Hercules is a city in western

Contra Costa County, California ) of the San Francisco Bay , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_name1 = California , subdivision_type2 ...

. Situated along the coast of

San Pablo Bay San Pablo Bay is a tidal estuary that forms the northern extension of San Francisco Bay in the East Bay and North Bay regions of the San Francisco Bay Area in northern California. Most of the Bay is shallow; however, there is a deep wate ...

, it is located in the eastern region of the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, often referred to as simply the Bay Area, is a populous region surrounding the San Francisco, San Pablo, and Suisun Bay estuaries in Northern California. The Bay Area is defined by the Association of Bay Area G ...

, about north of

Berkeley, California Berkeley ( ) is a city on the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay in northern Alameda County, California, United States. It is named after the 18th-century Irish bishop and philosopher George Berkeley. It borders the cities of Oakland and E ...

. As of 2010, its population was 24,060, according to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau (USCB), officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the U.S. Federal Statistical System, responsible for producing data about the American people and economy. The Census Bureau is part of th ...

. The site of Hercules was first developed in 1881 as a manufacturing facility of the California Powder Works for the production of its patented dynamite formulation, Hercules powder. In 1882, the

Hercules Powder Company Hercules, Inc. was a chemical and munitions manufacturing company based in Wilmington, Delaware, United States, incorporated in 1912 as the Hercules Powder Company following the breakup of the DuPont explosives monopoly by the U.S. Circuit C ...

was incorporated and assumed responsibility for the Hercules site. It was one of several explosive manufacturers that were active along the Pinole shoreline in the late 19th to the mid-20th century. The small company town that grew up near the facility subsequently became known as "Hercules", and was incorporated at the end of 1900. Starting in the 1970s, Hercules was heavily redeveloped as

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separ ...

an bedroom community that lies along the I-80 corridor in Western

Contra Costa County ) of the San Francisco Bay , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_name1 = California , subdivision_type2 ...

. It has a very ethnically diverse population.

History

Prehistory through the 20th century

Contra Costa County ) of the San Francisco Bay , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name = United States , subdivision_type1 = State , subdivision_name1 = California , subdivision_type2 ...

’s first inhabitants arrived in the area six to ten thousand years ago, including the Bay Miwok people and the Huichin Ohlone People; however there were no known significant settlements in the Hercules area. The land that would become Hercules was part of a tract of land known as “Pinole y Canada del Hambre” which was granted in 1823 to

Ygnacio Martinez Ygnacio may refer to: Given name: *Ygnacio Coronel (1795–1862), settler in the Pueblo de Los Ángeles of Mexican Alta California * Luis Ygnacio Liendo (born 1980), amateur Venezuelan Greco-Roman wrestler in the men's lightweight category *Ygnacio ...

(for whom the city of Martinez, California was named) for his service as the commandant of the Presidio of San Francisco. This grant was reconfirmed in 1842 as Rancho El Pinole. In 1848, this area became part of the United States with the rest of California. Contra Costa County was created in 1850 as one of California's original 27 counties. The

Central Pacific Railroad The Central Pacific Railroad (CPRR) was a rail company chartered by U.S. Congress in 1862 to build a railroad eastwards from Sacramento, California, to complete the western part of the " First transcontinental railroad" in North America. Incor ...

(later part of Southern Pacific) ran the first rail lines across Hercules’ waterfront in late 1878, as the main route for the Transcontinental Railroad was realigned via

train ferry A train ferry is a ship (ferry) designed to carry railway vehicles. Typically, one level of the ship is fitted with railway tracks, and the vessel has a door at the front and/or rear to give access to the wharves. In the United States, train ...

through the purpose-built town of

Port Costa Port Costa is a small village and census-designated place (CDP) in Contra Costa County, California, located in East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area. Situated on the southern shore of the Carquinez Strait, the population was 190 at the 20 ...

then to Richmond and Berkeley to connect at the

Oakland Pier The Oakland Long Wharf was an 11,000-foot railroad wharf and ferry pier along the east shore of San Francisco Bay located at the foot of Seventh Street in West Oakland. The Oakland Long Wharf was built, beginning 1868, by the Central Pacific Rail ...

