Pleasanton is a city in

Alameda County, California Alameda County ( ) is a List of counties in California, county located in the U.S. state of California. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 1,682,353, making it the 7th-most populous county in the state and List ...

, United States. Located in the

Amador Valley Amador Valley is a valley in eastern Alameda County, California and is the location of the cities of Dublin and Pleasanton. Part of Tri-Valley, the valley is bounded by the foothills of the Diablo Range on the north and south, Pleasanton Ridge ...

, it is an upscale suburb in the

East Bay The East Bay is the eastern region of the San Francisco Bay Area and includes cities along the eastern shores of San Francisco Bay and San Pablo Bay. The region has grown to include inland communities in Alameda and Contra Costa counties. Wi ...

region of the

San Francisco Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a List of regions of California, region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose, California, S ...

. The population was 79,871 at the 2020 census. In 2005 and 2007, Pleasanton was ranked the wealthiest middle-sized city in the United States by the Census Bureau. Pleasanton is home to the headquarters of

Safeway Safeway, Inc. is an American supermarket chain. The chain provides grocery items, food and general merchandise and a variety of specialty departments, such as bakery, delicatessen, floral and pharmacy, as well as Starbucks coffee shops, and veh ...

, Workday,

Ellie Mae Ellie Mae Inc., originally named Electronic Mortgage Affiliates, is a software company that processes 35% of U.S. mortgage applications. The services are based on a software as a service model (SaaS), and specializes in originating and funding ...

Roche Molecular Diagnostics F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, commonly known as Roche (), is a Swiss multinational holding healthcare company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, Roche Holding AG, has shares listed on ...

Blackhawk Network Holdings Blackhawk Network Holdings Inc. is an American privately held company that operates in the prepaid, gift card and payments industries. It sells branded physical and digital gifts, phones, prepaid debit, and incentives cards online and through a ...

Veeva Systems Veeva Systems Inc. is an American cloud-computing company focused on pharmaceutical and life sciences industry applications. Headquartered in Pleasanton, California, it was founded in 2007 by Peter Gassner and Matt Wallach. It operates with softw ...

, and Simpson Manufacturing Company. Other major employers include

Kaiser Permanente Kaiser Permanente (; KP) is an American integrated delivery system, integrated managed care consortium headquartered in Oakland, California. Founded in 1945 by industrialist Henry J. Kaiser and physician Sidney Garfield, Sidney R. Garfield, the ...

Oracle An oracle is a person or thing considered to provide insight, wise counsel or prophetic predictions, most notably including precognition of the future, inspired by deities. If done through occultic means, it is a form of divination. Descript ...

, and

Macy's Macy's is an American department store chain founded in 1858 by Rowland Hussey Macy. The first store was located in Manhattan on Sixth Avenue between 13th and 14th Streets, south of the present-day flagship store at Herald Square on West 34 ...

. Although

Oakland Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major West Coast port, Oakland is ...

is the Alameda County seat, a few county offices are located in Pleasanton. The Alameda County Fairgrounds are located in Pleasanton, where the county fair is held during the last week of June and the first week of July.

Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park is a park in the East Bay Regional Park District overlooking Pleasanton, California and the Livermore Valley to the east. History Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park, located west of the I-680 freeway and the City of ...

is located on the west side of town.

History

Pre-contact

The Amador-Livermore Valley, where Pleasanton is located, was home to tribes in the

Ohlone The Ohlone ( ), formerly known as Costanoans (from Spanish meaning 'coast dweller'), are a Native Americans in the United States, Native American people of the Northern California coast. When Spanish explorers and missionaries arrived in the l ...

language group, mainly speaking

Chochenyo The Chochenyo (also called Chocheño, Chocenyo) are one of the divisions of the Indigenous Ohlone (Costanoan) people of Northern California. The Chochenyo reside on the east side of the San Francisco Bay (the East Bay), primarily in what is no ...

. As of the 1770s seven tribes were present in the valley: the Causen, Pelnen, Seunen, Ssaoan, Ssouyen, Taunan, and Yulien. Each had a territory about 10 miles across, living in villages of 60-90 people. The total population of the valley was about 2000-2500 people.

1700s

The first Spanish expedition reached the Amador-Livermore Valley in 1772. Native people from the valley began to join

Mission Santa Clara Mission (from Latin 'the act of sending out'), Missions or The Mission may refer to: Geography Australia *Mission River (Queensland) Canada *Mission, British Columbia, a district municipality *Mission, Calgary, Alberta, a neighbourhood * O ...

, founded in 1777, in small numbers by the 1790s. Large groups began joining missions after Mission San Jose was founded in 1797.

1800s

After Mexico's independence from Spain in 1821, the missions were

secularized In sociology, secularization () is a multilayered concept that generally denotes "a transition from a religious to a more worldly level." There are many types of secularization and most do not lead to atheism or irreligion, nor are they automatica ...

, the Native people being emancipated and the land given in the form of ranchos to Spanish and Mexican colonists. Pleasanton is located on the lands of the

Rancho Valle de San José Rancho or Ranchos may refer to: Settlements and communities *Rancho, Aruba, former fishing village and neighbourhood of Oranjestad *Ranchos of California, 19th century land grants in Alta California ** List of California Ranchos * Ranchos, Buenos ...

and Rancho Santa Rita Mexican land grants.

