Benicia is a city in Solano County, California, United States. It was the first city in California to be founded by Anglo-Americans. The population was 26,865 at the 2000 census. The city lies in the San Francisco Bay Area near San Francisco and Vallejo. Benicia is located on the north side of the Carquinez Strait, directly facing the city of Martinez.
The town can be divided into three areas: Southampton (north of Military), East Benicia (east of First Street), and West Benicia (west of First Street). Most of the town's older homes are on the east and west sides. The far east side has an industrial park, where many of the town's local artists have rented out studio space. Also in or near the industrial park are the Valero oil refinery, the 1859 Clock Tower and the 1850s Camel Barns. The Benicia State Recreation Area is on the far west edge of the city. Southampton contains primarily stucco family homes, most of which were built between 1970 and 2000.
The main retail area in Benicia is First Street, which attracts out-of-town antique and boutique shoppers and those seeking small-town charm.
Benicia was founded on May 19, 1847 by Robert Semple, Thomas O. Larkin, and Comandante General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, on land sold to them by General Vallejo, and named for the General's wife, Francisca Benicia Carillo de Vallejo. The first intended name "Francisca" was dropped because it sounded too much like "San Francisco", so Mrs. Vallejo's second name was used instead. Benicia was named the California state capital in 1853, but the following year it was moved to Sacramento. It was also the county seat of Solano County until 1858 when it was moved to Fairfield.
One of the earliest companies in California, the Pacific Mail Steamship Company, established a major shipyard in Benicia in the 19th century. Benicia became an important wheat storage and shipping site. It was also the site of the United States Army's Benicia Arsenal. In 1879, the Central Pacific re-routed the Sacramento-Oakland portion of its transcontinental line, establishing a major railroad ferry across the Carquinez Strait from Benicia to Port Costa. The world's largest ferry, the Solano, later joined by the even larger Contra Costa, carried entire trains across the Carquinez Strait from Benicia to Port Costa, from whence they continued on to the Oakland Pier. After California's wheat output dropped in the early 20th century and especially, after the Southern Pacific (which took over the operations of the Central Pacific) constructed a railroad bridge at Martinez in 1930 to replace the ferry crossing, Benicia declined until the economic boom of World War II, which doubled the population to about 7,000 residents.
Two developments in the early 1960s would completely change Benicia: The closing of the Benicia Arsenal in 1960–64, and the completion of the Benicia-Martinez Bridge in 1962. The closing of the Arsenal removed Benicia's traditional economic base, but allowed city leaders to create an industrial park on Arsenal land which eventually provided more revenue for the city than the Army had. The completion of the Benicia-Martinez Bridge made it possible for the city to become a suburb of San Francisco and Oakland, and suburban development in the Benicia hills began in the late 1960s.
On December 20, 1968 near the Benicia water pumping station, the Zodiac Killer made his debut by killing Vallejo natives David Faraday and Betty Lou Jensen as they rested in Faraday's car. Near the same area on July 4 of the following year, the killer struck again killing Darlene Ferrin and injuring Michael Mageau at the Blue Rock Springs Park in Vallejo, immediately next to Benicia.
Between 1970 and 1995, the population of Benicia grew steadily at a rate of about 1,000 people per year, and the city changed from a poor, blue-collar town of 7,000 to a white-collar bedroom suburb of 28,000.
The town is also the location of the Valero Refinery. The refinery was completed in 1969 by Exxon Corporation, and bought by Valero Refining in 2000.
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