Location in Contra Costa County and the state of California Location in Contra Costa County and the state of California Martinez (/m r ti n s/ mar-tee-niss or /m r ti n / mar-tee-neth; Spanish: Martinez) is a town/city and the governmental center of county of Contra Costa County, California, in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. The populace was 35,824 at the 2010 census.
Martinez is positioned on the southern shore of the Carquinez Strait in the San Francisco Bay Area, directly facing the town/city center of Benicia and the southeastern end of Vallejo, California.
Robert Semple contracted to furnish ferry service from Martinez to Benicia, which for many years was the only crossing on the Carquinez Strait. By 1849, Martinez served as a way station for the California Gold Rush.
Martinez was the home of naturalist John Muir from 1880 until his death in 1914.
In 1860, Martinez played a part in the Pony Express, where riders would take the ferry from Benicia (particularly if they missed the steamer in Sacramento). In 1915, Shell Oil Company assembled an petroleum refinery in unincorporated Martinez, which sparked a building boom in the area.
A second region refinery (presently owned by Tesoro Petroleum Co.), together with the Shell facilities, help make Martinez a momentous oil refining center and port.
According to the United States Enumeration Bureau, the town/city has a total region of 13.1 square miles (34 km2), of which, 12.1 square miles (31 km2) of it is territory and 1.0 square mile (2.6 km2) of it (7.64 percent) is water.
Although the common perception of Martinez is that of a refinery town, given the view from Highway 680 athwart the Shell refinery from the Benicia Martinez Bridge, the town/city is in fact largely surrounded by water and county-wide open space preserves.
The Martinez Benicia Bridge carries Highway 680 athwart the easterly end of the Carquinez Strait to Solano County.
The Martinez Regional Shoreline bounds the town/city to the north along the Carquinez Strait.
Martinez's locale at the east end of the Carquinez Strait as it widens to Suisun Bay includes dramatic water views stretching to the Sierra range.
Martinez is one of the only two places in the Bay Area, the other being Golden Gate Bridge, where the Bay Area Ridge Trail and the San Francisco Bay Trail converge.
The Bay Trail is a prepared recreational corridor that, when complete, will encircle San Francisco and San Pablo bays with a continuous 400-mile (640 km) network of bicycling and hiking trails.
It will connect the shoreline of all nine Bay Area counties, link 47 cities, and cross the primary toll bridges in the region, including the Benicia Martinez Bridge.
The Bay Area Ridge Trail ultimately will be a 500+ mile trail encircling the San Francisco Bay along the ridge tops, open to hikers, equestrians, mountain bicyclists, and outside enthusiasts of all types.
East Bay Regional Park District's Iron Horse Regional Trail will join the Bay Trail along the waterfront, and the Contra Costa Canal Trail threads through the town/city from Pleasant Hill to the south.
The maritime influence is much less momentous than in other parts of the Bay Area that are closer to the Pacific, which causes very high daytime averages compared to San Francisco and Oakland in summer.
Climate data for Martinez, California The Contra Costa County courthouse in downtown Martinez The 2010 United States Enumeration reported that Martinez had a populace of 35,824.
The ethnic makeup of Martinez was 27,603 (77.1%) White, 1,303 (3.6%) African American, 255 (0.7%) Native American, 2,876 (8.0%) Asian, 121 (0.3%) Pacific Islander, 1,425 (4.0%) from other competitions, and 2,241 (6.3%) from two or more competitions.
The Enumeration reported that 34,528 citizens (96.4 percent of the population) lived in homeholds, 235 (0.7 percent) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 1,061 (3.0 percent) were institutionalized.
There were 14,287 homeholds, out of which 4,273 (29.9 percent) had kids under the age of 18 living in them, 6,782 (47.5 percent) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 1,751 (12.3 percent) had a female homeholder with no husband present, 640 (4.5 percent) had a male homeholder with no wife present.
There were 928 (6.5 percent) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 137 (1.0 percent) same-sex married couples or partnerships.
3,920 homeholds (27.4 percent) were made up of individuals and 1,078 (7.5 percent) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
The age distribution of the populace showed 7,329 citizens (20.5 percent) under the age of 18, 2,842 citizens (7.9 percent) aged 18 to 24, 9,193 citizens (25.7 percent) aged 25 to 44, 12,121 citizens (33.8 percent) aged 45 to 64, and 4,339 citizens (12.1 percent) who were 65 years of age or older.
