School Info

Castro Valley

Castro Valley is a friendly, peaceful unincorporated town, populated by about 60 thousand people.

Castro Valley is located in the heart of the greater Bay Area of northern California. Nestled in a quiet valley surrounded by tree covered rolling hills, Castro Valley 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. Schools are top notch and the community is tight knit.

Castro Valley Population in July 2007: 57,244.
Males: 27,820 (48.6%)
Females: 29,424 (51.4%)

Median resident age: 39.4 years
California median age: 33.3 years

Zip codes: 94546, 94552.

Castro Valley Estimated median household income in 2008: $81,629·
Estimated median household income in 2000: $64,874
California: $61,021

Castro Valley Estimated per capita income in 2008: $38,984

Castro Valley Estimated median house or condo value in 2008: $612,728
Castro Valley median house/condo value in 2000: $294,800
California: ··· ·$467,000

Mean prices in 2008: All housing units: $604,623; Detached houses: $632,073; Townhouses or other attached units: $522,754; In 2-unit structures: $408,791; In 3-to-4-unit structures: $555,307; In 5-or-more-unit structures: $303,445; Mobile homes: $50,407; Occupied boats, RVs, vans, etc.: $122,500

History:

Read Castro Valley Forum article:  

Pete’s Hardware to be Honored For its Place in Local History

Before the arrival of European settlers the area was settled by the Chocheño (also spelled Chochenyo or Chocenyo) subdivision of the Ohlone Native Americans.

With the arrival of Europeans, Castro Valley was part of the land granted to Mission San Jose in 1797. The area Castro Valley now occupies was part of the extensive colony of New Spain in what was the state of Alta California.

Castro Valley is 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 (110 km²) 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 Canyons. 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 Atherton for $400,000.

Atherton (after whom the city of Atherton is named) 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 (10 km²) 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.