
Location:
Richmond is located in Contra Costa County and is the largest city in “West County.” West County consists of 5 different cities which include Richmond, El Cerrito, San Pablo, Hercules, and Pinole. Richmond is 16 Miles Northeast of San Francisco and it is located on a peninsula separating the South Bay (San Francisco) and the North Bay (San Pablo). Richmond California sits on 32 Miles of beautiful shoreline and has a total area of 56 sq. miles, 33.7 of Richmond’s total square miles are land and the other 22.3 sq. Miles are water!
History:
The Earliest inhabitants of Richmond were the Oklone Indians. These Indians were hunters and gatherers that often built extensive shell mounds along the Bay. In 1905 Richmond officially became a city with a population of 2,150 people and grew to 23,600 people by 1940! World War II caused one of the biggest ship buildings on the West Coast and caused the population to increase dramatically to over 93,000! The reason for this was that people were moving from all over to work and build these ships causing a need for more Real Estate. These new people were housed in temporary structures, dormitories, demountable houses, and apartment buildings. There are still many housing units available today such as Atchison Village and Nystrom Village. These homes are located in Richmond in what is called the “Iron Triangle”, it is named this due to the neighboring railroad tracks which create a triangular shape.
Atchison Village:
The Atchison Village homes were built with high-quality materials and were very cost efficient homes. The construction on these homes went by fairly quick and cost on average $3,500 per unit! These units came in 5 different floor plans and range from 1-4 bedrooms, those who had moved during the war were able to bring their families with them, calling Atchison Village their home. Hopefully, this blog was informative to those of you interested in Richmond History. If you are looking to move to the Richmond area, feel free to contact one of our Richmond Real Estate Agents to help with any other questions you