Alisal

Before the establishment of Pleasanton in the 1850s, an earlier settlement in the location was called Alisal. It was located on the lands of the Rancho Santa Rita near the site of a Native American ranchera, around the Francisco Solano Alviso Adobe called ''El Alisal'' (The Sycamores), one of the earliest houses built in the valley in 1844. It is still standing and serves as the centerpiece of the Alviso Adobe Community Park. Alisal, nicknamed "The Most Desperate Town in the West", was one of the settlements located along ''

La Vereda del Monte La Vereda del Monte (Spanish for "The Mountain Trail") was a backcountry route through remote regions of the Diablo Range, one of the California Coast Ranges. La Vereda del Monte was the upper part of La Vereda Caballo, (Spanish for "The Horse Tr ...

'' that was a haunt and refuge of

bandits Banditry is a type of organized crime committed by outlaws typically involving the threat or use of violence. A person who engages in banditry is known as a bandit and primarily commits crimes such as extortion, robbery, kidnapping, and murder, e ...

and desperados in the era following the beginning of the

California Gold Rush The California gold rush (1848–1855) began on January 24, 1848, when gold was found by James W. Marshall at Sutter's Mill in Coloma, California. The news of gold brought approximately 300,000 people to California from the rest of the U ...

. Main Street shootouts were not uncommon. Banditos such as Claudio Feliz and

Joaquin Murrieta Joaquin Murrieta Carrillo (sometimes misspelled Murieta or Murietta) (c. 1829 – July 25, 1853), also called the Robin Hood of the West or the Robin Hood of El Dorado, was a Mexicans, Mexican figure of disputed historicity. The novel ''The Lif ...

ambushed prospectors on their way back from the

gold rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...

fields and then sought refuge in Alisal. In the 1860s Procopio, Narciso Bojorques and others took refuge there. Alisal Elementary School reflects the city's original name.

Founding

The Rancho Valle de San José grant had been given to Agustín and Juan Pablo Bernal and their brothers-in-law Antonio Suñol and Antonio Maria Pico. In order to safeguard the grant from squatters during the

Gold Rush A gold rush or gold fever is a discovery of gold—sometimes accompanied by other precious metals and rare-earth minerals—that brings an onrush of miners seeking their fortune. Major gold rushes took place in the 19th century in Australia, ...

in the 1840s-1850s, the Bernal family moved from San José to live on their ranch along with John Kottinger, an Austrian immigrant and a lawyer who had married into the family. "Pleasanton" was chosen as the town's name in the 1860s by John W. Kottinger, an Alameda County justice of the peace, who named it after his friend, Union army cavalry Major General

Alfred Pleasonton Alfred Pleasonton (June 7, 1824 – February 17, 1897) was a United States Army officer and major general of volunteers in the Union cavalry during the American Civil War. He commanded the Cavalry Corps of the Army of the Potomac during the ...

. A typographical error by a recording clerk in Washington, D.C., apparently led to the current spelling.

1900s

In 1917, Pleasanton was the backdrop for the film ''

Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm ''Rebecca of Sunnybrook Farm'' is a classic American 1903 children's novel by Kate Douglas Wiggin that tells the story of Rebecca Rowena Randall and her aunts, one stern and one kind, in the fictional village of Riverboro, Maine. Rebecca's j ...

'', starring

Mary Pickford Gladys Louise Smith (April 8, 1892 – May 29, 1979), known professionally as Mary Pickford, was a Canadian-American film actress and producer. A Canadian pioneers in early Hollywood, pioneer in the American film industry with a Hollywood care ...

. The town was once home to Phoebe Apperson Hearst, who lived in a 50-room mansion on a estate, now the site of Castlewood Country Club. Radum Plant was a sand and gravel plant opened in 1931 by Henry J. Kaiser Co., at Radum train station, one mile east of Pleasanton. After

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

, Pleasanton changed from being primarily focused on farming and ranching to being a

bedroom community A commuter town is a populated area that is primarily residential rather than commercial or industrial. Routine travel from home to work and back is called commuting, which is where the term comes from. A commuter town may be called by many o ...

and a place for

corporate headquarters Corporate headquarters is the part of a corporate structure that deals with tasks such as strategic planning, corporate communications, taxes, law, books of record, marketing, finance, human resources, and information technology. Corporate headqu ...

due to major growth of the

Bay Area The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a region of California surrounding and including San Francisco Bay, and anchored by the cities of Oakland, San Francisco, and San Jose. The Association of Bay Area Governments ...

Geography

Pleasanton is adjacent to Hayward, Livermore, and

Dublin Dublin is the capital and largest city of Republic of Ireland, Ireland. Situated on Dublin Bay at the mouth of the River Liffey, it is in the Provinces of Ireland, province of Leinster, and is bordered on the south by the Dublin Mountains, pa ...

. According to the

United States Census Bureau The United States Census Bureau, officially the Bureau of the Census, is a principal agency of the Federal statistical system, U.S. federal statistical system, responsible for producing data about the American people and American economy, econ ...

, the city has a total area of , of which is land and (0.61%) is water. On the east side of town on Stanley Blvd. near the Livermore border is

Shadow Cliffs Regional Park Shadow Cliffs Regional Recreation Area is a regional park on the border of Pleasanton, California, Pleasanton and Livermore, California, that is part of the East Bay Regional Park District, East Bay Regional Parks (EBRP) system. Its lake, once a ...

, a lake that permits swimming, fishing, and boating. On the west side is the Pleasanton Ridge with two parks,

Pleasanton Ridge Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park is a park in the East Bay Regional Park District overlooking Pleasanton, California and the Livermore Valley to the east. History Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park, located west of the I-680 freeway and the City of ...

and

Augustin Bernal Park Augustin Bernal Community Park is a park in the hills southwest of Pleasanton, California. The park was donated to the city in 1971 by Walter S. Johnson, and connects to Pleasanton Ridge Regional Park. The park is named for the Spanish settle ...

