East Bay Then and Now

History has divided the East Bay, the San Francisco Bay's eastern shore, into three parts. In its agricultural south, farms once helped feed the larger northern and western cities. An urban heart beats from the center, which is home to the flagship of one of the world's great university systems, the University of California. International industry and shipping dominated the economy in the north, where oil - the lifeblood of industry - is still refined.

The East Bay was first known as Contra Costa - the opposite shore. The Spanish visited the region in the eighteenth century and settled there in the early part of the nineteenth century. The immigrants found an area inhabited by native peoples, whom they called Costanoans, or Coast People. They settled at Mission San Jose, in an area that is now part of the city of Fremont, and awarded veterans from their army huge land grants throughout the region. As with the natives before them, only the names of these settlers remain: Peralta, Castro, San Lorenzo, and San Leandro to name but a few.

When gold was discovered in the foothills of the Sierra Nevada in 1848, things changed forever. Men and women of all races came to mine the gold. Most were unsuccessful; many settled in the East Bay and founded new towns and cities. These cities are celebrated here: Mission San Jose, Niles, and Irvington - all of which became part of the city of Fremont in 1956 - Hayward, San Leandro, Oakland, Alameda, Berkeley, Albany, El Cerrito, and Richmond. This fascinating book looks back at the way things were and shows how dynamics have shaped things into what they are today: the East Bay, then and now.

Dennis Evanosky is an editor at Hills Newspapers in the East Bay. In 1997 his love of history helped fashion an award-winning calendar that featured the history of his Oakland neighborhood. He has since joined Eric J. Kos to design six more history calendars featuring both Oakland and Alameda.

Eric J. Kos is a graduate of the Rhode Island School of Design and has provided his design expertise to various publications in the East Bay since 1997. In 1994 he helped start his first corporation, Stellar Media Group, Inc., which publishes the Alameda Sun, a weekly free newspaper in Alameda, California.

The price for this book is $25.00 per copy. All California Residents please add $2.31 (9.25%) Sales Tax per book.

Please add $8.00 shipping/handling for the first book and $4.00 for each additional book to cover USPS 2 day Priority Service.

Books may be picked up at the History Center during regular hours or shipped. Mail check or money order (made payable to "Contra Costa County Historical Society") to:

Contra Costa County Historical Society
610 Main Street
Martinez, CA 94553-1129

An historical service of the Contra Costa County Historical Society.

For more information:

Telephone: 925-229-1042
Fax: 925-229-1772
e-Mail: info@cocohistory.com

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