Concord, California

Concord is the largest city in Contra Costa County, California, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 121,780. Originally founded in 1869 as the community of Todos Santos by Don Salvio Pacheco, the name was changed to Concord within months. The city is a major regional suburban East Bay center within the San Jose/ San Francisco Metropolitan Area, and is located just east of San Francisco.

Geography

Concord is located at (37.967825, -122.015135). In terms of travelling distance on the ground, it is northeast of San Francisco, northeast from Oakland, southwest of Sacramento, and north of San Jose.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 30.1 square miles (78.1 km²), all of it land.

The focal point of downtown Concord is Todos Santos Plaza, which encompasses an entire city block and is known for its farmers market, free summer concerts, and large number of surrounding restaurants. Much of the area immediately around downtown has recently been redeveloped, with new high-density apartment and condominium projects to take advantage of the close proximity to public transportation and the vibrant area surrounding the park.

To the north and east of downtown is the older residential area of Concord, with many homes dating back to before World War II. In the far northern edge of town is a primarily industrial area, dominated by the Tesoro Golden Eagle refinery (which is actually not located within city limits). The southeastern area of the city, centered along Clayton Road, is primarily residential and was mostly developed in the 1960s and 1970s. In the southwest area of the city is the primarily Latino neighborhood known as Four Corners, centered around the intersection of Monument Boulevard and Oak Grove Road.

Concord is bordered on the west by Pleasant Hill and the unincorporated community of Pacheco, on the south by Walnut Creek, on the southeast by Clayton, on the northeast by Pittsburg and the unincorporated community of Bay Point, and on the north by the unincorporated community of Clyde. Though they don't share a border, Martinez (the county seat) is located almost immediately adjacent to Concord on the northwest.

History

The valleys north of Mount Diablo were inhabited by the Miwok people, who hunted elk and fished in the numerous streams flowing from the mountain into the San Francisco Bay. In 1772 Spanish explorers began to cross the area, but did not settle here. In 1834 the land surrounding Mount Diablo was granted to Don Salvio Pacheco (for whom the nearby town of Pacheco is named).

Concord was founded under the name of Todos Santos (a name still borne by the central city plaza and park between Willow Pass Road and Salvio Street), on the initiative of Pacheco in 1869. It achieved prominence in the 19th century as a result of most residents of Pacheco relocating to Concord to avoid the devastation of fire and flood which crippled Pacheco's formerly booming economy. Concord was incorporated on February 5, 1905.

The area around Concord in the surrounding Ygnacio and Clayton Valleys was a large agricultural area. Crops that were grown included grapes, walnuts, wheat, hay, and even tomatoes. The area to the east (site of the Concord Naval Weapons Station) was the site of a few enormous wheat ranches over , and was almost a sea of wheat all the way to the marshes bordering Suisun Bay. During Prohibition, many vineyards were removed and replaced with walnut orchards. The town of Cowell, now incorporated into Concord, produced cement.

Port Chicago disaster

The munitions on board a Navy ship exploded while being loaded during World War II resulting in the largest number of casualties among African Americans in any one incident during that war.

On the evening of July 17, 1944, a ship packed with munitions and explosives was docked at the port when a massive explosion rocked the night sky. All 320 soldiers on duty were killed instantly. Buildings were damaged 30 miles away in San Francisco. The Navy sent sailors to put out the fire and restore order to the Concord Naval Weapons Station, which then had a town nearby called Port Chicago.

Of the 320 men killed, nearly two-thirds were African American. The Navy was racially segregated and white officers ordered black sailors to move bombs without training in munitions handling. Of the 328 remaining men in the Ordnance Battalion, 258 African Americans refused to continue loading ammunition, an event called the Port Chicago Mutiny. All soldiers who participated in the mutiny were court martialed, and all were given bad conduct discharges and ordered to forfeit 3 months pay for disobeying orders.