. Much of Pleasanton is drained by the

Arroyo Valle Arroyo Valle or Arroyo Del Valle is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed March 15, 2011 westward-flowing stream that begins in northeastern Santa Clara County, Californi ...

and

Arroyo Mocho Arroyo Mocho is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map, accessed March 15, 2011 stream which originates in the far northeastern corner of Santa Clara County and flows northwesterly into ...

watercourse A stream is a continuous body of water, body of surface water Current (stream), flowing within the stream bed, bed and bank (geography), banks of a channel (geography), channel. Depending on its location or certain characteristics, a strea ...

s. Pleasanton lies along the route of the historic

First transcontinental railroad America's first transcontinental railroad (known originally as the "Pacific Railroad" and later as the "Overland Route (Union Pacific Railroad), Overland Route") was a continuous railroad line built between 1863 and 1869 that connected the exis ...

Climate

Pleasanton features a

Mediterranean climate A Mediterranean climate ( ), also called a dry summer climate, described by Köppen and Trewartha as ''Cs'', is a temperate climate type that occurs in the lower mid-latitudes (normally 30 to 44 north and south latitude). Such climates typic ...

, featuring hot, dry summers and mild to cool winters with occasional rainfall (

Köppen climate classification The Köppen climate classification divides Earth climates into five main climate groups, with each group being divided based on patterns of seasonal precipitation and temperature. The five main groups are ''A'' (tropical), ''B'' (arid), ''C'' (te ...

Csa). The highest recorded temperature was in 1950. The lowest recorded temperature was in 1990.

Demographics

2020

The 2020 United States census reported that Pleasanton had a population of 79,871. The population density was . There were 25,245 households, out of which 10,785 (42.7%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 16,206 (64.2%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 2,024 (8.0%) had a female householder with no husband present, 948 (3.8%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 887 (3.5%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 156 (0.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. Of the households, 4,860 (19.3%) were made up of individuals, and 1,853 (7.3%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.77. There were 19,178

families Family (from ) is a group of people related either by consanguinity (by recognized birth) or affinity (by marriage or other relationship). It forms the basis for social order. Ideally, families offer predictability, structure, and safety as ...

(76.0% of all households); the average family size was 3.20. There were 26,053 housing units at an average density of , of which 25,245 were occupied, of which 17,891 (70.9%) were owner-occupied, and 7,354 (29.1%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 0.9%; the rental vacancy rate was 4.1%. 51,839 people (73.8% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 17,990 people (25.6%) lived in rental housing units.

Economy

Pleasanton experienced a major economic boom starting in the early 1980s, largely associated with the development of a number of

business park A business park or office park is a designated area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. These types of developments are often located in suburban areas where land and building costs are more affordable, and are typically ...

s, the largest of which is the

Hacienda Business Park Hacienda Business Park is a 900-acre (364 hectare) mixed-use job center and housing development in Pleasanton, California. History Approved in 1982 and ratified by Pleasanton voters in 1983, the business park covers approximately 20 square blocks ...

. These host a number of campus-like clusters of low-rise and medium-rise office buildings. Pleasanton has been successful in attracting a number of corporate headquarters, such as those of

, Workday, Simpson Manufacturing,

The Cooper Companies The Cooper Companies, Inc., branded as CooperCompanies, is a global medical device company headquartered in San Ramon, California. The company consists of two business units, CooperVision (CVI) which manufactures contact lenses, and CooperSurgi ...

and Shaklee. Despite an increase in office space vacancy rates in 2000–2004, economic development has remained strong through the middle of the decade. Pleasanton was also the headquarters of the former PeopleSoft, Inc. (which was acquired by

Oracle Corporation Oracle Corporation is an American Multinational corporation, multinational computer technology company headquartered in Austin, Texas. Co-founded in 1977 in Santa Clara, California, by Larry Ellison, who remains executive chairman, Oracle was ...

), Documentum (which was acquired by

EMC Corporation EMC Corporation (stylized as EMC²) was an American multinational corporation headquartered in Hopkinton, Massachusetts, which sold data storage device, data storage, information security, virtualization, analytics, cloud computing and other pro ...

Thoratec Thoratec Corporation is a United States–based company that develops, manufactures, and markets proprietary medical devices used for mechanical circulatory support for the treatment of heart-failure patients worldwide. It is a global leader in me ...

(now part of Abbott),

E-Loan E-Loan, Inc. is a financial services company that offers its users access to partners that may be able to assist them in obtaining loans. E-Loan was a pioneer in the online lending industry in the late 1990s and early 2000s. As of 1999, it was th ...

(which was acquired by Popular),

Spreckels Sugar Company The Spreckels Sugar Company is an American sugar beet refiner that for many years was the largest beet sugar producer in the western United States. The company was incorporated and originally headquartered in San Francisco, with its largest operati ...

(which was acquired by Imperial Holly),

Ross Stores Ross Stores, Inc., operating under the brand name Ross Dress for Less, is an American chain of discount department stores headquartered in Dublin, California. It is the largest off-price retailer in the U.S.; as of July 2024, Ross operates 1, ...

(which moved to nearby

in 2014), Patelco Credit Union (also moved to Dublin) and the home loan operation of Providian (which was acquired by

Washington Mutual Washington Mutual, Inc. (often abbreviated to WaMu) was an American Bank holding company, savings bank holding company based in Seattle. It was the parent company of Washington Mutual Bank, which was the largest savings and loan association in ...

, itself later acquired by

JPMorgan Chase JPMorgan Chase & Co. (stylized as JPMorganChase) is an American multinational financial services, finance corporation headquartered in New York City and incorporated in Delaware. It is List of largest banks in the United States, the largest ba ...

