California Delta 2022, Day 3: Martinez

2 months after my weekend in Stockton, I returned to California’s vast inland sea network. This time, it was to a place I’d been before–Martinez. Martinez sits alongside the Carquinez Strait. So technically, it’s not part of the California Delta. But it’s still part of that inland navigable network that fascinates me so.

When I went to Martinez in 2018, it was to see John Muir National Historic Site. The John Muir site is not located near the waterfront. But going there made me curious about the history of Martinez–a small city I was surprised to learn is the county seat of Contra Costa County. I figured that there must be some historic buildings closer to the waterfront. (I discussed a little about the history of Martinez and why it was important enough to become the county seat in my earlier post.)

And furthermore, you might remember that when I previously went to Martinez, my visit to the nearby Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial was canceled. So between my curiosity about Martinez and my determination to see the Port Chicago Memorial, I decided to make a return to Martinez in conjunction with my earlier visit to Stockton. It’s all about the California’s great inland sea system.

Historic Martinez

The Martinez Museum occupies what was a home and office built for a doctor in 1890.

After a hearty breakfast with a friend, I began to explore Martinez’s historic architecture. It’s definitely on a smaller scaler than Stockton’s, but dare I say it’s more charming.

Martinez’s nifty little Post Office building, built in 1937. Now I may have been wrong about Stockton’s Medico-Dental Building, but you can’t tell me this isn’t Art Deco!

Red, white, and blue…and green! Veteran’s Memorial Hall, built in 1923 to honor the men and women of Contra Costa County who lost their lives in WWI.

A scary Halloween mural on the side of a building in Downtown Martinez.

The City Hall Apartments were built in 1914 as Martinez’s 1st apartment building, with retail space on the 1st floor. (Starbucks was not one of the original retail tenants!) The building got its name because it was located next to what was Martinez City Hall at the time.

The brightly colored Hook Building, built in 1927 to replace an earlier building destroyed by fire.

The McMahon-Telfer Building was built in 1914 on the site of a building that had been destroyed by fire. For a time, the building housed the Royal Theatre, the local movie palace.

Southern Pacific steam locomotive number 1258. Built in 1921, the steam locomotive was taken out of service in 1956. The 1258 escaped demolition when it was donated to Martinez as a museum piece in 1959.

Southern Pacific Depot, originally built in 1877. This was the site of Amtrak’s Martinez station until a modern station was built nearby in 2001.

Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial

Do you remember Strentzel/Muir House at John Muir National Historic Site? I visited on my 1st trip to Martinez in 2018. I returned in 2022 to catch a ride with the National Park Service to Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial.

At the end of the morning, I took the bus from Downtown Martinez to the John Muir National Historic Site. From there, I caught a ride with the rangers of the National Park Service to Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial. In 2018, my tour of the site was canceled. But in 2022, it was all systems go.

In my post from 2018, I wrote about the Port Chicago disaster of 1944. On July 17 of that year, 320 men were killed when dangerous weapons that were improperly handled exploded. Most of the men killed were black because all of the enlisted men responsible for loading the weapons into cargo ships were black. They had not been properly trained by their white officers. It was the worst disaster on the American home front during World War II. After the disaster, unsafe working conditions continued. Out of hundreds of black men who refused to work, 50 of them were convicted of mutiny. I encourage you to read the portion of my post from 2018 about the Port Chicago disaster.

You can also watch the video about the disaster here that I also included in my earlier post.

Remains of the pier where the cargo ships exploded.

A piece of plating from 1 of the 2 ships destroyed during the explosion.

The explosion created a 3.4 magnitude earthquake felt around the Bay Area, including San Francisco.

1 of the railroad revetments at Port Chicago. The sides are built to absorb the blast from any explosion of weapons contained in the railroad car.

A National Park Service ranger explains the history of the site and the disaster.

Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial sits on Suison Bay, the portion of the San Francisco Bay system that connects the California Delta to Carquinez Strait.

View of the revetment from the other end.

More Historic Martinez

Once the visit to Port Chicago Naval Magazine National Memorial was over, I got a ride back to John Muir National Historic Site with the rangers. The Saturday bus schedule wasn’t favorable for me to get back to Downtown Martinez without a significant delay, so I walked back.