Editing Livermore, California (section)

== History ==

=== Pre-contact ===
The valley and upland areas, where contemporary Livermore is located, was home to [[Chochenyo]] speaking peoples.<ref name=":5">{{Cite journal |date=July 4, 2017 |title=2009 - Ohlone/Costanoan Indians of the San Francisco Peninsula and their Neighbors, Yesterday and Today by Randall Milliken, Laurence H. Shoup, and Beverly R. Ortiz |url=https://digitalcommons.csumb.edu/hornbeck_ind_1/6 |journal=National Park Service; Golden Gate National Recreation Area, San Francisco, California}}</ref> As a group, these people are considered [[Ohlone]] Costonoan with distinct cultural affiliation in contrast to and closely bordering the [[Bay Miwok]] to the north and the Valley [[Yokuts]] to the east. Four [[tribelet]]s, the Yulien, Ssaoam, Ssouyn, and the Pelnen occupied the valley floor with territory extending into the hills.<ref>{{Cite book |last=J |first=Farris, Glenn |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1034721884 |title=Milliken: A Time of Little Choice: The Disintegration of Tribal Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area, 1769-1810 |date=July 1, 1996 |publisher=eScholarship, University of California |oclc=1034721884}}</ref> Semi-permanent villages were located near water drainages at the valley floor within the current urban limits of Livermore with seasonal camps in the surrounding uplands.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Kathryn. |first=Jones, Terry L. Klar |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/503243818 |title=California prehistory : colonization, culture, and complexity |date=2010 |publisher=AltaMira Press |isbn=978-0-7591-1960-4 |oclc=503243818}}</ref>

=== 1700s ===
A Spanish expedition led by [[Pedro Fages]] skirted the western edge of Livermore Valley in 1772. Shortly afterwards, the [[Mission San José (California)|Spanish Mission of San Jose]] was founded in 1797 on the slopes of what is modern day Fremont. Mission San Jose viewed the people and land stretching to the east as under their control.<ref name=":5" />{{rp|7}} Livermore Valley was called the Valley of San Jose by the Friars and actively recruited{{Clarification needed|date=April 2025|reason=Does this mean "forced"?}} native peoples of the valley into the mission system. In contrast, the valley was also used as a staging area for raids on Mission San Jose by neighboring tribes in this early period and beyond.<ref name=":14" />{{rp|184–186}}

=== 1800s ===
During the first seven years of the 1800s, five hundred and two individuals were baptized at Mission San Jose from the four tribelets in the Livermore Valley.<ref name=":14">{{Cite book |last=milliken |first=Randall |url=https://search.library.berkeley.edu/permalink/01UCS_BER/1thfj9n/alma991023169449706532 |title=A time of little choice: The Disintegration of tribal Culture in the San Francisco Bay Area 1769-1810 |publisher=Ballena Press |year=1995 |isbn=0879191325 |location=Novato, Ca |pages=184–186 |language=English}}</ref> In this time, Spanish military conducted raids throughout the East Bay using the valley as a natural corridor for movement.<ref name=":14" /> Deaths from [[measles]] outbreaks were recorded in Mission San Jose in 1806 which forced recruiting beyond the Livermore Valley and into the Altamont range.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Lightfoot |first=Kent G. |url=https://search.library.berkeley.edu/permalink/01UCS_BER/1thfj9n/alma991050191719706532 |title=Indians, missionaries, and merchants : the legacy of colonial encounters on the California frontiers |date=2005 |publisher=University of California Press |isbn=0-520-20824-2 |location=Berkeley |pages=75 |oclc=54974329}}</ref> The [[Livermore Valley|Livermore-Amador Valley]] from 1800 to about 1837 was primarily used as grazing land for the Mission San Jose's growing herds of cattle, sheep and horses. The valley helped San Jose Mission emerge as one of the more wealthy Spanish enclaves. As a result of the secularization of the mission system, in 1839, two large [[Ranchos of California|ranchos]] were created that encompassed the Livermore Valley; [[Rancho Las Positas]] and [[Rancho Valle de San José|Rancho Valle de San Jose]]. Many Native groups left the San Jose Mission during this period and reestablished themselves in communities in the East Bay, including the [[Livermore Valley]].<ref>{{Cite journal |last1=Johnson |first1=Keith L. |last2=Bean |first2=Lowell John |last3=Caughey |first3=John Walton |date=1997 |title=The Ohlone, Past and Present: Native Americans of the San Francisco Bay Region |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/483052 |journal=Ethnohistory |volume=44 |issue=3 |pages=308 |doi=10.2307/483052 |jstor=483052 |issn=0014-1801}}</ref> Because indigenous food resources there were depleted, they tried to support themselves by working as laborers. But as the population grew thanks to the [[California gold rush|Gold Rush]] which started in 1848 and the workers on the railroad, it became more and more difficult to find work;{{Why|date=February 2024}} by 1906, there were only 28 individuals left, and by 1914 most of the remaining population was gone.<ref name="isbn=978-0-7385-3099-4" />

