About Castro Valley: Castro Valley is located in the Bay Area of California and is nestled in a quiet valley surrounded by tree covered rolling hills. Residents, businesses, and visitors enjoy a rural atmosphere at the hub of California’s cultural, economical and recreational heartland. Castro Valley boasts such natural amenities as an extensively developed park system, swimming lagoon, 315 acre lake, and a beautiful 18 hole golf course.

Rich with history and culture, Castro Valley not only boasts a beautiful atmosphere, but a very involved and exceptional business community. Excellence in business is a guarantee when using the many local services. You will be able to find a variety of businesses to help with your everyday needs. Enjoy the historically rich community while visiting
our downtown.

We also boast an excellent transportation system linking us to the rest of the Bay Area and beyond. Castro Valley has its own Bay Area Rapid Transit (Bart) station connecting Castro Valley to points all over the system. In addition, one of the areas major highways, I-580 cuts through Castro Valley.

About the history of Castro Valley: Before the arrival of European settlers the area was settled by the Chocheño subdivision of the Ohlone Native Americans. As many as 30 or 40 Ohlone native villages once surrounded the area. With the arrival of Europeans, Castro Valley was part of the land granted to mission San Jose in 1797. The area Castro Valley now occupied was part of the extensive colony of New Spain in what was the state of Alta California.

Castro Valley was named after Don Guillermo Castro, who was a soldier in the Mexican army and a rancher. Castro Valley was part of the original 28,000 acre land grant given to Castro, called Rancho San Lorenzo. This land grant included Hayward, San Lorenzo, and Castro Valley, including Crow Canyon, Cull Canyon, and Palomares Canyon. Castro had a gambling habit and had to sell off portions of his land to pay gambling debts. The last of his holding was sold in a sheriff’s sale in 1864 to Faxon Dean Atherton for $400,000.

Atherton in turn began selling off his portion in smaller parcels. Two gentlemen named Cull (the namesake of Cull Canyon) and Luce bought some 2,400 acres and began running a steam-operated saw mill in Redwood Canyon. The Jensen brothers also bought land from Atherton in 1867.

During the 1940s and 1950s, Castro Valley was known for its chicken ranches. Later it developed into a bedroom community, where workers live and commute to their jobs in the surrounding communities.

Schools: Schools are top notch and award winning. In Castro Valley, elementary schools run from K-5th grade, middle school/junior high from 6th-8th and high school 9th-12th. For a complete listing of Castro Valley schools, GO HERE >

Notable Natives: Castro Valley is the birthplace of the late Metallica bassist Cliff Burton, actor Daniel Selby, liberal radio host Rachel Maddow, former major league baseball players Ed Sprague and Kevin Maas, actress Jennifer Roszell, Full Clip composer Scott Goldberg, and Jacksonville Jaguars head coach Jack Del Rio. It is also the hometown of Val Diamond, of Beach Blanket Babylon fame, and visual effects artist Randy Cook, who shared an oscar for the recent Lord of the Rings movies.