Rodeo

Rodeo, located on the east shore of San Pablo Bay, was envisioned as the meatpacking center of the West when it was established by the Union Stockyard Company in 1890. That vision failed, but the town continued attracting residents for jobs at the nearby Hercules powder works, Selby smelter, and Oleum refinery. By the 1940s, a war-based industrial buildup made Rodeo�s population surge, and this was followed by a postwar boom in housing and retail construction. During these prosperous years,...