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87-734: The Bethany Reservoir is located 8 miles (13 km) northeast of Livermore, California , USA, on the California Aqueduct . It serves as the forebay for the South Bay Pumping Plant that feeds the South Bay Aqueduct . This Alameda County, California –related article is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . This article related to a lake in the United States is a stub . You can help Misplaced Pages by expanding it . Livermore, California Livermore

174-549: A Boot Hill called the Oak Knoll Cemetery, Livermore's first public cemetery, but it was formally abandoned after becoming less popular and being devastated by natural disasters in the 1900s, and is now used for athletics at Granada High School . During the late 19th century and early 20th century, the Livermore Valley attracted the creation of sanitariums due to the warm climate and clean air. From 1894 to 1960,

261-768: A declaration of war by the United States of America . Action in California began with the taking of Monterey on July 7, 1846, Los Angeles in August, other battles in December, 1846, then retaking of Los Angeles in January, 1847, which terminated the authority and jurisdiction of Mexican officials later that year. Armed resistance ended in California with the Treaty of Cahuenga signed on January 13, 1847. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo , ending

348-412: A Mediterranean climate, gravelly soil, warm days and cool nights, it was a good location to grow wine grapes. By 1880 the wheat and barley fields were being replaced by vineyards. As well as the main products of the town, extensive chromite deposits were found nearby and exploited for a time. Magnesite deposits were exploited on Red Mountain , near the end of Mines Road. The Remillard Brick Company

435-611: A capital budget of $ 3,870,971. LARPD serves an area that encompasses about 115,000 people. The extensive gravel deposits around Livermore have led to extensive gravel extraction that is still ongoing. Shadow Cliffs Park along Stanley Boulevard west of Livermore is a popular 266-acre (108 ha) park that includes an 80-acre (32 ha) lake in an old Kaiser Industries gravel pit and is used extensively today for swimming, boating, and fishing. Ranchos of California In Alta California (now known as California ) and Baja California , ranchos were concessions and land grants made by

522-470: A community of young families and commuters from the greater Bay Area. The North Livermore district is north of the Union Pacific Railroad that cuts through downtown. The South Livermore district, including areas of unincorporated land, has over 40 wineries. Livermore has a seasonal local farmers market on Thursdays. The first Camp Wonder , a summer camp for children with special medical needs,

609-738: A front mosaic by Maria Alquilar . The official city flower is the Livermore tarplant , an endangered plant that only grows near Livermore. The city is noted for one world record. A 120+ year old 4-watt light bulb, called the Centennial Light, housed in the Livermore-Pleasanton Fire Department Firehouse Six, is still burning. Originally installed by Augustus Donner Wilson, the bulb has been maintained through successive generations until his great-great-granddaughter Alissa Wilson. It glows dimly, but still functions as

696-478: A light bulb. The Guinness Book of World Records , Ripley's Believe It or Not! , and General Electric have concluded that the bulb has been burning continuously since 1901 with the exception of power failures and the three times it was disconnected for moves to new stations. The light bulb was manufactured by the Shelby Electric Company and was hand blown with a carbon filament. Radio station KKIQ

783-481: A maximum of 160 acres (0.65 km ). Land from titles rejected by the courts became part of the public domain and available to homesteaders after the first federal Homestead Act of 1862 was passed, allowing anyone to claim up to 160 acres (0.65 km ). This resulted in additional pressure on Congress, and beginning with Rancho Suscol in 1863, it passed special acts that allowed certain claimants to pre-empt their land without regard to acreage. By 1866 this privilege

870-452: A mountain range. The 588 grants made by Spanish and Mexican authorities in California between 1769 and 1846 encompassed more than 8,850,000 acres (3,580,000 ha), or nearly 14,000 square miles (36,000 km ). The settlement of land titles was frequently complicated and lengthy. Even in cases where the boundaries were more specific, many markers had been destroyed before accurate surveys could be made. Aside from indefinite survey lines,

957-512: A portion of their land to pay for defense fees or gave attorneys land in lieu of payment. Rejected Spanish and Mexican land claims resulted in conflicting claims by the grantees, squatters, and settlers seeking the same land. This resulted in pressure on Congress to change the rules. Under the Preemption Act of 1841 , squatters were able to pre-empt others' claims to portions of the land and acquire clear title by paying $ 1.25 an acre for up to

