Dublin, California

AT A GLANCE DUBLIN, CALIFORNIA WHAT: A city of 64,000 WHERE: In the Tri-Valley regions of Alameda and Contra Costa Counties WEBSITE: www.dublin.ca.gov D ublin, California, is a suburban city of approximately 64,000, in the San Francisco Bay Area’s Tri-Valley region. Its nearest neighbors include the town of Danville, the cities of Livermore, Pleasanton, and San Ramon. Dublin is located along the north side of Interstate 580 at the intersection of Interstate 680, roughly 35 miles east of downtown San Francisco, 23 miles east of downtown Oakland, and 31 miles north of downtown San Jose. The Tri-Valley area, made up of Amador, Livermore, and San Ramon Valleys, was originally the home of the Ohlone Native Americans whose presence goes back as far as 2,000 BC. Its modern history dates back to 1772, when Pedro Fages led an expedition of 16 mounted men on a journey in search of a land route to Drake’s Bay, now known as San Francisco Bay. Their return journey brought them through Amador Valley. In 1835, Jose Maria Amador, a soldier and administrator of Mission San Jose, received a land grant from the Mexican government of 16,517 acres in the Amador-Livermore Valley to repay him for his years of service. He built several adobe homes and many small buildings that were used as shops. In 1850, Michael Murray and Jeremiah Fallon came to the area from Ireland. They purchased 1,000 acres of land from Amador and built homes for their families, founding the town fifteen years later. The area began to grow as many more settlers came – mostly from Ireland. In the latter part of the 19th century, Dublin served as the crossroads of two important stage routes - one from the Bay Area to Stockton, and the other from Martinez to San Jose. The Alamilla Spring, located in the Dublin area, provided a place for travelers to change horses and freshen up before continuing their journey. By 1877, the first schoolhouse in the Amador-Livermore Valley was constructed in Dublin, along with a church, two hotels, the Green Store, a wagon and blacksmith shop, and a shoemaker’s shop. Mail was delivered to the Dougherty Station Hotel, thus, the area became known as Dougherty’s Station. By the The New American Backyard