History
East County Goes Way Back
More than 100 years ago, Native Americans called the East County area home. The Bay Miowk and Yokut Indians preceded Spanish explorer Pedro Fages, who in 1772 led the first European parties through the area. More than a century passed before European settlers arrived in the area to put down roots.
The City of Brentwood, CA
The first pioneer to settle in the Brentwood area was a doctor named John Marsh, who built a stately stone mansion that still stands today on Marsh Creek Road. Marsh was murdered in 1856 before he ever moved into the house. The name Brentwood is believed to have come from the Marsh family’s home town of Brentwood, England.
Development of the city was hastened by the discovery of coal in the Mt. Diablo foothills. By 1874, the first structures were popping up on Oak Street.
Fertile soils and the coming of the railroad in 1890 helped make Brentwood the largest shipping point for grain between New Orleans and San Franciso. The English land speculation company Balfour Guthrie installed a cast irrigation system that improved land values by allowing farmers to grow crops and fruit trees, firmly establishing the town’s agricultural dynamism.
Brentwood incorporated as a city in 1948. It remained a small agricultural community until the last decade of the century, when its proximity to the financial centers of the Bay Area and its relatively affordable housing triggered rapid growth. The population grew nearly five times from 1990 to today’s 50,000-plus, bringing more suburban lifestyles, as well as the related influx of goods and services to the formerly rural area. The effort to preserve at least some of the agricultural heritage continues today.