.Images of America: Richmond, by Donald Bastin, Arcadia Publishing (SC), November 2003 The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railroad came through the area around 1899. The city's history was primarily shaped by the

, named after its main product “Hercules powder”, a specially patented (1874) formulation of dynamite, in turn named after the Roman hero. It began as the California Powder Works with locations in

Golden Gate Park Golden Gate Park, located in San Francisco, California, United States, is a large urban park consisting of of public grounds. It is administered by the San Francisco Recreation & Parks Department, which began in 1871 to oversee the developm ...

and Santa Cruz, California, but the expansion of

San Francisco San Francisco (; Spanish for " Saint Francis"), officially the City and County of San Francisco, is the commercial, financial, and cultural center of Northern California. The city proper is the fourth most populous in California and 17t ...

forced the company to find a more remote location for the dangerous process of manufacturing explosives. Hercules's isolated location at the time, plus its proximity to rail and

water transportation Water transportation is the international movement of water over large distances. Methods of transportation fall into three categories: * Aqueducts, which include pipelines, canals, tunnels and bridges * Container shipment, which includes trans ...

along

, made it an ideal choice. In 1879, the company, backed by

DuPont DuPont de Nemours, Inc., commonly shortened to DuPont, is an American multinational chemical company first formed in 1802 by French-American chemist and industrialist Éleuthère Irénée du Pont de Nemours. The company played a major role in ...

and the

Laflin & Rand Powder Company Laflin & Rand Powder Company was a gunpowder and early smokeless powder manufacturer notable for producing the smokeless powder used by United States Army infantry rifles from 1896 to 1908, which included the period of development of the M1903 Spri ...

created the

which purchased land for a new plant that opened in 1881. On December 15, 1900, town management incorporated the City of Hercules as it felt that the County Board of Supervisors had become less supportive of the plant. A post office was established in 1914. On USGS maps the place designation Herpoco (for Hercules Powder Company) along the original

Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway The Atchison, Topeka and Santa Fe Railway , often referred to as the Santa Fe or AT&SF, was one of the larger railroads in the United States. The railroad was chartered in February 1859 to serve the cities of Atchison and Topeka, Kansas, and ...

right-of-way (now BNSF), still remains. Hercules Powder Company Building

Explosives manufacturing was indeed a hazardous industry in that era: in the first 38 years of operations in Hercules, 59 lives would be lost including 24 in a large explosion in February 1908. Later, further deadly explosions would plague the plant in 1944, 1948 and 1953. The

Sherman Antitrust Act The Sherman Antitrust Act of 1890 (, ) is a United States antitrust law which prescribes the rule of free competition among those engaged in commerce. It was passed by Congress and is named for Senator John Sherman, its principal author. ...

would force Dupont to spin the

off as an independent company in 1912. The explosives manufactured at Hercules played a significant and decisive role in the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, ...

's efforts to contain the fires started by the

1906 San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensity ...

, as recounted by General Funston. Between the 1890s and 1970s, Hercules was a company town of several hundred people. 36 buildings from this era still exist and were nominated to the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...

in 1980. Per this application, “Hercules was the area’s most desirable community to live in” with well-kept homes, a (male only) clubhouse, lighted tennis courts, and hospital. However, all residents were company employees. Although Chinese workers were a large component of the company workforce before the 1910s, they were excluded from residency in the town beyond dormitories provided for them. By 1917, the Hercules plant had become the largest producer of TNT in the country. During both World Wars Hercules Powder Company, along with Giant Powder Works in neighboring Pinole, supplied the U.S. Navy with explosives through the Port Chicago Magazine (location of the infamous Port Chicago disaster in 1944) which became the now closed Concord Naval Weapons Station. By the 1940s, Hercules organized its own

law enforcement Law enforcement is the activity of some members of government who act in an organized manner to enforce the law by discovering, deterring, rehabilitating, or punishing people who violate the rules and norms governing that society. The term ...

department and longtime Hercules Powder Company employee William Darke was named

sheriff A sheriff is a government official, with varying duties, existing in some countries with historical ties to England where the office originated. There is an analogous, although independently developed, office in Iceland that is commonly transla ...