==== Rancho Las Positas ====
{{Main|Rancho Las Positas|Robert Livermore}}
{{multiple image
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| footer      = Livermore grew out of [[Rancho Las Positas]], granted in 1839 to business partners Don [[José Noriega]] (left) and Don [[Robert Livermore|Roberto Livermore]] (right).
| image1      = José_Noriega_(Mayor_of_San_Jose).jpg
| height1     = 330
| image2      = Robert_Livermore.jpg
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}}

Robert Livermore (1799–1858),<ref>[http://www.elivermore.com/photos/Hist_lvr_robert.htm Robert Livermore Picture] accessed March 28, 2013</ref> the namesake of the town,<ref name=":0" /> was a British citizen who had jumped from a British merchant sailing ship stopping in [[Monterey, California]].{{Citation needed|date=October 2023}} In 1839, the {{convert|48000|acre|ha|adj=on}} [[Rancho Las Positas]] grant, which includes most of Livermore, was made to ranchers [[Robert Livermore]] and [[Jose Noriega]].<ref>[http://content.cdlib.org/ark:/13030/hb9x0nb5xv/ Map of Rancho Los Positas] accessed March 28, 2013</ref><ref>*There is conflicting information as to the size of Livermore and Noreiga's grant. The 1884 California surveyors report lists {{convert|8,880|acres|0|abbr=on}} as being approved&mdash;this is probably what the Livermore family ended up with of their original grant when it was finally patented 1872. The rancho map (circa 1840?) seems to show a larger grant than {{convert|8880|acres|0|abbr=on}}.
*{{cite web|url=http://www.slc.ca.gov/Misc_Pages/Historical/Surveyors_General/reports/Willey_1884_1886.pdf |title=Surveyor General Report for 1884 - 1886 |publisher=slc.ca.gov |access-date=October 14, 2010 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130320000647/http://www.slc.ca.gov/Misc_Pages/Historical/Surveyors_General/reports/Willey_1884_1886.pdf |archive-date=March 20, 2013 }} accessed March 28, 2013
</ref>

In the early 1840s Livermore moved his family from the [[Sunol Valley]] to the [[Rancho Las Positas]] grant, as the second non-native family to settle in the Livermore valley area.<ref name="isbn=978-0-7385-3099-4">*{{cite book |author1=Livermore Heritage Guild |title=Early Livermore |date=2006 |publisher=[[Arcadia Publishing]] |isbn=978-0-7385-3099-4 |language=en}}
*[https://www.lhg.org/About.html Livermore Heritage Guild]
*[https://www.l-ags.org/ Livermore-Amador Genealogical Society]
</ref> In 1847, after the Americans took control of California and gold was discovered in 1848, Livermore started making money by selling California [[Texas Longhorn|longhorn cattle]] to the thousands of hungry [[California Gold Rush]] miners who soon arrived. The non-Indian population skyrocketed, and cattle were suddenly worth much more than the $1.00-$3.00 their hides could bring. Livermore's ranch became a popular "first day" stopping point for prospectors and businessmen leaving San Francisco or San Jose and headed for [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]] and the [[Mother Lode]] gold country. Most horse traffic went by way of [[Altamont Pass]] just east of Livermore. Because Livermore would offer food and shelter to those passing by, the valley eventually became known as "Livermore's Valley",<ref name="isbn=978-0-7385-3099-4" /> and is still known as the [[Livermore Valley]] today.<ref>{{Cite web |last=Petty |first=Thomas |title=What to do in Livermore, California (CA) visitor information. |url=https://www.livermorechamber.org/livermore |access-date=2024-07-10 |website=www.livermorechamber.org |language=en-US}}</ref>