). Oracle occupies two buildings of the former PeopleSoft campus. In addition, Pleasanton is the site of a large

AT&T AT&T Inc., an abbreviation for its predecessor's former name, the American Telephone and Telegraph Company, is an American multinational telecommunications holding company headquartered at Whitacre Tower in Downtown Dallas, Texas. It is the w ...

campus. Other companies with major operations in Pleasanton include Hitachi High Technologies America, Inc.,

Cisco Systems Cisco Systems, Inc. (using the trademark Cisco) is an American multinational corporation, multinational digital communications technology conglomerate (company), conglomerate corporation headquartered in San Jose, California. Cisco develops, m ...

, QASource,

Sage Software The Sage Group plc, commonly known as Sage, is a British multinational enterprise software company based in Newcastle upon Tyne, England. it is the UK's second largest technology company, the world's third-largest supplier of enterprise res ...

(Accpac, etc.), CooperVision,

Clorox The Clorox Company (formerly Clorox Chemical Company) is an American multinational manufacturer and marketer of consumer and professional products. As of 2024, the Oakland, California-based company had approximately 8,000 employees worldwide. N ...

, Fireside Bank (closed in 2012),

Roche F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, commonly known as Roche (), is a Switzerland, Swiss multinational corporation, multinational holding healthcare company that operates worldwide under two divisions: Pharmaceuticals and Diagnostics. Its holding company, ...

BMC Software BMC Software, Inc. is an American multinational information technology (IT) services and consulting, and enterprise software company based in Houston, Texas. History The company was founded in Houston, Texas, by former Shell employees Scot ...

Zoho Corporation Zoho Corporation is an Indian multinational technology company that makes computer software and web-based business tools. It is best known for the online office suite offering Zoho Office Suite. The company was founded in 1996 by Sridhar V ...

, Applied Biosystems,

, Portrait Displays, Inc. and

Broadcom Inc. Broadcom Inc. is an American multinational designer, developer, manufacturer, and global supplier of a wide range of semiconductor and infrastructure software products. Broadcom's product offerings serve the data center, networking, software, ...

In retail operations, Pleasanton has one major regional mall (

Stoneridge Shopping Center Stoneridge Shopping Center is an upscale major shopping mall in Pleasanton, California. The mall is managed and co-owned by Simon Property Group, and is adjacent to Interstate 680. The mall features JCPenney and Macy's and Macy's Women's Stor ...

) and a number of other shopping centers. In addition to the business parks and retail centers, Pleasanton is known for its downtown, which is home to a number of fine-dining, casual, and ethnic restaurants, specialty retailers, and service businesses. A redesign of Main Street in the 1990s emphasized pedestrian traffic and outdoor dining. In 2005, the median household income in Pleasanton was $101,022, the highest income for any city with a population between 65,000 and 249,999 people. Similarly, for 2007, the median household income rose to $113,345, also the highest in the category. According to City-Data.com, the median household income had risen to $121,622 by 2013, compared to a statewide median of $60,190. According to the Bay East Association of Realtors, the median price of a detached single family home was $1,795,000 as of August 2021. According to Zillow.com, the median home value in Pleasanton was $1,500,415 as of September 2021.

Top employers

According to the city, as of July 2024 the top fifteen employers in Pleasanton are:

Arts and culture

Events and festivals

Pleasanton maintains regular events for the community. Every Saturday morning a

farmers' market A farmers' market (or farmers market according to the AP stylebook, also farmer's market in the Cambridge Dictionary) is a physical retail marketplace intended to sell foods directly by farmers to consumers. Farmers' markets may be indoors or ...

sets up on Angela, off Main Street. There are several parades during the year, commemorating Christmas, Memorial Day, and Veterans Day, as well as kicking off the beginning of the Alameda County Fair and soccer season.

First Wednesday

Beginning in the late 1990s, the Pleasanton Downtown Association organized the popular ''First Wednesday'' celebrations from May through September of each year. On the first Wednesday of summer months, Main Street was blocked to traffic and adopted a street fair atmosphere. Each First Wednesday celebration was given a theme and planned with related activities. At this local event, businesses and organizations from downtown and around the Tri-Valley set up booths in the center of the street. A local band performed in the Inklings coffee house parking lot, which was closed off for dancing. The parking lot was also set up as a beergarden, with beer and wine available for consumption. In 2017, the association announced it was discontinuing the events, and was considering other types of events in future years.

Friday Concerts in the Park

Another Pleasanton Downtown Association tradition is the ''Friday Concerts in the Park'' series. Every Friday from June until September the PDA schedules different local bands to perform in the evenings at the Lions' Wayside Park off of First Street. The events are free of charge and draw a crowd. Additional seating for 'Concerts in the Park' is available at Delucchi Park, at the intersection of First Street and Neal Street.

Fairgrounds

The Alameda County Fairgrounds is a facility located in Pleasanton. It is home to the annual Alameda County Fair, held since 1912, as well as numerous trade shows and community events including but not limited to the Scottish Games which occur annually on Labor Day weekend. Located on its grounds, the

Pleasanton Fairgrounds Racetrack The Pleasanton Fairgrounds Racetrack at the Alameda County Fairgrounds in Pleasanton, California is a one-mile (1.6 km / 8- f) race track for Thoroughbred, Quarter horse and Arabian racing. Constructed in 1858 by the sons of Spaniard Don Agustí ...

was built in 1858, making it the oldest

horse racing Horse racing is an equestrian performance activity, typically involving two or more horses ridden by jockeys (or sometimes driven without riders) over a set distance for competition. It is one of the most ancient of all sports, as its bas ...

track in the United States. There is a 3,000 seat amphitheater, as well as a nine-hole golf course located within the track's infield. The Alameda County Central Railroad Society has maintained a

model train Railway modelling (UK, Australia, New Zealand, and Ireland) or model railroading (US and Canada) is a hobby in which rail transport systems are modelled at a reduced scale. The scale models include locomotives, rolling stock, streetcars, ...

exhibit at the fairgrounds since 1959.

