Region: San Francisco Bay Area, East Bay, Delta
When you say “industrial history” most newcomers to San Francisco think of Monterey Bay’s Cannery Row. When you say “Pioneers” or “Gold Rush” they think of the High Sierras or Amador County. When you say “John Muir,” they think of Yosemite.
Instead of driving over 100 miles for the tourist experience, Bay Area residents in the know head 30 miles east to the Delta. These old factory towns thrive on their ties to pre-state history and feisty small town cultures.
Parks & History
For a glimpse of the wildlife and ruins of pre-World War structures, try the regional shoreline parks. Topography ranges from wildflower fields, marshes, craggy hiking trails, and old remnants of centuries-old buildings.
In between the two Shoreline parks are two cemeteries with histories dating back to the days before California became a state.
Dining & Drinking
Local Flavors: Sugar and Martinis
Crockett’s primary employer for decades was the C and H sugar factory, visible from the Carquinez Bridge. Almost all old-timers can trace history back to this local business.
Martinez’s history has one foot in the old, refining towns of industry, and one in its pre-Gold Rush Italian fishing village. Residents brag about ancestors who came to build the Shell Refinery back in 1915, or being a distant cousin of beloved city son, Joe Dimaggio, who once brought his bride Marilyn to tour the town.
Martinez is also proud of its history as one of several claiming to have invented the Martini. Martinez holds an annual charity event for best martini, and the City Council has the recipe for the Martinez, the alleged Gold Rush era precursor, on their official website.
The Martinez community is highly supportive of both the environment and the arts. The John Muir House, honoring the famous environmentalist, is in Martinez, and the National Park Service holds a free public event for Earth Day and moonlight hikes on nearby Mt. Wanda throughout the summer and early fall.
Local artists donated time to help high school students paint murals along the freeway between the John Muir House and Mt. Wanda. The Martinez Arts Association holds multiple events, with their Support Women Artists Now (SWAN) Day event taking place near the original Ferry building and historical train station. Fans of the architect of the Watts Towers, Simon Rodia, may be interested to know he lived in Martinez until his death.
Lodging
Crockett has no hotels, and Martinez and Port Costa haven’t seen heavy tourist action in decades. As such, even their limited lodging is historical.
Transportation
There aren’t many public transportation options on the Delta, and Port Costa is only available by car.
Crockett and Martinez are available via WestCat buses from Hercules Transit Center. This can be reached by taking BART to El Cerrito or by (my preference) taking the WestCat Lynx directly from San Francisco’s Transbay Terminal. Appropriate bus routes are below…
Amtrak runs from Emeryville to Martinez. (Service is also available from San Francisco, but it’s really an Amtrak-branded bus that drops you off in Emeryville.)