==== Founding ====
[[File:Livermore_map_1878.jpg|thumb|A map of Livermore published in 1878 by Thompson & West]]
Robert Livermore died in 1858.<ref name="isbn=978-0-7385-3099-4" /> The first significant settlement in the valley was [[Laddville|Laddsville]], a small settlement of about 75{{Citation needed|date=November 2024}} which had grown up around the hotel established by Alponso Ladd around 1864<ref name=":8" /> on 160 acres of land he bought.<ref name=":13">{{Cite book |last=Bush |first=Barbara |url=https://lhg.org/Documents/Chapters/Just%20the%20facts%20highlights%20of%20Livermore%20History.pdf |title=Just the Facts...: Highlights of Livermore History |publisher=Livermore Heritage Guild |others=Illustrated by Jorja Vliet |year=1988 |editor-last=Dean |editor-first=Muriel |location=Livermore, California}}</ref> After the hotel and a house were initially built, another home, a [[blacksmith]], a [[Western saloon|saloon]], and a [[general store]] followed in the same year.<ref name=":13" /> The first schoolhouse was built in 1866.<ref name=":13" />

Livermore's founder, [[William Mendenhall]], was another landowner in the Livermore Valley, having bought 650 acres of the [[Rancho Santa Rita|Santa Rita grant]] and 608 acres of the [[Rancho Valle de San José]].<ref name=":17">{{Cite magazine |last=Finn |first=Richard |date=February 2020 |title=William Mendenhall: The Man and What He Did for Livermore |url=https://www.lhg.org/Documents/Newsletters/News2020-2029/2020_02.pdf |magazine=Livermore Heritage Guild Newsletter |volume=47 |issue=2}}</ref> In 1869, he set aside {{convert|100|acres}} of his land for a [[townsite]], creating a new town which he named Livermore, after his friend Robert Livermore.<ref name=":0">{{Cite web |title=Livermore History - William Mendenhall - eLivermore.com |url=http://www.elivermore.com/photos/Hist_lvr_mendenhall.htm |access-date=March 13, 2023 |website=www.elivermore.com}}</ref> Livermore was platted and registered on November 4, 1869, as a [[railroad town]].<ref name="depot">{{cite book |last1=Frank |first1=Alan M |title=Depot: A history of the railroad in Livermore |date=2019 |publisher=Livermore Heritage Guild}}</ref> By that time, the valley had already become known as Livermore's Valley.<ref name="isbn=978-0-7385-3099-4" /> He had first met Livermore while marching through the valley with [[John C. Fremont]]'s [[California Battalion]] in 1846 as they were recruited to occupy the surrendering [[Californio]] towns captured by the [[U.S. Navy]]'s [[Pacific Squadron]].<ref>{{cite news |last1=Degan |first1=Ryan |date=November 4, 2019 |title=Livermore commemorates 150 years with a look back in time: City dedicates new community room to William M. Mendenhall |publisher=Pleasanton Weekly |url=https://www.pleasantonweekly.com/news/2019/11/06/livermore-commemorates-150-years-with-a-look-back-in-time |access-date=December 30, 2020}}</ref> He also donated {{convert|20| acres}} of this land to the [[Western Pacific Railroad (1862-1870)|Western Pacific Railroad]],<ref name=":0" /> which in September 1869 placed a station on the land William Mendenhall had donated.<ref>Baker, Joseph Eugene; ''Past and Present of Alameda County, California, Volume 1'';p.441;[https://books.google.com/books?id=cBgVAAAAYAAJ&dq=population+of+livermore+california+1870&pg=PA450]</ref> The land for the tracks had already been signed over by Robert Livermore from his ranch in 1855, as surveyors had determined it was the best place to build.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Newton|first1=Janet|title=Railroad Land Grants and the Early Railroad History of the Livermore Valley|publisher=Livermore Valley History Center|url=https://lhg.org/Documents/Chapters/Railroad%20Land%20Grants.pdf}}</ref> The original railroad tracks went from [[Alameda Terminal]] to [[Sacramento, California|Sacramento]] over the nearby [[Altamont Pass]] in the east and [[Niles Canyon]] on the west.{{Citation needed|date=March 2023}}

