"100 Ways and More" to Celebrate the City of Walnut Creek

from walnutcreek100.com

Walnut Creek incorporated on October 21, 1914.  This year is the city’s 100th birthday. The Centennial Steering Committee has planned a yearlong celebration of all that is Walnut Creek. Partnering with non-profits, city programs and other community members, there will be “100 Ways and More” to commemorate the 100th. Learn more about this community funded, community led celebration at walnutcreek100.com.

WALNUT CREEK’S HISTORY: A LOOK BACK

As Walnut Creek commemorates its 100th birthday, the community has much to celebrate about its past and much to remember as we set a path for the future.

First Inhabitants

Spanish explorers meeting with local Native Americans

People have been living in the Walnut Creek area for thousands of years. When Spanish explorers first sighted Mt. Diablo in 1772, the area was home to the “Volvons,” a tribe of the Bay Miwok. By the early 1800s, most Native Americans had been driven from their lands by the Spanish settlers and were living at either Mission San Francisco de Asis (Mission Dolores) or Mission San Jose.

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19th Century: Pioneers at the Crossroads

Looking south from The Corners along today’s South Main Street

In 1849, the first American settler, William Slusher, established what would become Walnut Creek when he built a cabin on the west bank of Arroyo de las Nueces (also called Nuts Creek). The cabin stood near the intersection of present-day Main Street and Mt. Diablo Boulevard and near Liberty Bell Plaza.

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Early 20th century: Path to Cityhood

By the early 1900s, Walnut Creek was well on its way to becoming a city.

San Ramon Valley Bank

Walnut Creek’s first bank — San Ramon Valley Bank — was built in 1908 at the corner of Main Street and Walker Avenue (now Duncan Avenue), the site today of a Starbucks. The idea of building this institution came from local merchant Joseph Silveira, who offered the first banking services at his Valley Mercantile store at Main and Cypress streets.

The 1950s and 1960s: Boom Years

Aerial view of Walnut Creek, 1946

With the opening of the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge in 1936 and the Caldecott Tunnel in 1937, Walnut Creek residents could travel by car or bus to San Francisco in less than an hour. This and the return of veterans from World War II ushered in the modern era of tremendous growth in Walnut Creek.

From 1950 to 1960, the City’s population quadrupled from 2,240 to 9,903 and then it again quadrupled from 1960 to 1970, reaching 39,844. During these 20 years, Walnut Creek was the fastest-growing community in California.

Eichler home

The first major residential subdivision project got underway in 1955 when the Eichler Company developed a tract of “mid-century modern homes” in an orchard south of Ygnacio Valley Road. The new Eichler development was called Rancho San Miguel, honoring the original Spanish ranchero. The residential neighborhoods of the Ygnacio Valley continued to develop over the next 20 years.

Rossmoor, built on former Stanley Dollar Ranch

In addition, in 1964, Walnut Creek became a haven for active retirees with the opening of Rossmoor, a gated Leisure World community on a 2,200-acre site of the former Stanley Dollar Ranch in the Tice Valley. Today, Rossmoor encompasses about 6,700 residences and has a population of more than 9,200 residents.

John Muir Memorial Hospital – Under construction

To support the rapidly growing population, Kaiser Foundation Hospital opened at the corner of South Main Street and Newell Avenue in the early 1950s. John Muir Memorial Hospital opened in 1965 on land that had previously been a cattle slaughterhouse.

Prior to the mid-1950s, the City was small enough that the members of the City Council managed the administration of the City’s small staff and operations. However, by 1956, the fast-paced growth of the City dictated a change in City operations, and the Council implemented a Council/Manager form of government and hired its first City Manager, Ira Gunn.

The 1960s saw the addition of many of today’s local cultural institutions. In 1961, a new downtown library was built to replace the much-smaller Carnegie Library. In 1963, the City Council formed a Civic Arts Department and, in 1965, opened the Civic Arts Theatre and Gallery in the abandoned Walnut Growers Association warehouse. Today, Walnut Creek’s Civic Arts Education programs are the largest in northern California. The Alexander Lindsay Junior Museum opened in Larkey Park in 1965.

