Editing Concord, California (section)

==History==
[[File:Salvio_Pacheco.jpg|thumb|left|upright|Concord was founded as "Todos Santos" in 1869 by [[Don (honorific)|Don]] [[Salvio Pacheco]], a noted [[Californio]] ranchero.]]
The valleys north of [[Mount Diablo]] were inhabited by the [[Miwok]] people, who hunted [[elk]] and fished in the numerous streams flowing from the mountain into the [[San Francisco Bay]]. It is important to note Miwok and other indigenous people still live within city limits. In 1772, Spanish explorers began to cross the area but did not settle there. In 1834, the Mexican land grant [[Rancho Monte del Diablo]] at the base of Mount Diablo was granted to Salvio Pacheco (for whom the nearby town of [[Pacheco, California|Pacheco]] is named).

Concord was founded under the name of Todos Santos ("all saints"; a name still borne by the central city plaza and park between Willow Pass Road and Salvio Street), on the initiative of Pacheco in 1869. It achieved prominence in the 19th century, when most residents of Pacheco relocated to Concord to avoid the devastation of fire and flood which crippled Pacheco's formerly booming economy. Concord was [[Incorporated town|incorporated]] on February 5, 1905.<ref>{{cite book |last = Harris |first = Joel A. |year = 2009 |title = Images of America: Concord |location = San Francisco |publisher = Arcadia Publishing |isbn = 978-0-7385-6913-0 }}</ref>

The area around Concord in the surrounding Ygnacio and Clayton valleys was a large agricultural area. The crops grown included grapes, walnuts, almonds, wheat, hay, and even tomatoes. The area to the east (now the site of the Concord Naval Weapons Station) was the site of a few enormous wheat ranches of over {{convert|5000|acre|km2|0}}, and was almost a sea of wheat all the way to the marshes bordering [[Suisun Bay]]. During [[Prohibition in the United States|Prohibition]], many vineyards were removed and replaced with walnut orchards. The town of [[Cowell, California|Cowell]], now incorporated into Concord, produced cement.

The first Concord post office opened in 1872.<ref name=CGN>{{California's Geographic Names|618}}</ref>

===Port Chicago disaster===
{{Main|Port Chicago disaster}}

The [[munition]]s on board a [[United States|Navy]] cargo ship exploded while being loaded during [[World War II]], resulting in the largest number of casualties among [[African American]]s in any one incident during that war. On the evening of July 17, 1944, a massive explosion instantly killed 320 sailors, merchant seamen, and civilians working at the pier. The blast was felt {{convert|30|mi|km}} away. A subsequent refusal by 258 black sailors to load any more ammunition was the beginning of the Navy's largest-ever mutiny trial, in which 50 men were found guilty. Future Supreme Court Justice [[Thurgood Marshall]] sat in on most of the proceedings and declared that he saw a prejudiced court.<ref>{{cite book |last = Allen |first = Robert L. |year = 2006 |title = The Port Chicago Mutiny |publisher = [[Heyday Books]] |location = [[Berkeley, California|Berkeley, CA]] |isbn = 978-1-59714-028-7 |oclc = 63179024 |page = 118 |url = https://books.google.com/books?id=2jl6cyAy6u8C |access-date = April 10, 2016 }}</ref>