After it was destroyed by a fire in 1871,<ref name=":13" /> Laddsville gradually merged into Livermore.<ref name="isbn=978-0-7385-3099-4" /> The railroad significantly accelerated Livermore's growth,<ref name="depot" /> and the incorporation of Laddsville into the city added impetus;<ref name=":13" /> the city was officially [[municipal corporation|incorporated]] by the state on April 1, 1876.<ref name=":6">{{cite web |title=Livermore, Mission San Jose. - David Rumsey Historical Map Collection |url=http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~21426~630040:Livermore,-Mission-San-Jose-?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort,Pub_Date,Pub_List_No,Series_No&qvq=w4s:/when/1878;q:Livermore;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort,Pub_Date,Pub_List_No,Series_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=9&trs=11 |access-date=June 5, 2018 |website=www.davidrumsey.com}}</ref> At the time the town had a population of about 830 people in 234 buildings.<ref name=":13" /> It had 13 saloons.<ref name=":13" />

==== Early Livermore ====
[[File:California_a_guide_to_the_Golden_state_-_Vineyard,_Livermore_Valley.jpg|thumb|A vineyard in the Livermore valley, taken in 1939]]
In the early days, the income of the town of Livermore mainly came from wheat.<ref name="isbn=978-0-7385-3099-4" /> The city also developed as a place for the shipping and processing of products of the valley, including cattle, roses, and white wines, the last especially prominent after the 1880s.<ref name=":16">{{Cite web |date=2024-10-11 |title=Livermore |url=https://www.britannica.com/place/Livermore |access-date=2024-11-05 |website=Encyclopædia Britannica |language=en}}</ref> Some other contributors to the town's prosperity were coal and oil deposits in the surrounding hills.<ref name="isbn=978-0-7385-3099-4" />

Coal was first found in Harrisville, and in 1875 the Livermore Coal Company was formed.<ref name=":8" /> Extensive deposits of coal were also mined in the nearby Corral Hollow, which was briefly the largest coal producer in California between 1895 and 1905.<ref name=":22">{{cite book |last1=Kyle |first1=Douglas E. |url=https://archive.org/details/historicspotsinc00rens/page/376/mode/2up |title=Mildred Brooke Hoover, Douglas E. Kyle, Historic spots in California, p. 378 |last2=Rensch |first2=Hero Eugene |last3=Rensch |first3=Ethel Grace |last4=Hoover |first4=Mildred Brooke |last5=Abeloe |first5=William |date=6 September 2002 |publisher=Stanford University Press |isbn=9780804778176 |access-date=2012-06-25}}</ref><ref name=":42">{{Cite web |title=Cultural Landscapes - Tesla Mine Complex: Tesla Coal Mine (Carnegie SVRA) |url=https://ohv.parks.ca.gov/?page_id=25689 |website=California Off-Highway Motor Vehicles Recreation Division}}</ref> The ghost towns of [[Tesla, California|Tesla]] and [[Carnegie, California|Carnegie]] were satellite towns of Livermore at the time.<ref name=":13" />

