Editing Rodeo, California (section)

==History==
Rodeo owes much of its history to brothers John and [[Patrick Tormey]], who purchased tracts of land from the [[Ygnacio Martinez]] [[Rancho El Pinole]] estate in 1865 and 1867.<ref name=Tormey>{{cite web|url=http://www.tormeyclan.com/rodeo.htm|title=Tormey Family History Website|first=Michael|last=Tormey|website=www.tormeyclan.com|access-date=19 April 2018}}</ref>

They became successful ranchers and businessmen, amassed sizable fortunes and held public office.  Patrick Tormey (for whom the nearby town of [[Tormey, California|Tormey]] is named) had visions of this area of [[Contra Costa County]] becoming the meatpacking and canning center of the Pacific coast.  In partnership with the Union Stockyard Co. in 1890, he sold some of the land to them and began to lay out plans and make large investments for the stockyard facilities. Eventually, streets were graded and lots were prepared for homesteads, thus creating the town of Rodeo.<ref name=Tormey/>

Patrick Tormey also sold land in the nearby town of [[Oleum, California|Oleum]] to the California Lumber Co. for use as a lumberyard (which eventually would be sold to the [[Unocal Corporation|Union Oil Co.]] for an oil refinery site). He also sold land in nearby [[Selby, California|Selby]], which was used by the Selby Smelting & Lead Co. He funded the meatpacking plant, corrals and the Rodeo Hotel.<ref name=Tormey/>

The first post office opened in 1892.<ref name=CGN>{{California's Geographic Names|691}}</ref>

After recession in 1893, Patrick Tormey struggled to keep finances going as business began to close, culminating with the bankruptcy of the Union Stockyard Co. Patrick Tormey was plagued with lawsuits over the bankruptcy for the remainder of his life.<ref name=Tormey/>
Residents were able to find work in nearby towns of [[Crockett, California|Crockett]] ([[C&H Sugar]]), [[Vallejo, California|Vallejo]] (the Mare Island Naval Shipyard), [[Hercules, California|Hercules]] (Hercules Powder Co.), and Union Oil Co. in Oleum.<ref name=Tormey/>

Rodeo as a community managed to continue, but was devastated in the [[1906 San Francisco earthquake]]. In the aftermath, the town would rebuild much like other communities around the [[San Francisco]] Bay area. There is a large oil refinery in Rodeo, built in 1896 and currently operated by [[Phillips 66]].<ref>{{cite web|title=Phillips 66 progresses Rodeo Renewed refinery conversion project|website=Oil & Gas Journal|last=Brelsford|first=Robert|url=https://www.ogj.com/refining-processing/refining/construction/article/14297313/phillips-66-progresses-rodeo-renewed-refinery-conversion-project|date=August 3, 2023|access-date=September 19, 2024}}</ref>