Few towns or cities have been blessed with such a great name like the one in the Amador-Livermore Valley has. Pleasanton was sighted for the first time in 1772 by a Spanish foot patrol soldier and half a century later the land was settle on as Alisal. This beautiful place later changed its name to Pleasanton – an adaption of the name of a Civil War general, Alfred Pleasonton – and Spanish settlers were the first people to make their homesteads here. The town soon became popular among those stopping over on route to the gold fields of the Californian valley.
The railroad soon arrived in Pleasanton and this increased the population from a small 500 to a populace into the thousands. By 1870, the town was attracting many ranchers and breeders of thoroughbred horses. They loved the climate, the abundance of rain, fertile soil and agricultural-friendly land. Such an area also meant it attracted dairy farmers, hop-growers, wine growers and the economy of the town simply boomed because of it. Brewers across America heard of the fine hops that grew here and wanted them for its beers. So sought after were they that even brewers in the big markets of Europe began to import hops from Pleasanton.
It quickly became a place with a bit of international fame and by the start of the 20th century Pleasanton was about to make a bustling and thriving community complete with its own bank, world-renown vineyard at Ruby Hill, internationally famous hop industry and several top graded hotels.
It developed a main central area where business and communities became part of the town’s character. It was well on the way to becoming a thoroughly modern community and started to leave its agricultural roots behind.
However, raw industries like sand and gravel mining started to take place in the 1930s just on the town’s outskirts. It was the gravel industry that gave Pleasanton another 20th century economic boost. The ballast much demanded by America’s ever-growing road building industry. And so the profits for the town boomed and the community here began to grow strong.
Around the 1960s the population began to grow rapidly, and by the 1980s most of the town supported opulent homes, schools and international businesses. The Hacienda Business Park was completed in 1982 and this thriving, bustling network of industries created jobs for thousands. Today, the city is a legacy to what was once an agricultural backwater to today’s bustling community and city status.
It’s location is only a short drive from either San Francisco, Oakland, San Jose and Palo Alto. If you get a chance, a visit to Pleasanton is a must do.
Contact Armario Venema Homes for more information on Pleasanton California.
