The Spanish government in Mexico first sent explorers, then missionaries and settlers into this area in the late 1700s. Mission Dolores in San Francisco was founded in 1776. They soon found the ground in San Francisco inhospitable for planting, and so by 1815 they established Rancho San Pablo on the opposite coast (in Spanish the contra costa) of the bay to raise cattle and food for the mission. Rancho San Pablo was the first permanent non-Indian settlement in all of what is now Contra Costa county. The name San Pablo was given to the land in 1811 by Ramón Abella, a priest from Mission Dolores who explored the bay and the northern rivers. He named the two points opposite each other on the bay "Point San Pablo" and "Point San Pedro." (Thus Saints Paul and Peter guarded the bay.)
Mexico gained independence from Spain, and began to divide up land owned by the missions. The overseer of Rancho San Pablo requested permission to claim the rancho as his own and in 1823, Francisco Castro was granted 17,000 acres of land.
This covered land that is now Richmond, El Sobrante, and Pinole, and extended all the way out to the bay. That's why the upper bay is called San Pablo Bay today.
Governor of Mexican Alta California, Juan Alvarado, married one of the Castro daughters in 1839. After his term as governor was completed, they retired to her family property in Rancho San Pablo.
The Alvarado Adobe, in the Civic Center, is a replica of the home they lived in on that very spot from 1848 until the governor's death in 1882. The Adobe is open to the public every Sunday and admission is free.
The Gold Rush and the annexation of California by the United States brought drastic changes to San Pablo. A stage route was established from San Francisco and Oakland to Sacramento, and ran right along the road we call San Pablo Avenue today. A small stage stop village began to appear around the Castro/Alvarado Adobe home at the corner of San Pablo Avenue and Church Lane. Saloons lined the main street, which was wide enough (60~100 feet) to accommodate the movement of cattle herds. The Castro descendants began to sell off portions of their Rancho to American ranchers and farmers. A Post Office was established, a school was built, and churches founded.
Many of the new ranchers were new immigrants to the United States, and most of them were Azore Island Portuguese. There were also immigrants from Chile, Germany, France, and China. A large camp of Chinese shrimp fishers lived along the edge of San Pablo Bay from 1870 to 1912. (San Pablo went all the way to the bay in those days.) A few African-Americans lived in the area as well. We can assume that a number of Mexicans, such as the Castros and Alvarados, continued to live here also.
In 1872, the people of Rancho San Pablo collected money to buy the largest U.S. flag in the state of California - 14 by 22 feet. This flag has been preserved in the collection of the San Pablo Historical Society.
By the 1900s, a small town of San Pablo was firmly established, and a big school was built there to accommodate children from nearby ranches. The prinicpal of this school was Walter Helms, for whom Helms Junior High is named. In 1914 San Pablo's first library opened with about 100 books. A number of property owners near downtown San Pablo subdivided their farm land for housing tracts during the first decade of the 20th century. Most of the streets laid out at that time are still in use today.
In the 1920s a number of "speak easys" sold bootleg liquor and provided nightclub entertainment. Francisco Castro's original home, on the site of today's El Cerrito Center, was turned into a nightclub and speak easy. The Bay Cities Coursing Park, a dog racing track on Church Lane, was a popular local attraction.
The last remnant of this bucolic agricultural era is the Blume House museum. This home was built by German immigrants in 1905. It is fully furnished as most farm houses of the era. One of the outbuildings - the Bunk House - was also preserved and showcases farm equipment. The buildings are open to the public every Sunday and admission is free.
World War II changed the town of San Pablo forever. In just a few years, the population boomed from 2,000 to 25,000 people, due to the jobs at the Richmond Shipyard. People came from all over the United States to get jobs as welders. Many African Americans came from the South, and established the first sizable black community. Housing was put up as quickly as possible to accommodate these new workers. Many of these tiny homes on small lots that characterize San Pablo were built during the war. Not all of them were intended to be permanent buildings, and had shoddy construction.
San Pablo kept up its reputation as a party town - nightclubs and dance halls featuring country swing bands were popular among the young shipyard workers. The clubs were often open 24 hours a day to accommodate all three work shifts at the shipyard.
After the war, many people decided to stay in San Pablo, and the town needed to take the step of incorporating into a city. On April 27, 1948, the residents voted to create a city government. The first mayor was J.H. Crawford.
The war had changed San Pablo into a suburban city. The last dairy ranchers sold out to giant corporations, and the last farmers divided and sold their land for housing tracts.
The post-war community settled down to raise families. In the 1950s public works projects paved the streets, added sidewalks and installed streetlights. Playgrounds were opened, a hospital was built, Contra Costa College opened, shopping centers replaced wartime housing. Gambling was outlawed.
The Alvarado Square Civic Center opened in 1978 at the site of the 1845 Alvarado/Castro home. A replica of their adobe home was included in the new complex. The Blume House was moved to the site. Both the Alvarado Adobe and Blume House are open to the public on Sundays. Admission is free.
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