BENICIA — Benicia is a charming Solano County small city that could have ended up being the home to California’s sprawling bureaucracy.
The state in 1853 declared Benicia as its capital, having found problems with its previous choice of Vallejo. Lawmakers took over the Benicia City Hall, with its Doric columns and appearance of a Greek temple.
“So Benicia, the memorable ‘city of the Straits,’ ‘the rival emporium of the Pacific wealth and commerce,’ is to be vested with new dignities . . . ” the Feb. 5, 1853, Daily Alta Californian reported.
The state Legislature met again in Benicia in 1854. It voted to make Benicia the permanent state capital. Then lawmakers quickly changed their minds when 100 people coming to the session couldn’t find lodgings and had to sleep in saloons. They moved the capital to Sacramento.
Still, having the state capital all those years ago is still part of Benicia’s identity. The old Capitol building is now a state park. The Capitol is featured on the Benicia city seal.
But Benicia is a whole lot more. It has a downtown with a waterfront along the Carquinez Strait. This is a retail hot spot, with a variety of businesses.
Another historical site is the Benicia Arsenal, built in 1849 as an ordnance supply depot. William Tecumseh Sherman and Ulysses S. Grant spent time there prior to going on to Civil War fame. Sherman became an admirer of the town.
“That Benicia has the best natural site for a commercial city, I am satisfied, and had half the money and half the labor since bestowed upon San Francisco been expended at Benicia, we should have at this day a city of palaces along the Carquinez Strait,” he wrote.
The city has Benicia State Recreation Area, which fronts Southhampton Bay and features hiking and fishing. The Forrest Deaner Native Plant Botanic Garden features a variety of native plants.
Benicia also has an industrial park on its northern side, with the deepwater Port of Benicia. A major industry is the sprawling Valero refinery.
The city has 26,997 residents, according to Census 2010. Its population is 72 percent white, 12 percent Hispanic or Latino, 11 percent Asian and 0.5 percent black. There are 135 American Indians. The average median household income is $67,617.
Benicia’s name ended up being the second choice. Founder Robert Semple in 1847 wanted to call his town Francisca after Gen. Mariano Vallejo’s wife. Then Yerba Buena changed its name to San Francisco and Semple noted that Francisca’s full name was Francisca Maria Felipa Benicia Carrillo de Vallejo. He took the name “Benicia” for his town.
Reach Barry Eberling at 427-6929 or [email protected]. Follow him on Twitter at www.twitter.com/beberlingdr.
Benicia
City Hall: 250 E. L St. 746-4200
Website: www.ci.benicia.ca.us
City Manager: Brad Kilger, 746-4210, [email protected].
Mayor: Elizabeth Patterson. Elected in 2011, term expires in 2015. Reach at [email protected].
Councilman: Tom Campbell. Elected in 2011, term expires in 2015. Reach at [email protected].
Councilman: Mark Hughes. Elected in 2009, term expires in 2013. Reach at [email protected].
Councilwoman: Christina Strawbridge. Elected in 2011, term expires in 2015. Reach at [email protected].
Councilman: Alan Schwartzman. Elected in 2009, term expires in 2013. Reacg at [email protected].
