Port Costa is a small village and

census-designated place A census-designated place (CDP) is a concentration of population defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes only. CDPs have been used in each decennial census since 1980 as the counterparts of incorporated places, suc ...

(CDP) in Contra Costa County,

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...

, located in East Bay region of the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area G ...

. Situated on the southern shore of the Carquinez Strait, the population was 190 at the 2010 census.

History

Port Costa was founded in 1879 as a landing for the railroad

ferry A ferry is a ship, watercraft or amphibious vehicle used to carry passengers, and sometimes vehicles and cargo, across a body of water. A passenger ferry with many stops, such as in Venice, Italy, is sometimes called a water bus or water ta ...

'' Solano'', owned and operated by the Central Pacific Railroad.Images of America: Richmond, by Donald Bastin, Arcadia Publishing (SC), November 2003 This put Port Costa on the main route of the transcontinental railroad. The ''Solano'', later joined by the ''Contra Costa'', carried entire trains across the Carquinez Strait from Benicia to Port Costa, from whence they continued on to the

Oakland Pier The Oakland Long Wharf was an 11,000-foot railroad wharf and ferry pier along the east shore of San Francisco Bay located at the foot of Seventh Street in West Oakland. The Oakland Long Wharf was built, beginning 1868, by the Central Pacific Rail ...

. Businessman George W. McNear built the Port Costa Warehouses and Dock Company west of the new ferry terminal in 1880. The valley where Port Costa now sits, at one point called Bull Valley, was part of a ranch owned by William Piper. In 1883, McNear bought Piper's land for $100,000 and began to build up the town. Port Costa became the busiest port on the West Coast, primarily shipping wheat. Port Costa's first post office was established in 1881 with postmaster Kate Hurley. It later moved to a warehouse built by McNear, where it remains today. The

Port Costa School The Port Costa School was built to serve the community of Port Costa, California. Residents voted to fund the school with a bond in April 1911, and construction began later that year. The classic revival style building was designed by architect W ...

, a

classical revival Neoclassical architecture is an architectural style produced by the Neoclassical movement that began in the mid-18th century in Italy and France. It became one of the most prominent architectural styles in the Western world. The prevailing style ...

building designed by architect William Wilde, was built in 1911, opened in 1912, and operated until 1966. In 1988, it was added to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

. For the early decades of Port Costa's existence, much of the town's commercial activities took place on wharves and docks along the waterfront. These wharves and docks suffered from numerous fires between 1883-1941, and a large part of the "Waterfront Port Costa" area was demolished in 1921 after being badly damaged by shipworms. No docks or wharves are left standing today, although pilings remain. Besides the railroad and shipping, another important industry in Port Costa was brick making. Port Costa Brick Works operated from 1905 until 1991. After

's wheat output dropped in the early 20th century and especially after the Southern Pacific (which took over the operations of the Central Pacific) constructed a railroad bridge at Martinez in 1930 to replace the ferry crossing, Port Costa lost population and importance. In 1963, Bill Rich purchased and renovated multiple Port Costa buildings, including the Burlington Hotel (built circa 1883) and McNear's warehouse (built 1886), with the goal of making the town a tourist attraction. Under this iteration, the warehouse housed multiple antique stores and, for two years, artist

Clayton Bailey Clayton George Bailey (March 9, 1939 – June 6, 2020), was an American artist who worked primarily in the mediums of ceramic and metal sculpture. Early life and education Clayton George Bailey was born on March 9, 1939 in Antigo, Wisconsin. In ...

's Wonders of the World Museum. However, Port Costa fell into decline after a 1983 fire in the hills between Port Costa and Crockett. In 1999, known biker bar the Warehouse Cafe, located in the warehouse originally built by McNear, was purchased by a new owner and gained a "cult following" over the decades. In 2012, the restaurant Bull Valley Roadhouse, which sits in McNear's old office building, was renovated. In the following year, the Burlington Hotel was renovated by new owners as well. Port Costa continues to be a destination for day or weekend trips. Pilings at Port Costa

Geography

According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

, the CDP has a total area of , all of it land. Port Costa is surrounded by rolling hills grazed by cattle and managed by

East Bay Regional Park District The East Bay Regional Park District (EBRPD) is a special district operating in Alameda County and Contra Costa County, California, within the East Bay area of the San Francisco Bay Area. It maintains and operates a system of regional parks which ...

. Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline stretches from

Crockett Crockett may refer to: People and fictional characters * Crockett Gillmore (born 1991), American National Football League player *Crockett Johnson, pen name of David Johnson Liesk (1906-1975), American cartoonist and children's book illustrator * ...

through Port Costa and to Martinez. Big Bull Valley Creek runs along McEwen Road into a historic reservoir just above the town, then it runs in an underground pipe culvert beneath the town to the Carquinez Strait.

Demographics

The

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving ...

reported that Port Costa had a population of 190. The population density was . The racial makeup of Port Costa was 172 (90.5%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 2 (1.1%)

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 2 (1.1%) Native American, 7 (3.7%) Asian, and 7 (3.7%) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 10 persons (5.3%). There were 99 households, out of which 15 (15.2%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 37 (37.4%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 4 (4.0%) had a female householder with no husband present, 5 (5.1%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 10 (10.1%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 3 (3.0%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 42 households (42.4%) were made up of individuals, and 9 (9.1%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 1.92. There were 46 families (46.5% of all households); the average family size was 2.61. The population was spread out, with 19 people (10.0%) under the age of 18, 13 people (6.8%) aged 18 to 24, 38 people (20.0%) aged 25 to 44, 80 people (42.1%) aged 45 to 64, and 40 people (21.1%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 52.5 years. For every 100 females, there were 97.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 101.2 males. There were 110 housing units at an average density of , of which 99 were occupied, of which 53 (53.5%) were owner-occupied, and 46 (46.5%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 5.4%; the rental vacancy rate was 2.1%. 118 people (62.1% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 72 people (37.9%) lived in rental housing units.

Notable people from Port Costa

and Betty Graveen Bailey

References

External links