Architecture

Because of the preservation of Pleasanton's historic downtown area, many examples of architectural styles dating back to the mid-19th century exist. Buildings in

Gothic Revival Gothic Revival (also referred to as Victorian Gothic or neo-Gothic) is an Architectural style, architectural movement that after a gradual build-up beginning in the second half of the 17th century became a widespread movement in the first half ...

, Pioneer,

Italianate The Italianate style was a distinct 19th-century phase in the history of Classical architecture. Like Palladianism and Neoclassicism, the Italianate style combined its inspiration from the models and architectural vocabulary of 16th-century It ...

, Commercial Italianate,

Colonial Revival The Colonial Revival architectural style seeks to revive elements of American colonial architecture. The beginnings of the Colonial Revival style are often attributed to the Centennial Exhibition of 1876, which reawakened Americans to the arch ...

, and Queen Anne styles can be found within walking distance of each other. One of the icons of downtown Pleasanton is the ''Kolln Hardware'' building, located at 600 Main Street. It is designed in the Commercial Italianate style, but the prominent five-sided corner tower and a few other features are indicative of the

style. The structure mixes in a little bit of Queen Anne design in the tower and gable. This building was built in 1890 and has always housed a hardware store, first by the Lewis Brothers, then Cruikshank and Kolln. The hardware store has been known as Kolln Hardware since 1933. In 2004, the Kolln Hardware business shut its doors. Bud Cornett, a Pleasanton developer, purchased the landmark and has invested in its renovation and earthquake retrofit. After more than 100 years of serving the community as a hardware store, the space is now occupied by Comerica Bank.

Firehouse Arts Center

The Firehouse Arts Center, opened in 2010, is a center of culture and art for Pleasanton. It features a 221-seat theater, the Harrington art gallery, and classrooms for art and drama.

Hacienda del Pozo de Verona

Hacienda del Pozo de Verona The Hacienda del Pozo de Verona was a mansion designed by architect A. C. Schweinfurth for philanthropist Phoebe Hearst in the Amador Valley near Pleasanton, California. The Hacienda was originally built between 1894 and 1898, with substantial la ...

(The House of the Wellhead of Verona) was destroyed in a fire in 1969. The house was built by architect

A. C. Schweinfurth A. C. Schweinfurth (1864–1900), born Albert Cicero Schweinfurth, was an American architect. He is associated with the First Bay Tradition, an architectural style from the period of the 1880s to early 1920s. Early life Schweinfurth was the son ...

for

Phoebe Hearst Phoebe Elizabeth Apperson Hearst (December 3, 1842 – April 13, 1919) was an American philanthropist, feminist and suffragist. Hearst was the founder of the University of California Museum of Anthropology, now called the Phoebe A. Hearst Mu ...

in 1898. Phoebe Apperson Hearst had the hacienda remodeled and expanded by architect

Julia Morgan Julia Morgan (January 20, 1872 – February 2, 1957) was an American architect and engineer. She designed more than 700 buildings in California during a long and prolific career.Erica Reder"Julia Morgan was a local in ''The New Fillmore'', 1 Febr ...

for use as her primary residence after her husband died. The estate was built upon a rancheria obtained in 1886 by

George Hearst George Hearst (September 3, 1820 – February 28, 1891) was an American businessman, politician, and patriarch of the Hearst family, Hearst business dynasty. After growing up on a small farm in Missouri, he founded many mining operations a ...

, who intended to use the location for a race horse farm. Its name was inspired by the circular, carved marble wellhead purchased by Phoebe and William in

Verona Verona ( ; ; or ) is a city on the Adige, River Adige in Veneto, Italy, with 255,131 inhabitants. It is one of the seven provincial capitals of the region, and is the largest city Comune, municipality in the region and in Northeast Italy, nor ...

, Italy and installed in the middle of the courtyard. The hacienda was the only female-owned estate to be mentioned in Porter Garnett's ''Stately Homes of California''. The architecture of the hacienda has been called California Mission style by various sources. The original architect used the term "provincial Spanish Renaissance", while Garnett wrote it would be more accurately called "

Hispano-Moresque Hispano-Moresque ware is a style of initially Islamic pottery created in Al-Andalus (Muslim Iberia), which continued to be produced under Christian rule in styles blending Islamic and European elements. It was the most elaborate and luxurious ...

". Moorish influence was found throughout the estate, such as in the guardhouses which stood on either side of the courtyard entrance. The hacienda was topped by imported red Spanish tiles and had undecorated walls of white stucco. After Phoebe's death in 1919, William had the wellhead and other furniture and objects moved to

Hearst Castle Hearst Castle, known formally as La Cuesta Encantada ( Spanish for "The Enchanted Hill"), is a historic estate in San Simeon, located on the Central Coast of California. Conceived by William Randolph Hearst, the publishing tycoon, and his arc ...

San Simeon San Simeon ( Spanish: ''San Simeón'', meaning "St. Simon") is an unincorporated community on the Pacific coast of San Luis Obispo County, California, United States. Its position along State Route 1 is about halfway between Los Angeles and San ...

and sold the estate.Wainwright, p. 72

Government

Local

Pleasanton operates under a council–manager form of municipal government. The council consists of four representatives elected by district and one directly elected mayor. The councilors are each elected to a four-year term, while the mayor serves a two-year term. Council and mayoral elections are non-partisan. The vice mayor is appointed each calendar year by the mayor. The mayor and council members are limited to a maximum term of eight years. The city council consists of: Karla Brown (mayor), Valerie Arkin, Jack Balch, Jeffrey Nibert, and Julie Testa. The city manager is Gerry Beaudin.

