Editing Antioch, California (section)

==History==
[[File:José Noriega (Mayor of San Jose).jpg|thumb|left|Don [[José Noriega]], a wealthy [[Californio]] ranchero, was granted [[Rancho Los Méganos]] in 1835.]]

===Early history===
Antioch is one of the oldest towns in the region. The town has been variously named '''East Antioch''', '''Smith's Landing''',<ref>Both {{gnis|1657936}}</ref> and '''Marsh's Landing''',<ref name=CGN /> prior to its current name.

In 1848, [[John Marsh (pioneer)|John Marsh]], owner of [[Rancho Los Méganos]], one of the largest ranches in California, built a landing on the [[San Joaquin River]] in what is now Antioch. It became known as Marsh's Landing, and was the shipping point for the {{convert|17,000|acre|km2|adj=on}} rancho. It included a pier extending well out into the river, enabling vessels drawing {{convert|15|ft|m}} of water to tie up there in any season of the year. The landing also included a slaughterhouse, a smokehouse for curing hams, rodeo grounds, and a {{Fraction|1|1|2}}-story dwelling, embellished with fretwork, that was brought around the Horn to serve as a home for the [[Majordomo|mayordomo]] and his wife.<ref>Lyman, George D. John Marsh, Pioneer: The Life Story of a Trail-Blazer on Six Frontiers, pp. 280-1, The Chautauqua Press, Chautauqua, New York, 1931.</ref>

[[File:John Marsh, Pioneer, 1852.jpg|thumb|left|150px|[[John Marsh (pioneer)|John Marsh]] in 1852]]

In 1849, twin brothers Rev. William Wiggins Smith and Rev. Joseph Horton Smith<ref>{{Cite book|title=The Transcription of The Diary of William Wiggins Smith|publisher=his son Charles H. Smith|year=1941–1942|location=Contra Costa County Library Antioch Branch}}</ref> sailed from Boston, purchased land from John Marsh<ref>{{Cite book|title=Looking Back - Tales of Old Antioch (CA) and Other Places|publisher=Earl Hohlmayer|year=1991|location=Contra Costa County Library Antioch Branch|isbn=978-0-9651251-1-6 |url=https://www.amazon.com/Looking-Back-Tales-Antioch-Places/dp/B002F6T8FU}}</ref> and founded a town slightly west of Marsh's Landing, and named it Smith's Landing.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Antioch To The Twenties|publisher=Elise S Benyo|year=1972|location=Contra Costa County Library, Antioch, CA|url=https://www.amazon.com/Antioch-twenties-Elise-S-Benyo/dp/B0006C6XPI}}</ref> During the town picnic on July 4, 1851, William, the town's new minister, persuaded the residents to change the name of the town to Antioch, for the [[Bible|biblical]] city of [[Antioch]],<ref name=gudde>{{cite book|first=Erwin|last=Gudde|author2=William Bright|title=California Place Names|year=2004|edition=Fourth|publisher=University of California Press|page=15|isbn=978-0-520-24217-3}}</ref> "in as much as the first settlers were disciples of Christ, and one of them had died and was buried on the land, that it be given a Bible name in his honor, and suggested 'Antioch' (an ancient Syrian town where two important rivers meet and where the followers of Christ were first called Christians), and by united acclamation it was so christened."

Around 1859, coal was discovered in several places in the hills south of Antioch, and coal mining formed the first substantial business apart from farming and dairying for the inhabitants of this community. This new industry resulted in the founding of the towns of Nortonville, Somersville, Stewartville, and Black Diamond (now [[Pittsburg, California|Pittsburg]]), and added greatly to the economic activity of the Antioch area. The Empire Coal Company was formed by John C. Rouse and George Hawxhurst in 1876, which built a railroad that passed from Antioch toward the mines over what is now "F Street" (formerly Kimball Street). However, later on, both the mine and the railroad passed into the hands of the Belshaw brothers. The mines have long since ceased operation, and the railroad tracks have been dug up, though the building that served as the Antioch terminus of the railroad still stands on the corner of F Street and Fourth Street, and the grading and trestles still remain much as they were in those early days.

In 1863, a great excitement arose over the discovery of [[copper]] ore near Antioch. Smelting works were built at Antioch, and the ore fetched $15 to $25 per ton. The copper bubble eventually burst, to the dismay of the citizens, and petroleum was first drilled for near Antioch in 1865, but not enough oil was found to make a decent profit.

