Fremont, CA

Fremont is a city located in Alameda County, California. As of the 2010 census, the population was 236,397. Fremont has been called "the most diverse city in the Bay Area" and "a cultural mecca for those who love art, music and food." The city is known for its affluence and its high quality of life. Fremont is also home to two Fortune 500 companies: Hewlett-Packard and Cisco Systems.

The first Europeans to visit what would become Fremont were the Spanish missionaries Francisco Palou and Gaspar de Portolà, who passed through on their way from Monterey to San Francisco Bay in 1769. The area that would become Fremont was part of a large land grant given by Alvarado to José Joaquín Moraga for military service during the Mexican-American War. This tract included present day Union City, Newark, and much of what is now Berkeley and Hayward. Moraga built the Mission San José at the confluence of Mission Creek with Suisun Bay near present day Fremont Boulevard (then called Arroyo de la Estrella). The mission was abandoned in 1834 after being destroyed by an earthquake.

In 1846, John Wetherill built one of the first houses in Fremont on a site that would later be occupied by his grandson Denny's Auto Parts (now Denny's Restaurant). The house still stands at 5657 Stevenson Blvd., just south of I-880. The town's first post office opened in 1849 under the name "New Almaden". The name was changed to " Fremont" in 1855 because there were already several towns with that name throughout California.

The railroad arrived in 1876 when Southern Pacific constructed a line from Oakland to Sacramento via Newark (now part of Union City) and Fremont. At this time there were only about 100 people living in Fremont; however, due to its location on both sides of the railroad tracks as well as access to water from Mission Creek (which ran through present day downtown), it soon became an important commercial center for agriculture as well as lumber production. In 1896 Stiles & Talbot established their headquarters in a building designed by architect Arthur Brown Jr., which still stands at 5757 Stevenson Blvd., just south of I-880; this building served as Stiles & Talbot's corporate headquarters until 2002 when it was sold to Sun Microsystems Incorporated (now Oracle Corporation). In 1919 Procter & Gamble established their Western Division headquarters adjacent to Stiles & Talbot's building; P&G remained headquartered there until 1998 when they moved into new facilities near Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport.

In 1933 Charles Eames designed his iconic home - The Eames House - on Green Street just east of Hwy 84 near where Green Street crosses over I-880 today; this house is now open as an museum operated by AIA San Francisco Bay Chapter.https://www2uwestcoastonlinecom/news/local_news/article_f3c5e0d4-b8fb-11e7-a1c1-525400a6cb37_story01_.html In 1941 Henry J Kaiser built his shipyard north of town on Suisun Bay; this facility remains one of Northern California's largest employers today with more than 10,000 workers employed at Kaiser Shipyards' three divisions: Dry Dock & Repair Company (DD&R), Shipbuilding Division (SD) ,and Tank Vessel Division .https://www2uwestcoastonlinecom/news/local_news/article_9fbcbfc8-bef5-11e7-bfdf--525400a6cb37_story01_.html During World War II ,the Army Air Forces established two airfields nearby: Naval Air Station Alameda , which became Naval Air Facility Alameda ;and Naval Air Station Moffett Field , which became Naval Air Facility Moffett Field . These bases played significant roles during World War II including training pilots for combat missions over Japan . After World War II ended these bases were closed and most personnel were discharged or transferred elsewhere .https://en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Naval_Air_Stations_ Alameda_(1942) < ref > https://en .wikipedia .org /wiki /Naval_Air_Stations _Moffett_(1941) Today much remains unchanged including many historic buildings such as Kaiser Shipyards ; however ,due to suburbanization beginning after World War II ,many industrial areas have been replaced by residential neighborhoods such as Sunnyside Gardens located just north eastof downtown along Hwy 84.< ref > https://www2uwestcoastonlinecom/news/local _news/article__ae4cddff--bbde--11e7--afcd--525400a6cb37._story01_.html