Richmond

Richmond is a port city in Contra Costa County, California, on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay north of Berkeley. Its shoreline parks, linked by the San Francisco Bay Trail, run from Point Richmond to Point Pinole.

The Ohlone lived on the bay shore long before the Spanish came, speaking the Chochenyo language. The land later formed the Rancho San Pablo, granted to Francisco María Castro in 1823 and confirmed to his son Víctor Castro, a Californio rancher. At the turn of the 20th century the Santa Fe Railway brought its line to a terminal at Point Richmond, and Standard Oil opened a refinery beside it; the city that grew around them was incorporated in 1905. Winehaven, a winery with brick cellars at Point Molate, pressed and stored wine until Prohibition closed it.

The Port of Richmond ships petroleum products and imports new cars through its terminals on the bay. Albert Kahn designed the Ford assembly plant on the waterfront, where cars were built from the 1930s, and its steel and glass hall reopened as the Craneway Pavilion, a hall for concerts and trade shows. The House Rabbit Society, which finds homes for pet rabbits, has its national office in the city.

The Richmond Art Center, founded by Hazel Salmi in the 1930s, is one of the oldest nonprofit art centers on the West Coast. Miller/Knox Regional Shoreline has a sandy cove at Keller Beach and a lagoon below the hills. The Richmond–San Rafael Bridge crosses the bay from the city to Marin County, and Point Richmond keeps its small old town of shops below the hill.