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1044-512: Is a city in Alameda County, California . With a 2020 population of 87,955, Livermore is the most populous city in the Tri-Valley , giving its name to the Livermore Valley . It is located on the eastern edge of California's San Francisco Bay Area , making it the easternmost city in the area. Livermore was a railroad town named for Robert Livermore , a local rancher who settled in the area in

1131-549: Is also the California site of Sandia National Laboratories , the second largest employer in Livermore (employing about 3%). It also describes itself as being focused on "national security". It is managed and operated by a subsidiary of Honeywell International . In 2010, the two National Laboratories, along with other stakeholders, including the University of California, Berkeley , UC Davis , and regional cities, partnered to create

1218-462: Is close to a semi-arid climate because of its relatively low annual precipitation, due to being in the rain shadow of the western portions of the Diablo Range . Livermore features hot, dry summers and cool winters with occasional rainfall. The valley's passes direct the normal west to east flow of air through the valley. Usually there is a strong evening wind in the summer that brings cool air off

1305-502: Is licensed in Livermore and broadcasts in the Tri-Valley area. The Independent is a local newspaper founded in September 1963. It is located in the Bank of Italy Building. The Livermore Area Recreation and Park District (LARPD) is a special independent park district that was created by the vote of the public in 1947 and runs the parks and other facilities in the city of Livermore and most of

1392-415: Is still known as the Livermore Valley today. Robert Livermore died in 1858. The first significant settlement in the valley was Laddsville , a small settlement of about 75 which had grown up around the hotel established by Alponso Ladd around 1864 on 160 acres of land he bought. After the hotel and a house were initially built, another home, a blacksmith , a saloon , and a general store followed in

1479-623: The Bay Miwok to the north and the Valley Yokuts to the east. Four tribelets , the Yulien, Ssaoam, Ssouyn, and the Pelnen occupied the valley floor with territory extending into the hills. Semi-permanent villages were located near water drainages at the valley floor within the current urban limits of Livermore with seasonal camps in the surrounding uplands. A Spanish expedition led by Pedro Fages skirted

1566-722: The Livermore Naval Air Station . The primary mission of the base was to train Navy pilots for World War II . This facility operated until it was decommissioned in 1946 after the end of the war. On January 5, 1951, the Bureau of Yards and Docks, U.S. Navy , formally transferred the former NAS Livermore in its entirety to the Atomic Energy Commission (AEC) for use by the University of California's Radiation Laboratory. In 1952,

1653-655: The Livermore Sanitarium was in operation for the treatment of alcoholism and mental disorders; and from 1918 to around 1960, the Arroyo del Valle Sanitarium was in operation in the town for the treatment of tuberculosis . The city once had a slogan "Live Longer with Livermore". In 1909, the Livermore Carnegie Library and Park opened, taking advantage of a Carnegie library grant. As the city grew and larger libraries were needed, other libraries were built, and

1740-835: The Spanish and Mexican governments from 1775 to 1846. The Spanish Concessions of land were made to retired soldiers as an inducement for them to settle in the frontier. These Concessions reverted to the Spanish crown upon the death of the recipient. After independence, the Mexican government encouraged settlement in these areas by issuing much larger land grants to both native-born and naturalized Mexican citizens. The grants were usually two or more square leagues , or 35 square kilometres (14 sq mi) in size. Unlike Spanish Concessions, Mexican land grants provided permanent, unencumbered ownership rights. Most ranchos granted by Mexico were located along

1827-482: The Western Pacific Railroad , which in September 1869 placed a station on the land William Mendenhall had donated. The land for the tracks had already been signed over by Robert Livermore from his ranch in 1855, as surveyors had determined it was the best place to build. The original railroad tracks went from Alameda Terminal to Sacramento over the nearby Altamont Pass in the east and Niles Canyon on

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1914-486: The hackerspace Robot Garden, which provides public access on weekends. One of California's oldest wine regions, the Livermore Valley American Viticultural Area (AVA) played a pivotal role in shaping California's wine industry. In the 1840s, California pioneers looking for outstanding vineyard sites began planting grapes in the region. Robert Livermore planted the first commercial vines in