Thurgood Marshall who represented the African American sailors at the Navy court martial noted:

• "For months prior to the Port Chicago incident it was the common knowledge of experienced longshoremen and labor leaders that such a disaster was imminent. This feeling of apprehension grew out of their knowledge of the inefficiency, mismanagement, lack of safety measures in the handling of explosives and the Navy's policy of discrimination and segregation of Negro sailors.
• There were instances prior to the Port Chicago explosion where merchant seamen, seeing accidents occur that could have resulted in devastating explosions, started to jump overboard to save themselves. These accidents were due to the inefficient handling of explosives by inexperienced workers--for example, winch-drivers. These seamen will witness the truth of this statement.
• The C.I.O. Longshoremen's Union has a strict policy of using only experienced men to handle explosives. Winch-drivers, especially, must have a minimum of five years' experience. For this reason there has been no instance of an explosion where such men have handled explosives—whether they were Negro or white. There have been instances where longshoremen have refused to handle this type of cargo, but those who refused were not Negroes. All loading of explosives at Port Chicago was done by inexperienced naval personnel.
• Waterfront unions had officially warned both the Navy and the Army prior to the Port Chicago disaster that if they continued to use inexperienced workers in the loading of munitions an explosion was inevitable. This warning was disregarded."

The explosion and mutiny proceedings illustrated the costs of racial discrimination and fueled public criticism. By 1945, as the Navy began to desegregate, some mixed units appeared. When President Harry Truman called for the Armed Forces to be desegregated in 1948, the Navy reported that the Port Chicago disaster had been a critical step in that process. The Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial was dedicated near the site in 1994.

Today, the base is mostly abandoned, and is home to part-time security and/or police and the United States Naval Sea Cadet Corps Unit: Diablo Squadron usually works/drills on the base every month.

Sunvalley Mall plane crash

On the evening of December 23, 1985, two days before Christmas, a twin-engine Beechcraft Baron, executing a missed instrument approach procedure from an approach to runway 19R of Buchanan Airport, lost control and crashed into the roof of nearby Sunvalley Mall, killing the pilot and two passengers and seriously injuring 84 Christmas shoppers in the crowded mall below, mainly by spraying them with burning fuel. Four of the victims on the ground later died from their injuries. The accident brought increased local opposition to the airport, and caused Pacific Southwest Airlines to delay scheduled passenger service that had been planned for the new year.

Demographics

As of the census of 2000, there were 121,780 people, 44,020 households, and 30,329 families residing in the city. The population density was 4,041.0 people per square mile (1,560.0/km²). There were 45,083 housing units at an average density of 1,496.0/sq mi (577.5/km²). The racial makeup of the city is 70.71% White, 3.04% Black or African American, 0.76% Native American, 9.39% Asian, 0.50% Pacific Islander, 9.65% from other races, and 5.94% from two or more races. 21.81% of the population are Hispanic or Latino of any race.

There were 44,020 households out of which 34.4% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 51.4% were married couples living together, 12.3% had a female householder with no husband present, and 31.1% were non-families. 23.2% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.74 and the average family size was 3.22.

In the city the age of the population was spread out with 25.3% under the age of 18, 9.0% from 18 to 24, 32.8% from 25 to 44, 22.2% from 45 to 64, and 10.7% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 35 years. For every 100 females there were 97.6 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.3 males.

The median income for a household in the city was $55,597, and the median income for a family was $62,093. Males had a median income of $45,734 versus $34,860 for females. The per capita income for the city was $24,727. About 5.2% of families and 7.6% of the population were below the poverty line, including 9.0% of those under age 18 and 6.2% of those age 65 or over.

As of 2005, the racial makeup of the city had changed to: 63.9% White, 2.6% Black or African American, 0.1% Native American, 12.0% Asian, 0.8% Pacific Islander, 15.4% from other races, and 5.2% from two or more races. 26.3% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.

Politics

In the state legislature Concord is located in the 7th Senate District, represented by Democrat Tom Torlakson, and in the 11th Assembly District, represented by Democrat Mark DeSaulnier. Federally, Concord is located in California's 7th congressional district, which has a Cook PVI of D +19 and is represented by Democrat George Miller.

