The first Concord post office opened in 1872. The town of Cowell, now incorporated into Concord, produced cement. During Prohibition, many vineyards were removed and replaced with walnut orchards. The area to the east (now the site of the Concord Naval Weapons Station) was the site of a few enormous wheat ranches over 5,000 acres (20 km 2), and was almost a sea of wheat all the way to the marshes bordering Suisun Bay.
Crops that were grown included grapes, walnuts, almonds, wheat, hay, and even tomatoes. The area around Concord in the surrounding Ygnacio and Clayton Valleys was a large agricultural area. Concord was incorporated on February 5, 1905. It achieved prominence in the 19th century, when most residents of Pacheco relocated to Concord to avoid the devastation of fire and flood which crippled Pacheco's formerly booming economy. In 1834, the Mexican land grant Rancho Monte del Diablo at the base of Mount Diablo was granted to Salvio Pacheco (for whom the nearby town of Pacheco is named).Ĭoncord was founded under the name of Todos Santos ("all saints" a name still borne by the central city plaza and park between Willow Pass Road and Salvio Street), on the initiative of Pacheco in 1869. In 1772, Spanish explorers began to cross the area but did not settle there. It is important to note Miwok and other indigenous people still live within city limits. The valleys north of Mount Diablo were inhabited by the Miwok people, who hunted elk and fished in the numerous streams flowing from the mountain into the San Francisco Bay. Concord was founded as "Todos Santos" in 1869 by Don Salvio Pacheco, a noted Californio ranchero.