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Vallejo

1911 Encyclopedia Britannica

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a city of Solano county, California, U.S.A., on the San Pablo Bay, at the mouth of the Napa river, about 24 m. N.E. of San Francisco. Pop. (1890) 6343; (1900) 79 6 5 (2033 foreign-born); (1910) 11,340. It is served by a branch of the Southern Pacific railway, by steamboats to San Francisco, and by an interurban electric line. The city is situated at the mouth of the great interior valley of the state, and has a good harbour, the channel of which, since the removal of a shoal by the Federal government in 1902-1906, has a maximum depth at low tide of 24 ft. Directly opposite the city, half a mile distant and connected by ferry, is Mare Island, the headquarters of the Pacific Naval Squadron of the United States, with a large United States Navy Yard, a naval arsenal, two stone dry docks (one 750 ft. long) and a lighthouse. The Navy Yard was established in 1854, and its first commandant was D. G. Farragut. In the city are a Carnegie library, St Vincent's Academy and a Good Templars' Home (1869) for orphans. Vallejo is the outlet of the beautiful Napa Valley, one of the finest fruit-growing regions of the state, and, besides fruit, ships large quantities of wheat. Among its manufactures are flour, leather, dairy products and lumber. The municipality owns and operates its waterworks, the water-supply being obtained from the mountains 25 m. distant. The city takes its name from General Mariano Guadalupe Vallejo, a prominent Mexican leader in the years immediately preceding the annexation of California to the United States. It was a dull and out-of-the-way settlement in 1851, when, through General Vallejo's efforts, it became the state capital. The state legislature met here in 1851, 1852 and 1853. In 1871 Vallejo ranked third in population among the cities of the state, and its position and the excellence of its harbour made it a rival of Oakland in the struggle (1869-72) for the terminus of the Central Pacific railway; but Vallejo was unsuccessful, and after 1872 began to decline in relative importance.