Broadway Plaza around 1951

Retail growth experienced a similar boom in the early 1950s after the Broadway Shopping Center opened in 1951, the first major retail center in Contra Costa County. Between 1950 and 1955, the city’s taxable sales skyrocketed from $9 million to $20 million.

Since the early years, Walnut Creek’s two primary streets — Main Street and Mt. Diablo Boulevard — had doubled both as downtown commercial streets and as major state highways. By the 1950s, the result was daily gridlock on downtown streets as residents from across the region passed through Walnut Creek as part of their daily commute to and from work or shopping.

Construction of the I-680 and Highway 24 interchange, circa 1960

Downtown traffic congestion finally was alleviated in 1960, when the three-year project to construct Interstate 680 and Highway 24 was completed.

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The 1970s and 1980s: Parks and Open Space

1960s aerial view of future Heather Farm Park

In addition to cultural needs, city residents clamored for recreational programs and services. In 1970, the City opened Heather Farm Park, which at around 100 acres became the community’s largest park, joining Civic Park, opened in 1949, and Larkey Park, established in 1959. The park included a swim center and ball fields and has subsequently expanded to include an equestrian center, tennis center, dog park, skate park, garden center, community meeting rooms, and two lakes. Today the City has 22 parks and sports field complexes.

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The 1990s: Enhancing the Quality of Life

Bob Hope, Joel Grey, and Vic Damone

On Oct. 4, 1990, Walnut Creek made the “international map” when renowned entertainers Bob Hope, Joel Grey, Vic Damone, and Diahann Carroll took the stage for the opening of the City’s new Regional Center for the Arts. The Center was subsequently renamed the Lesher Center for the Arts to honor the late Dean S. Lesher, Contra Costa Times publisher and the first major private benefactor of the Center. Today, the Center is a major cultural and economic hub, hosting about 900 events and more than 250,000 patrons each year.

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The 21st Century: Walnut Creek in a New Era

Shadelands Arts Center, former Contra Costa Assn. of Realtors building

The economic challenges the country experienced beginning in the early 2000s left Walnut Creek faced with diminished budget forecasts. Still, years of prudent planning allowed the completion of important projects in the first decade of the 21st century.

In 2001, the Civic Arts Education programs got a new home — the Shadelands Arts Campus, the former Contra Costa Realtors offices in the Shadelands Business Park.

Veterans Memorial Plaza

On Memorial Day 2004, City leaders dedicated the Veterans Memorial Plaza next to City Hall. The park-like monument to the sacrifices of local veterans includes birch trees, a reflecting pool, and 10-foot tall granite sentinels representing the five branches of the U.S. armed forces.

Also in 2004, the final payment was made on the $6.75 million 30-year bond that financed the majority of Walnut Creek’s open spaces. In 2011, the City was able to add a prime 22-acre hilltop in Acalanes Ridge to the open space lands through a partnership with the City of Lafayette, the East Bay Regional Park District, and the Muir Heritage Land Trust.

Chevron Family Theatre Festival

In 2005 came the debut of the popular seasonal ice rink in Civic Park, Walnut Creek on Ice. The City also opened a skate park in Heather Farm Park, and a dog park in 2007.

In partnership with Chevron, the inaugural Chevron Family Theater Festival was held in July 2007 at the Lesher Center.

Opening of new Walnut Creek Library

And, after almost 50 years, the City opened a new downtown Walnut Creek Library in July 2010. More than 8,500 community members visited the new library on opening day.

Creek Walk in Civic Park

The City opened the new Creek Walk in Civic Park in 2011.

Neiman Marcus at Broadway Plaza

Despite the most recent economic downturn, the City continues to be the economic hub of the region. Following a vote of local residents in 2009, Broadway Plaza added Neiman Marcus to its line up of retail offerings; the new store opened to much fanfare in 2012.

Community Service Day volunteers, Howe Homestead bridge rebuilding

Recognizing the strong role of volunteerism in the community, the City sponsored the first Community Service Day in 2011. The day of service drew more than 1,000 volunteers to help 42 different community projects. The 2012 and 2013 Community Service Days have featured more projects and even more volunteers.

Robert Stanley Dollar House

In 2013, the Robert Stanley Dollar House was placed on the National Register of Historic Places.