2001-492: The $ 1.00-$ 3.00 their hides could bring. Livermore's ranch became a popular "first day" stopping point for prospectors and businessmen leaving San Francisco or San Jose and headed for Sacramento and the Mother Lode gold country. Most horse traffic went by way of Altamont Pass just east of Livermore. Because Livermore would offer food and shelter to those passing by, the valley eventually became known as "Livermore's Valley", and

2088-469: The 1840s. After California joined the union as the 31st state in 1850, pioneer winemakers C. H. Wente, a first-generation immigrant from Germany (founder of Wente Vineyards ), James Concannon, a first generation Irishman (founder of Concannon Vineyard ), and Charles Wetmore, a Portland, Maine-born pioneer of California (founder of Cresta Blanca Winery ), recognized the area's winegrowing potential and bought land, planted grapes and founded their wineries in

2175-653: The 1840s. It is the home of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory , for which the chemical element livermorium is named (and thus, placing the city's name in the periodic table ). It is also the California site of Sandia National Laboratories , which is headquartered in Albuquerque, New Mexico . Its south side is home to local vineyards , and its downtown district is being redeveloped as of 2024 . The United States Census Bureau defines an urban area of Tri-Valley-area cities, with Livermore as

2262-645: The 1880s. Charles Wetmore went to France in 1878 when he was appointed a delegate for the California Viticultural Association to the Paris Exposition. Wetmore was able in 1882 to obtain Semillon, Sauvignon Blanc, and Muscat de Bordelais cuttings from one of the most prestigious vineyards in France, Chateau Yquem. These superior clones helped revitalize the California wine industry. In 1889 Wetmore won

2349-468: The 1970s and his death in 2004. Coates and his wife Nancy both expressed their wishes that the Rancho remain undeveloped. After her death in 2006, ownership of the land passed to their daughter, Theodate Coates, an artist from New York City. Despite her parents' wishes that development be kept off of the Rancho, she has taken steps to remove Rancho Guejito's status as an agricultural preserve and eventually develop

2436-727: The 1990s when many people in Bay Area moved farther away from the urban core. The Livermore Valley is located within the Diablo Range , one of several parts of the California Coast Ranges that surround the San Francisco Bay Area . The Livermore Valley has an east–west orientation with mountain passes on the west and east connecting the Bay Area and the Central Valley . The passes are used by railroads and highways to connect

2523-500: The California campus of Sandia National Laboratories opened across East Avenue from LLNL. Both LLNL and Sandia are technically on U.S. government property just outside the city's jurisdiction limits, but with employment at LLNL at about 6,800 and Sandia/California at about 1,150 they are Livermore's largest employers. A number of historic buildings from the 1800s were razed in the 1960s to build fast food and other modern structures in their place. The town grew rapidly in population in

2610-628: The California coast around San Francisco Bay, inland along the Sacramento River, and within the San Joaquin Valley. When the government secularized the Mission churches in 1833, it required that land be set aside from their holdings for each Neophyte (or converted) Indian family who had been living at the missions. But the Native Americans were quickly brushed aside by Californios who, with

2697-602: The Land Commission confirmed 604 of the 813 claims it reviewed, most decisions were appealed to US District Court and some to the Supreme Court . The confirmation process required lawyers, translators, and surveyors, and took an average of 17 years (including the Civil War , 1861–1865) to resolve. It proved expensive for landholders to defend their titles through the court system. In many cases, they had to sell or give title to

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2784-442: The Land Commission had to determine whether the grantees had fulfilled the requirements of the Mexican colonization laws. Mexican officials often did not keep adequate records and sometimes did not provide grantees with any documentation of the grant. Many grants required additional approvals before they were legal. Conditions of the grant required the grantee to live on the land. All of these requirements were rarely fulfilled. While

2871-525: The Livermore Coal Company was formed. Extensive deposits of coal were also mined in the nearby Corral Hollow, which was briefly the largest coal producer in California between 1895 and 1905. The ghost towns of Tesla and Carnegie were satellite towns of Livermore at the time. Livermore's wine industry grew after the 1880s, and it became notable for wineries like Wente Vineyards , Concannon Vineyards , and Cresta Blanca Winery . Since it has

