Editing San Lorenzo, California (section)

== History ==
[[File:Don Guillermo Castro (cropped).jpg|thumb|left|upright|San Lorenzo is named after [[Rancho San Lorenzo (Castro)|Rancho San Lorenzo]], a vast estate granted in 1841 to Don [[Guillermo Castro (soldier)|Guillermo Castro]], a noted [[Californio]] ranchero.]]
San Lorenzo is located on the route of [[El Camino Viejo]] on land of the former [[Rancho San Lorenzo (Castro)|Rancho San Lorenzo]], a Mexican land grant given to [[Guillermo Castro (soldier)|Guillermo Castro]] in 1841, and the former [[Rancho San Leandro]], granted to [[José Joaquin Estudillo]] in 1842.<ref>Ogden Hoffman, 1862, ''Reports of Land Cases Determined in the United States District Court for the Northern District of California'', Numa Hubert, San Francisco</ref>

Early residents during the [[California Gold Rush]] era lived here as [[squatter]]s along the border between Rancho San Lorenzo and Rancho San Leandro.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~21348~630074:-Contents-to--Official-and-historic|title=Contents: Alameda County atlas map. - David Rumsey Historical Map Collection|website=www.davidrumsey.com|access-date=2018-01-08}}</ref> The informal name given to the area was Squatterville.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.sanlorenzoheritage.org|title=San Lorenzo, California History|website=www.sanlorenzoheritage.org|access-date=2018-01-08}}</ref>

The first post office opened in San Lorenzo in 1854.<ref name=CGN>{{California's Geographic Names|696}}</ref>

Many of the early inhabitants are buried in San Lorenzo Pioneer Cemetery, including Moses Wicks, who brought [[San Leandro Oyster Beds|oysters to San Leandro Bay]] from Patchogue, Long Island.<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://ohp.parks.ca.gov/ListedResources/Detail/824|title=SAN LEANDRO OYSTER BEDS|last=California|first=California State Parks, State of|website=CA State Parks|language=en|access-date=2018-01-08}}</ref> The cemetery is maintained by the county and the [[Hayward Area Historical Society]].

San Lorenzo was mostly farmland, a significant center of production of fruit and flowers, from the mid-19th century to the mid-20th century.

In 1944, under contract to the U.S. Navy, The David D. Bohannon Company began construction of San Lorenzo Village, a tract of two- and three-bedroom homes for workers in the East Bay's war industries. San Lorenzo Village was one of the nation's first planned communities, with parcels designated for schools, churches, parks, and several retail centers. Bohannon's pioneering pre-cutting techniques, referred to as the "California method," were used in later developments, such as the more famous [[Levittown, Pennsylvania]]. Home construction continued into the 1950s to accommodate the region's booming population.

San Lorenzo Village housing project launched as the largest privately financed housing project on the West Coast during WWII.  San Lorenzo Shopping Center became one of the country's first planned community shopping centers and was home to the first Mervyn's Department Store.

=== Segregation ===
The original San Lorenzo Village homes were restricted to white owners, and re-sale of homes were limited to white owners through racially restrictive covenants on property deeds.<ref name=":0">{{Cite book|last=Rothstein|first=Richard|title=The Color of Law: A Forgotten History of How Our Government Segregated America|year=2017|isbn=978-1-63149-285-3|edition=First|location=New York|pages=115–116|oclc=959808903}}</ref> "Sales brochures in the early to mid-1950s [...] assured prospective buyers that the village was "a safe investment" because "farsighted protective restrictions ... permanently safeguard your investment."" <ref name=":0" /> These restrictions, among others around fencing and house colors, were enforced by the San Lorenzo Village Association.<ref>{{Cite web|last=Stiles|first=Elaine B.|date=2015|title=Every Lot a Garden Spot: "Big Dave" Bohannon and the Making of San Lorenzo Village|url=http://www.sanlorenzoheritage.org/history/stiles.htm|access-date=2020-09-07|website=www.sanlorenzoheritage.org}}</ref>

Legal enforcement of such covenants was deemed to violate the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment by the Supreme Court in ''[[Shelley v. Kraemer]]'' (1948), meaning that while parties could choose to abide by the covenants, they could no longer be legally used to prevent non-white persons from buying properties with such restrictions. As a general note, without specific reference to San Lorenzo, after ''Shelley'', homeowners associations still would bar non-white owners by requiring membership in the association before buying property, and federal and state governments refused to enforce the ''Shelley'' decision.<ref>Moore, Eli, et al. Haas Institute for a Fair and Inclusive Society, 2019, ''Roots, Race, and Place: A History of Racially Exclusionary Housing in the San Francisco Bay Area'', https://escholarship.org/content/qt2j08r197/qt2j08r197_noSplash_eecbec55456f21df8cb302a7b292855a.pdf?t=qc30qt</ref> In San Lorenzo, the black population remained under one-half percent in the early 1970s.<ref>Terry Link, “The White Noose: How Racist Federal Policies Put a Stranglehold on the City,” San Francisco, November 1971, 26-56.</ref>

The language of these restrictions, even if not enforceable, may still be on property deeds.<ref>{{Cite web|date=2019-02-26|title=For whites only: Shocking language found in property docs throughout Bay Area|url=https://www.mercurynews.com/2019/02/26/for-whites-only-shocking-language-found-in-property-docs-throughout-bay-area/|access-date=2020-09-07|website=The Mercury News|language=en-US}}</ref>