Crockett, California
Crockett | ||
---|---|---|
FIPS code 06-17274 | | |
GNIS feature IDs | 277495, 2407683 |
Crockett (formerly Crockettville)
History
Crockett is located on the Mexican land grant
"Sugar Town"
In 1906, an agricultural cooperative of Hawaiian sugar cane growers bought an existing Wheat Factory that never opened, refitted the facility, built additional structures for their refining needs, eventually turning Crockett into a company town for the California and Hawaiian Sugar Company, (better known as C&H).[6] The cane was grown in Hawaii and delivered by ship to Crockett, where the C&H refinery turned it into a variety of finished products.[8]
C & H soon became a dominant force in Crockett, which has been called a "company town."[a] By the 1920s, the company employed about 95 percent of the residents. Employment peaked at 2,500 just before WWII broke out.[8] C & H helped its employees obtain land and bank loans so that they could build houses. Company architects worked on designing the houses. The company funded many school and civic programs.[8]
In March and April 1938, Crockett experienced a labor strike at the C&H plant, climaxing in a riot. This was prior to the merger of the AFL and CIO national unions.[9]
Economic adaptation
By the 1960s, the good times were largely over for C & H and Crockett. Revenues and profits began dropping, so that the company pumped less money into the community. There were many layoffs as the company tried to restore profitability. In 1984, the company proposed building a natural gas-powered cogeneration plant that would provide steam for the sugar refinery and low-cost electricity for Crockett. A protest group calling itself the Crockett Power Plant Committee, supported by many Crockett residents formed and spent the next nine years opposing the proposal.[8] The proposed power plant was eventually built, but only after the company agreed to make major changes. C & H agreed to give Crockett $300,000 per year for the ensuing 30 years, which mostly funds its police and volunteer fire fighting departments.[8]
The Hawaiian sugar farmers sold their holdings in 1993 to Hawaiian-based Alexander & Baldwin, which converted C & H from a co-op into a corporation. In 1998, A & B sold a controlling interest to Citicorp Venture Capital (CVC). American Sugar Refining bought C & H in 2006, merging it with its other sugar operations. Revenues and profits continued their decline into the 21st Century, until the Crockett plant processed its last shipment of Hawaiian sugar in 2017.[10] [b]
Raw sugar now arrives from the globe's sun belt: Australia, the Philippines and Nicaragua, among other countries.[11]
"Wildfire" (2019)
A wildfire burned near Crockett on October 29, 2019, the same week as multiple wildfires in the region, e.g. Sonoma County "Kirkwood Fire", and a wildfire at the north end of the Carquinez bridge in
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of 1.1 square miles (2.8 km2), all of it land.
Crockett is located where the Carquinez Strait meets San Pablo Bay. The Carquinez Bridge, part of Interstate 80, links Crockett with the city of Vallejo to the north across the strait. To the east of Crockett along the south shore of the strait are Port Costa and the city of Martinez. South of Crockett are the town of Rodeo and the city of Hercules. Farther southwest on I-80 are the cities of Richmond, Berkeley and Oakland; in the opposite direction, northeast, is the capital of California, Sacramento.
Climate
This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above 71.6 °F. According to the
Climate data for Crockett, California (1918–1977) | |||||||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Month | Jan | Feb | Mar | Apr | May | Jun | Jul | Aug | Sep | Oct | Nov | Dec | Year |
Mean daily maximum °F (°C) | 54.1 (12.3) |
59.6 (15.3) |
63.5 (17.5) |
66.8 (19.3) |
71.1 (21.7) |
77.0 (25.0) |
80.0 (26.7) |
80.3 (26.8) |
78.7 (25.9) |
73.3 (22.9) |
64.3 (17.9) |
54.9 (12.7) |
68.6 (20.3) |
Mean daily minimum °F (°C) | 40.8 (4.9) |
43.6 (6.4) |
45.6 (7.6) |
47.6 (8.7) |
50.9 (10.5) |
54.7 (12.6) |
55.2 (12.9) |
55.5 (13.1) |
55.6 (13.1) |
52.5 (11.4) |
47.1 (8.4) |
42.0 (5.6) |
49.3 (9.6) |
Average precipitation inches (mm) | 3.55 (90) |
3.10 (79) |
2.31 (59) |
1.37 (35) |
0.38 (9.7) |
0.16 (4.1) |
0.03 (0.76) |
0.04 (1.0) |
0.20 (5.1) |
1.05 (27) |
2.08 (53) |
3.38 (86) |
17.65 (448) |
Average precipitation days (≥ 0.01 in) | 9 | 9 | 8 | 5 | 2 | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 | 3 | 6 | 9 | 53 |
Source: WRCC[14] |
Arts and culture
Bailey Art Museum
The
Crockett Historical Society
The former Crockett railroad station now serves as the home of the Crockett Historical Society.
Demographics
Census | Pop. | Note | %± |
---|---|---|---|
2020 | 3,242 | — | |
U.S. Decennial Census[17] |
The
The Census reported that 100% of the population lived in households.
There were 1,446 households, out of which 306 (21.2%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 554 (38.3%) were
The population consisted of 461 people (14.9%) under the age of 18, 214 people (6.9%) aged 18 to 24, 825 people (26.7%) aged 25 to 44, 1,131 people (36.6%) aged 45 to 64, and 463 people (15.0%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 45.7 years. For every 100 females, there were 95.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 95.6 males.