2958-581: The Livermore Valley and into the Altamont range. The Livermore-Amador Valley from 1800 to about 1837 was primarily used as grazing land for the Mission San Jose's growing herds of cattle, sheep and horses. The valley helped San Jose Mission emerge as one of the more wealthy Spanish enclaves. As a result of the secularization of the mission system, in 1839, two large ranchos were created that encompassed

3045-461: The Livermore Valley in the late summer. This can bring high humidity, monsoon clouds, and, much less commonly, thunderstorms. Snow is very rare, but light dustings do occur on the surrounding hills and occasionally in the valley, such as in 2023, 2021, and 2009. The 2010 United States Census reported that Livermore had a population of 80,968. The population density was 3,216.1 inhabitants per square mile (1,241.7/km ). The homeowner vacancy rate

3132-586: The Livermore Valley; Rancho Las Positas and Rancho Valle de San Jose . Many Native groups left the San Jose Mission during this period and reestablished themselves in communities in the East Bay, including the Livermore Valley . Because indigenous food resources there were depleted, they tried to support themselves by working as laborers. But as the population grew thanks to the Gold Rush which started in 1848 and

3219-726: The Mexican War, was signed February 2, 1848 and California became a Territory of the United States. Between 1847 and 1849, California was run by the U.S. military. A constitutional convention met in Monterey in September 1849, and set up a state government. It operated for 10 months before California was admitted to the Union as the 31st State by the United States Congress , as part of the Compromise of 1850 , enacted on September 9, 1850. While

3306-471: The Mexican government in the 1880s. Rancho El Rosario , Rancho Cueros de Venado and Rancho Tecate were each granted to citizens of San Diego in the 1820s or 1830s and lay wholly in what is now Baja California as was the Rancho San Antonio Abad , whose origin and title is more obscure. Their titles were never subjected to dispute in U.S. courts. The rancheros became land-rich and cash-poor, and

3393-593: The Pacific Ocean into the Livermore valley as it heads towards the much hotter Central Valley . This wind is strong enough with an average summer wind speed of about 9 miles per hour (14 km/h) and predictable enough to encourage the use of the wind turbines in the Altamont Pass between the cities of Livermore and Tracy. The period from June to September is extremely dry and is characterized by clear skies. On rare occasion, subtropical moisture occasionally surges into

3480-400: The United States nuclear arsenal. The Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL) is the largest employer in Livermore, as of 2022, employing about 15% of the population. LLNL's defining responsibility is to "ensure the safety, security and reliability of the nation’s nuclear deterrent," but it also does a wide variety of other research, including co-discovering livermorium . Livermore

3567-496: The boundaries of existing pueblos. The grantee was required to build a stone house and to keep at least 2,000 head of stock on each rancho. During the Mexican era (1821–1846), grantees received legal title to the land. In 1821, Mexico achieved its independence from Spain, and California came under control of the Mexican government. The 1824 Mexican Colony Law established rules for petitioning for land grants in California; and by 1828,

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3654-782: The boundaries of the ranchos, and many of their names are still in use. For example, Rancho San Diego is now an unincorporated "rural-burb" east of San Diego , and Rancho Bernardo is a suburb in San Diego. Before 1754, only the Spanish Crown could grant lands in Alta California. For several years, the Franciscan missionaries were the only beneficiaries of this policy. Spanish laws allowed four square leagues of land (one league being approximately 4,428 acres (1,792 ha)) to be granted to newly-formed settlements, or pueblos. Settlement on

3741-501: The burden of attempting to defend their claims was often financially overwhelming. Grantees lost their lands as a result of mortgage default, payment of attorney fees, or payment of other personal debts. Land was also lost as a result of fraud. A sharp decline in cattle prices, the Great Flood of 1862 , and droughts of 1863–1864 also forced many of the overextended rancheros to sell their properties to Americans. They often quickly subdivided

3828-408: The burden of proof of title on landholders. Grantees were required to prove the validity of the grants they had received and establish their exact boundaries. The diseños (maps) available were often hand-drawn and imprecise. Land had until the gold rush been of little value and boundary locations were often quite vague, referring to an oak tree, a cow skull on a pile of rocks, a creek, and in some cases

