Concord (Images of America)

Located in central Contra Costa County in the shadow of Mount Diablo, the land that includes Concord was originally a Mexican land grant given to Don Salvio Pacheco in 1834. The original Mexican land grant families of Concord were quickly supplanted by American settlers during the Gold Rush in the 1840s and 1850s. The original Spanish name for the town, Todos Santos, was changed to Concord by the American settlers and their local newspaper, against the wishes of the Pacheco family. The name stuck, and the town became Concord in 1869. Now a town of over 120,000 people, Concord's development is a true American story of Native Americans, Spanish explorers, Mexican Californios, and settlers from across the country and around the world.