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For other places with the same name, see Hayward.
Hayward is a city located in the East Bay of the San Francisco Bay Area in Alameda County. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 140,030. The suburbs of Mt. Eden and Schafer Park have been incorporated into Hayward.
Hayward is served by three high schools, Mt. Eden High School, Tennyson High School, and Hayward High School.
Hayward is the birthplace of Olympic gold medalist in figure skater Kristi Yamaguchi, Daily Drawing Cartoonist Felipe Ochoa, and Pro Wrestler turned actor The Rock.
History
The most recent pre-European inhabitants of the Hayward area were the Ohlone tribe of American Indians. The tribe claims a mere 500 members today. including Felipe Ochoa.
In the 19th century, the land that is now Hayward became part of Rancho San Lorenzo, a large area of land granted by the Mexican government to Guillermo Castro (1810 - c. 1870) in 1840. The site of the house is on Castro Street at Clay Street, but the structure was demolished in the construction of the City Hall during the Great Depression. The surrounding area is still the center of town.
Hayward is named for William Hayward, a worker from a New England shoe factory who came to California in 1849 during the California gold rush. Upon his arrival, Hayward saw that making shoes would be more profitable than mining for gold. He squatted on Guillermo Castro's ranch for a while, and sought his assistance. Castro tried to evict him, but Hayward persuaded him otherwise by making him a pair of boots. His stubbornness and shoe-making ability convinced Castro to hire him. Hayward later bought 40 acres (160,000 m²) of Castro's land, which he used to establish a store and a small dairy operation.
Castro emigrated to Chile with most of his family in 1864, after he lost his land in a card game. His name survives in the community of Castro Valley, located in the valley next to Hayward which Castro used to pasture his cattle. The ranch was split up and sold to various locals, Hayward among them. His fortunes took a turn for the grander when he constructed a resort hotel, which eventually grew to a hundred rooms. The surrounding area came to be called "Hayward's" after the hotel.
Hayward then became the road commissioner for Alameda County. He used his authority to influence the construction of roads in his own favor. In 1876, a town was chartered under the name of 'Haywards'. However, it was not legal to name a post office after a living person, so the official name was 'Haywood'. William Hayward died in 1891.
Hayward grew steadily throughout the late 19th century, with an economy based on agriculture and tourism. Important crops were tomatoes, peaches, cherries, and apricots. Chicken and pigeon raising also played an important part. A rail line between Oakland and San Jose, the South Pacific Coast Railroad was established, but destroyed in an earthquake in 1868. It was rebuilt, and provided a vital commercial link to the markets. The Southern Pacific and Western Pacific railroads, two trans-continental railroads, also provided service to the Hayward area.
The 1940s and the Second World War brought an economic and population boom to the area, as factories opened to manufacture war material. Many of the workers stayed after the end of the war. Two suburban tract housing pioneers, Oliver Rousseau and David Bohannon built most of the postwar housing in the Hayward area. Today the community of San Lorenzo, built by David Bohannon, is considered a model of a successful postwar tract housing community. Five years after Bohannon perfected the tract housing concept it was copied by the more famous Levittown.
Mt. Eden and Schafer Park
The first European settlers in Mt. Eden were band of pioneers from Mt. Eden, Kentucky who (like Hayward) were drawn to California by the gold rush. The party disbanded upon reaching San Francisco Bay, but a few of them settled at a road crossing. They nailed a sign reading "Mt. Eden" to two trees, and the name stuck.A town developed at this bayshore site. It also had agriculture, but whereas Hayward was a tourist destination, Mt. Eden developed Bay shipping and salt-harvesting industries. The salt companies gradually consolidated; after the demise of the Oliver Salt Company in 1931, only the Leslie Salt Company remained. The shipping industry suffered from increasing competition from roads and railroads, particularly the Hayward-San Mateo bridge (1929). Mt. Eden experienced significant immigration from northern Germany and Denmark.
The historic center of Mt. Eden (now a freeway interchange) was around Telegaph Avenue (now known as Hesperian Boulevard) between Depot Road and Jackson Street. The town was incorporated into Hayward in the late 1950s, though the post office and town name continued to used until 1984 when the U. S. Postal Service decommissioned the post office.