, becoming its first officer. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

the company began to diversify its production line and build an

anhydrous ammonia Ammonia is an inorganic compound of nitrogen and hydrogen with the formula . A stable binary hydride, and the simplest pnictogen hydride, ammonia is a colourless gas with a distinct pungent smell. Biologically, it is a common nitrogenous wast ...

plant, a base for fertilizer. Explosive manufacturing was discontinued in Hercules in 1964 (neighboring Giant Powder stopped its operations in 1960). In 1974, the cessation of explosives production allowed hundreds of acres of protective “buffer” land (separated by large stands of

eucalyptus ''Eucalyptus'' () is a genus of over seven hundred species of flowering trees, shrubs or mallees in the myrtle family, Myrtaceae. Along with several other genera in the tribe Eucalypteae, including '' Corymbia'', they are commonly known as ...

trees, many of which still stand) to be reused for other purposes. Starting in 1974,

real estate development Real estate development, or property development, is a business process, encompassing activities that range from the renovation and re- lease of existing buildings to the purchase of raw land and the sale of developed land or parcels to other ...

companies began to develop the land and Hercules began to transform into the bedroom community it is known as today. Eventually, the ammonia plant began to be outcompeted by foreign manufacturers, and this combined with labor issues, resulted in its permanent closure in 1976. Although Hercules Powder Company is now gone one legacy remains: a study has been made of upper layer soil contamination from prior emissions of the California Powder Works operations. In 1966 the Pacific Refinery company started operation on the shores of Hercules and served as large employer until its closure in 1995. Its demise marked the end of 114 years of heavy industry in Hercules. The land the refinery was located on was redeveloped as the Victoria by the Bay subdivision in early 2000s.

Biorad Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. is an American developer and manufacturer of specialized technological products for the life science research and clinical diagnostics markets. The company was founded in 1952 in Berkeley, California, by husband and ...

, a Fortune 500 biotech company established its headquarters in Hercules in the 1980s and continues to be the town's largest employer. Starting in the 1970s Hercules created and has continuously updated its master plan to further its development. During the 1970s, Hercules was one of the first cities in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

to develop a comprehensive Noise Element of the General Plan. This work included the production of noise contour maps for all major

highway A highway is any public or private road or other public way on land. It is used for major roads, but also includes other public roads and public tracks. In some areas of the United States, it is used as an equivalent term to controlled-access ...

s and arterial roads, as well as a citywide noise mitigation plan. Heavy development as a suburb continued through the 1980s through the present day. The town's population grew rapidly in the last decades of the 20th century. Per

data, what was sleepy town of 252 in 1970 grew nearly 24-fold into a town of 5,963 by 1980 which tripled again into a town of 16,829 by 1990. By 2000, the town began to level out to its current population of approximately 25,000.

Recent history and development

In 2000, the City of Hercules chartered an urban-design-based land use planning effort. This plan attempted to balance the preservation of the city's undeveloped land against continued suburban sprawl and to redevelop the city's formerly industrial waterfront. The resulting plan directs that Hercules be turned into a transit-oriented, pedestrian-friendly, mixed-use town. Several new developments were started in that era based on the plan, including the Central Waterfront around the historic core of Hercules and Victoria by the Bay. However the development of Hercules has not been without is challenges. In a national story in 2006, Hercules strongly opposed

Walmart Walmart Inc. (; formerly Wal-Mart Stores, Inc.) is an American multinational retail corporation that operates a chain of hypermarkets (also called supercenters), discount department stores, and grocery stores from the United States, headquarter ...