Livermore's wine industry grew after the 1880s,<ref name=":16" /> and it became notable for wineries like [[Wente Vineyards]], [[Concannon Vineyard]]s, and [[Cresta Blanca Winery]].<ref name="isbn=978-0-7385-3099-4" /> Since it has a Mediterranean climate, gravelly soil, warm days and cool nights, it was a good location to grow wine grapes.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} By 1880 the wheat and barley fields were being replaced by vineyards.<ref name=":8" /> As well as the main products of the town, extensive [[chromite]] deposits were found nearby and exploited for a time.<ref name=":8" /> [[Magnesite]] deposits were exploited on [[Red Mountain (Santa Clara County, California)|Red Mountain]], near the end of Mines Road.<ref name=":18">{{Cite book |last=Homan |first=Anne Marshall |url=https://archive.org/details/historiclivermor0000homa/ |title=Historic Livermore, California : illustrated, A-Z |date=2007 |publisher=Walnut Creek, Calif. : Hardscratch Press |others=Internet Archive |isbn=978-0-9678989-7-1}}</ref> The [[Remillard Brick Company]] was also in Livermore in 1885, and was producing an extensive line of bricks and employing over 100 men.<ref name=":8" />

Private grade schools were operating in Livermore from the 1860s on.<ref name=":8" /> The Livermore Collegiate Institute was founded in 1870, and Union High School (later called [[Livermore High School]]) graduated its first class of students in 1896.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} There was an old bullfight ring that survived until at least 1870.<ref name=":8" />  By 1876 the town had grown and a fire company, churches, a bank, and a library were built. Livermore was officially [[municipal corporation|incorporated]] by the state as a city in April 1876.<ref name=":8" />

During Livermore's early years, before and after it was incorporated, it was well known for large hotels that graced the downtown street corners, before new buildings replaced them.{{Citation needed|date=July 2024}} A telephone line connected Livermore to Arroyo Valley by 1886,<ref name=":8" /> and electric lights were introduced by 1888.<ref name=":8" /> By 1890 Livermore had over {{convert|20|mi}} of streets.<ref name=":8">Baker, Joseph Eugene; ''[https://books.google.com/books?id=cBgVAAAAYAAJ&pg=PA439 Past and Present of Alameda County, California], Volume 1'';p.442;</ref> Livermore originally had a [[Boot Hill]] called the Oak Knoll Cemetery, Livermore's first public cemetery, but it was formally abandoned after becoming less popular and being devastated by natural disasters in the 1900s,<ref name=":18" /> and is now used for athletics at [[Granada High School (California)|Granada High School]].<ref name=":23">{{Cite book |url=https://www.livermoreschools.org/Page/6780 |title=Granada High School 1963-2013: 50th Anniversary Celebration |date=24 May 2014 |publisher=Granada High School |location=Livermore |access-date=November 5, 2024 |archive-date=March 12, 2023 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230312022900/https://www.livermoreschools.org/Page/6780 |url-status=dead }}</ref>

=== 1900s ===
[[File:Livermore_Sanitarium.png|thumb|The Livermore Sanitarium in 1904]]
During the late 19th century and early 20th century, the [[Livermore Valley]] attracted the creation of [[Sanatorium|sanitariums]] due to the warm climate<ref name="isbn=978-0-7385-3099-4" /><ref name=":2">{{Cite web|date=January 25, 1896|title=Livermore Sanitarium|url=https://cdnc.ucr.edu/?a=d&d=LH18960125.2.20&e=-------en--20--1--txt-txIN--------1|website=California Digital Newspaper Collection (CDNC), Center for Biographical Studies and Research, [[University of California, Riverside]]|publisher=Livermore Herald, Volume 19, Number 13|page=14}}</ref> and clean air.<ref name=":13" /> From 1894 to 1960, the [[Livermore Sanitarium]] was in operation for the treatment of alcoholism and mental disorders; and from 1918 to around 1960, the Arroyo del Valle Sanitarium was in operation in the town for the treatment of [[tuberculosis]].<ref name=":1">{{Cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=GRRAgMiu8OcC|title=Early Livermore|date=2006|publisher=Arcadia Publishing|others=Livermore Heritage Guild|isbn=978-0-7385-3099-4|series=Images of America|pages=88–89|language=en}}</ref> The city once had a slogan "Live Longer with Livermore".<ref name=":13" />

