SUMMARY OF THE COUNTY'S RESOURCES
As the tourist or globe-trotter stands on the deck
of the ocean liner passing through the famous portals of the Golden Gate
from the broad and trackless Pacific and enters the harbor of San Francisco,
his gaze rests upon a high range of hills on the eastern shore of the bay -
hills at whose feet cities teeming with the life of commerce and trade have
been built. Huge oil-tanks give notice of the location near by of the
greatest oil refineries in the West; and the smoke boiling upward from
hundreds of tall chimneys tells its own story of the prosperity and
commercial advantages which this region possesses.
The eye of the traveler has fallen on Contra Costa
County, bordered along its entire seventy miles of water-front with busy
factories almost surrounding a prosperous interior region of fertile
valleys, vine-clad hills, and well-kept orchards. Dotted here and there are
the thriving interior towns, connected by rapid-transit steam and electric
railway lines. Along the northern and eastern boundary tranquilly flow the
waters of the mighty San Joaquin. Standing guard over all, and towering high
above the plain, is historic, romantic Mount Diablo.
Second in industrial wealth and importance in the
State, foremost in the production of structural materials, and supplying the
finest wines and fruits on the market, Contra Costa County stands
pre-eminent among her fifty-seven sister counties. Rapidly overhauling San
Francisco, her only rival for manufacturing supremacy, it is only a question
of time until Contra Costa shall occupy first place in this field. The
manufacturing interests of Richmond alone exceed those of most of the big
cities of the coast; Martinez will soon be in the same position, and
Pittsburg leads many of the other cities of the State.
As the new manufacturing era begins to dawn for
the Pacific coast, and especially for the San Francisco Bay region, Contra
Costa County will develop faster than ever industrially, To this region will
come the greatest plants to be found in the West. That this is no idle
prophecy is shown by the immense factories already located in Contra Costa
County.
Among the peculiar and distinctive advantages that
Contra Costa County possesses for manufacturing and commercial enterprises,
is the deep water-frontage along its shore line, where the largest
ocean-going ships can be accommodated at all times. Paralleling the shore
are two great trans-continental railroads, the Southern Pacific and the
Santa Fe, with a maximum of sixty-three trains daily. Thus Contra Costa
County is assured of the best transportation facilities by both land and
water. Surrounded on three sides by water, which insures a temperate
climate, this section also enjoys cheap river transportation. The eastern
shores bathe in the fresh waters of the San Joaquin, while on the north and
west are the salt waters of San Francisco Bay. For two dollars a ton fruit
is carried from Martinez to San Francisco, a distance of thirty-five miles,
the rivers steamers giving practically an express service. Fruit picked at
five o'clock in the evening is delivered in San Francisco early the
following morning.
The eastern section of the county is rapidly
responding to two vast improvement projects - irrigation and reclamation.
The irrigation activities have been described at length in another portion
of this work. A large part of the reclaimed land of the delta of the San
Joaquin is in Contra Costa County. These delta lands repeat in California
the story of productivity of the deltas of the Nile, the Euphrates, and the
Mississippi. Reclamation is effected by levees built by clam-shell dredgers,
immense machines operated by steam-engines and equipped with electric plants
and powerful search-lights, enabling the work to go forward night and day.
The levees average a height of fourteen feet and a width of a hundred and
twenty-five feet at the base. The crops are irrigated by water carried over
the levee by siphons. When the irrigation is completed the surplus water is
thrown back into the stream by immense pumps worked by electric power. In
the process of levee construction navigable channels are cut around every
island. The crops are marketed by river boats and barges at low
transportation costs. On these lands are grown two-thirds of the potatoes,
beans, onions, celery, and asparagus produced in the State. As grass-lands,
for hay and forage, they have no equal. At many points dairying is an
established industry of long standing, and the reputation of the delta
butter is wide-spread. It is safe to say that reclamation activities of the
future will far exceed those of the past, bringing under cultivation large
tracts of hitherto unproductive lands.
In the interior section of the county are a dozen
or more fertile and picturesque valleys, in which are grown the choicest
orchard fruits and the finest variety of grapes. The famous San Ramon Valley
and the Alhambra, Pacheco, Ygnacio, and Clayton valleys in reality comprise
one large valley, continuous for about thirty miles, and varying in width
from one-half to fifteen miles. It is supposed that a broad arm of the bay
once penetrated this section, as the lands are sedimentary and very rich,
with a fine depth of soil. Here are found the large orchards of pears,
prunes, peaches, almonds, apricots, and walnuts. The valley region also
includes the smaller and separate Stone, San Pablo, Pinole, Rodeo, Franklin,
and Briones valleys. These valleys are also quite rich and are all well
watered by running streams. A portion of the great San Joaquin Valley is in
eastern Contra Costa County, where its average width is about twenty miles.
Sloping gently from Mount Diablo to the San Joaquin River, it adds sixty
thousand acres to the alluvial soil of that region. Some of the best farming
lands of the county are found there. Some of the choicest and coziest home
spots in the entire county are in the valley region.
Exceptional school advantages are to be found in
Contra Costa County. The county now maintains seven union high schools, as
follows: The Liberty Union High School, at Brentwood; the Riverview High
School, at Antioch; the Mount Diablo High School, at Concord; the San Ramon
Valley High School, at Danville; the Alhambra High School, at Martinez; the
John Swett High School, at Crockett; and the Richmond High School, at
Richmond. Provision is made for the cost of educating children who do not
live in any high-school district. It is now possible for a child in any part
of the county to obtain a high-school education without cost or unusual
hardship.
Keeping pace with all other sections of the
country, the active exponents of the good-roads movement are working with
enthusiasm to bring the roads of the county to the highest state of
perfection. Their success is attested by numerous scenic boulevards in the
various sections of the county. While much remains to be done, the movement
received a great impetus from the location of the State highway through the
county. The activity of the various towns in street improvements has also
contributed largely toward the making of better roads. Each year sees more
and more automobile travel, which has been so great a factor in bringing
good roads throughout the land.
In taking leave of Contra Costa County the writer
craves the indulgence of the reader if he has at times appeared to resort to
a large extent in superlatives. Nothing short of superlatives will serve in
describing many of the fields in which this section excels. Emerging from a
romantic background, beginning in the days of the old Spanish Dons, her
commercial rise has largely been achieved in the past dozen years. Who shall
say what the next decade shall bring?