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History and Heritage

Robert Livermore, the city’s namesake, was born in 1799 in Springfield, Essex, England. At 15, he left to travel the seas and arrived in California in 1822. Livermore married Josefa Molina, and settled on a rancho at Las Positas. He died a successful and wealthy man in 1858, before the birth of the town that bears his name. In 1869, William Mendenhall, one of California’s earliest pioneers, decided to lay out and develop a new town, which he named for his old friend, Robert Livermore.

A blend of agriculture, cattle ranching and manufacturing made up the local economy. Livermore’s settlers came from all over the world. The cattle ranches hosted Spanish rodeos; one, first held in 1918, has become an annual tradition that today brings thousands of spectators to Livermore each year.

Late in the 19th century, the area’s soil and climate were discovered to be an ideal combination for growing wine grapes. In 1889, Charles Wetmore entered his Cresta Blanca wine in the Paris Exposition and won the grand prize, thus putting Livermore on the map with California’s now world-renowned wine industry. The establishment of two government research laboratories on the 1950s brought a rapid rise in Livermore’s population.

A modest ranch southeast of town, near Alden Lane, was the boyhood home of writer Jack London; he once wrote that he developed his passion for reading in Livermore.

In the 1990s, the South Livermore Agricultural Plan was created, providing for the expansion of agriculture. Thirty-eight wineries and several more vineyards can now be counted; new olive orchards producing fruit for olive oil have also sprung up.

Today, with nearly 80,000 residents, Livermore has entered the 21st century with great promise for preserving its past, all the while planning for an exciting future.