There were 14,976 housing units at an average density of 1,140.2 per square mile (440.2/km ), of which 9,619 (67.3 percent) were owner-occupied, and 4,668 (32.7 percent) were occupied by renters.
The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.4 percent; the rental vacancy rate was 4.9 percent.
23,876 citizens (66.6 percent of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 10,652 citizens (29.7 percent) lived in rental housing units.
The ethnic makeup of the town/city was 81.03 percent White, 3.35 percent Black or African American, 0.74 percent Native American, 6.63 percent Asian, 0.23 percent Pacific Islander, 3.29 percent from other competitions, and 4.72 percent from two or more competitions.
10.20 percent of the populace were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
11.7 percent were of German, 10.8 percent Irish, 10.2 percent Italian, 9.4 percent English and 5.4 percent American ancestry.
There were 14,300 homeholds out of which 30.0 percent had kids under the age of 18 living with them, 49.4 percent were married couples living together, 11.0 percent had a female homeholder with no husband present, and 35.6 percent were non-families.
27.4 percent of all homeholds were made up of individuals and 6.9 percent had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older.
In the city, the age distribution of the populace showed 22.7 percent under the age of 18, 7.3 percent from 18 to 24, 32.6 percent from 25 to 44, 27.3 percent from 45 to 64, and 10.1 percent who were 65 years of age or older.
About 3.2 percent of families and 5.2 percent of the populace were below the poverty line, including 3.9 percent of those under age 18 and 4.8 percent of those age 65 or over.
The languages spoken were 88 percent English, 6 percent Spanish, 2 percent Tagalog, 1 percent German, 1 percent Chinese, 0.5 percent Italian, 0.5 percent Persian, 0.3 percent Korean, 0.3 percent Portuguese, 0.3 percent Russian, 0.3 percent Arabic, 0.2 percent Dutch, 0.2 percent Polish, 0.2 percent French, 0.2 percent Punjabi, 0.2 percent Vietnamese, 0.1 percent Japanese, 0.1 percent Tamil, 0.1 percent Cantonese.
Of the 4,176 citizens who did not use English as their major language 3,663 (87.7 percent) spoke it well or very well while 513 (12.3 percent) spoke it "not well" or "not at all" 5 Martinez Unified School District 380 9 City of Martinez 127 According to Sister Cities International, Martinez is paired with Dunbar in Scotland, Hanchuan in China, and the Italian suburbs of Milazzo and Stresa.
Amtrak, the nationwide passenger rail system, runs its California Zephyr daily in each direction through Martinez on its route between Emeryville (across the bay from San Francisco) and Chicago, also passing through Sacramento, Reno, Salt Lake City, Denver, and Omaha.
Amtrak California operates its Capitol Corridor trains through Martinez station, providing service a several times daily between San Jose to the west and Auburn to the east (via Sacramento).
Amtrak California also runs its San Joaquin trains through Martinez, providing service a several times daily between Oakland to the west and Bakersfield at the south end of the San Joaquin Valley.
One connection originates in Martinez and runs as far north as the Eureka area.
However BART's long term plans include a new line extension running from Fremont and through the I-680 corridor and ending in Martinez.
The 1,680-foot (512.06 m)-long, 80-foot (24.38 m) high steel "Muir Trestle" (aka "Alhambra Trestle") carries the freight operations of the BNSF Railroad through Martinez alongside to California State Route 4 (John Muir Parkway).
Tri-Delta Transit runs express service between Martinez and easterly Contra Costa County.
State Route 4 runs through Martinez westward to Hercules and eastward through Stockton and the Sierra Nevada to near the border of Nevada.
Interstate 680 runs northward athwart the Benicia Martinez Bridge toward Sacramento via Interstate 80 and southward toward San Jose.
The town/city of Martinez is served by the Martinez News Gazette, the Martinez Tribune, and the East Bay Times.
Martinez is also served by Martinez Patch, a small-town news website covering improve news and affairs, and the small-town news and talk blog Claycord.com.
Covering most of Martinez, the Martinez Unified School District encompasses four elementary schools, one middle school, one high school, and two alternative/independent study schools.
