Brentwood Press - Index

Brentwood Press - WelcomeMagazine_08.09 - Index

HIsToRy
evidence of European settlers in Oakley
can be traced to Randolph C. Marsh, one
of the town’s first landowners (but no relation
to Dr. John Marsh, who pioneered
what is now Brentwood). In 1897, Marsh
arrived and foresaw that the area could
produce successful crops. He purchased
12 acres of land and plotted the town. He
named the first five streets Main, Acme,
Ruby, Star and Home, spelling MARSH
with the initial letter of each street name.
Nicknamed “Sandlappers” by critics who
said crops would never grow in the sandy
soil, the early settlers proved otherwise,
turning Oakley into a bountiful source of
fresh fruits and vegetables.
In the 1930s, Oakley’s Main Street
was dotted with packing sheds, and
agriculture was shipped via the railroad
throughout the nation. Oakley became a
city in 1998.
DIsCoVeRy bay
Discovery Bay is a unique community
in Contra Costa County. The idea
was born in 1970, when the Veronica
Development Company envisioned a
water-oriented community where people
could “Live Where You Play,” which
became the town’s motto.
Those people who put their faith in
the project based on their own imaginations
haven’t been sorry. Lots they bought
for $15,000 have sold in recent years for
10 to 15 times that amount. Developer
Ken Hofmann opened sales in 1978 and
buyers slept in the streets in order to get
the lot of their choice.
It was in 1984 that Discovery Bay
received its crown jewel: an 18-hole championship
golf course. The final bays of
the original Discovery Bay development
opened in 1988.
In 1997, Discovery Bay became a
community services district, assuming
oversight of most of its own activities
other than land-use decisions (land use,
police and fire services continue to be
handled by the Contra Costa County
Board of Supervisors.) The expansion
of the community, Discovery Bay West,
began in 2000, at which time the official
name of the community became The
Town of Discovery Bay.
Most recently, Discovery Bay was
granted its own Postal ZIP Code, 94505.
beTHel IslanD
In 1860, a Mr. Stone reclaimed the
land known as Bethel Island under the
Swamp and Over Flowed Act of 1855. It
was named Stone Tract. Ten years later,
Stone sold the land to Major William K.
Bethel, who used it to grow feed for the
dairy herd on the island.
Bethel Island, which was officially
named in 1898, actually became an island
in the 1890s when surrounding sloughs
were dredged.
In 1918, the Bethel Island Bridge,
a one-lane wooden plank structure, was
built. During this same time, the island
was farmed by William J. Hotchkiss, who
purchased 1,317 acres to grow potatoes,
beans and sugar beets.
During the 1920s and ’30s, Bethel
Island became known as a fishing paradise
and haven for hunters. Harbors were
built along the island’s waterfront, and
recreation flourished. Electricity was first
brought to the island in 1946.
A major expansion of the Bethel
Island community, Delta Coves, is now
under way, featuring waterfront homes.
knIGHTsen
Knightsen was founded in 1898,
when the Sante Fe Railroad made its
preliminary survey through the area.
George W. Knight, a native of
Maine, purchased 110 acres of land from
Lazarus Barkley, acreage that eventually
became the town of Knightsen. The name
Knightsen was derived from Knight’s last
name and the last three letters of his wife’s
maiden name, Christensen.
Dairies were established in the early
1900s. In the 1920s, the Knightsen Irrigation
District brought water to the fields,
allowing farmers to plant a huge variety of
crops. The Knightsen Farm Bureau was
established in 1918, and the Farm Bureau
Center is still a community gathering place.
byRon
The town of Byron was founded in
1878, when the San Pablo and Tulare
Railroad Company built a track connecting
Contra Costa and San Joaquin
counties, though settlers had been in the
area for many years.
The old Antioch Bridge, above,
opened in 1940. It was replaced
in 1970 by a taller structure. The
pioneering Heidorn family home,
below, stood along Lone Tree
Way.
After finding no luck in the Sierra
Nevada gold mines, German immigrant
Henry Wilkening built a home on land he
purchased near where the railroad planned
to build its station. He became Byron’s
first Post Master and he built the town’s
first hotel, saloon and livery stable.
In the 1860s, R.O. Risdon discovered
the Byron Hot Springs. His nephew,
Lewis Risdon Mead, discovered more
than 50 springs ranging in temperature
from 52 to 140 degrees.
Mead developed the now-idle Byron
Hot Springs, popular with the rich and famous
in the 1920s and ’30s. In 1938, the
resort was closed and sold to the government,
which used it as a prisoner of war
interrogation center during World War II.
Historical information was compiled
from “Footprints in the Sand” by Kathy
Leighton, the East Contra Costa County
Historical Society, the Antioch Chamber
of Commerce and the Antioch Historical
Society.
Welcome! The Magazine of East County 2008-2009