Martinez, California

The Vicente Martínez Adobe, built in 1849 by a son of Ygnacio Martínez, is the oldest building in Martinez.

The John Muir National Historic Site, home of famed naturalist John Muir from 1880 until his death in 1914

In 1824, the western side of Martinez, Alhambra Valley was included in the Rancho El Pinole Mexican land grant to Ygnacio Martínez.[13] East of these lands was the Rancho Las Juntas, a grant made to Irish born William Welch in 1844; his land lay between the lands of Martinez and Pacheco.

In 1847, Dr. Robert Semple contracted to provide ferry service from Martinez to Benicia, which for many years was the only crossing on the Carquinez Strait.[13] By 1849, Martínez served as a way station for the California Gold Rush. The town was laid out in 1849 by Col. William M. Smith and named for Martinez.[14] It became the county seat in 1850, but could not incorporate at the time because it lacked the 200 registered voters required, and would not become a city until 1876.[15]

Martinez was the home of naturalist John Muir from 1880 until his death in 1914. He was buried about a mile south of the building that is now the John Muir National Historic Site. Also nearby is the Vicente Martinez Adobe, built in 1849 by the son of Ygnacio Martinez.[15]

The first post office opened in 1851.[14]

In 1860, Martinez played a role in the Pony Express, where riders would take the ferry from Benicia (particularly if they missed the steamer in Sacramento).[16]

The first oil refinery in the Martinez area was built in 1904 at Bull's Head Point, a then-unincorporated waterfront area two miles east of the downtown district. That area soon became known as Mococo, following the 1905 arrival of a smelting works, operated by the Mountain Copper Company (Mo Co Co).

The historic Contra Costa County Courthouse was built in 1901.

That first facility, operated by the Bull's Head Oil Company, was followed in 1908 by a test refinery built by the Pacific Coast Oil Company. Shortly thereafter, Pacific Coast became part of Standard Oil (now Chevron), and consolidated their oil refining operations in the Point Richmond, Hercules, Rodeo waterfront corridor some 12 miles (19 km) to the west of Martinez.

In 1913, the Golden Eagle facility became the third oil refinery to be built in the area. It was located in the newly-created company town of Avon, immediately to the East of Martinez. A fourth refinery, built by the Shell Oil Company on land adjacent to the Martinez City limits, went online in January 1916. The Shell Oil refining facility is still operational today (Currently owned by PBF Energy), maintaining the city's position as a significant petroleum processing center. The Golden Eagle Refinery (currently owned by Marathon Petroleum Company) was idled in April 2020 as a response to lower petroleum demand during the COVID-19 pandemic.[17][18][19]

Folk etymology in Martinez claims the invention of the Martini cocktail and that it is named for the city.[20]

The Benicia-Martinez Bridge across the Carquinez Strait, connects Martinez in the south to Benicia in the north.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 13.1 square miles (34 km²), of which 12.1 square miles (31 km²) of it is land and 1.0 square mile (2.6 km²) of it (7.64 percent) is water.

The city is largely surrounded by water and regional open space preserves. The Martinez–Benicia Bridge carries Highway 680 across the eastern end of the Carquinez Strait to Solano County. The city is a densely built downtown valley threaded by Alhambra Creek and north of Highway 4. Suburban areas stretch south of Highway 4 to join the neighboring city of Pleasant Hill. Unincorporated areas include the rural Alhambra Valley and the Franklin Canyon area.

The Martinez Regional Shoreline bounds the city to the north along the Carquinez Strait. Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline includes the Franklin Hills west of downtown, stretching west to the unincorporated community of Port Costa and the town of Crockett. Briones Regional Park borders the Alhambra Valley to the south. Waterbird Regional Preserve and the McNabney Marsh border the city and Highway 680 to the east.[21] Martinez's location at the east end of the Carquinez Strait as it widens to Suisun Bay includes dramatic water views stretching to the Sierra range. From surrounding ridge tops views stretch to nearby Mount Diablo, Mount Saint Helena, Mount Tamalpais, and others.

