Hercules

Sister cities

• Tsushima

History

Contra Costa County’s first inhabitants arrived in the area six to ten thousand years ago, including the Bay Miwok people and the Huichin Ohlone People; however there were no known significant settlements in the Hercules area. The land that would become Hercules was part of a tract of land known as “Pinol y Cañada del Hambre” which was granted in 1823 to Ygnacio Martinez (for whom the city of Martinez, California was named) for his service as the commandant of the Presidio of San Francisco. This grant was reconfirmed in 1842 as Rancho El Pinole. In 1848, this area became part of the United States with the rest of California. Contra Costa County was created in 1850 as one of California's original 27 counties. The Central Pacific Railroad (later part of Southern Pacific) ran the first rail lines across Hercules’ waterfront in late 1878, as the main route for the Transcontinental Railroad was realigned via train ferry through the purpose-built town of Port Costa then to Richmond and Berkeley to connect at the Oakland Pier. The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad came through the area around 1899. The city's history was primarily shaped by the Hercules Powder Company, named after its main product “Hercules powder”, a specially patented (1874) formulation of dynamite, in turn named after the Roman hero. It began as the California Powder Works with locations in Golden Gate Park and Santa Cruz, California, but the expansion of San Francisco forced the company to find a more remote location for the dangerous process of manufacturing explosives. Hercules's isolated location at the time, plus its proximity to rail and water transportation along San Pablo Bay, made it an ideal choice. In 1879, the company, backed by DuPont and the Laflin & Rand Powder Company created the…

Geography

Hercules is located at , at the southeastern shore of the San Pablo Bay. According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (65.87%) is water. Hercules is on the southeastern shores of San Pablo Bay, roughly four miles southwest of the Carquinez Bridge. By road, Hercules is roughly 12 miles north of Berkeley, 18 miles north of Oakland and 22 miles northeast of San Francisco. The shoreline at this location runs northeast to southwest. Refugio Creek runs through the middle of Hercules in a northwesterly direction and empties at the shoreline. The town is bisected by Interstate 80, which runs parallel and roughly one mile inland from the coast. I-80 is the main highway between San Francisco and Sacramento and intersects California State Route 4 within the city limits. Major arterial roads include San Pablo Road, which lies to the north of I-80 (this road is also Historic US 40, which was the predecessor to I-80) and Refugio Valley Road, which runs in a northwest–southeast direction along Refugio Creek. The city has a predominantly suburban character dominated by two story detached and attached homes and one story commercial buildings divided into various subdivisions along well landscaped roads. The waterfront, which has a planned rail/ferry station, is zoned for higher density transit oriented development with community retail, and a number of 3 to 5 story mixed-use developments have been constructed there since 2015. The portion inland of Highway 80, which extends 4 miles inland mainly gently rolling hills along Refugio Valley Road, is primarily suburbs built between the 1970s and 1980s. It includes neighborhoods known to the locals as “the Birds”, “the Trees and Flowers”, “the Gemstones”, “the Astronauts”, and “the…

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