Martinez Junior High School serves students in grades 6 through 8.
Part of Martinez is served by the Mount Diablo Unified School District, whose Hidden Valley Elementary School is positioned in Martinez.
Catherine of Siena School (Martinez, California), a private Roman Catholic elementary, also serves the Martinez community.
The Martinez Library is part of the Contra Costa County Library and is positioned in Martinez.
Main article: Martinez, California beavers Increased run-off from advanced areas along the creek has increased flooding in Martinez, a low-lying town/city assembled on a flood plain, in recent decades.
Although Martinez had instead of the assembly of a $9.7 million flood control universal in 1999, the downtown was flooded in 2005, ironically two years before the beavers arrived.
A City Council subcommittee was formed to consider whether the beavers could be protected and flood threat managed, and was given 90 days to copy a report to the full council for a vote. During this period, expert Skip Lisle was hired to install a flow device that could reduce the level of impounded water behind the beaver dam and mitigate flooding threat above the beaver dam. The beavers have received nationwide attention, amateur video coverage, a webpage devoted to them, and a new nonprofit organization ("Worth A Dam") formed. The beaver have transformed Alhambra Creek from a trickle into multiple dams and beaver ponds, which in turn, led to the return of steelhead (Oncorhynchus mykiss) and river otter (Lontra canadensis) in 2008, and mink (Neovison vison) in 2009. The beaver parents have produced babies every year since their 2006 arrival. However, in June 2010, after birthing and successfully weaning triplets this year (and quadruplets the previous three years), "Mom Beaver" died of natural causes. The Martinez beavers probably originated from the Sacramento-San Joaquin River Delta.
It was California's early fur trade, more than any other single factor, that opened up the West, and the San Francisco Bay Area in particular, to world trade.
Mariana Bertola (1865-1955), San Francisco physician, taught school in Martinez Joe Di - Maggio, Hall of Fame baseball player for New York Yankees, was born in Martinez in 1914 Ella Leffland, born Martinez 1931, author, The Knight, Death and The Devil (National Book Award winner), Rumors of Peace based on living in Martinez (called Mendoza) in World War II Aldo Ray, actor, lived in Crockett in Contra Costa County, died in Martinez in 1991 Sabato "Simon" Rodia, creator of enormous folk art Watts Towers in Los Angeles, spent last ten years of his life in Martinez Tom Walsh, NFL offensive coordinator and wide receivers coach for Los Angeles and Oakland Raiders,grew up in Martinez (Alhambra Valley) Flag of California.svg - California portal Terrestrial globe.svg - Geography portal P history.svg - History portal SF From Marin Highlands3.jpg - San Francisco Bay Area portal Flag of the United States.svg - United States portal City of Martinez.
"California Cities by Incorporation Date" (Word).
City of Martinez.
"Martinez (city) Quick - Facts".
"Martinez Historical Society".
Martinez, CA, City History Archived August 2, 2015, at the Wayback Machine.
"Martinez History and the Pony Express".
"Welcome to Shell Martinez Refinery".
City of Martinez.
"Martinez, California Climate Summary".
"Martinez, California Temperature Averages".
Average weather for Martinez Weather Channel Retrieved March 30, 2008 "2010 Enumeration Interactive Population Search: CA Martinez city".
Martinez, California[dead link], US Enumeration Bureau MLA Data Center, Martinez, California entry, U.S.
Farm Report: Contra Costa wines "After Prohibition was repealed, wineries began to open again in Contra Costa County, including J.E.
"City of Martinez CAFR".
"Martinez Beavers set up shop downtown:Mayor says they've turn into city's most prominent attraction".
"Martinez Beaver Dam Safe Even with Rough Storms".
"Martinez Beavers".
"New baby beaver has Martinez inhabitants beaming".
Martinez, California Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Martinez, California Martinez Area Chamber of Commerce Martinez, California Scenes, c.1927.
Worth a Dam the nonprofit that saved the Martinez beavers Municipalities and communities of Contra Costa County, California, United States
Categories:
Martinez, California - 1876 establishments in California - Carquinez Strait - Cities in Contra Costa County, California - Cities in the San Francisco Bay Area - County seats in California - Incorporated metros/cities and suburbs in California - Pony Express stations - Populated places established in 1849 - Populated places established in 1876 - Populated coastal places in California
|