's attempt to build a new supercenter store on 17-acre (69,000 m²) property overlooking San Pablo Bay as many residents deemed it incompatible with the waterfront redevelopment project, and it was unneeded due to the close proximity of two other Walmarts in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, Californi ...

and Vallejo. On May 23, 2006, the Hercules city council voted unanimously to use its power of

eminent domain Eminent domain (United States, Philippines), land acquisition (India, Malaysia, Singapore), compulsory purchase/acquisition (Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, United Kingdom), resumption (Hong Kong, Uganda), resumption/compulsory acquisition (Austr ...

to prevent Wal-Mart from building the supercenter. In 2009, the city purchased the land back from Walmart. In 2012, a state audit found that the City of Hercules had spent nearly $50 million on “questionable transactions” primarily centered on the city's redevelopment projects (the investigation focused on a

city manager A city manager is an official appointed as the administrative manager of a city, in a "Mayor–council government" council–manager form of city government. Local officials serving in this position are sometimes referred to as the chief exec ...

who steered millions of city funds to himself and to a firm run by his relatives). Combined with the

Great recession The Great Recession was a period of marked general decline, i.e. a recession, observed in national economies globally that occurred from late 2007 into 2009. The scale and timing of the recession varied from country to country (see map). At ...

, this nearly bankrupted the city in the late 2000s. Later, new developments came in the market and the city repaired its financial condition.

Geography

Location and surroundings

Hercules is located at , at the southeast shore of the

. According to the

, the city has a total area of , of which, is land and (65.87%) is water. Hercules is on the southeastern shores of

, roughly 4 miles southwest of the

Carquinez Bridge The Carquinez Bridge is a pair of parallel bridges spanning the Carquinez Strait at the northeastern end of San Francisco Bay. They form the part of Interstate 80 between Crockett and Vallejo, California. The name Carquinez Bridge originally ...

. By road, Hercules is roughly 12 miles north of

, 18 miles north of

Oakland Oakland is the largest city and the county seat of Alameda County, California, United States. A major West Coast port, Oakland is the largest city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area, the third largest city overall in the Bay ...

and 22 miles northeast of

. The shoreline at this location runs northeast to southwest.

Refugio Creek Refugio Creek (pronounced REH-foo-GEE-oh from Spanish ''refugio'' meaning: shelter) is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 15, 2011 watercourse running through the Re ...

runs through the middle of Hercules in a northwest direction and empties at the shoreline. The town is bisected by

Interstate 80 Interstate 80 (I-80) is an east–west transcontinental freeway that crosses the United States from downtown San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey, in the New York metropolitan area. The highway was designated in 1956 as one ...

which runs parallel and roughly one mile inland from the coast. I-80 is the main highway between

and

Sacramento ) , image_map = Sacramento County California Incorporated and Unincorporated areas Sacramento Highlighted.svg , mapsize = 250x200px , map_caption = Location within Sacramento ...

and intersects California State Route 4 in the city limits. Major arterial roads include San Pablo Road which lies to the north of I-80 (this road is also Historic

US 40 U.S. Route 40 or U.S. Highway 40 (US 40), also known as the Main Street of America, is a major east–west United States Highway traveling across the United States from the Mountain States to the Mid-Atlantic States. As with most routes ...

