San Pablo (Spanish for "Saint Paul") is an enclave city in Contra Costa County, California, United States. The city of Richmond surrounds nearly the whole city. The population was 32,127 at the 2020 census. The current Mayor is Abel Pineda. Currently, the City Council consists of Abel Pineda, Patricia Ponce, Arturo Cruz, Elizabeth Pabon-Alvarado, and Rita Xavier. Ponce is the Vice Mayor, and Cruz, Pabon-Alvarado, and Xavier are Council Members. Dorothy Gantt is the city Clerk. Viviana Toledo is the city Treasurer.
History
The area in which today's San Pablo is situated was originally occupied by the Cuchiyun band of the Ohlone indigenous people. The area was claimed for the king of Spain in the late 18th century and was granted for grazing purposes to the Mission Dolores located in today's San Francisco. Upon Mexico's independence from Spain, church properties were secularized and in 1823, the area became part of a large grant to an ex-soldier stationed at the San Francisco Presidio, Francisco María Castro. The grant was given the name Rancho San Pablo, thus originating the name for today's city as well as for one of the East Bay's oldest principal roads, today's San Pablo Avenue (known during the Spanish colonial era as El Camino Real de la Contra Costa).
A historic reproduction of the city's Mexican era is designated as a California State Landmark (No.512): the Alvarado Adobe, originally constructed in 1842 by one of Francisco Castro's sons, Jesús María Castro, for his mother, Gabriéla Berryessa de Castro. Upon Gabriéla's death in 1851, it was inherited by her daughter, Martina Castro de Alvarado, wife of Juan Bautista Alvarado, who was Governor of California from 1836 to 1842. The Alvarado Adobe was demolished in the mid-20th century to make way for a motel. A reproduction was built later in the century which is located in the San Pablo Civic Center on the northwest corner of San Pablo Avenue and Church Lane. A single beam from the original structure is incorporated into the roof of the replacement structure, at the rear of the adobe facing the interior courtyard.
The first post office was established in 1854. The city incorporated in 1948.
Since the middle of the 20th century, College Center at El Portal has been the backbone of the community's retail economy.
Geography
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of , all land.
San Pablo lies on a sedimentary plain between the northern end of the Berkeley Hills and San Pablo Bay, although the city limits do not extend to the bayshore. The city is traversed by two principal creeks, Wildcat Creek and San Pablo Creek, both of which originate in the ranges to its southeast. The minor Rheem Creek also runs through the city. It is also traversed along its northeast limits by the Hayward Fault, a major branch of the San Andreas Fault which lies to the west.
Interstate 80 (Eastshore Freeway) passes through San Pablo.
There are several communities to the north of (and separated from) the city, but which have San Pablo mailing addresses. These include the census areas of Tara Hills, Bayview, and Montalvin.
Economy
Top employers
According to the city's 2010 Comprehensive Annual Financial Report, the top employers in the city are:
The Casino San Pablo is considered the economic backbone of the city.
Demographics
2010
At the 2010 census San Pablo had a population of 29,139. The population density was . The racial makeup of San Pablo was 9,391 (32.2%) White, 4,600 (15.8%) African American, 244 (0.8%) Native American, 4,353 (14.9%) Asian, 172 (0.6%) Pacific Islander, 8,812 (30.2%) from other races, and 1,567 (5.4%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 16,462 persons (56.5%).
The census reported that 28,698 people (98.5% of the population) lived in households, 68 (0.2%) lived in non-institutionalized group quarters, and 373 (1.3%) were institutionalized.
There were 8,761 households, 4,099 (46.8%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 3,905 (44.6%) were opposite-sex married couples living together, 1,715 (19.6%) had a female householder with no husband present, 738 (8.4%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 638 (7.3%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships, and 59 (0.7%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 1,854 households (21.2%) were one person and 638 (7.3%) had someone living alone who was 65 or older. The average household size was 3.28. There were 6,358 families (72.6% of households); the average family size was 3.83.