Martinez, CA...worth a look

[stepper77]

Martinez, CA (pop 35,866)

Located along the Carquinez Straight in the Bay Area, Martinez is the county seat of the East Bay's Contra Costa County, serving a million residents. I'd been wanting to check it out for a while as I'd heard good things, little did I know how architecturally rich it was. Unfortunately, the oil industry located in Martinez does not provided much of an impression of the city from the freeway or bridge approaches...









Even this "vista point" trail over the the Benicia-Martinez Bridge doesn't offer much more to see...



...a few flowers maybe...





...the HWY 80/Carquinez Bridge...





...the HWY 680/Benicia-Martinez Bridge...





...more industry and wetlands...









But...



...OK, let's go see













Alhambra Creek, somewhat famously residing a beaver population that caused some local controversy here







































































Beautiful!







Oof...what it is this ugliness...a county prison?



Nope, it's the Contra Costa County Administrative Building



No good from this angle either...



...this angle not so bad





Another shot...still not sold on this one



How about something to flush the eyes out with?











































A closer look at the plaque...interesting...it looked liked a resident hotel now.

















Sign of the times?

































































You can't escape it





Not, in fact, the Martinez Amtrak Station





































Martinez has a sizable waterfront park/wetland/openspace area separating downtown from the Bay...let's take a walk







An Amtrak train heading to Oakland/San Jose in the distance







Smokestacks in the distance







The cities of Benicia and a bit of Vallejo across the bay













The End. Hopefully I lived up to my promise Martinez was worth a look.
________________________________________________________________
Tour of California
1: Los Angeles, 2: Hollywood, Glendale, Pasadena, Beverly Hills, 3: Riverside, Santa Ana, Long Beach, 4: San Jose, 5: San Diego, 6: Fresno, 7: Stockton, Modesto, 8: Gold Country, 9: Eureka, Arcata, 10: Monterey, Carmel, 11: Santa Cruz, 12: Sacramento Pt One, 13: Sacramento Pt Two, 14: Roseville & Folsom, 15: Concord & Walnut Creek, 16: Tri-Valley, 17: Berkeley, Emeryville, 18: Fremont, 19: Santa Clara, Mountain View, Palo Alto, 20: Redwood City, Foster City, San Mateo, 21: Oakland, 22: Benicia, Vallejo, 23: Napa, St. Helena, 24: Petaluma, Santa Rosa, Sonoma, 25: San Rafael, 26: Larkspur, Mill Valley, 27: Sausalito, Tiburon, 28: Hollister, San Juan Bautista, 29: Long Beach 2008, 30: Venice, 31: Santa Monica, 32: Sacramento Pt 3, 33: Solvang, 34: Alameda, 35: Knights Ferry, 36: California Zephyr, 37: Colfax, 38: Davis, 39: Oakdale, 40: San Francisco Pt 1, San Francisco Pt 2, 41: Chico, Redding, 42: Kings Beach, 43: Merced, 44: Gold Country pt 2, 45: Gold Country pt 3, 46: Sonora, 47: Vacaville, Fairfield, Suisun City, 48: Orange, Fullerton, 49: Anaheim, Irvine, 50: Newport Beach, Laguna Beach,51: San Francisco, Pt 3, 52: Lodi

[BTinSF]

I have to confess disappointment at the absence of a "beaver shot", but otherwise very nice. I think the ugliness of that county building can be attributed to an early attempt at being green--the louvers appear to be an effort to bring in sun in winter and probably screen it out in summer. This part of Contra Costa can be as much as 25 or 30 degrees warmer than San Francisco in summer--quite hot in other words. I worked in Concord for a few years and recall often it was 96 degrees F or so late on a summer afternoon there and in the 60s when I climbed out of the BART station in SF.

[BigKidD]

Thank you for the memories, stepper77. The place has experienced quite a bit of development in past years. The following building is a great addition:

[ScottInTheRain]

Very Nice!!!! Looks like a nice town!

[plinko]

I totally forgot that Martinez was the county seat. I'm like most people, I've driven through it countless times on the 680 but never stopped. And the only reason I've ever thought of going there are the beavers.

[Cosperus]

great set of pictures.....looks like a diverse, interesting town....thanks for sharing!

[jetsetter]

Love this one.

[jerrywcca]

Thanks for posting these, Martinez has some nice gems if you can get past the refineries and that county building. The bike path across the 680 bridge is a fun ride, too.

[Thundertubs]

The Bay Area seems to have quite a bit more of interest than just the usual suspects. I like the bay/bridges/industry shots at the beginning.

[BTinSF]

Originally Posted by Thundertubs

The Bay Area seems to have quite a bit more of interest than just the usual suspects. I like the bay/bridges/industry shots at the beginning.

The geography makes for places like Martinez--the water and the hills create some separation and isolation, letting places that would otherwise just be part of suburban sprawl feel much more like distinct small towns. There are quite a few such places, many of which stepper77 has documented. Without checking ones he has done, Hercules, Sausalito, Tiburon, Orinda, Moraga, Lafayette, Stinson Beach, Pacifica, Vallejo and Castro Valley come immediately to mind.

By the way, did everyone notice the mothball fleet in the background of this one:

[dktshb]

I like the small town feel. Very nice!

[kcexpress69]

Nice quiet town!! Thanks for the shots!!

[stepper77]

I realized I posted this in the wrong section...that's what I get for staying after work and trying to rush.

@BTinSF, I looked for the beavers and sadly, didn't see any. So, I too was disappointed. It was quite hot, so, perhaps they had the smarter idea of staying indoors

Thanks for the all the comments! Martinez is definitely an hidden gem.

[xzmattzx]

Looks like a nice town.

[SLO]

Nice work as always......I did enjoy it.

[Chicago3rd]

What a handsome city! I remember back in 67 our class took a trip from Pacheco Elem School in Novato to Martinez so we could ride the train from there to Richmond. Back then they thought passenger trains would become a thing of the past so they wanted us to experience one. It was fun....seeing the station in your great photos.

[peanut gallery]

Great tour, as always. I've been meaning to check out Martinez ever since Doug McConnell did a Bay Area backroads episode on it. Your tour is much more comprehensive though!

Good eye, BT. I didn't notice the mothball fleet the first time through. It's a shell of its former self and soon will be gone for good.