3915-515: The city, including the Greenville Fault , Tesla Fault and the Livermore Fault. The soil is primarily gravel with excellent drainage. The gravel is used in several gravel extraction sites outside the city. The gravelly soil and Mediterranean climate increases the flavor concentration in the grapes planted in the soil. Livermore has a hot-summer Mediterranean climate ( Csa ), although it

4002-469: The early days, the income of the town of Livermore mainly came from wheat. The city also developed as a place for the shipping and processing of products of the valley, including cattle, roses, and white wines, the last especially prominent after the 1880s. Some other contributors to the town's prosperity were coal and oil deposits in the surrounding hills. Coal was first found in Harrisville, and in 1875

4089-577: The end of the 1840s saw the close of Mexican control over Alta California, this period also marked the beginning of the rancheros' greatest prosperity. Cattle had been raised primarily for their hides and tallow, as there was no market for large quantities of beef, especially in the days prior to refrigeration, railroads or ice production. Demand dramatically changed with the onset of the Gold Rush , as thousands of miners and other fortune seekers flooded into northern California. These newcomers needed meat, and cattle prices soared with demand. The rancheros enjoyed

4176-507: The farming, winegrowing and ranching traditions that have existed in the valley since the time of Robert Livermore, but now largely reflects a suburban population. Since 1918, Livermore has each June hosted the Livermore Rodeo , called the "World's Fastest Rodeo", that claims it has more riders per hour than any other event of its type. There are several wine-tasting tours of the many Livermore area wineries that occur periodically throughout

4263-505: The government established Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory (LLNL), named after physicist Ernest O. Lawrence , as the site of a second laboratory for the study of nuclear energy like the research being done at the Los Alamos National Laboratory . The laboratory was run by the University of California . Edward Teller was a co-founder of LLNL and was both its director and associate director for many years. In 1956,

4350-585: The governor. Soldiers, rancheros, farmers, and those in power coveted the rich coastal lands that the missions controlled. The Mexican government was also fearful about the missions which remained loyal to the Pope and the Catholic Church in Spain . In August 1833, the government secularized all of the missions and their valuable lands, about 1,000,000 acres (400,000 ha) per mission. The Mexican government allowed

4437-554: The grand prize for his first pressing (1884) in the 1889 Paris Exposition. Wetmore shared these cuttings with other growers, including C. H. Wente, who used the Chateau Yquem grape cuttings to eventually produce their Chateau Wente wine. According to the city's 2022 Annual Comprehensive Financial Report, the top employers in Livermore are: Gillig Corporation , a large manufacturer of buses, moved its factory to Livermore in May 2017 and, at

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4524-557: The halcyon days of Hispanic California. The Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo provided that the Mexican land grants would be honored. To investigate and confirm titles in California, American officials acquired the provincial records of the Spanish and Mexican governments in Monterey. The new state's leaders soon discovered that the Mexican government had given a number of grants just before the Americans gained control. The Mexican governors had rewarded faithful supporters, and hoped to prevent

4611-569: The help of those in power, acquired the church lands as grants. The Indigenous peoples of the Americas ("Indians"), landless, became virtual slaves of the rancheros. Spain made about 30 concessions between 1784 and 1821. Mexico issued about 270 land grants between 1833 and 1846. The ranchos established permanent land-use patterns. The rancho boundaries became the basis for California's land survey system, and are found on modern maps and land titles. The "rancheros" (rancho owners) patterned themselves after

4698-429: The high expense of fencing large grazing tracts or selling their cattle at ruinous prices. The ranchos established land-use patterns that are still recognizable in contemporary California. Many communities still retain their Spanish rancho name. For example, Rancho Peñasquitos , the first land grant by the Spanish in today's San Diego County, is now a suburb within the city of San Diego. Modern communities often follow

4785-512: The i-GATE (Innovation for Green Advanced Transportation Excellence) National Energy Systems Technology (NEST) Incubator, part of the Central Valley. The 15,000-square-foot (1,400 m ) i-GATE NEST campus was created to stimulate large-scale, high-tech business development drawn by the two labs. Initial focus of the campus was solar energy, fuel cells , biofuels , LED lighting, and other related technologies. i-GATE shares its facilities with

