San Ramon City

Contra Costa County, California

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San Ramon City Hall is located at 2226 Camino Ramon, San Ramon, CA 94583.
Phone: 925‑973‑2500.

Neighborhoods

Beginnings [1]

No longer a quiet outskirt of the Bay Area, the City of San Ramon values the past while looking to the future. The area of modern day San Ramon was once home to the Seunen and Ohlone/Costanoans Native Americans who lived adjacent to the valley creeks. By the 19th Century, the area served as grazing land for the Mission San Jose until it was eventually included in Jose Maria Amador's 16,000 plus acre Rancho San Ramon. American settlers first came to the area in 1850 when Leo and Mary Jane Norris purchased 4,450 acres of land from Amador. The first village settlement developed at the present day intersection of Deerwood Road and San Ramon Valley Blvd. A stage line, general store, grammar school, and post office were established in a 10 year period from 1863 to 1873.

The arrival of the San Ramon Branch Line of the Southern Pacific in 1891 brought modest changes to the community. Until 1909, San Ramon was the terminus for the line and boasted a two-story depot, the engine house and a turnaround for the locomotive. The San Ramon Community Hall became the town's center early in 1911, drawing farm and ranch families to dances, school programs and plays. This prominent civic building was still standing in 1960. As with the entire Tri-Valley area, agriculture was the basis for San Ramon economy until suburban development began. For years a sign "San Ramon Population 100" accurately reflected the number of people in the area, with the whole San Ramon Valley having just over 2,000 people for many decades.

In 1966, the Interstate 680 freeway was completed through San Ramon to Dublin and the designation "San Ramon Village" first appeared in the 1970 census with a count of 4,084 people. Developers Ken Volk and Bob McClain built the first San Ramon suburban homes close to the southern county line. A special district, the Valley Community Services district (VCSD), provided the water, parks, sewer, fire protection and garbage collection for the new homes. In 1970 Western Electric purchased 1,733 acres of the Bishop Ranch and proposed a "new town" complete with a variety of housing, green belts, stores and light industry, placed in the center of San Ramon. Eventually part of the land became new homes and, in 1978, 585 acres became today's Bishop Ranch Business Park—a premier modern office development. San Ramon incorporated in 1983 and built a new library, community center, parks and hospital soon thereafter. The City of San Ramon evolved rapidly from a bedroom community into the balanced City it is today.

  1. City of San Ramon, CA, City of San Ramon General Plan 2030, 2011, www.sanramon.ca.gov, accessed September, 2015.

Nearby Towns: Danville Town •


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