Martinez (California)

Martinez
Martinez Location in California
Basic data
Foundation :	1849
State :	United States
State :	California
County :	Contra Costa County
Coordinates :	38 ° 0 ′  N , 122 ° 7 ′  W Coordinates: 38 ° 0 ′  N , 122 ° 7 ′  W
Time zone :	Pacific ( UTC − 8 / −7 )
Residents :	35,866 (as of: 2000)
Population density :	1,131.4 inhabitants per km 2
Area :	34.8 km 2  (approx. 13 mi 2 ) of which 31.7 km 2  (approx. 12 mi 2 ) are land
Height :	7 m
Postal code :	94553
Area code :	+1 925
FIPS :	06-46114
GNIS ID :	0277553
Website :	www.cityofmartinez.org

Martinez is a city in Contra Costa County in the US state of California , United States , with 36,036 inhabitants (as of 2010) and the seat of the county administration. The urban area has a size of 34.8 km².

The city is on the south bank of Suisun Bay and Carquinez Strait .

history

Martinez goes back to Rancho El Pinole , which was given to Ygnacio Martínez in 1942 by the Mexican governor Juan Bautista Alvarado . Martínez was a former soldier, temporarily commandant of the Presidio of San Francisco and in the financial year 1837/38 mayor of Mission San Francisco de Asís , later San Francisco . California had been American since 1846 and since 1847 there was a ferry from the Rancho over the Carquinez Street to Benicia , which brought together traffic routes in what would later become the city.

The settlement was officially surveyed in 1849 and was named Martinez after the founder of the Rancho. It became the seat of the county administration in 1850, but could not yet be incorporated as a local authority because it had not yet reached the necessary threshold of 200 American citizens. This recognition and registration as a city did not take place until 1876.

Scottish-born naturalist, natural philosopher and conservationist John Muir moved to Martinez in 1880 because he married Louie Strenzel, the daughter of local doctor John Strentzel. Muir stayed until his death on December 24, 1914. The family home, built by John Strenzel and in which a large part of Muir's writings originated, has been designated as the John Muir National Historic Site since 1964 .

economy

Since 1904 there have been oil refineries and other oil processing companies in the urban area of ​​Martinez and partly in the adjacent unregulated area , which still make up part of the region's economy today. As of 2019, there are two refineries in operation, one owned by Marathon Petroleum and the other by Royal Dutch Shell . Other important employers are the county administration, the school district and a clinic each from Kaiser Permanente and the Veterans Health Administration , the latter is only accessible to veterans of the US armed forces.

The population of Martinez has a significantly higher income than the average of the Contra Costa County, which in turn is well above the average of California: According to the US Census 2010 , the median income in Martinez was $ 98,102, in Contra Costa County $ 88,456 and in all of California at $ 67,169. Even with 5.6% of the population below the poverty line, Martinez is a well above-average wealthy city.

traffic

Martinez is a major transportation hub in the northeast Bay Area via the three Benicia – Martinez bridges over the Carquinez Strait . Interstate 680 and a Union Pacific Railroad line run on them .

The main north-south connection is the Interstate 680 highway; in the east-west direction Martinez is developed by California State Route 4 , which in this section is nicknamed the John Muir Parkway .

Martinez has a passenger train station on the Amtrak network with connections to Oakland , Sacramento , San Jose and long-distance trains to Chicago , Los Angeles and Seattle . The North Concord / Martinez BART station, which opened in 1995, is named after the city, but is located in Concord, more than six kilometers outside Martinez. In 2007, for the 50th anniversary of BART, a long-term expansion plan was proposed for the network, which also proposed a north-south line east of the previous network. This plan called for a connection to Martinez. However, there is no support for an actual implementation (as of 2019).

sons and daughters of the town

• Joe DiMaggio (1914-1999), baseball player
• Frank Edwin McGraw Jr. (1944-2004), baseball player
• Victor Salva (born 1958), director
• Rosie Gaines (born 1960), singer

Web links

Commons : Martinez, California  - Collection of images, videos, and audio files

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Unless otherwise stated, the story is based on: City of Martinez: History (accessed August 1, 2019)
2. ↑ California Air Resources Board: California Refinery (as of 2015)
3. ↑ City of Martinez: Martinez Fast Facts , as of 2018
4. ↑ US Census Bureau: Quickfacts - California, Contra Costa County, Martinez (Census data from 2010, partially updated to 2018)
5. ↑ SF Gate: BART'S NEW VISION: MORE, BIGGER, FASTER , June 22, 2007