Antioch

Antioch (formerly, East Antioch, Smith's Landing, and Marshs Landing) is a city in Contra Costa County, California. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area along the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta, it is a suburb of San Francisco and Oakland. The city's population was 90,532 at the U.S. 2000 census. Antioch was one of the oldest towns in California, having been founded in 1850. The year following the discovery of gold, th... more

Antioch (formerly, East Antioch, Smith's Landing, and Marshs Landing) is a city in Contra Costa County, California. Located in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area along the San Joaquin-Sacramento River Delta, it is a suburb of San Francisco and Oakland. The city's population was 90,532 at the U.S. 2000 census. Antioch was one of the oldest towns in California, having been founded in 1850. The year following the discovery of gold, there was a plague that over-took the city and wiped out most of the population. The town was founded by two brothers, William and Joseph Smith, who named the town Smith’s Landing. In 1851, the town's new minister persuaded the residents to change the name of the town to Antioch, for the Biblical city of Antioch, Syria. Around 1859, coal was discovered in several places in the hills south of Antioch and coal mining formed the first substantial business apart from farming and dairying by the inhabitants of this community. This new industry... less