4872-545: The interior or sought work on the new ranchos along with the troops formerly assigned to each mission. They sometimes congregated at rancherías (living areas near a hacienda) where an indigenous Spanish and mestizo culture developed. By 1846, the mission lands and its cattle had passed into the hands of 800 private landowners called rancheros. They collectively owned 8,000,000 acres (3,200,000 ha) of land, in units ranging in size from 4,500 acres (1,800 ha) to 50,000 acres (20,000 ha). They primarily produced hides for

4959-541: The land and sold it to new settlers, who began farming individual plots. A shift in the economic dominance of grain farming over cattle raising was marked by the passage of the California "No-Fence Law" of 1874. This repealed the Trespass Act of 1850, which had required farmers to protect their planted fields from free-ranging cattle. The repeal of the Trespass Act required that ranchers fence stock in, rather than farmers fencing cattle out. The ranchers were faced with either

5046-419: The land was to be divided into communal pasture, a town plot, and individual plots intended for each Indian family. In addition, one half of the herds were to be divided proportionately among the neophyte families. But this purpose was never accomplished. In truth, only a very few Indians of Alta California were educationally or culturally equipped to accept the offering. Instead, they were further exploited by

5133-408: The landed gentry of New Spain, and were primarily devoted to raising cattle and sheep. Their workers included Native Americans who had learned Spanish while living and working at one of the former missions . The ranchos were often based on access to resources necessary for raising cattle, such as water and adequate grazing lands and water. Land development from that time forward has often followed

5220-532: The last of the San Diego Ranchos to be undeveloped. Only a few historic structures and an 8,000 square feet (740 m ) ranch house, built in the 1970s, occupy the 13,300 acres (5,400 ha). Benjamin Coates purchased the land in the 1970s after Governor Jerry Brown vetoed a purchase that would have made Guejito a state park . Coates purchased an additional 8,700 acres (3,500 ha) of surrounding land between

5307-575: The new immigrants from gaining control of the land. Sponsored by California Senator William M. Gwin , in 1851 Congress passed "An Act to Ascertain and Settle Private Land Claims in the State of California". The Act required all holders of Spanish and Mexican land grants to present their titles for confirmation before the Board of California Land Commissioners . Contrary to the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, this Act placed

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5394-404: The original boundaries of the rancho, based on geographic features and abstract straight lines. Today, most of the original rancho land grants have been dismantled and sold off to become suburbs and rural-burbs. A very small number of ranchos are still owned by descendants of the original owners, retain their original size, or remain undeveloped. Rancho Guejito in San Diego County is considered

5481-425: The original site was converted into a historic center and park. The community was primarily agricultural until 1945, and transitioned to a suburb as a result of construction of the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory in 1952 and the Sandia National Laboratories in 1956, and population overflow from the rest of the bay area. In 1942, the U.S. government bought 692 acres (280 ha) of ranch land, and built

5568-424: The padres to keep only the church, priest's quarters, and priest's garden. The army troops guarding each Mission were dismissed. The government stipulated that one half the mission lands and property was to be given to neophytes in grants of 33 acres (13 ha) of arable land along with land "in common" sufficient "to pasture their stock." A board of magistrates was to oversee the mission's crops and herds, while

5655-403: The principal city: the Livermore– Pleasanton – Dublin , CA urban area had a 2020 population of 240,381, making it the 167th largest in the United States . The valley and upland areas, where contemporary Livermore is located, was home to Chochenyo speaking peoples. As a group, these people are considered Ohlone Costonoan with distinct cultural affiliation in contrast to and closely bordering

5742-517: The rancheros and in many cases became virtual slaves. Most mission property was bought by government officials or their wealthy friends, local Californios , individuals of Mexican or Spanish descent who had been born in Alta California. The number of Mexican land grants greatly increased after secularization . The former Mission Indians, freed from forced labor on the missions, but without land of their own, and their former way of life destroyed, often had few choices. Some lived with Indian tribes in