Aerial view of Martinez (bottom); Benicia is located across the Carquinez Strait (top).

Martinez is one of the only two places in the Bay Area, the other being Golden Gate Bridge, where the Bay Area Ridge Trail and the San Francisco Bay Trail converge. The Bay Trail is a planned recreational corridor that, when complete, will encircle San Francisco and San Pablo bays with a continuous 400-mile (640 km) network of bicycling and hiking trails. It will connect the shoreline of all nine Bay Area counties, link 47 cities, and cross the major toll bridges in the region, including the Benicia–Martinez Bridge. To date, approximately 240 miles (390 km) of the alignment—over half the Bay Trail's ultimate length—have been completed. The Bay Area Ridge Trail ultimately will be a 500+ mile trail encircling the San Francisco Bay along the ridge tops, open to hikers, equestrians, mountain bicyclists, and outdoor enthusiasts of all types. So far, over 300 miles (480 km) of trail have been dedicated for use. East Bay Regional Park District's Iron Horse Regional Trail will join the Bay Trail along the waterfront, and the Contra Costa Canal Trail threads through the city from Pleasant Hill to the south.

View from the Martinez Marina

The 2020 United States Census[25] reported that Martinez had a population of 38,290. The population density was 2,727.4 inhabitants per square mile (1,053.1/km²). The racial makeup of Martinez was 27,603 (77.1%) White, 1,303 (3.6%) African American, 255 (0.7%) Native American, 2,876 (8.0%) Asian, 121 (0.3%) Pacific Islander, 1,425 (4.0%) from other races, and 2,241 (6.3%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 5,258 persons (14.7 percent).

The Census reported that 34,528 people (96.4 percent of the population) lived in households, 235 (0.7 percent) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 1,061 (3.0 percent) were institutionalized.

There were 14,287 households, out of which 4,273 (29.9 percent) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 6,782 (47.5 percent) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 1,751 (12.3 percent) had a female householder with no husband present, 640 (4.5 percent) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 928 (6.5 percent) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 137 (1.0 percent) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 3,920 households (27.4 percent) were made up of individuals, and 1,078 (7.5 percent) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.42. There were 9,173 families (64.2 percent of all households); the average family size was 2.95.

The age distribution of the population showed 7,329 people (20.5 percent) under the age of 18, 2,842 people (7.9 percent) aged 18 to 24, 9,193 people (25.7 percent) aged 25 to 44, 12,121 people (33.8 percent) aged 45 to 64, and 4,339 people (12.1 percent) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 42.2 years. For every 100 females, there were 96.9 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.8 males.

There were 14,976 housing units at an average density of 1,140.2 per square mile (440.2/km²), of which 14,287 were occupied, of which 9,619 (67.3 percent) were owner-occupied, and 4,668 (32.7 percent) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.4 percent; the rental vacancy rate was 4.9 percent. 23,876 people (66.6 percent of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 10,652 people (29.7 percent) lived in rental housing units.

The historic Art Deco style Martinez Library was built in 1941.

Covering most of Martinez, the Martinez Unified School District encompasses four elementary schools, one middle school, one high school, and two alternative/independent study schools. Students in K-5 attend John Swett, John Muir, Las Juntas, or Morello Park Elementary School. Martinez Junior High School serves students in grades 6 through 8. St. Catherine of Siena is a private Catholic school that serves grades K-8. Alhambra High School serves as the district's comprehensive high school. As of 2006, the district's K-12 enrollment was 4,194. Part of Martinez is served by the Mount Diablo Unified School District, whose Hidden Valley Elementary School is located in Martinez. St. Catherine of Siena School, a private Roman Catholic elementary school, also serves the Martinez community.

The historic post office is on the National Register of Historic Places.

Martinez and the surrounding area is served by several local newspapers, including the Martinez News-Gazette, the Martinez Tribune and the East Bay Times.