Economy

Recent

Concord has been primarily a bedroom community for San Francisco and Oakland over the last forty years, but during the last decades, jobs within the city have increased. Corporations with strong Bay Area regional ties, such as Chevron and Bank of America, have established extensive back-office operations there, diversifying the local economy.

Naval Weapons Station

To the north of the city of Concord is the Concord Naval Weapons Station, which was established in 1942. The station functioned as a World War II armament storage depot, supplying ships at Port Chicago. The Concord NWS supported war efforts during the Vietnam War and through the end of the Gulf War, processing and shipping out thousands of tons of war materiel to Southeast Asia and the Middle East.

The station consists of two areas: the Inland Area which is within the Concord city limits, and Tidal Area (). Because of changes in military operations, parts of the Inland Area began to be mothballed and by 1999, the station had only a minimal contingent of military personnel. In 2007 the U.S. Federal Government announced that the inland portion of the Naval station will be closed. The Tidal area of the base is not scheduled for closure. The city is working on a reuse plan that may include developing the land while keeping a large portion for open-space and parks projects. The city has had many meetings on this subject and will continue to do so. Any plan for reuse is subject to approval by the Navy.

The Inland portion contains mainly empty ammunition storage bunkers, and the empty warehouses and support structures for an active cargo port. At no time during the length of the station's operation did the site contain missile silos. A Tule Elk herd once resided on the inland portion of the base, but all they were removed to other locations by wildlife officials in early 2006.

In 1987, at the height of U.S. intervention in the Central American Crisis, Concord Naval Weapons Station was the site of daily anti-war protests against the shipment of weapons to Central America, including white phosphorus. On September 1 of that year, U.S. Air Force veteran and peace activist Brian Willson was run over by a Navy munitions train while unlawfully attempting to stop the train outside the compound gates. He suffered a fractured skull and the amputation of both his legs below the knee, among other injuries. The entire scene was video taped, by an eye witness, and although an attempt was made to confiscate the film, the video showed that the train was traveling at twice the legal speed for the train, when it ran over Wilson. Several days later and towards the end of a rally in which thousands participated protesting the actions of the train's crew and the munitions shipment (featuring speaker Jesse Jackson and singer Joan Baez). During the demonstration, anti-war protesters dismantled several hundred feet of Navy train tracks located outside of the base, while police and U.S. Marines looked on. Billy Nessen, a prominent Berkeley-based activist, was subsequently charged with organizing the track removal, and his trial resulted in a plea bargain that involved no jail time. The authorities responsible for causing Wilson's injury were never prosecuted criminally, but a civil suit was filed and a substantial out of court settlement. A vigil was maintained at the site of the tracks where Wilson was injured, and the protests continued until the early 1990s. After rehabilitation, and new metal artificial legs, Wilson continues as a peace activist. http://www.brianwillson.com/

Superfund cleanup sites

The Concord NWS was listed as a Superfund cleanup site on December 16 1994. 32 areas of the facility were identified as having been contaminated with heavy metals including zinc, copper, lead, cadmium, and arsenic, as well as semi-volatile organic compounds (SVOC) and organochloride pesticides. An area of great concern is the risk to the endangered the Salt Marsh Harvest Mouse and the California Clapper Rail. Remediation is underway at the site with some sites having soil removed and others being capped to prevent spread of contaminants.

Transportation

Until 1995 the city was the eastern terminus of the Concord line of Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) commuter train system; the line has since been extended eastward to Pittsburg/Bay Point. The County Connection provides limited public transportation in the city and to other points in the county. Buses run from the North Concord BART station to Martinez, the county seat.

Main thoroughfares include Willow Pass Road, Concord Avenue, Concord Boulevard, Clayton Road, Ygnacio Valley Road and Treat Boulevard. The city is also served by Interstate 680, and state highways 4 and 242.

