Martinez, County Seat of
Contra Costa County, is situated on the
Sacramento River on the north edge of Contra Costa County. Interstate 680 passes over the river at Martinez to
Benicia. Martinez is a small city of 36,715 residents, 12.47 square miles. Amtrak, on it’s way to & from Seattle and Chicago stops in Martinez daily. It is the home of "Joltin" Joe DiMaggio.
From a trading post in 1849 to incorporation in 1876, Martinez was a gold rush and shipping boomtown. Early settlers of the county bought, sold, and shipped their goods here. One of them also created the popular drink known as the "Martini"
Railroads arrived in 1877. Central Pacific, with the tie to the transcontinental line, came in 1879 with the world's largest ferry boat, transporting trains across the Strait to Port Costa. Grain wharves lined the shoreline from Martinez to Crockett. Sunset Telephone Company, later to become Pacific Bell, came to town in 1881.
