Pinole is a city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The population was 19,039 at the 2000 census. It is one of many small “bedroom communities” along the I-80 corridor in Western Contra Costa County. It is located about 20 miles northeast of San Francisco, and approximately a half-hour drive (without traffic) from either Oakland or San Francisco. Neighboring towns are Richmond and San Pablo to the southwest, and Hercules to the northeast. The unincorporated area of El Sobrante lies to the south.
The name derives from "pinole", a Native American word for a kind of flour made from the seeds of tansy-mustard, chia, and various other grasses and annual herbs. [1] An expedition under Don Pedro Fages was said to have run out of provisions while exploring the area, and been fed pinole by a local village, and so the Spaniards named their camp "El Pinole". In 1823, Don Ignacio Martinez, commandant of the Presidio of San Francisco, received a land grant of more than 17,000 acres (69 km²) from the Mexican government. This land became known as "El Pinole". Don Ignacio Martinez built a hacienda in Pinole Valley at the present side of Pinole Valley Park. During the 1850s Bernardo Fernandez, a Portuguese immigrant, started a trading facility on the shores of San Pablo Bay and eventually built the historic Fernandez Mansion which still stands today at the end of Tennent Avenue. From these early beginnings a small but thriving community grew into the city we now know as Pinole.
The settlement grew with the coming of the Southern Pacific Railroad in 1878 and the establishment of the California Powder Works in nearby Hercules. During this period this city had an active waterfront and was a regional commercial and banking center. The City of Pinole was incorporated in 1903.
Pinole and the surrounding area grew rapidly during the Post World War II boom. With the coming of I-80 in 1958 the town evolved in a suburban bedroom community within the San Francisco / Oakland Commuter Belt. Much of its original industry was displaced during this time and the town became predominantly residential.
Today, the town is locally known for its “big box” shopping store district along Fitzgerald Ave. The downtown area still retains many turn-of-the-century (1900’s) building stock and is being preserved by the city’s development agency as a historic area.
|