, which was the predecessor to I-80) and Refugio Valley Road which runs in a northwest–southeast direction along

Cityscape

The city has a

suburban A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area, which may include commercial and mixed-use, that is primarily a residential area. A suburb can exist either as part of a larger city/urban area or as a separa ...

character dominated by mostly two story detached and attached homes and one story commercial buildings divided into various subdivisions along well landscaped roads. Hercules’ commercial centers (which are mainly neighborhood shopping centers) lie in center of the city close to the convergence of the roads named above. The portion inland of Highway 80, which extends 4 miles inland mainly gently rolling hills along Refugio Valley Road, is primarily suburbs built between the 1970s and 1980s. It includes neighborhoods known to the locals as “the Birds”, “the Trees and Flowers”, “the Gemstones”, “the Astronauts”, and “the Islands”, per the street naming conventions of each subdivision. The portion near the shoreline, somewhat flatter but still rolling terrain, was developed starting in the 1980s and has some of the town's newer developments including the Waterfront centered around the historic old town, Olympian Hills (which uses Greek mythical figures for its street naming convention), Hercules by the Bay, Village Park and Victoria by the Bay/New Pacific.

Climate

Hercules has a mild

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate (also called a dry summer temperate climate ''Cs'') is a temperate climate sub-type, generally characterized by warm, dry summers and mild, fairly wet winters; these weather conditions are typically experienced in the ...

(

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification is one of the most widely used climate classification systems. It was first published by German-Russian climatologist Wladimir Köppen (1846–1940) in 1884, with several later modifications by Köppen, nota ...

Csb or "Warm-summer Mediterranean"), consistent with much of the northern

. As Hercules is more inland, it is generally warmer than communities closer to the Golden Gate. Average rainfall is 23.35” concentrated from November to March. The average July high is 71 degrees and the average January low is 43 degrees.

Parks and recreation

Hercules has over 98 acres of parkland in six parks created as part of its master planning effort, the most central being Refugio Valley Park, and has over 950 additional acres of open space. Hercules is also close to several regional nature preserves including Point Pinole Regional Shoreline, Crockett Hills Regional Park, Carquinez Strait, Wildcat Canyon and Sobrante Ridge Botanic Regional Preserve. Franklin Canyon Golf Course is an 18-hole golf course at the east side of the city. The San Francisco Bay Trail runs right along Hercules' waterfront. The urban centers of

and

are 18 and 22 miles away respectively.

Wine Country Wine Country is the region of California, in the northern San Francisco Bay Area, known worldwide as a premier wine-growing region. The region is famed for its wineries, its cuisine, Michelin star restaurants, boutique hotels, luxury resor ...

( Napa and Sonoma) is roughly a half hour drive to the north.

Demographics

Race and ethnicity

Hercules has a diverse population. Per 2015 Census data, the town's population is 45.5% Asian, 22% White, 18.9% Black, and 14.6% Hispanic. 32.0% of the population is foreign born.

Household income, education and occupations

Per 2014 US Census data, the

median household income The median income is the income amount that divides a population into two equal groups, half having an income above that amount, and half having an income below that amount. It may differ from the mean (or average) income. Both of these are ways ...

in the city was $101,018, and the median income for a family was $113,658, which would put much of Hercules’ population in the upper middle class or “

mass affluent In marketing and financial services, mass affluent and emerging affluent are the high end of the mass market, or individuals with US$100,000 to US$1,000,000 of liquid financial assets plus an annual household income over US$75,000. Mass affluent ...

” categories. Males had a median income of $66,348 and females had a median income of $59,517. The per capita income for the city was $37,247. About 4.0% of families and 5.1% of the population were below the poverty line, including 5.2% of persons under age 18 and 3.2% of those 65 or over. Per the same dataset, 42.7% of Hercules residents were college educated. 46.0% of residents were employed in management, business and arts occupations, 27.2% in sales and office occupations, and 14.3% in service occupations.

2010 US Census data

The

2010 United States Census The United States census of 2010 was the twenty-third United States national census. National Census Day, the reference day used for the census, was April 1, 2010. The census was taken via mail-in citizen self-reporting, with enumerators serving ...

reported that Hercules had a population of 24,060. The population density was . The racial makeup of Hercules was 5,302 (22.0%)

White White is the lightest color and is achromatic (having no hue). It is the color of objects such as snow, chalk, and milk, and is the opposite of black. White objects fully reflect and scatter all the visible wavelengths of light. White ...