5829-518: The ranchos outside presidio , mission, and pueblo boundaries began in 1784. Private individuals applied to the Governor for grants and he issued a few written temporary permits. The Spanish crown retained title. In 1784, Juan José Domínguez received permission from Spanish Governor Pedro Fages to graze his cattle on the 48,000-acre (190 km ) Rancho San Pedro . Two years later the governor received authority to grant tracts not exceeding three square leagues, as long as they did not conflict with

5916-704: The resulting ' diseño ', a rough, hand-drawn relief map, often only vaguely defined the boundary lines. The grantee could not initially subdivide or rent the land. It had to be used for grazing or cultivation. A residence had to be built within a year—most were initially simple adobe-walled cabins. Public roads crossing through the property must remain open. The survey and residence requirements could not be enforced. The poorly funded and relatively unorganized government had little interest in land that brought in no taxes. The government instead collected revenue from tariffs assessed on cargo arriving at Monterey, California . The Mexican–American War began on May 13, 1846 with

6003-458: The rules for establishing land grants were codified in the Mexican Reglamento (Regulation). The Acts sought to break the land monopoly of the missions and also paved the way for luring additional settlers to California by making land grants easier to obtain. The Mexican governors of Alta California gained the power to grant state lands, and many of the Spanish concessions were subsequently patented under Mexican law—frequently to local "friends" of

6090-416: The same year. The first schoolhouse was built in 1866. Livermore's founder, William Mendenhall , was another landowner in the Livermore Valley, having bought 650 acres of the Santa Rita grant and 608 acres of the Rancho Valle de San José . In 1869, he set aside 100 acres (40 ha) of his land for a townsite , creating a new town which he named Livermore, after his friend Robert Livermore. Livermore

6177-439: The summer. Livermore has a strong blue-collar element, as well as many professionals who work at the Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and other work sites in the high tech industries within the Bay Area. One of the largest districts in Livermore is Springtown, the northeast area of the city north of Interstate 580 . Originally conceived as a retirement community in the early 1960s, Springtown has slowly transformed into

6264-605: The third highest-income midsize city, behind only the California cities of Newport Beach ($ 97,428) and Livermore's western neighbor, Pleasanton ($ 101,022). As of October 2019, there were 53,792 registered voters in Livermore; of these, 21,158 (39.93%) are Democrats , 15,061 (28.00%) are Republicans , and 14,499 (26.95%) are independents/decline to state . The Livermore area is the home of two US Department of Energy National Laboratories . The laboratories are known worldwide, and attract significant attention both for their scientific research and for their major roles in developing

6351-612: The time of the move, the company estimated its employment at the new facility to be 800 initially and 850 after the filling of then-open positions. Livermore's largest employers, Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory and Sandia National Laboratory are United States Department of Energy National Laboratories , located inside the city limits since 2011, and are included in the above table. Architectural Glass and Aluminum moved its headquarters to Livermore in 2013, with 80 employees. They expanded and changed to 100% employee ownership in 2015. Livermore's culture retains some vestiges of

6438-591: The town had grown and a fire company, churches, a bank, and a library were built. Livermore was officially incorporated by the state as a city in April 1876. During Livermore's early years, before and after it was incorporated, it was well known for large hotels that graced the downtown street corners, before new buildings replaced them. A telephone line connected Livermore to Arroyo Valley by 1886, and electric lights were introduced by 1888. By 1890 Livermore had over 20 miles (32 km) of streets. Livermore originally had

6525-636: The two regions. Livermore Valley is about 15 miles (24 km) long (east to west) and 10 miles (16 km) wide (north to south). Watercourses draining the city of Livermore include Arroyo Mocho , Arroyo Valle , Arroyo Seco and Arroyo Las Positas . The principal aquifer underlying the city is the Mocho Subbasin . According to the United States Census Bureau , the city has a total area of 25.2 square miles (65 km ), over 99% of it land. Several local seismic areas of activity lie near

6612-417: The unincorporated areas of eastern Alameda County. LARPD has its own, five-person board of directors that is elected by the citizens to staggered four-year terms. As of 2013, LARPD operates 42 facilities over 1,842 acres (745 ha), with 1,432 acres (580 ha) open space. It runs an extensive selection of classes on a wide variety of subjects. The 2012-2013 operating budget of LARPD was $ 16,393,564 plus

