All About Lafayette, California

Lafayette (formerly La Fayette) is a city in Contra Costa County, California , USA. As of 2010, the population of the city was 23,893. It was named after the Marquis de Lafayette, the French army hero of the American Revolutionary War. Surrounded by the metro area of Oakland, the city is not isolated.

The Indians of the Saclan tribe of the Indigenous Bay of Miwok, as well as some Ohlon Indians, were among the first settlers in the region. Catholic missions were founded in the region at the end of the 1700s. This foreign invasion led to conflict and many years of discord between the Spanish and the Saclan. The area was colonized by the Spanish after a battle between the two in 1797.

In 1847, Elam Brown, one of the first Yankee settlers in Contra Costa County, was driving a fourteen family wagon train through the Donner Pass just days before the ill-fated Donner party. When Brown arrived, he bought a 3,329 acre Mexican land grant called Rancho Acalanus, which is now almost all of the present Lafayette. In February 1848, he built his first of three houses, making it the first community in central Contra Costa County.

By Oleg. - https://www.flickr.com/photos/olegshpyrko/15400283837/, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=101352444

Brown and Nathaniel Jones, his neighbor, became farmers. Tired of a 7-10-day trip to San Jose to the nearest mill, Brown built his own horse-drawn grist mill. With business going well, Brown decided to build a steam-powered mill on Lafayette Creek near First Street. After the construction of the mill, the commercial center of Lafayette began to grow at the present intersection of Mt. Diablo Blvd. and Moraga Road. These first businesses were a blacksmith's shop, a bar, a general store, and apartment houses.

During the 1850s, redwood lumber harvested in Canyon and Moraga was transported to Martinez for shipment to San Francisco. Lafayette became the ideal place for people to rest, eat , drink, and repair their wagons on this long journey.

Benjamin Shreve, owner of a roadside hotel-general store, applied for permission to establish a post office in 1857 under the name of "Centerville," although the name was already in existence; instead, he asked for the name of La Fayette after the French hero of the American Revolution. By 1890, the name had been changed to Lafayette.

The climate of Lafayette is Mediterranean. However, the differences in climate may be striking. During the summer , temperatures can rise above 100 ° F ( 38 ° C) in Lafayette and its surrounding cities, while the areas west of the hills and closer to the bay remain up to 20 degrees cooler. Summers are warm , dry and very sunny (although there may be foggy mornings); winters are cool and damp, with occasional freezes. Most of the annual rainfall is in the winter, although there are still plenty of clear days during that time.

The stunning town of Lafayette has a county library, a town hall and a cemetery that offers a great opportunity to discover the history of the area. There are three reservoirs, the Brookwood Reservoir, the Leland Reservoir and the Lafayette Reservoir. There's also Lafayette Creek and Grizzly Creek, where you can go fishing, boating and picnicking. Visitors can also have a picnic with family and friends in any of the parks around the city that have shaded picnic tables, benches and drinking fountains for the benefit of visitors. The city has 16 miles of hiking trails and is also home to the very popular Lafayette Art & Wine Festival.

Another historic site found in Lafayette is the Park Theater, which opened its doors in 1941 and ceased operations in 2005. The Park Theater was originally a film theater located at the intersection of the statue of LaFayette. It then showed its last film before the cessation of operations in 2005.Recently, however, efforts were made to reopen the Park Theater for viewing.