, 4,547 (18.9%)

African American African Americans (also referred to as Black Americans and Afro-Americans) are an ethnic group consisting of Americans with partial or total ancestry from sub-Saharan Africa. The term "African American" generally denotes descendants of ens ...

, 102 (0.4%) Native American, 10,956 (45.5%) Asian, 101 (0.4%)

Pacific Islander Pacific Islanders, Pasifika, Pasefika, or rarely Pacificers are the peoples of the Pacific Islands. As an ethnic/ racial term, it is used to describe the original peoples—inhabitants and diasporas—of any of the three major subregions of O ...

, 1,564 (6.5%) from other races, and 1,488 (6.2%) from two or more races.

Hispanic The term ''Hispanic'' ( es, hispano) refers to people, cultures, or countries related to Spain, the Spanish language, or Hispanidad. The term commonly applies to countries with a cultural and historical link to Spain and to viceroyalties for ...

or Latino of any race were 3,508 persons (14.6%). The Census reported that 24,005 people (99.8% of the population) lived in households, 17 (0.1%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 38 (0.2%) were institutionalized. There were 8,115 households, out of which 3,175 (39.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 4,675 (57.6%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 1,250 (15.4%) had a female householder with no husband present, 371 (4.6%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 344 (4.2%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 66 (0.8%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 1,482 households (18.3%) were made up of individuals, and 449 (5.5%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.96. There were 6,296 families (77.6% of all households); the average family size was 3.38. The population was spread out, with 5,481 people (22.8%) under the age of 18, 2,064 people (8.6%) aged 18 to 24, 6,512 people (27.1%) aged 25 to 44, 7,473 people (31.1%) aged 45 to 64, and 2,530 people (10.5%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 39.0 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.1 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.0 males. There were 8,553 housing units at an average density of , of which 8,115 were occupied, of which 6,450 (79.5%) were owner-occupied, and 1,665 (20.5%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 2.3%; the rental vacancy rate was 6.2%. 19,067 people (79.2% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 4,938 people (20.5%) lived in rental housing units.

2000 US Census data

As of the

census A census is the procedure of systematically acquiring, recording and calculating information about the members of a given population. This term is used mostly in connection with national population and housing censuses; other common censuses inc ...

of 2000, there were 19,488 people, 6,423 households, and 4,997 families residing in the city. The population density was . There were 6,546 housing units at an average density of . The racial makeup of the city was 27.98%

, 18.78%

, 0.25% Native American, 42.73% Asian, 0.46%

, 4.47% from other races, and 5.33% from two or more races. 10.81% of the population were

or Latino of any race. There were 6,423 households, out of which 41.7% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 60.8% were

married couples Marriage, also called matrimony or wedlock, is a culturally and often legally recognized union between people called spouses. It establishes rights and obligations between them, as well as between them and their children, and between ...

living together, 13.2% had a female householder with no husband present, and 22.2% were non-families. 17.8% of all households were made up of individuals, and 3.7% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.03 and the average family size was 3.46. In the city, the population was spread out, with 26.6% under the age of 18, 8.5% from 18 to 24, 30.2% from 25 to 44, 27.3% from 45 to 64, and 7.4% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 37 years. For every 100 females, there were 90.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 86.2 males. According to a 2007 estimate, the median income for a household in the city was $88,966, and the median income for a family was $93,294. Males had a median income of $50,672 versus $40,433 for females. The

per capita income Per capita income (PCI) or total income measures the average income earned per person in a given area (city, region, country, etc.) in a specified year. It is calculated by dividing the area's total income by its total population. Per capita i ...

for the city was $27,699. About 1.9% of families and 3.2% of the population were below the

poverty line The poverty threshold, poverty limit, poverty line or breadline is the minimum level of income deemed adequate in a particular country. The poverty line is usually calculated by estimating the total cost of one year's worth of necessities for ...