Buchanan Field Airport is a public county-owned airfield in the City of Concord. It currently does not have any scheduled passenger service, but was once served by Pacific Southwest Airlines.

Media

The city of Concord is served by the daily newspaper, the Contra Costa Times published by the Bay Area News Group-East Bay (part of the Media News Group, Denver, Colorado), with offices in Walnut Creek. The paper was originally a paper run and owned by the Lesher family. Since the death of Dean Lesher in 1993, the paper has had several owners. The publisher also issues a weekly paper, the Concord Transcript, which is the local paper for Concord and nearby Clayton.

Education

Concord is served by the Mount Diablo Unified School District. Concord's Mount Diablo High School is home to several acclaimed California academies, specifically the Digital Safari, a three-year program involving the integration of multimedia with the core curriculum through integrated, project-based learning. The headquarters of the Kabul Soccer Club is located in Concord.

Concord's De La Salle High School is home of the record winning streak of 151 games set by the football team between 1992 and 2004. During that span, De La Salle won 12 California North Coast sectional championships, and was named national champion five different times (once by ESPN, four times by USA Today).

De La Salle High School (a private Catholic High School) is bordered by its sister school Carondelet High School and Ygnacio Valley High School.

California State University, East Bay has a campus in Concord.

Arts and culture

Concord is the home of the annual Concord Jazz Festival and was the home of the Concord Records jazz record label until it was bought in 1999.

Jazz musician Dave Brubeck was born in Concord and a park on Concord Boulevard, adjacent to Concord High School, was recently renamed in his honor (see below). Actor Tom Hanks, Actor Mark Hamill, Olympic gold-medalist Natalie Coughlin and mixed martial artist Gil Castillo have also been Concord residents. Actor/Comedian Carlos Alazraqui attended Concord High School. Concord is the original home of the counter-cultural icons Negativland.

Concord is also home to the 12-time World Champion Blue Devils Drum and Bugle Corps. The corps is made up of talented musicians from around the world. The Concord Blue Devils are the most decorated drum and bugle corps in the history of Drum Corps International.

Public Access Television is operated through TelVue Virtual Television Networks.

Points of interest

• Sleep Train Pavilion - a major concert venue formerly known as the Concord Pavilion
• Markham Regional Arboretum
• 1 Concord Center
• Sunvalley Mall
• The Willows Theater
• Farmer's Market concerts and movies at Todos Santos Plaza
• Buchanan Field Airport
• Camp Concord, at South Lake Tahoe, a family-oriented Summer Camp, although not located in Concord, is operated by the city.
• Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial

Parks

• Six Flags Waterworld Concord
• Pixie Playland
• Concord Skatepark
• Willow Pass Community Park
• Newhall Community Park
• Lime Ridge Open Space
• Dave Brubeck Park
• Matteo's Dream - a playground for children of all abilities

Famous Concordians

• Tom Hanks Actor
• Dave Brubeck Jazz musician
• Tom Candiotti Major League Baseball pitcher
• Natalie Coughlin Olympic gold-medalist
• Matt Gutierrez, Quarterback for the New England Patriots
• Cass McCombs Folk/Rock Musician
• Julie Strain B-movie / softcore pornography actress
• Carl Jefferson, jazz record producer and founder of the Concord Jazz Festival
• Carlos Alazraqui, Voice over artist and actor, currently on Reno 911
• Justin Davis, 2008 Jenga world champion
• Julia King, Vice-Chancellor of Aston University

Sister city

In 1974 Concord became a sister city with Kitakami, Iwate, in Japan. The city established a small Japanese style park in the city, and placed half of a sculpture, The Communion Bridge, in it. The matching half of the bridge is in Kitakami.

Notes

External links

• Official Site
• Concord Chamber of Commerce
• Concord Naval Weapons Station (CNWS): Current Status
• 2nd link for CNWS acreage reuse
• HalfwaytoConcord.com = Contra Costa County Politics, Event Calendar, Community News