot of what is now F Street 28,500 residents. Built on inexpensive land, Guthrie installed a vast irrigation system
in Antioch. The town was named after the residential development further increased that improved land values by allowing
ancient biblical city in Syria. The town
the citizenry to an estimated 47,000 by
farmers to grow row crops and fruit trees,
incorporated in February of 1872 with a
population of just 600. The year 1876 saw
the introduction of a narrow-gauge railway
between Antioch and the mining town
of Stewartsville six miles to the south, at
the site of today’s Black Diamond Mines
Regional Preserve.
Antioch got its first school in 1851,
provided by a ship owner who donated the
gallery from his beached vessel to serve as
a school building. Some of Antioch’s early
businesses included brick kilns, coal mining,
a copper smelter, several potteries and
a distillery.
By the early 1900s, Antioch was still
only about 700 residents strong, but the
population began to skyrocket in the 1920s
with the construction of the Antioch Bridge
and Fulton Shipyards. During World War
the mid 1980s. Today the population tops
100,000.
bRenTWooD
One of the first pioneers to settle in the
Brentwood area was a doctor named John
Marsh, who built a stately mansion out of
stone, which still stands today on Marsh
Creek Road. Marsh was murdered in 1856
before he ever moved into the home. The
name Brentwood is believed to have come
from the Marsh family’s home town of
Brentwood, England.
Development of the city was hastened
by the discovery of coal in the Mt. Diablo
foothills. By 1874, the first structures were
popping up on Oak Street.
Fertile soils and the coming of the
railroad in 1890 helped make the area the
firmly establishing the town’s agricultural
dynamism.
Brentwood incorporated as a city in
1948. It remained a small agricultural community
until the last decade of the century,
when its proximity to the financial centers
of the Bay Area and its relatively affordable
housing triggered rapid growth. The population
grew nearly five times from 1990 to
today’s 50,000-plus, bringing more suburban
lifestyles, as well as the related influx
of goods and services, to the formerly rural
area. The effort to preserve at least some of
the agricultural heritage continues today.
oakley
The discovery of Native American artifacts
in Big Break clearly establishes Oakley
as a site of that earlier culture. The first
II, 27 vessels were built in Antioch for the largest shipping point for grain between
Continued on page 16
Welcome! The Magazine of East County 2008-2009