, including 3.5% of those under age 18 and 5.4% of those age 65 or over.

Economy

Overview

Hercules is primarily a suburban community, but is the headquarters of

Bio-Rad Bio-Rad Laboratories, Inc. is an American developer and manufacturer of specialized technological products for the life science research and clinical diagnostics markets. The company was founded in 1952 in Berkeley, California, by husband and ...

, a

Fortune 500 The ''Fortune'' 500 is an annual list compiled and published by ''Fortune (magazine), Fortune'' magazine that ranks 500 of the largest United States Joint-stock company#Closely held corporations and publicly traded corporations, corporations by ...

biotech company which as of 2017 had 7,800 employees worldwide and $2.1 billion in revenue. The company is located in the North Shore Business park which includes over 1.1 million square feet of industrial and R&D space. The community has an additional 210,000sf of retail and office space in three neighborhood shopping centers.

Top employers

According to the city's 2020 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top 10 employers in the city are:

Government

Form

Hercules has a council-manager form of government where five elected city council members appoint a

who runs the City administration. In the early years of Hercules, the council members were nearly always officers of the Hercules Powder Company. The five council seats are at large and served in four-year staggered terms. Elections are held the first Tuesday after the first Monday in November, which generally coincides with state and federal election days. In December, after any election the council selects from its own a Mayor and Vice Mayor which serve one-year terms. The City Council also appoint the city attorney, planning commissioners, community and library associations and others.

Crime

Hercules has a generally low crime rate. Based on 2014 FBI Data, Hercules had 1.12 violent crimes per 1,000 and 13.27 property crimes per thousand, lower than national and state averages. Between 2000 and 2010, the city had only five murders. Another source, using the same data, classified Hercules as the 35th safest city in California in 2016, and 60th in 2017.

Politics

In 2017, Hercules had 14,293 registered voters with 8,406 (58.8%) registered as Democrats, 1,743 (12.2%) registered as Republicans, and 3,703 (25.9%) decline to state voters.

Education

Public schools

Hercules is served by two school districts: the West Contra Costa Unified School District and the

John Swett Unified School District The John Swett Unified School District (JSUSD) is a public school district in Contra Costa County, California. It currently operates one elementary school, one middle school, and one standard high school and another for Continuing and Alternative ...

. The JSUSD serves the Foxboro area (east of

and north of State Route 4) and the WCCUSD serves the rest of the city. *

Hercules Middle/High School Hercules High School is a secondary school located at 1900 Refugio Valley Road in Hercules, California, United States. The campus consists of both a middle school and high school on the same premises, with the administrative complex and librar ...

serves as the main middle and high school in the city. * Hanna Ranch Elementary serves the Trees and Mandalay area. * Ohlone Elementary serves the Birds, Gems and the Hercules Avenue area. * Lupine Elementary serves the Trees and Flowers area.

Public libraries

The Contra Costa County Library System operates the Hercules Public Library.

Infrastructure

Transportation

Hercules is at the intersection of I-80 and State Route 4. I-80 is an interstate that is the principal route between San Francisco and Sacramento. Highway 4 lead to I -680 which provide access to Concord, California, Walnut Creek, California and the Tri-Valley Area. Per 2015 Census Data, 90% of Hercules’ workforce commutes via automobile to work, the average commute time is 39 minutes. Public transportation is available through the WestCat bus system. The operator provides local and school buses throughout Hercules and to the neighboring cities of

Rodeo Rodeo () is a competitive equestrian sport that arose out of the working practices of cattle herding in Spain and Mexico, expanding throughout the Americas and to other nations. It was originally based on the skills required of the working vaq ...