The Antioch Post Office was opened in 1851, closed in 1852, reopened in 1855, closed again in 1862, and has operated continuously since reopening in 1863.<ref name=CGN>{{California's Geographic Names|595}}</ref> The city of Antioch was [[municipal corporation|incorporated]] in 1872.<ref name=CGN />

The city's historic Chinese community, which was forcibly segregated,<ref>Pfaelzer, Jean, Driven Out: The Forgotten War Against Chinese Americans, 90-91 (Random House New York 2007)</ref> was estimated to number in the hundreds in the late 1800s.{{r|TMN 2021-04-14}} The city's early history included banning Chinese residents from walking the streets after sundown.{{r|KTVU 2021-04-14}} In 1876, the Chinatown was burned down due to arson; the fire department refused to put out the fire.<ref>Driven Out at 90-91; ABC7 April 14, 2021</ref> For nearly 100 years, virtually no Chinese lived in Antioch. The 1960 census showed that only 12 residents were Chinese.<ref name="SFG 2021-04-15">{{Cite news|last=Dowd|first=Katie |date=April 7, 2021|title=The Bay Area town that drove out its Chinese residents for 100 years|url=https://www.sfgate.com/sfhistory/article/antioch-race-riot-chinatown-arson-california-16067820.php|access-date=April 15, 2021|work=SFGATE|language=en-US}}</ref>

Antioch is mainly a bedroom community, with most adults working in larger cities toward [[Oakland]] and [[San Francisco]]. The town has grown in the last 30 years, as the population of the Bay Area continues to grow, and real estate prices force families to move towards the outskirts of the Bay Area.{{r|SFG 2021-04-15}}

===21st century===
[[File:Gateway Generating Station rectified.jpg|thumb|[[Gateway Generating Station]], a [[Combined cycle power plant|combined-cycle]] [[Gas-fired power plant|gas-fired power station]] that began operation in 2009]]
In January 2001, the Antioch Press was established by publisher and former Antioch Mayor Pro Tem and Councilman Allen Payton; he sold it in 2005 to the Brentwood Press and Publishing Company.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mondotimes.com/1/world/us/5/6337/19270|title=Antioch Press newspaper in Antioch California - MondoTimes.com|website=www.mondotimes.com|access-date=September 12, 2019}}</ref> Between 2001 and 2008, [[Gateway Generating Station]] was constructed in northern Antioch; the 530[[megawatt|MW]] [[combined cycle power plant|combined-cycle]] [[natural gas-fired power station]], owned and operated by [[Pacific Gas & Electric]], began providing power to customers in January 2009.<ref name="energy">{{cite web
 |url          = https://ww2.energy.ca.gov/sitingcases/gateway/index.html
 |title        = Gateway Generating Station (formerly Contra Costa Power Plant Unit 8)
 |website      = California Energy Commission
 |publisher    = State of California
 |access-date  = December 2, 2020
 |archive-date = March 1, 2020
|archive-url  = https://web.archive.org/web/20200301220826/https://ww2.energy.ca.gov/sitingcases/gateway/index.html
 |url-status   = dead
}}</ref> In late 2009, Antioch received significant media attention following the news of kidnap victim [[kidnapping of Jaycee Lee Dugard|Jaycee Lee Dugard]] being discovered near the city limits,<ref>{{cite news| url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/crime/detail?&entry_id=46730 | title=Crime Scene : Dugard case: The circus comes to town | first=Demian | last=Bulwa | work=The San Francisco Chronicle | date=September 2, 2009}}</ref> and became the focus of several news stories regarding its 1,000 registered [[sex offender]]s. The ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' ran a story titled "Sex offenders move to Antioch area 'because they can',"<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-kidnapped31-2009aug31,0,1096874.story|title=Sex offenders move to Antioch area 'because they can' – latimes.com|website=[[Los Angeles Times]] |date=September 3, 2009|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20090903235627/http://www.latimes.com/news/local/la-me-kidnapped31-2009aug31,0,1096874.story |accessdate=February 25, 2024|archive-date=September 3, 2009 }}</ref> ''[[The Independent]]'' ran a story titled "How [[2006 California Proposition 83|Jessica's Law]] turned Antioch into a paedophile ghetto",<ref>{{cite news| url=https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/how-jessicas-law-turned-antioch-into-a-paedophile-ghetto-1780287.html |archive-url=https://ghostarchive.org/archive/20220507/https://www.independent.co.uk/news/world/americas/how-jessicas-law-turned-antioch-into-a-paedophile-ghetto-1780287.html |archive-date=May 7, 2022 |url-access=subscription |url-status=live | work=The Independent | location=London | title=How Jessica's Law turned Antioch into a paedophile ghetto | first=Guy | last=Adams | date=September 2, 2009 | access-date=April 25, 2010}}</ref> and [[CNN]]'s [[Anderson Cooper]]<ref>{{cite news| url=http://transcripts.cnn.com/TRANSCRIPTS/0909/02/acd.02.html | work=CNN | title=CNN.com}}</ref> and [[Larry King]] both did similar stories for television; the latter with commentary by TV judge [[Judy Sheindlin]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.westwoodone.com/pg/jsp/larryking/transcript.jsp;jsessionid=C13C9DCF2057BA86F574EC0C89C70D4F?pid=27854|title=Transcript|accessdate=February 25, 2024}}{{Dead link|date=August 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}</ref> However, the ''[[Contra Costa Times]]'' and affiliated newspapers contradicted their claim: "Disturbing, if true. Only it's not, according to a [[Bay Area News Group]] analysis of sex offender addresses and census data." The report concluded that the 94509 zip code ranked only 39th [[California|in the state]] with 1.5 sex offenders per 1,000, with [[Oakland]], [[San Francisco]], [[San Jose, California|San Jose]], [[Bethel Island]] and [[Vallejo, California|Vallejo]] ZIP codes ranked in the top ten. [[Monte Rio]] ranked first with 4.5 per 1,000.<ref>[http://www.mercurynews.com/news/ci_13270184?nclick_check=1 Antioch not the sex offender rat's nest that media suggest, data show], By John Simerman, Contra Costa Times. Ranked in the top ten were [[Oakland]] (94612 4.4/k, 94607 3.1/1,000) [[San Francisco]] (94103 3.5/k, 94102 3.1/1,000) San Jose (95126 3.5/k, 95112 3.2/1,000), [[Bethel Island]] (94511 4.2/1,000), [[Vallejo, California|Vallejo]] (94590 3.3/1,000) [[Alviso]] (95002 2.8/1,000), and [[Monte Rio]] (95462), which ranked first with 4.5 per 1,000.{{dead link|date=September 2023}}</ref>