In 1909, the [[Livermore Carnegie Library and Park]] opened, taking advantage of a [[Carnegie library]] grant. As the city grew and larger libraries were needed, other libraries were built, and the original site was converted into a historic center<ref>Livermore Heritage Guild site [http://www.lhg.org/history%20folder/0arlivermore.htm] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20121027220000/http://www.lhg.org/history%20folder/0arlivermore.htm|date=October 27, 2012}} accessed March 28, 2013</ref> and park.

The community was primarily agricultural until 1945, and transitioned to a suburb as a result of construction of the [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]] in 1952 and the [[Sandia National Laboratories]] in 1956, and population overflow from the rest of the bay area.<ref name=":13" /><ref name=":15">{{Cite book |last=Newton |first=Janet |url=https://lhg.org/Documents/Chapters/Just%20the%20facts%20highlights%20of%20Livermore%20History.pdf |title=A Brief History of Livermore |date=September 1979 |publisher=Livermore Heritage Guild}}</ref>

In 1942, the U.S. government bought {{convert|692|acre|ha}} of ranch land, and built the [[Livermore Naval Air Station]].<ref name=":7" /> The primary mission of the base was to train Navy pilots for [[World War II]].<ref name=":7" /> This facility operated until it was decommissioned in 1946 after the end of the war. On January 5, 1951, the Bureau of Yards and Docks, [[U.S. Navy]], formally transferred the former NAS Livermore in its entirety to the [[United States Atomic Energy Commission|Atomic Energy Commission]] (AEC) for use by the University of California's Radiation Laboratory.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}} In 1952, the government established [[Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory]] (LLNL), named after physicist [[Ernest O. Lawrence]], as the site of a second laboratory for the study of [[nuclear power|nuclear energy]] like the research being done at the [[Los Alamos National Laboratory]].{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}} The laboratory was run by the [[University of California]]. [[Edward Teller]] was a co-founder of LLNL and was both its director and associate director for many years.<ref name=":7">{{cite web|url=http://www.elivermore.com/photos/Hist_lvr_naval_air1.htm|title=Livermore Naval Air Station - eLivermore.com|website=www.elivermore.com|access-date=June 5, 2018}}</ref> In 1956, the California campus of [[Sandia National Laboratories]] opened across East Avenue from LLNL. Both LLNL and Sandia are technically on U.S. government property just outside the city's jurisdiction limits, but with employment at LLNL at about 6,800 and Sandia/California at about 1,150 they are Livermore's largest employers.{{Citation needed|date=February 2024}}

A number of historic buildings from the 1800s were razed in the 1960s to build fast food and other modern structures in their place.<ref name=":02">{{cite web |date= |title=Livermore Heritage Guild |url=http://www.livermorehistory.com/Archive%20-%20Newspapers/2006-07-13%20IND%20The%20Donut%20Wheel%20Building/2006-07-13%20IND%20Donut%20Wheel%20Building.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160515202154/http://www.livermorehistory.com/Archive%20-%20Newspapers/2006-07-13%20IND%20The%20Donut%20Wheel%20Building/2006-07-13%20IND%20Donut%20Wheel%20Building.html |archive-date=2016-05-15 |accessdate=2016-07-11 |publisher=Livermorehistory.com}}</ref>

The town grew rapidly in population in the 1990s when many people in [[Bay Area]] moved farther away from the urban core.<ref name=":16" />