The Water Cooler – What’s A Piece Of Contra Costa-Area History You Wish More People Remembered?

When CCC was the sleepy “bedroom community” without the gridlock traffic, no high rise high density housing, and much more open space without every vacant lot being eyed by greedy developers

This question is right up my alley, I love history.
During WWII, the Kaiser shipyards in Richmond turned out US Liberty ships in just a
little over four days with the help of thousands of women. (Thanks to Rosie the riveter.)
Joe DiMaggio was born in Martinez, but his family moved to San Francisco when he
was young.
John Muir made Martinez his home for 24 years.
Legend has it that the martini was invented in Martinez. As the story goes, during the
Gold Rush, a bartender created the drink and named it the Martinez Special, which
became the martini. There’s another story that the drink was invented at a hotel in San Francisco and served to travelers heading to Martinez, it was also named the Martinez
Special.
In the early 1900s, the oil refineries played an important role in economic growth.
The original name of Concord was Todos Santos, and Walnut Creek was originally
named The Corners. The Spanish named it Arroyo de las Nueces, meaning Creek of
the Walnuts. Early settlers shortened it to Nut’s Creek, but some folks thought it was
distasteful and the name was changed to Walnut Creek.
Lafayette is named after The Marquis de Lafayette, who was a French military officer
and played an important role at the Battle of Yorktown during the American Revolution.
The spelling is different but, Pittsburg was named after Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
Antioch is named after the biblical city of Antioch, Syria.
Danville was named for the founder’s mother-in-law, who was from Danville, Kentucky.
Spanish soldiers believed a thicket of willows was supernatural because Indian
prisoners escaped from their custody and vanished into the thicket. They named the
area Monte del Diablo, (thicket of the devil.) It was later changed to Mount Diablo.
Well folks, that’s my short history lesson for today. Hope you enjoyed it.

Historically there used to be runs of chinook, salmon and steelhead trout in Walnut Creek before it was cemented up for flood control. Walnut Creek is the waterway that runs along 680 past Sun Valley Mall.