State and Federal

In the

state legislature A state legislature is a Legislature, legislative branch or body of a State (country subdivision), political subdivision in a Federalism, federal system. Two federations literally use the term "state legislature": * The legislative branches of ...

Pleasanton is in until 2024, when it will be in , who will be termed out. In the state assembly Pleasanton is in and . Federally, Pleasanton is in . Pleasanton has 44,099 registered voters with 17,021 (39.2%) registered as Democrats, 11,338 (25.7%) registered as

Republicans Republican can refer to: Political ideology * An advocate of a republic, a type of government that is not a monarchy or dictatorship, and is usually associated with the rule of law. ** Republicanism, the ideology in support of republics or agains ...

, and 13,867 (31.4%) Decline to State voters.

Education

For the majority of Pleasanton, the public schools are part of the Pleasanton Unified School District. Pleasanton USD formed in 1988 when the school districts of Pleasanton and

unified along city lines. A very small portion of Pleasanton lies in the

Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District Livermore Valley Joint Unified School District (LVJUSD) is a public school district located in Livermore, California, United States. It is located in Alameda County. , the superintendent is Torie Gibson, and the school board is composed of Stev ...

. Pleasanton's two

comprehensive high school Comprehensive high schools are the most popular form of public high schools around the world, designed to provide a well-rounded education to its students, as opposed to the practice in some places in which examinations are used to sort students i ...

and

Foothill Foothills or piedmont are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills and the adjacent topograp ...

, are ranked by ''

Niche Niche may refer to: Science *Developmental niche, a concept for understanding the cultural context of child development and growth *Ecological niche, a term describing the relational position of an organism's species *Niche differentiation, in ec ...

'' among the top 200 public high schools in the nation. Pleasanton also has a

continuation high school A continuation high school is an alternative to a comprehensive high school. In some countries it is primarily for students who are considered at risk of not graduating at the normal pace. The requirements to graduate are the same, but the sche ...

, Village High School. As of 2024, the district also contained Thomas S. Hart Middle School, Pleasanton Middle School and Harvest Park Middle School along with nine elementary schools, one preschool, and an adult education program.

Media

The ''

Pleasanton Weekly The ''Pleasanton Weekly'' is a weekly newspaper published in Pleasanton, California, established in 2000. Owned by Embarcadero Media, the newspaper serves Pleasanton, California. Gina Channell was named the division president and Pleasanton Week ...

'' is a local newspaper. Tri-Valley Community Television operates their sole station in Pleasanton.

Transportation

Roads

Pleasanton is situated at the crossroads of two major

Interstate Highways The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National H ...

, I-580 and

I-680 Interstate 680 may refer to: *Interstate 680 (California), a connecting freeway between I-80 and I-280 in the San Francisco Bay Area, California *Interstate 680 (Nebraska–Iowa), a bypass in Omaha, Nebraska *Interstate 680 (Ohio), a loop through ...

, which mirror the historic cross-routes of Native American tribes who used the precursor paths as major trading routes. This fact was first discovered with the excavations for Hacienda Business Park, revealing significant

tribal The term tribe is used in many different contexts to refer to a category of human social group. The predominant worldwide use of the term in English is in the discipline of anthropology. The definition is contested, in part due to conflict ...

artifacts and human skeletal remains.

Public transit

The city is served by two stations on the

Bay Area Rapid Transit Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running to Antioch, and Oakland Airport Connecto ...

(BART) heavy rail system's Blue Line, which runs along the northern boundary of the city: * Dublin/Pleasanton station, the eastern terminus. * West Dublin/Pleasanton station, located just west of the I-680 interchange by the

. The

Altamont Corridor Express The Altamont Corridor Express (ACE) is a commuter rail service in California, connecting Stockton and San Jose during peak hours only. ACE is named for the Altamont Pass, through which it runs. Service is managed by the San Joaquin Regional R ...

rail service stops near Pleasanton's downtown at Pleasanton Station. The Wheels (LAVTA) bus transit system is the primary provider of bus service in Pleasanton (with numerous routes in the city), and connects Pleasanton to Livermore and

, along with the above three stations. Express routes from Pleasanton station and Dublin/Pleasanton station to San Ramon and Walnut Creek are provided by

County Connection The County Connection (officially, the Central Contra Costa Transit Authority, CCCTA) is a Concord-based public transit agency operating fixed-route bus and ADA paratransit (County Connection LINK) service in and around central Contra Costa Co ...

Airports

Pleasanton's closest airport is

Livermore Municipal Airport Livermore Municipal Airport is three miles west of Livermore, California, in Alameda County, California. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) National Plan of Integrated Airport Systems for 2017–2021 categorized it as a regional reliev ...

, which is primarily used for

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

and

charter flights Air charter is the business of renting an entire aircraft (i.e., chartering) as opposed to individual aircraft seats (i.e., purchasing a ticket through a traditional airline). Regulation Charter – also called air taxi or ad hoc – flights ...

; there is no regularly-scheduled commercial service. The closest commercial airports are

San Jose International Airport San José Mineta International Airport —officially Norman Y. Mineta San Jose International Airport—is a city-owned public airport in San Jose, California. Located northwest of Downtown San Jose, the airport serves both the city and the Sa ...

