Livermore, California

Livermore is a city located in Alameda County, California. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 73,345. Traditionally, Livermore is considered the easternmost city in the San Francisco Bay Area before entrance to the Central Valley.

History and Culture

History

The Livermore area was home to the Ohlone ( or Costanoan) Indians before the arrival of the Spanish in the 18th century; it was incorporated under the Roman Catholic Mission San Jose in 1796. The Livermore Amador Valley was primarily grazing land for Mission San Jose's thousands of cattle and sheep until secularization of California missions from 1834 to 1837 opened great amounts of land throughout California for Mexican land grants. The fourth and second largest of the valley's land grants was the Rancho Las Positas grant, made to rancher Robert Livermore (a naturalized Mexican citizen of English birth) and Jose Noriega in 1839. Livermore was as much interested in viticulture and horticulture as he was in cattle and horses; in 1846 he was the first in this area to plant both a vineyard and an orchard of pears and olives. The first building on the ranch was an adobe on Las Positas Creek, and in 1849 a two-story "Around the Horn" house was added; it was the first wooden building in the valley.

Related Topics:
Ohlone - Costanoan - Roman Catholic - Mission San Jose - Robert Livermore

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After the discovery of gold in California, Livermore became a popular stopping place for prospectors headed for the Mother Lode, as it was one day's journey by horse or stagecoach from San Jose.

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Robert Livermore died in 1858 before the establishment of the town that bears his name. His ranch included much of the present-day city. The city itself was established in 1869 by William Mendenhall, who had met Robert Livermore while marching through the valley with Fremont's California Battalion. Livermore was officially incorporated on April 15, 1876.

Related Topics:
1869 - April 15 - 1876

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Culture

Livermore's culture retains some vestiges of the farming and ranching traditions that have existed in the valley since the time of Robert Livermore, but now largely reflects the values of its suburban population. Livermore has a strong blue-collar element, as well as many professionals who work at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and various hi-tech industries within the Bay Area.

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Livermore hosts the Livermore Rodeo (since 1918), the "Worlds Fastest Rodeo," that claims it has more riders per hour than any other. It also has the Livermore-Amador Symphony, Del Valle Fine Arts (a producer of chamber music concerts), and, in the valley at large, the Valley Choral Society, Livermore Valley Opera, and Valley Dance Theatre.

Related Topics:
Livermore Rodeo - Livermore-Amador Symphony - Del Valle Fine Arts - Valley Choral Society - Livermore Valley Opera - Valley Dance Theatre

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It boasts a new, state-of-the-art library that opened in 2004 and a busy and growing Livermore Airport.

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Livermore has a Hindu temple which is often visited by the large Indian population of the bay area.

Related Topics:
Hindu temple - Bay area

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"Part history, part mystery, but mostly comedy."

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http://www.livermorethemovie.com/index2.html

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A documentary film ostensibly about the city's search for an elusive time capsule.

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