Martinez is also served by Martinez Patch, a local news website covering community news and events, and the local news and talk blog Claycord.com.

In December 2019, there was a flurry of reports from reliable sources including the Associated Press and the San Francisco Chronicle that the 161 year-old Martinez News-Gazette, one of the longest-running newspapers in California, may have to cease publication. But as of late May 2020, the threatened cessation did not materialize and the newspaper appears to have weathered that storm. The newspaper did cease publication of a print edition effective April 2, 2020 but this was characterized as a temporary measure arising from a lack of advertising revenue. This in turn arose as many local businesses were forced to suspended operations or even ceased to exist, when the area was under shelter in place regulations arising from the Coronavirus Covid-19 pandemic. The newspaper plans to resume a full print edition when the local shelter-in-place restrictions are lifted.[28] The newspaper continued to operate its online news website presence during the pandemic restrictions.

Martinez station, served by Amtrak

The Alhambra Trestle, commonly known as the Muir Trestle, carries the Stockton Subdivision of BNSF.

WestCAT provides service to the El Cerrito del Norte BART station. The County Connection is the primary local bus operator providing service throughout the area. Among its destinations are the Concord, Pleasant Hill, and Walnut Creek BART stations. The County Connection also provides paratransit service. Tri Delta Transit runs express service between Martinez and eastern Contra Costa County.

State Route 4 runs through Martinez westward to Hercules and eastward through Stockton and the Sierra Nevada to near the border of Nevada. Interstate 680 runs northward across the Benicia–Martinez Bridge toward Sacramento via Interstate 80 and southward toward San Jose.

According to Sister Cities International, Martinez is paired with:

• Dunbar, Scotland, United Kingdom
• Hanchuan, China
• Milazzo and Stresa, Italy

• Maurice Benard, (b 1963) is an actor known for playing Sonny Corinthos on the ABC soap opera General Hospital.General Hospital
• Yau-Man Chan, (b 1952) is a Malaysian table tennis player, technology executive, and reality television participant.
• Trevor Davis, (b 1993) is an American football wide receiver
• Sara Del Rey, (b 1980) is an American professional wrestling trainer and retired professional wrestler,
• Joe DiMaggio,(1914–1999), was a baseball center fielder who played his entire 13-year Hall of fame career in Major League Baseball for the New York Yankees.
• Vince DiMaggio,(1912–1986) was an All-Star Baseball center fielder for the Pittsburgh Pirates
• Ainjel Emme, (b 1978) is an American singer-songwriter, record producer, and recording engineer.
• Robb Flynn,(b 1967) is a musician who is the lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist for heavy metal band Machine Head
• Mark Kozelek, (b 1967) is an American singer, songwriter, guitarist, record producer and occasional actor.
• Ella Leffland, (b 1931)[1] is an American novelist and short story writer.
• Tug McGraw, (1944–2004) was a professional baseball relief pitcher and father of singer Tim McGraw
• John Muir,(1838–1914), was a naturalist.
• Richard Rodgers II, (b 1992) is an American football tight end for the Philadelphia Eagles
• Sabato "Simon" Rodia,(1879 or 1886–1965) creator of giant folk art Watts Towers in Los Angeles
• Victor Salva, (b 1958) is an American filmmaker.
• J. Otto Seibold,(born 1960) is an American artist and children's book creator.
• Robert Stephenson, (b 1993) is a professional baseball pitcher for the Colorado Rockies.
• Norv Turner, (b 1952) is an American football coach in the National Football League (NFL)
• Jeff Van Gundy, (b 1962) is an American commentator for ESPN and former basketball coach most famous for his time with the New York Knicks
• Travis Williams, (1946–1991) was an American football player for the Green Bay Packers

• Martinez beavers

• Official website
• U.S. Geological Survey Geographic Names Information System: Martinez, California
• Martinez Area Chamber of Commerce
• Main Street Martinez
• Martinez, California Scenes, c.1927. Silent amateur film of daily life