Schafer Park is named for A.W. Schafer, a German immigrant who purchased land in the area in the 1860s. The family sold its land to a real estate developer in the 1950s. Schafer Park was located between the two other cities.
Economic History: Hunt-Wesson Foods
The economy of early Hayward was based largely on the Hunt Brothers Cannery, later known as Hunt-Wesson Foods, opened in Hayward in 1895 by the brothers William and Joseph Hunt, fruit packers originally from Sebastopol, California. The Hunts originally packed local fruit, including cherries, peaches, and apricots, then added tomatoes, which became the mainstay of their business. At its height in the 1960s and 1970s, Hunt's operated three canneries in Hayward (A Street, B Street, and C Street at the Southern Pacific railroad tracks), an adjacent can-making company, a pickle factory, and a glass manufacturing plant. From the 1890s until its closure in 1981, Hunt's employed nearly every available person to process its foods. The impact of Hunt's on the Hayward economy was so large that the air around Hayward was permeated by the smell of tomato catsup for three months of each year. The canneries closed in 1981 because there were no longer enough produce fields or fruit orchards near the cannery to make the plants economically feasible. Much of the production was moved to the Sacramento Valley.
Geography
Hayward is located at (37.643632, -122.076971).
According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 163.3 km² (63.0 mi²). 114.8 km² (44.3 mi²) of it is land and 48.5 km² (18.7 mi²) of it (29.68%) is water.
The community is served by Hayward Executive Airport.
Demographics
As of the census of 2000, there were 140,030 people, 44,804 households, and 31,945 families residing in the city. The population density was 1,219.6/km² (3,158.6/mi²). There were 45,922 housing units at an average density of 400.0/km² (1,035.8/mi²). The racial makeup of the city was 42.95% White, 10.98% Black or African American, 0.84% Native American, 18.98% Asian, 1.91% Pacific Islander, 16.81% from other races, and 7.52% from two or more races. 34.17% of the population were Hispanic or Latino of any race.
There were 44,804 households out of which 37.0% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 50.3% were married couples living together, 14.5% had a female householder with no husband present, and 28.7% were non-families. 20.9% of all households were made up of individuals and 7.3% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 3.08 and the average family size was 3.58.
In the city the population was spread out with 26.8% under the age of 18, 10.9% from 18 to 24, 33.4% from 25 to 44, 18.8% from 45 to 64, and 10.2% who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 32 years. For every 100 females there were 98.5 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 96.3 males.
The median income for a household in the city was $51,177, and the median income for a family was $54,712. Males had a median income of $37,711 versus $31,481 for females. The per capita income for the city was $19,695. About 7.2% of families and 10.0% of the population were below the poverty line, including 11.7% of those under age 18 and 7.2% of those age 65 or over.
Economic
Southland Mall is the largest shopping center in the City of Hayward. It currently houses the department stores Sears, Macy's, Mervyns, JC Penney and other retailers and also has an underground food court with a large TimeOut Arcade.
A downtown district includes the current City Hall as well as many small businesses and restaurants. BART has two stations in Hayward, one in the downtown district and the other in south Hayward closer to the Hayward-Union City border. The AC Transit bus system also serves the Hayward community.
Colleges and universities
Hayward is home to the main campus of California State University, East Bay, formerly known as California State University, Hayward. California State University, East Bay is a public university within the California State University system. Hayward is also the location of Chabot College, a community college whose roster of alumni includes actor Tom Hanks. Hayward is also home to Zaytuna Institute founded by Hamza Yusuf Hanson, Islam's most vibrant scholar in the West.
References
- Sandoval, John (1988). Mt. Eden, Cradle of the Salt Industry in California. Hayward: Mt. Eden Historical Publishers.
- Randall, Florence Carr (ed.) et al. (1975). Hayward ... the First 100 Years: by Eden Writers. Hayward: Hayward Centennials Committee.
- (Students of Sunset High School, Hayward) (1970). A History of Hayward.
"Hayward High Schools original gymnasium, thought to be in its time, better than some college campuses, still remains."
External links
"Hayward, California"