Overview of Union City History
Author: Tim Swenson, Chair of the Historical Committee
Union City traces it's history back to the early 1850's. John Horner created a landing at a bend in Alameda Creek and founded a settlement called Union City, named for his steamship, "The Union". About the same time Henry Smith founded the settlement of New Haven, a mile or so away from John Horner's landing, close to the corner of Smith St. and Union City Blvd. These two settlements would eventually become the town of Alvarado.
In 1853, Alvarado would become the first County Seat when Alameda County was formed. At the time, Alvarado was the commerce center of Alameda County. Within a few years, San Leandro and Oakland would become the larger towns. The constant floods in Alvarado prompted the move of County Seat to San Leandro. Alvarado would still be active as a shipping port to goods coming and going to San Francisco.
In 1869, a rail line was built from Niles to Oakland, finishing the transcontinental railroad. In 1870, Decoto would come about with the development of a town plan. Decoto started as a farming community and with rail access, would be a shipping point for farm goods. With the coming of a second rail line, Decoto would grow as a shipping center.
In 1870, the Dyer's would build the first successful beet sugar factory in the United States, locating it close to Alvarado. Despite some bad years, the factory would continue to operate until 1976. The building would be rebuilt numerous time, with the signature smoke stack being built in the early 1930's. Sugar Beets was a profitable crop for many years for local farmers.
In Decoto, farming and rail access instigated the creation of canning factories. Local produce was processed in a number of canning factories, close to the rail lines. The finished products were then shipped all over the United States. In the late 1930's, the Pacific States Steel factory was build on the Decoto/Niles border and would be large employer in Decoto.
In the 1950's, the towns of Washington Township started thinking about becoming cities. Newark would incorporate in 1956. Fremont would incorporate in 1957. With Hayward and Fremont both looking at the Alvarado and Decoto area, the residents of Alvarado and Decoto would come together to form Union City in 1959, reusing the name that John Horner had used.
Union City would start small. City Hall was in the Alvarado Firehouse and had a staff of 3. City Council meetings were held at Barnard School. In 1962, the Fire Department would become a full time force, after many years as a volunteer department. In 1965, New Haven Unified School District would be formed. In 1966, City Hall would be located at Central and Whipple, where there was room for the new Police Department.
In 1979, the Civic Center would be finished so that City Hall and the Police Department would be located in the same building. The Union City library would be located in a building nearby.
Soon after Union City was incorporated, housing developments would be built, turning the farm fields into bedroom communities. This would continue into the 1970's and 1980's. In the 1990's the last pockets of undeveloped land would be used for homes.
In 1959, Union City had a population of 6,000. By 2007, the population had increased to over 70,000.
Union City always had a diverse ethnic makeup. Portuguese would be prominent in the farming community. In the 1880's, Chinese came to Alvarado to work in the Beet Sugar factory. A hundred years later, a second wave of Chinese would come to Union City. The Japanese can trace there roots in Union City for over a hundred years. It as no surprising that the first Mayor of Union City, Tom Kitayama, was a Japanese American. With factory work growing, Decoto would have a large Mexican community. Filipinos would come to Union City in different waves, forming the largest single ethnic community in Union City.
