San Ramon

Today, San Ramon is a dynamic young city, one of California’s outstanding urban villages.  It has a variety of homes, parks and stores, and a major employment center — all in a setting of remarkable beauty.

It was once home to the Seunen Indians, Ohlone/Costanoans who lived adjacent to the valley creeks.  After 1797, it was Mission San Jose grazing land; and later it included Jose Maria Amador’s 16,000 plus acre Rancho San Ramon.

San Ramon Creek was named after an Indian vaquero, Ramon, who tended mission sheep here.  In an 1855 land title case, Don Amador explained that “San” was added to the creek’s name to conform with Spanish custom.

In 1970, Western Electric purchased 1,733 acres of the Bishop Ranch and proposed a “new town” complete with a variety of housing, green belts, stores, and light industry; placed in the center of San Ramon.  Eventually, part of the land became new homes and, in 1978, 585 acres became today’s Bishop Ranch Business Park, a premier modern office development.

Before San Ramon incorporated, homeowners groups such as the South San Ramon Homeowners and the Homeowners Association of Twin Creeks represented residents’ interests before the county.  They joined service clubs and others in providing a local voice as developments replaced orchards.

In 1983, San Ramon voters decided overwhelmingly to incorporate as a separate city and took control over development, police, parks, and other services.  A new library, community center, multiple parks, and hospital testify to the energy which the new city displayed.  No longer a quiet outskirt of the Bay Area, San Ramon looks to the future and values its past. This makes San Ramon, CA real estate prime for investment or to settle into a beautiful family home.