Crockett (formerly Crockettville) is a census-designated place (CDP) in Contra Costa County, in the East Bay sub-region of the San Francisco Bay Area, California. The population was 3,242 at the 2020 census. It is located northeast of San Francisco. Other nearby communities include Port Costa, Martinez, Vallejo, Benicia, Rodeo, Hercules, Pinole and Richmond.
History
thumb|Crockett in 1898. Note earlier spelling of Karquines.
Crockett is located on the Mexican land grant Rancho El Pinole made to Ygnacio Martinez, and is named after Joseph B. Crockett, a judge on the California Supreme Court. Crocketville post office was established in 1883, and the name was changed to Crockett later that year.
C & H soon became a dominant force in Crockett, which has been called a "company town."
Raw sugar now arrives from the globe's sun belt: Australia, the Philippines and Nicaragua, among other countries.
Wildfire (2019)
A wildfire burned near Crockett on October 29, 2019, the same week as multiple wildfires in the region, e.g. Sonoma County's Kirkwood Fire, and a wildfire at the north end of the Carquinez Bridge in Vallejo, California. There is some suspicion that strong northerly wind then caused embers from the Vallejo fire to jump the strait and ignite brush fires southwest of Crockett, located in Contra Costa County at the opposite end of the Carquinez Bridge. The new fire, which was dubbed the Sky Fire, ignited about 9:30 AM and quickly generated so much dense smoke that authorities chose to close the Carquinez Bridge to all vehicular traffic in both directions. The CHP and county sheriff's office then began to evacuate residents from that side of the community. Emergency responders from other cities rushed to the aid of Crockett's own volunteer fire department to begin extinguishing the fire, which was reportedly 50 percent contained shortly after noon that day. The Crockett evacuation order was cancelled and the Carquinez Bridge was reopened to traffic soon after.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the CDP has a total area of , all of it land.
Crockett is located where the Carquinez Strait meets San Pablo Bay. The Carquinez Bridge, part of Interstate 80, links Crockett with the city of Vallejo to the north across the strait. To the east of Crockett along the south shore of the strait are Port Costa and the city of Martinez. South of Crockett are the town of Rodeo and the city of Hercules. Farther southwest on I-80 are the cities of Richmond, Berkeley and Oakland; in the opposite direction, northeast, is the capital of California, Sacramento.
Climate
This region experiences warm (but not hot) and dry summers, with no average monthly temperatures above . According to the Köppen Climate Classification system, Crockett has a warm-summer Mediterranean climate, abbreviated Csb on climate maps.
Arts and culture
Bailey Art Museum
The Bailey Art Museum features the work of internationally acclaimed sculptor Clayton Bailey, a resident of nearby Port Costa. The space brings together works from across the artist's five decades plus career featuring examples of Funk art, Nut art, ceramics, and metal sculpture (including robots and space guns), as well as pseudo-scientific curiosities by the artist's alter-ego, Dr. Gladstone. The collection also includes watercolor drawings by Betty Bailey and a gift shop.
Crockett Historical Society
thumb|The former Crockett railroad station, now home of the Crockett Historical Society. C & H refinery in the background. September 12, 2012.
The former Crockett railroad station now serves as the home of the Crockett Historical Society.
Demographics
Crockett first appeared as a census-designated place in the 1990 United States census.
!Pop 2010
!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |Pop 2020
!% 2000
!% 2010
!style="background-color: #ffffb3;" |% 2020
|-
|White alone (NH)
|2,529
|2,203
|style='background: #ffffe6; |1,952
|79.18%
|71.20%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |60.21%
|-
|Black or African American alone (NH)
|100
|140
|style='background: #ffffe6; |199
|3.13%
|4.52%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |6.14%
|-
|Native American or Alaska Native alone (NH)
|26
|14
|style='background: #ffffe6; |13
|0.81%
|0.45%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.40%
|-
|Asian alone (NH)
|83
|102
|style='background: #ffffe6; |176
|2.60%
|3.30%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |5.43%
|-
|Native Hawaiian or Pacific Islander alone (NH)
|0
|23
|style='background: #ffffe6; |6
|0.00%
|0.74%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.19%
|-
|Other race alone (NH)
|3
|5
|style='background: #ffffe6; |26
|0.09%
|0.16%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |0.80%
|-
|Mixed race or Multiracial (NH)
|82
|117
|style='background: #ffffe6; |245
|2.57%
|3.78%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |7.56%
|-
|Hispanic or Latino (any race)
|371
|490
|style='background: #ffffe6; |625
|11.62%
|15.84%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |19.28%
|-
|Total
|3,194
|3,094
|style='background: #ffffe6; |3,242
|100.00%
|100.00%
|style='background: #ffffe6; |100.00%
|}
2020 census
As of the 2020 census, Crockett had a population of 3,242. The population density was . The median age was 46.6 years.
The census reported that 100% of the population lived in households. 100.0% of residents lived in urban areas, while 0.0% lived in rural areas.
The age distribution was 13.9% under the age of 18, 5.3% aged 18 to 24, 28.9% aged 25 to 44, 29.8% aged 45 to 64, and 22.0% who were 65 years of age or older. For every 100 females, there were 92.6 males, and for every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 91.6 males age 18 and over.
Economy
thumb|alt=A large industrial building seen through trees.|[[C&H Pure Cane Sugar refinery in Crockett]]
Crockett is home to the corporate headquarters of C&H Sugar, a subsidiary of American Sugar Refining.
Crockett also contains a fuel storage facility owned by the NuStar Energy L.P. Corporation. This facility primarily consists of 24 storage tanks, designed to hold an aggregate of . Two of these tanks are reserved for containing ethanol, which NuStar blends with other motor fuel components to make low-emissions automobile fuel mandated by California laws.
Education
left|thumb|Main entrance of John Swett High School in 2004
Crockett is part of the John Swett Unified School District,<!--UNI 18990--> and is home to both Carquinez Middle School and John Swett High School.
The Crockett Library of the Contra Costa County Library is located in Crockett.
Recreation
Crockett is bordered to the south and the east by two regional parks operated by the East Bay Regional Park District.
Crockett Hills Regional Park lies south of Crockett. The 1,939-acre park ranges in elevation from 150 to 800 feet, offering views of San Pablo Bay, the Delta, Mount Tamalpais, and Mount Diablo. Trails include a 4.5-mile segment of the Bay Area Ridge Trail. Crockett Hills is an excellent mountain biking park.
Carquinez Strait Regional Shoreline comprises 1,415 acres of bluffs and shoreline along Carquinez Scenic Drive between the town of Crockett and the hillsides overlooking Martinez.
The topography of Crockett Ranch Regional Park and the adjoining Carquinez Regional Shoreline consists of open, rolling grasslands, wooded ravines, eucalyptus-shaded meadows, and river shoreline. Multi-purpose trails provide access to canyon views and ridgetop vistas.
Notable people
- Aldo Ray (1926–1991), American movie actor (born Aldo Da Re) born in Pennsylvania, who moved to Crockett when he was four years old. After serving in the U.S. Navy in WWII, returned to Crockett, where he was elected Constable, then left to pursue a movie career. His most profitable film to date was the adult film Sweet Savage starring Carol Connors. It is one of the few pornographic films in the American Western movie genre. In 1980, Ray was awarded Best Actor from the Adult Film Association's third Erotica Awards.
- Dino Waldren (born 1991), professional rugby player with the United States national rugby union team
Notes
References
External links
- Crockett Chamber of Commerce
- Crockett Community Foundation
- Bailey Art Museum