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Oakland Tribune
Oakland, California
December 27, 1902
Its Miles of Water Front Add to the Increasing Value of Its Peerless Soil
The large ranches for which the county has been famous for years, have been subdivided into smaller holdings, which, of course, means occupation by settlers . . .
From this county a large proportion of the hay which is exported from San Francisco to Hawaii and the Orient is raised, it having been demonstrated that it holds its food properties better than any other hay, during an ocean voyage . . .
The principal towns in the county are Martinez, the county seat, 35 miles from San Francisco, population 1,500; Crockett, 1,300; Pinole, 1,000, Antioch, 1,000; Concord, 600; Richmond, 1,500; Port Costa, Walnut Creek, Clayton . . . each a center of trade for the country surrounding it.
There are nearly seventy miles of water front in Contra Costa County on the Bay of San Francisco, which offers some of the best facilities for manufacturing lo be found in California. At Point Richmond the Standard Oil Company has its terminal for its pipe lines . . .
The fishing industry is one which has not been thoroughly recognized. There are nearly 1000 boats engaged In this industry representing, I suppose, an investment in the way of boats, nets, scows, etc. of over $500,000. This means that upwards of 2000 men find employment in this industry who increase the output of the county each year by possibly a million and a half to $2,000,000 and contribute very largely at both the trade and the wealth of the county. They ply their vocation from Point Richmond to the San Joaquin County line . . .
We have the best of markets — the home market. San Francisco and Oakland are but a few miles away. They take all of our products excepting grain. The market for grain is right at home. Port Costa being the greatest grain shipping point in the entire West. It is said that you can judge a community by the state of the farmers' pocket books.
THE SELBY SMELTING WORKS.
At Selby's is a plant which is known throughout the world, that of the Selby Smelting Works. It is thc largest private gold refinery in the world, where 400 hands are employed refining the yellow metal. During 1901, $45,000,000 worth of bullion was refined. Every facility for its enormous business is in evidence and the work done during the year shows that the gold mining industry is not lagging on teh Pacific Coast. A mile beyond Selby's is Vallejo Junction, where the Southern Pacific Railroad brings the products of the great Napa Valley for shipping to Oakland and San Francisco.
PORT COSTA.
One of the most important shipping points in the United States is Port Costa, where for many years the surplus of the grain crop of California has been shipped to all parts of the world. Sea going vessels of the greatest draft can land there with ease and safety. Here the great wheat shippers, such as Geo. VV. McNear & Co., Balfour Guthrie & Co., and Eppinger & Co., have millions of dollars invested in wharves and warehouses, where the grain crop of a whole State can be housed and where in the height of the season a couple of hundred thousand tons of wheat and barley are stored. The celebrated Port Costa Flour, manufactured by Geo. W. McNear & Company takes its name from this place.
Here the Port Costa Lumber Company, which supplies the Sacramento, Napa and San Joaquin valleys is located.
Not far from it at Crockett, on the straights of Carquinez is the great refinery of the California-Hawaiian Sugar Company, which has a capacity for 1,000 tons of beets and 500 tons of cane every day. It is one of the most flourishing industries of the State. The town of Port Costa is one of the most prosperous in Contra Costa County and has a great future before it.