, which is reachable by the Altamont Corridor Express, and

Oakland International Airport Oakland International Airport is an international airport in Oakland, California, United States. The airport is located south of downtown Oakland and east of San Francisco, serving the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area. The airport is ...

, which can be reached directly through

BART Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) is a rapid transit system serving the San Francisco Bay Area in California. BART serves List of Bay Area Rapid Transit stations, 50 stations along six routes and of track, including eBART, a spur line running t ...

. The majority of international flights serving the region operate from

San Francisco International Airport San Francisco International Airport is the primary international airport for the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. Owned and operated by the City and County of San Francisco, the airport has a San Francisco mailing ...

, also accessible via BART.

Notable people

People from Pleasanton include: *

Scott Adams Scott Raymond Adams (born June 8, 1957) is an American author and cartoonist. He is the creator of the ''Dilbert'' comic strip and the author of several nonfiction works of business, commentary, and satire. Adams worked in various corporate r ...

, cartoonist, creator of ''

Dilbert ''Dilbert'' is an American comic strip written and illustrated by Scott Adams, first published on April 16, 1989. It is known for its satire, satirical office humor about a White-collar worker, white-collar, micromanagement, micromanaged offic ...

'' * Jacob Akanyirige, soccer player * Jason Annicchero, soccer player *

Brandon Crawford Brandon Michael Crawford (born January 21, 1987) is an American former professional baseball shortstop. He spent 14 seasons in Major League Baseball (MLB), playing all but his last season for the San Francisco Giants. Crawford played college base ...

professional baseball Professional baseball is organized baseball in which players are selected for their talents and are paid to play for a specific team or club system. It is played in baseball league, leagues and associated farm teams throughout the world. Moder ...

player for the

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

Paula Creamer Paula Creamer (born August 5, 1986)''Current Biography Yearbook 2011''p. 128 is an American professional golfer on the U.S.-based LPGA Tour. As a professional, she has won 12 tournaments, including 10 LPGA Tour events. Creamer has been as high ...

professional golfer A professional golfer is somebody who receives payments or financial rewards in the sport of golf that are directly related to their skill or reputation. A person who earns money by teaching or playing golf is traditionally considered a "golf pr ...

Mason Filippi Mason Filippi (born April 23, 1998) is an American auto racing driver who competes in the TCR class of the Michelin Pilot Challenge for Bryan Herta Autosport. He previously raced for Bryan Herta Autosport, finishing the Michelin Pilot Challenge ...

, NASCAR driver * TJ Friedl,

player * David Garibaldi, professional drummer with Tower of Power, 2012 Percussive Arts Society Hall of Fame Inductee, author of numerous drum instructional books, CDs and DVDs *

Peter Gassner Peter P. Gassner (born February 26, 1965) is the CEO and co-founder of Veeva, a company supporting processes in the pharmaceutical industry. With a net worth of US $5.25 billion, he is ranked 494th by ''Bloomberg'' on the list of billionaires wo ...

, billionaire and co-founder of

Edwin Hawkins Edwin Reuben Hawkins (August 19, 1943 – January 15, 2018) was an American gospel musician, pianist, vocalist, choir master, composer, and arranger. He was one of the originators of the urban contemporary gospel sound. As the leader of the Edwin ...

, gospel musician, pianist, choir master, composer and arranger *

, philanthropist, feminist and suffragist, mother of

William Randolph Hearst William Randolph Hearst (; April 29, 1863 – August 14, 1951) was an American newspaper publisher and politician who developed the nation's largest newspaper chain and media company, Hearst Communications. His extravagant methods of yellow jou ...

Jay Howell Jay Canfield Howell (born November 26, 1955) is an American former Major League Baseball relief pitcher for the Cincinnati Reds (1980), Chicago Cubs (1981), New York Yankees (1982–1984), Oakland Athletics (1985–1987), Los Angeles Dodgers (19 ...

, illustrator, cartoonist, animator, and artist * Walter S. Johnson, businessman and philanthropist * Randal J. Kirk, businessman * Joel Kribel,

John Madden John Earl Madden (April 10, 1936 – December 28, 2021) was an American professional football coach and sports commentator in the National Football League (NFL). He served as the head coach of the Oakland Raiders from 1969 to 1978, leading them ...

, football coach and sportscaster * Sean Mannion, former quarterback for the

Los Angeles Rams The Los Angeles Rams are a professional American football team based in the Greater Los Angeles, Greater Los Angeles area. The Rams compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member of the National Football Conference (NFC) NFC West, West ...

Abby Martin Abigail Suzanne Martin (born September 6, 1984) is an American journalist, TV presenter, and activist. She helped found the citizen journalism website ''Media Roots'' and serves on the board of directors for the Media Freedom Foundation which ...

, journalist and host of '' Breaking the Set'' *

Keith Millard Keith Joseph Millard (born March 18, 1962) is an American former professional football player who played as a defensive tackle for nine seasons for the Minnesota Vikings, Green Bay Packers, Seattle Seahawks and Philadelphia Eagles from 1985 to ...

, former NFL

defensive tackle A defensive tackle (DT) is a position in American football that typically lines up on the line of scrimmage, opposite one of the Guard (American football), offensive guards; however, he may also line up opposite one of the offensive Tackle (gridir ...

Jerry McNerney Gerald Mark McNerney ( ; born June 18, 1951) is an American businessman and politician who has served a member of the California State Senate from the 5th district since 2024. A member of the Democratic Party, his district includes all of San ...

, US Congressman *

William E. Moerner William Esco Moerner, also known as W. E. Moerner, (born June 24, 1953) is an American physical chemist and chemical physicist with current work in the biophysics and imaging of single molecules. He is credited with achieving the first optical ...

