Brief
History:
Contra Costa County
was one of the original 27 counties of
California, created in 1850 at the time of
statehood. The county
was originally to be called Mt.
Diablo County, but the name was changed
prior to incorporation as a county. The
county's
Spanish language name means opposite
coast, because of its location opposite
San Francisco, in an easterly direction,
on San
Francisco Bay. Southern portions of
the county's territory, including all of
the bayside portions opposite San
Francisco and
northern portions of Santa Clara
County, were given up to form Alameda
County effective March 25, 1853.
The land titles in Contra Costa
County may be traced to multiple
subdivisions of a few original land
grants. The grantee's
family names live on in a few city
and town names such as Martinez, Pacheco
and Moraga and in the names of streets,
residential subdivisions, and
business parks. A few mansions from the
more prosperous farms have been preserved
as
museums and cultural centers and one
of the more rustic examples has been
preserved as a working demonstration
ranch,
Borges Ranch.
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