Local city information for Hayward, CA

Hayward (; formerly, Haywards, Haywards Station, and Haywood) is a city located in the East Bay in Alameda County. The sixth largest city in the San Francisco Bay Area, it is one of the larger suburbs of Oakland. As of the 2000 census, the city population was 140,030. The estimated population in 2007 is 155,312. The former suburbs of Mt. Eden and Schafer Park have been incorporated into Hayward.

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.

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 his home was on Castro Street (now Mission Boulevard) between C and D Streets, but the structure was severely damaged in the 1868 earthquake on the Hayward Fault that runs directly under that location. In 1930 that site was chosen for the construction of the City Hall which served the City until 1969. The surrounding area is still the center of town.

Hayward was originally known as "Hayward's," then as "Haywood," later as "Haywards," and eventually as "Hayward." There is some disagreement as to how it was named. Some say it was named for Alvinza Hayward, a millionaire from the California Gold Rush. Others believe it was named for William Hayward, who opened a hotel there in 1852. Most historians attribute the name to William Hayward. Regardless of which Hayward the area was named for, it is believed that, because a post office cannot be named after a living person, the name was changed to "Haywood" when the post office was first established. The first post office opened in 1860.

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, William Hayward among them. William Hayward's 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.

William Hayward eventually became the road commissioner for Alameda County. He used his authority to influence the construction of roads in his own favor. He was also an Alameda County Supervisor. In 1876, a town was chartered by the State of California under the name of 'Haywards'. The name of the post office was then able to change because of the loss of the apostrophe before the "s." This change occurred in 1880. It remained "Haywards" until 1910 when the "s" was officially dropped. 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.

During the 1930s, the Harry Rowell Rodeo Ranch at Hayward drew rodeo cowboys from across the continent, and western movie actors such as Slim Pickens and others from Hollywood.

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.

In the late 1950s, Asian Americans across the Bay Area began moving to a new housing development in south Hayward off Ruus Road because of a developer's willingness to sell new homes to Asian Americans. This was significant in light of the housing discrimination against minorities in California at that time.

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