Concord, California

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Concord is a city located in Contra Costa County, California, USA. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 121,780.

Until 1995 the city was the eastern terminus of the Concord line of Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) commuter train system; it has since been extended eastward to Pittsburg/Bay Point and the Concord line is now the Pittsburg/Bay Point - Daly City Line. Concord has been primarily a bedroom community over the last forty years, but during the last decade corporations such as ChevronTexaco and Bank of America have established extensive back-office operations there, diversifying the local economy.

Concord is also the home of the annual Concord Jazz Festival and the Concord Records jazz record label.

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 for 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).

Jazz musician Dave Brubeck was born in Concord, as was actor Tom Hanks, Olympic gold-medalist Natalie Coughlin and mixed martial artist Gil Castillo.

Concord is also home to the 11 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.

1 Geography
2 Demographics
3 Naval Weapons Station
4 History
5 Points of interest
6 External links

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Geography

Image:CAMap-doton-Concord.pngConcord is located at 37°58'4" North, 122°0'54" West (37.967825, -122.015135)Template:GR.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 78.1 km² (30.1 mi²). 78.1 km² (30.1 mi²) of it is land and none of it is covered by water.

The focal point of downtown Concord is Todos Santos Park, which encompases an entire city block and is known for its farmers market, free summer concerts, and large number of surrounding restaurants. The area immediately around downtown is in the midst redevlopment, with new high-density apartment and condominium projects being built 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). In the Southwest area of the city is the ethnically diverse area known as Four Corners, centered around the intersection of Monument Boulevard and Oak Grove Road.

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

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Demographics

As of the census Template:GR of 2000, there were 121,780 people, 44,020 households, and 30,329 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,560.0/km² (4,041.0/mi²). There were 45,083 housing units at an average density of 577.5/km² (1,496.0/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 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 were 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 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. 7.6% of the population and 5.2% of families were below the poverty line. 9.0% of those under the age of 18 and 6.2% of those 65 and older were living below the poverty line.

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Naval Weapons Station

The City of Concord is bordered by an all-but-mothballed Naval Weapons site. The site consists of two areas, the Inland (5,170 acres) and Tidal (7,630 acres) Areas. The Federal Government has announced that the Naval Base is to be closed and returned to the City of Concord. Concord will most likely sell the land out to developers while keeping a large portion for open-space and parks projects.

The Tidal area of the base is not scheduled for closure. 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 animals were removed to other locations by wildlife officials in early 2006.

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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 town of Pacheco is named).

Concord was founded under the name of Todos Santos (a name still borne by a park in the city on Willow Pass Rd.), 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 tomatos. The area to the east (site of the Concord Naval Weapons Station) was the site of a few enormous wheat ranches (5000+ acres), and was almost a sea of wheat all the way to the marshes bordering Suisun Bay. During the Prohibition, many vineyards were removed and replaced with walnut orchards. The town of Cowellville, now incorporated into Concord, produced cement.

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Port Chicago disaster

Template:Main Concord Naval Weapons Station, which used to be called "Port Chicago," was involved in an ammunition explosion that is still controversial to this day. On the evening of July 17th, 1944, a ship packed with munitions and explosives was docking at the port when an extremely large explosion rocked the night sky. Buildings were damaged as far away as San Francisco, a distance of 48 miles. All 320 soldiers on duty were killed instantly. The Navy immediately sprang into action, sending soldiers to put out the fire and restore order in the area.

Of the 320 men, nearly 2/3 were African American because of the racial segregation in the military at that time. This caused a huge uproar among the remaining African Americans in the area. Of the 328 remaining men in the Ordinance Battalion, 258 African Americans refused to load ammunition. All were court martialed, and all were given bad conduct discharges and ordered to forfeit 3 months pay for disobeying orders.

The explosion and later mutiny proceedings would help illustrate the costs of racial discrimination and fuel public criticism. By 1945, as the Navy worked toward desegregation, some mixed units appeared. When President Harry Truman called for the Armed Forces to be desegregated in 1948, the Navy could honestly say that Port Chicago had been a very important step in that process. The Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial was dedicated near the site in 1994.

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Sunvalley Mall plane crash

On the evening of December 23rd, 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 the Macy's Department Store at nearby Sun Valley 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 cancel scheduled passenger service that had been planned for the new year.

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Sister City

In 1974 Concord became a sister city with Kitikami, Nippon, in Iwate Prefecture. The city established a small Nipponese style park in the city, and placed half of a sculpture, "The Communion Bridge" in it. The matching half of the bridge is in Kitikami.

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