, Pinole, and

among other areas. WestCat also offers express buses to the county seat at Martinez, the

El Cerrito del Norte BART station El Cerrito del Norte station (''North Hillock'' in Spanish) is a BART station located off Cutting Boulevard near San Pablo Avenue and Interstate 80 in El Cerrito, California. The station serves as a regional transit hub for local AC Transit bu ...

and the San Francisco Transbay Terminal. Its major hub is Hercules Transit Center. This had been the proposed location of a future Bay Area Rapid Transit station in BART's 20-year plan, but Hercules Mayor John Delgado and city council declined BART's request to fund a study, precluding the possibility of a BART stop. The closest international airports are Oakland International (29 miles) and

San Francisco International Airport San Francisco International Airport is an international airport in an unincorporated area of San Mateo County, south of Downtown San Francisco. It has flights to points throughout North America and is a major gateway to Europe, the Middl ...

(35 miles). The closest

general aviation General aviation (GA) is defined by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) as all civil aviation aircraft operations with the exception of commercial air transport or aerial work, which is defined as specialized aviation services ...

facilities are

Buchanan Field Buchanan Field Airport is a public airport in Contra Costa County, California, United States, a mile west of the center of Concord and east of Pacheco. The airport's street address is 550 Sally Ride Drive, Concord. The National Plan of Integ ...

in Concord and Napa County Airport in Napa. The Southern Pacific and the Burlington Northern railroads (formerly the Atchison, Topeka and the Santa Fe Railway) have rail lines that pass through Hercules; however with the demise of industry Hercules no longer has a direct rail connection. However, a new

Hercules station Hercules station (officially the Hercules Regional Intermodal Transit Center) is a proposed intermodal passenger transport, intermodal infill station, infill train station and ferry terminal in Hercules, California in Contra Costa County, Californ ...

is planned that will provide a stop along the Capitol Corridor line with a target completion date of 2018. An environmental study is underway for San Francisco Bay Ferry Service to provide service from the same station to San Francisco, which would take 42 minutes.A new commute option for Hercules/Rodeo
WETA, access date July 17, 2008

Sister city

Hercules's

sister city A sister city or a twin town relationship is a form of legal or social agreement between two geographically and politically distinct localities for the purpose of promoting cultural and commercial ties. While there are early examples of inter ...

is Tsushima,

Aichi Prefecture is a prefecture of Japan located in the Chūbu region of Honshū. Aichi Prefecture has a population of 7,552,873 () and a geographic area of with a population density of . Aichi Prefecture borders Mie Prefecture to the west, Gifu Prefecture ...

Japan.

Notable people

Willie McGee Willie Dean McGee (born November 2, 1958) is an American professional baseball coach and former outfielder who is an assistant coach for the St. Louis Cardinals of Major League Baseball (MLB). He played in MLB for four teams, over 18 seasons. ...

, former outfielder for the St. Louis Cardinals and the

San Francisco Giants The San Francisco Giants are an American professional baseball team based in San Francisco, California. The Giants compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) West division. Founded in 1883 as the New Yo ...

Claudell Washington Claudell Washington (August 31, 1954June 10, 2020) was an American baseball outfielder who played seventeen seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB). He played for the Oakland Athletics, Texas Rangers, Chicago White Sox, New York Mets, Atlanta Br ...

, former outfielder for the MLB. Lived in Hercules during his year with the

New York Mets The New York Mets are an American professional baseball team based in the New York City borough of Queens. The Mets compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member of the National League (NL) East division. They are one of two major lea ...

and his first year with the

Atlanta Braves The Atlanta Braves are an American professional baseball team based in the Atlanta metropolitan area. The Braves compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the National League (NL) East division. The Braves were founded in ...

References

Sources

External links

* - government, business, library, recreation and more
City-Data.com
- comprehensive statistical data and more about Hercules
{{authority control Cities in Contra Costa County, California Company towns in California San Pablo Bay Incorporated cities and towns in California Populated places established in 1881 1881 establishments in California Cities in the San Francisco Bay Area Populated coastal places in California Hercules Inc.