, 2014 Nobel Prize laureate in chemistry *

Jim Perry James Perry may refer to: * James Perry (journalist) (1756–1821), British journalist and newspaper editor * James Franklin Perry (1790–1853), early Texas settler (with wife Emily Austin Perry) * Jimmy Perry (1923–2016), English actor and scr ...

, game show host, specifically for game shows ''

Card Sharks ''Card Sharks'' is an American television game show. It was created by Chester Feldman for Mark Goodson-Bill Todman Productions. Contestants attempt to predict the outcome of survey questions to gain control of a row of oversized playing cards ...

'' and ''

Sale of the Century ''Sale of the Century'' (stylized as ''$ale of the Century'') is an American television game show that originally debuted on September 29, 1969, on NBC daytime. It was one of three NBC game shows to premiere on that date, the other two being t ...

'' *

Scott Perry Scott Gordon Perry (born May 27, 1962) is an American politician and retired Army National Guard brigadier general who is the U.S. representative for , serving since 2013. The district, numbered as from 2013 to 2019, is centered around Harrisb ...

, professional

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

player * Stephen Piscotty,

player for the

Oakland Athletics The Oakland Athletics (frequently referred to as the Oakland A's) were an American Major League Baseball (MLB) team based in Oakland, California from 1968 to 2024. The Athletics were a member club of the American League (AL) American League We ...

Dennis Richmond Dennis Richmond (May 26, 1943 – February 5, 2025) was an American news anchor who spent 40 years with Oakland, California-based KTVU. Biography Early life Richmond was born in Toledo, Ohio, and raised in Rossford, Ohio, a village in the Toled ...

, former news anchor for

KTVU KTVU (channel 2) is a television station licensed to Oakland, California, United States, serving the San Francisco Bay Area. It is owned and operated by the Fox Broadcasting Company, Fox network through its Fox Television Stations division along ...

Ryan Roxie Ryan Roxie (born Ryan Rosowicz, December 1, 1965) is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter best known as a solo artist and for playing guitar with Alice Cooper, Casablanca, Gilby Clarke, and Slash's Snakepit. Roxie is the primary found ...

, Singer/songwriter and guitarist for

Alice Cooper Vincent Damon Furnier (born February 4, 1948), known by his stage name Alice Cooper, is an American rock singer and songwriter whose career spans sixty years. With a raspy voice and a stage show that features numerous props and stage illusion ...

Casablanca Casablanca (, ) is the largest city in Morocco and the country's economic and business centre. Located on the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic coast of the Chaouia (Morocco), Chaouia plain in the central-western part of Morocco, the city has a populatio ...

and

Slash's Snakepit Slash's Snakepit was an American rock supergroup from Los Angeles, California, formed by Guns N' Roses guitarist Slash in 1994. Though often described as a solo or side project, Slash stated that Snakepit was a band with equal contributions b ...

. * Tamriko Siprashvili, prize-winning international concert pianist, recording artist, instructor *

Ellen Tauscher Ellen O'Kane Tauscher (November 15, 1951 – April 29, 2019) was an American businesswoman, diplomat, and Democratic Party politician who was the U.S. representative for California's 10th congressional district from 1997 to 2009. From 2009 to 20 ...

, former Congresswoman for

California's 10th congressional district California's 10th congressional district is a congressional district in the U.S. state of California. Currently, the 10th district encompasses parts of the eastern San Francisco Bay Area. It is currently represented by Democratic Party (United ...

* Donna Theodore, singer and actress *

Gabrielle Union Gabrielle Monique Union-Wade ( Union; born October 29, 1972) is an American actress. Her career began in the 1990s, when she made dozens of appearances on television sitcoms, prior to landing supporting roles in 1999 teen films '' She's All That ...

, film and television actress *

David Yost David Harold Yost (; born January 7, 1969) is an American actor and producer. He is best known for portraying Billy Cranston in ''Mighty Morphin Power Rangers'', '' Mighty Morphin Power Rangers: The Movie'', '' Mighty Morphin Alien Rangers'', ...

, ''

Mighty Morphin Power Rangers ''Mighty Power Rangers'' (''MMPR'') is an American superhero television series that premiered on August 28, 1993, on the Fox Kids programming block. It is the first entry of the ''Power Rangers'' franchise, and became a 1990s popular culture, ...

'' actor.

Sister cities

Blairgowrie and Rattray Blairgowrie and Rattray () is a Twin cities (geographical proximity), twin burgh in Perth and Kinross, Scotland. Locals refer to the town as "Blair". Blairgowrie is the larger of the two former burghs which were united by an Act of Parliament in ...

Scotland Scotland is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It contains nearly one-third of the United Kingdom's land area, consisting of the northern part of the island of Great Britain and more than 790 adjac ...

, UK *

Fergus, Ontario Fergus is the largest community in Centre Wellington, a township within Wellington County, Ontario, Wellington County in Ontario, Canada. It lies on the Grand River (Ontario), Grand River about 18 km NNW of Guelph. The population of this com ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

Tulancingo Tulancingo (officially Tulancingo de Bravo; Otomi language, Otomi: Ngu̱hmu) is the second-largest city in the Mexico, Mexican States of Mexico, state of Hidalgo (state), Hidalgo. It is located in the southeastern part of the state and also forms ...

Mexico Mexico, officially the United Mexican States, is a country in North America. It is the northernmost country in Latin America, and borders the United States to the north, and Guatemala and Belize to the southeast; while having maritime boundar ...

References

External links

* {{authority control 1894 establishments in California Cities in Alameda County, California Cities in the San Francisco Bay Area Incorporated cities and towns in California Amador Valley Populated places established in 1894