The Livermore Valley, historically known as the Valle de San José (Valley of San José), is a valley in

Alameda County, California Alameda County ( ) is a county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and 21st most populous nationally. The county seat is Oakland. Al ...

, located in the

East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of the San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa countie ...

region. The city of Livermore is located in the valley.

Geography

The valley is bounded by the

Diablo Range The Diablo Range is a mountain range in the California Coast Ranges subdivision of the Pacific Coast Ranges in northern California, United States. It stretches from the eastern San Francisco Bay area at its northern end to the Salinas Valley are ...

on the north, east, and south; and is linked to the west with the

Amador Valley Amador Valley is a valley in eastern Alameda County, California and is the location of the cities of Dublin and Pleasanton. Part of Tri-Valley, the valley is bounded by the foothills of the Diablo Range on the north and south, Pleasanton Ridge t ...

. Watercourses draining the Livermore Valley include

Arroyo Mocho Arroyo Mocho is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed March 15, 2011 stream which originates in the far northeastern corner of Santa Clara County and flows northwesterly into ...

Arroyo Valle Arroyo Valle or Arroyo Del Valle is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed March 15, 2011 westward-flowing stream that begins in northeastern Santa Clara County, California ...

, Arroyo Seco, and

Arroyo Las Positas Arroyo Las Positas is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed March 15, 2011 westward-flowing watercourse in Alameda County, California, which begins at the confluence of Arro ...

Wine Country

The southern side of Livermore is

wine country Wine Country is the region of California, in the northern San Francisco Bay Area, known worldwide as a premier wine-growing region. The region is famed for its wineries, its cuisine, Michelin star restaurants, boutique hotels, luxury resorts, ...

. Wineries in the area include Wente Vineyards and

Concannon Vineyard Concannon Vineyard is the second-largest winery in the Livermore Valley of California, producing around 30,000 cases annually. It is well known for its Petite Sirah and Concannon was the first winery to bottle this grape as a varietal wine in 196 ...

Laboratories

In the east of Livermore is the

Lawrence Livermore Laboratory Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is a federal research facility in Livermore, California, United States. The lab was originally established as the University of California Radiation Laboratory, Livermore Branch in 1952 in respons ...

. Element 116 on the periodic table,

Livermorium Livermorium is a synthetic chemical element with the symbol Lv and has an atomic number of 116. It is an extremely radioactive element that has only been created in a laboratory setting and has not been observed in nature. The element is named aft ...

, is named after this laboratory.

Sandia Laboratory Sandia National Laboratories (SNL), also known as Sandia, is one of three research and development laboratories of the United States Department of Energy's National Nuclear Security Administration (NNSA). Headquartered in Kirtland Air Force Bas ...

is also located in eastern Livermore. Due to these laboratories, much of eastern Livermore is off-limits to the general public.

History

Livermore Valley was named after

Robert Livermore Robert Thomas Livermore, also known as Don Roberto Livermore, (c. 3 November 1799 – 14 February 1858) was an English-born Californian ranchero. He emigrated to Alta California in 1822, eventually becoming a Mexican citizen and a prominent lando ...

, an immigrant American rancher in Mexican

Alta California Alta California ('Upper California'), also known as ('New California') among other names, was a province of New Spain, formally established in 1804. Along with the Baja California peninsula, it had previously comprised the province of , but ...

, who with his business partner

José Noriega Don José Noriega (March 19, 1796 - May 30, 1869) was a Spanish-born Californio ranchero and politician. He served as Alcalde of San José (mayor) and was a prominent landowner in the Bay Area. Biography Noriega was born on 19 March 1796 in ...

were keeping livestock in the valley since 1834. Livermore and Jose Noriega received the

Mexican land grant The Spanish and Mexican governments made many concessions and land grants in Alta California (now known as California) and Baja California from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish Concessions of land were made to retired soldiers as an inducement for ...

for

Rancho Las Positas Rancho Las Positas was a Mexican land grant in present-day Alameda County, California given in 1839 by governor Juan Alvarado to Robert Livermore and José Noriega. Las Positas means "little watering holes" in Spanish. The rancho included t ...

, which encompassed the valley, in 1839 from Governor

Juan Bautista Alvarado Juan Bautista Valentín Alvarado y Vallejo (February 14, 1809 – July 13, 1882) was a Californio politician that served as Governor of Alta California from 1837-42. Prior to his term as governor, Alvarado briefly led a movement for independe ...

. In 1847 Noriega and Livermore purchased

Rancho Canada de los Vaqueros Rancho or Ranchos may refer to: Settlements and communities *Rancho, Aruba, former fishing village and neighbourhood of Oranjestad * Ranchos of California, 19th century land grants in Alta California **List of California Ranchos * Ranchos, Buenos ...

adjacent to the north of Rancho Las Positas and Livermore Valley in the Diablo Range. Livermore's name became well known during the

California Gold Rush The California Gold Rush (1848–1855) was a gold rush that began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California fro ...

in the late 1840s−early 1850s, for an inn at his adobe ranch house in the valley that served miners and other travelers eastbound on the road from the Bay Area through the Diablo Range's passes to the Mother Lode region in the

Sierra Nevada The Sierra Nevada () is a mountain range in the Western United States, between the Central Valley of California and the Great Basin. The vast majority of the range lies in the state of California, although the Carson Range spur lies primarily ...

. The valley came to be called by his name, as was Livermore Pass then (present day

Altamont Pass Altamont Pass, formerly Livermore Pass, is a low mountain pass in the Diablo Range of Northern California between Livermore in the Livermore Valley and Tracy in the San Joaquin Valley. The name is actually applied to two distinct but nearby ...

), the valley's northern pass that led to Stockton and the gold fields.

References

Valleys of Alameda County, California Subregions of the San Francisco Bay Area Valleys of California {{AlamedaCountyCA-geo-stub

Geography

Wine Country

Laboratories

History

See also

References