There were 1,649 housing units at an average density of 1,555.5 per square mile (600.6/km2), of which 1,446 were occupied, of which 808 (55.9%) were owner-occupied, and 638 (44.1%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.3%; the rental vacancy rate was 10.1%. 1,808 people (58.4% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 1,286 people (41.6%) lived in rental housing units.
Economy
Crockett is home to the corporate headquarters of C&H Sugar, a subsidiary of American Sugar Refining.[19][20]
Crockett also contains a fuel storage facility owned by the NuStar Energy L.P. Corporation. This facility primarily consists of 24 storage tanks, designed to hold an aggregate of 3 million barrels (130 million US gallons).[21] Two of these tanks are reserved for containing ethanol, which NuStar blends with other motor fuel components to make low-emissions automobile fuel mandated by California laws.
Education
Crockett is part of the John Swett Unified School District and is home to both Carquinez Middle School and John Swett High School.
The Crockett Library of the Contra Costa County Library is located in Crockett.[20][22]
Recreation
Crockett is bordered to the south and the east by two regional parks operated by the East Bay Regional Park District.
Crockett Hills Regional Park lies south of Crockett. The 1,939 acre park ranges in elevation from 150 to 800 feet, offering views of San Pablo Bay, the Delta, Mount Tamalpais, and Mount Diablo. Trails include a 4.5-mile segment of the Bay Area Ridge Trail. Crockett Hills is an excellent mountain biking park.[23][24]
Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline comprises 1,415 acres of bluffs and shoreline along Carquinez Scenic Drive between the town of Crockett and the hillsides overlooking Martinez. [25]
The topography of Crockett Ranch Regional Park and the adjoining Carquinez Regional Shoreline consists of open, rolling grasslands, wooded ravines, eucalyptus-shaded meadows, and river shoreline. Multi-purpose trails provide access to canyon views and ridgetop vistas.
Notable people
- Aldo Ray (1926–1991), American movie actor (born Aldo Da Re) born in Pennsylvania, who moved to Crockett when he was four years old.[c] After serving in the U.S. Navy in WWII, returned to Crockett, where he was elected Constable, then left to pursue a movie career.
- United States national rugby union team
Notes
- ^ One source wrote that Crockett was sometimes called, "Sugar Town."[8]
- ^ The last sugar mill on Maui closed in December 2016. Its final product, 30,000 pounds (14 t) was delivered to Crockett aboard the ship Moku Pahu on January 17, 2017.[10]
- ^ Aldo Ray's father worked at the C & H sugar refinery in Crockett.
References
- ^ "Senators". State of California. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ^ "Members Assembly". State of California. Retrieved March 29, 2013.
- ^ "California's 5th Congressional District - Representatives & District Map". Civic Impulse, LLC. Retrieved March 9, 2013.
- ^ "2020 U.S. Gazetteer Files". United States Census Bureau. Retrieved October 30, 2021.
- ^ "Crockett". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
- ^ ISBN 1-884995-14-4.
- ^ Kyle, Douglas E. (1990). Historic Spots in California (4th ed.). Stanford University Press. p. 64.
- ^ a b c d e f Hayes, Kerri. "A Small Town's Sweet Sorrow ." East Bay Express. May 15, 2002. Accessed July 16, 2002.
- ^ Mero, William. "Sugar Wars and the Bloody Streets of Crockett | CCCHS Essays". www.cocohistory.com. Retrieved June 15, 2020.
- ^ a b Ioffee, Karina. "Last Hawaiian sugar ship bids historic farewell." East Bay Times. January 20, 2017. Accessed July 16, 2017
- ^ Rafkin, Louise (September 18, 2011). "The C & H Sign". The New York Times.
- ^ "Evacuation Orders Lifted in Crockett, I-80 Closed 5 Hours When Fires Burn Above Carquinez Strait." KPIX5 CBSTV. October 27, 2019. Accessed November 2, 2019.
- ^ "Crockett, California Köppen Climate Classification (Weatherbase)". Weatherbase. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
- ^ "CROCKETT, CALIFORNIA (042177)". Western Regional Climate Center. Retrieved August 17, 2022.
- ISBN 978-1-8840-3822-8.)
{{cite book}}
: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link - ^ Hamlin, Jesse (April 4, 2013). "Bay Area arts news". The San Francisco Chronicle. Retrieved March 20, 2014.
- ^ "Census of Population and Housing". Census.gov. Retrieved June 4, 2016.
- ^ "2010 Census Interactive Population Search: CA - Crockett CDP". U.S. Census Bureau. Archived from the original on July 15, 2014. Retrieved July 12, 2014.
- ^ "Contact Us Archived 2010-03-23 at the Wayback Machine." C&H Sugar. Retrieved on April 1, 2010.
- ^ U.S. Census Bureau. Retrieved on April 1, 2010.
- ^ "Authorities seek cause for California fuel fire." Tampa Bay Times. October 16, 2019. Accessed October 29, 2019.
- ^ "Crockett Library." Contra Costa County Library. Retrieved on April 1, 2010.
- ^ "EBRPD - Crockett Hills". www.ebparks.org. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
- ^ "Crockett Hills Mountain Bike Trail, Crockett, California". MTB Project. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
- ^ "EBRPD - Carquinez Strait". www.ebparks.org. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
- "Crockett". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.