The city was attempting in 2012 to annex an adjacent 678-acre area of unincorporated land, which includes a [[GenOn Energy]] 760-megawatt power plant, to include the plant within city limits.<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2012/12/14/antioch-annexation-residents-may-not-get-any-say-in-move-to-city/|title=Antioch annexation: Residents may not get any say in move to city|date=December 14, 2012}}</ref> In October 2010, Allen Payton returned to the news business and established the Antioch Herald, first online, then in May 2011 he began publishing a monthly print edition.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://antiochherald.com/about-us/|title=About Us {{!}} Antioch Herald|language=en-US|access-date=September 12, 2019}}</ref>

Increasingly tied to the greater economy of the [[San Francisco Bay Area]], a [[Bay Area Rapid Transit]] (BART) [[Antioch station (BART)|station]] opened in the city in May 2018.<ref>{{cite web |title = eBART East Contra Costa BART Extension |url = http://www.bart.gov/sites/default/files/docs/eBARTFactSheet_JUNE%2029_15Fr.pdf |publisher = [[Bay Area Rapid Transit]] (BART) |access-date = August 13, 2015}}</ref>

Mayor Lamar Thorpe announced on April 14, 2021, that the city would establish a Chinatown historic district in the downtown and acknowledge the city's racist past.<ref name="TMN 2021-04-14">{{Cite news|last=Prieve|first=Judith|date=April 14, 2021|title=Antioch mayor apologizes for city's early poor treatment of Chinese residents|url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2021/04/14/antioch-mayor-apologizes-for-citys-early-poor-treatment-of-chinese|access-date=April 15, 2021|work=The Mercury News|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name="KTVU 2021-04-14">{{Cite news|last=Fernandez|first=Lisa|date=April 14, 2021|title=Antioch mayor offers amends to Bay Area's Chinese-American community|url=https://www.ktvu.com/news/antioch-mayor-offers-amends-to-bay-areas-chinese-american-community|access-date=April 15, 2021|work=KTVU FOX 2|language=en-US}}</ref><ref name= "ABC7 2021-04-14">{{Cite news|last=Anthony|first=Laura|date=April 14, 2021|title=Antioch aims to make amends with Asian residents, past and present|url=https://abc7news.com/10515236/|access-date=April 15, 2021|work=ABC7 San Francisco|language=en}}</ref>