6699-521: The valley was also used as a staging area for raids on Mission San Jose by neighboring tribes in this early period and beyond. During the first seven years of the 1800s, five hundred and two individuals were baptized at Mission San Jose from the four tribelets in the Livermore Valley. In this time, Spanish military conducted raids throughout the East Bay using the valley as a natural corridor for movement. Deaths from measles outbreaks were recorded in Mission San Jose in 1806 which forced recruiting beyond

6786-399: The west. After it was destroyed by a fire in 1871, Laddsville gradually merged into Livermore. The railroad significantly accelerated Livermore's growth, and the incorporation of Laddsville into the city added impetus; the city was officially incorporated by the state on April 1, 1876. At the time the town had a population of about 830 people in 234 buildings. It had 13 saloons. In

6873-567: The western edge of Livermore Valley in 1772. Shortly afterwards, the Spanish Mission of San Jose was founded in 1797 on the slopes of what is modern day Fremont. Mission San Jose viewed the people and land stretching to the east as under their control. Livermore Valley was called the Valley of San Jose by the Friars and actively recruited native peoples of the valley into the mission system. In contrast,

6960-504: The workers on the railroad, it became more and more difficult to find work; by 1906, there were only 28 individuals left, and by 1914 most of the remaining population was gone. Robert Livermore (1799–1858), the namesake of the town, was a British citizen who had jumped from a British merchant sailing ship stopping in Monterey, California . In 1839, the 48,000-acre (19,000 ha) Rancho Las Positas grant, which includes most of Livermore,

7047-410: The world leather market and largely relied on Indian labor. Bound to the rancho by peonage , the Native Americans were treated as slaves. The Native Americans who worked on the ranchos died at twice the rate that of southern slaves. The boundaries of the Mexican ranchos were provisional. The new owner was required to complete a legal survey that established and marked the boundaries. Even if completed,

7134-399: Was 1.5%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.8%. 56,967 people (70.4% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 23,491 people (29.0%) lived in rental housing units. According to the 2010 census information, Livermore is the third wealthiest midsize (between 65,000 and 249,999 people) city in the nation. In 2005, the median household income in Livermore was $ 96,632, which ranked it

7221-419: Was also in Livermore in 1885, and was producing an extensive line of bricks and employing over 100 men. Private grade schools were operating in Livermore from the 1860s on. The Livermore Collegiate Institute was founded in 1870, and Union High School (later called Livermore High School ) graduated its first class of students in 1896. There was an old bullfight ring that survived until at least 1870. By 1876

7308-466: Was extended to all owners of rejected claims. A number of ranchos remained in whole or in part in the sliver of territory of Alta California left to Mexico by the Treaty of Guadalupe Hidalgo, which then became part of Baja California . Rancho Tía Juana (partially in San Diego County, California) lost its claim to title to its land in San Diego County but the balance of the rancho was confirmed by

7395-668: Was made to ranchers Robert Livermore and Jose Noriega . In the early 1840s Livermore moved his family from the Sunol Valley to the Rancho Las Positas grant, as the second non-native family to settle in the Livermore valley area. In 1847, after the Americans took control of California and gold was discovered in 1848, he started making money by selling California longhorn cattle to the thousands of hungry California Gold Rush miners who soon arrived. The non-Indian population skyrocketed, and cattle were suddenly worth much more than

7482-450: Was opened in Livermore in 2001. In 2019, a local LGBT organization, Livermore Pride, was founded. On its leadership team is Brittni Kiick, the city's vice mayor and first openly LGBTQ+ councilmember. Livermore was one of 10 cities to be awarded an All-America City Award during the annual National Civic League ceremony for 2021. The theme of the 2021 awards was "Building Equitable and Resilient Communities." The Livermore Public Library has

7569-436: Was platted and registered on November 4, 1869, as a railroad town . By that time, the valley had already become known as Livermore's Valley. He had first met Livermore while marching through the valley with John C. Fremont 's California Battalion in 1846 as they were recruited to occupy the surrendering Californio towns captured by the U.S. Navy 's Pacific Squadron . He also donated 20 acres (8.1 ha) of this land to

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