Blackhawk, California
Encyclopedia
Blackhawk is an unincorporated master planned community and census-designated place
Census-designated place
A census-designated place is a concentration of population identified by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes. CDPs are delineated for each decennial census as the statistical counterparts of incorporated places such as cities, towns and villages...

 located in Contra Costa County, California
Contra Costa County, California
Contra Costa County is a primarily suburban county in the San Francisco Bay Area of the U.S. state of California. As of the 2010 census, it had a population of 1,049,025...

, east of Danville
Danville, California
The Town of Danville is located in the San Ramon Valley in Contra Costa County, California. It is one of the incorporated municipalities in California that uses "town" in its name instead of "city". The population was 42,039 in 2010. Danville is one of the wealthiest suburbs of Oakland and San...

 and Oakland. The ZIP Code is 94506. The community is inside area code 925
Area code 925
In the North American Numbering Plan , area code 925 is an area code that covers the inland portions of the East Bay counties of Alameda and Contra Costa in northern California....

.

Blackhawk Ranch, 1917 to 1979

Blackhawk Ranch was established in 1917 by Ansel Mills Easton and his son-in-law William Q. Ward, in an area east of the San Ramon and Sycamore Valleys. The name came from a famous Irish racehorse named Blackhawk that Easton's family had once owned. The land passed through the hands of several owners, including Raymond Force (the owner of the Caterpillar Tractor Company
Caterpillar Inc.
Caterpillar Inc. , also known as "CAT", designs, manufactures, markets and sells machinery and engines and sells financial products and insurance to customers via a worldwide dealer network. Caterpillar is the world's largest manufacturer of construction and mining equipment, diesel and natural gas...

), the Hawaii-based sugar and pineapple company Castle & Cooke
Castle & Cooke
Castle & Cooke, Inc. is a Los Angeles-based company that was once part of the Big Five companies in territorial Hawaii. The company at one time did most of its business in agriculture...

 and Howard Peterson (owner of Peterson Tractor).

In 1975, Peterson sold the land to Florida
Florida
Florida is a state in the southeastern United States, located on the nation's Atlantic and Gulf coasts. It is bordered to the west by the Gulf of Mexico, to the north by Alabama and Georgia and to the east by the Atlantic Ocean. With a population of 18,801,310 as measured by the 2010 census, it...

 developer Ken Behring
Ken Behring
Kenneth Eugene Behring is a real-estate developer, former owner of the Seattle Seahawks football team, and philanthropist.-Early years:...

, who planned a housing development of 4800 dwelling units over 4200 acres (17 km²) of land. Critics charged that the plan would have various negative impacts, related to urban sprawl, environmental damage and violations of the County General Plan. A group of environmentalists and local residents called Amigos de Diablo organized against the Blackhawk Development Corporation, but were sued for libel. The Blackhawk Development Corporation finally reduced the number of homes planned to 2400 and offered more than 2000 acres (8 km²) of open space to Mount Diablo State Park
Mount Diablo State Park
Mount Diablo is a mountain in Contra Costa County, California in the San Francisco Bay Area, located south of Clayton and northeast of Danville. It is an isolated upthrust peak of , visible from most of the San Francisco Bay Area and much of northern California...

.

Communities

Blackhawk is divided into six individual gated communities scattered along Blackhawk Road, connected by a 3 miles (4.8 km) long jogging trail.
  • Hidden Oaks consists of 206 homes and in 1978 was the first Blackhawk community to be completed. Most homes are on half-acre lots.
  • Oakridge consists of medium sized homes ranging from 2000 to 3000 square feet (278.7 m²), though a few large estates reside on the top of a private court.
  • Saddleback, the second community completed, is home to some of the most lavish homes in the entire Blackhawk development, most lots being no less than 5 acres (20,234.3 m²) in size.
  • Silveroak is an upscale condo complex.
  • Silvermaple is designed around one of the main Blackhawk Country Clubs's golf holes, though no roads connect it to the rest of the main Blackhawk Country Club. It consists of medium sized homes.
  • Blackhawk Country Club ("Main Gates") is the largest of the six communities.

Blackhawk Country Club

Opened in 1979, Blackhawk Country Club is a highly exclusive 4,800 acre (19 km²) country club community at the base of Mt. Diablo where luxurious residential neighborhoods are surrounded by thousands of acres of permanent open lands. Eagle Ridge Dr. gives way to a separate gate which leads to extremely exclusive estates, including the 28673 square feet (2,663.8 m²) Behring estate.

In the middle of Country Club West is the 6,904 yard (6,313 m) Lakeside golf course, designed by Bruce Devlin and Robert Von Hagge. The Lakeside course annually hosts the CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge
CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenge
The CVS/pharmacy LPGA Challenges was a 72-hole golf tournament for professional female golfers that was part of the LPGA Tour from 1996 through 2010. It was played at various sites in Northern California and was managed by the Bruno Event Team...

, an event on the LPGA Tour. The newer 6,700 yard (6,126 m) Falls golf course, designed by Ted Robinson, winds through Country Club East. Blackhawk's Tennis Club includes 20 tennis courts, a clubhouse and a pro shop. The Blackhawk Swim Club includes a competition-sized pool, a spa and dressing rooms and offers instructional programs. The 25 acre (100,000 m²) Sports and Recreation Center includes basketball courts, outdoor volleyball courts, a children's play park, Olympic-sized pool, sports fields and an amphitheater.

Land use

  • 4,800 acres (19 km²) total
  • 2,000 acres (8 km²) contiguous designated for expansion of adjacent Mt. Diablo State Park
  • 1,000 acres (4 km²) for natural hillside, parks, golf courses and sports fields
  • 2,400 home sites total
  • 45 acres (182,000 m²) developed as a 450,000 square foot (42,000 m²) commercial center

Blackhawk Plaza

Blackhawk Plaza is a shopping center located outside the Blackhawk Country Club. It includes retail stores, restaurants, a movie theater and two museums, including the Blackhawk Museum
Blackhawk Museum
The Blackhawk Museum is a museum in Blackhawk, California, best known for its significant collection of classic cars.The museum houses about ninety classic cars. It also houses a display showcasing the work of the Wheelchair Foundation . The facility is located within the Blackhawk Plaza outdoors...

.

Notable residents

  • E-40
    E-40
    Earl Stevens , better known by his stage name E-40, is an American rapper, entrepreneur, and investor from Vallejo, California. He is also part of the rap group The Click and the founder of Sick Wid It Records. His solo debut album, Federal, was released in November 1992, after The Click's debut...

     - Rapper
  • John Madden
    John Madden (American football)
    John Earl Madden is a former American professional football player in the National Football League, a former Super Bowl-winning head coach with the Oakland Raiders in the American Football League and later the NFL, and a former color commentator for NFL telecasts. In 2006, he was inducted into...

     - Football Commentator (former resident)
  • Ken Behring
    Ken Behring
    Kenneth Eugene Behring is a real-estate developer, former owner of the Seattle Seahawks football team, and philanthropist.-Early years:...

  • Vince Neil
    Vince Neil
    Vincent Neil Wharton is an American vocalist and musician, best known as the lead vocalist of heavy metal band Mötley Crüe.-Early life:Neil was born in Hollywood, California to Odie and Shirley Wharton...

     - Vocalist from heavy metal band Mötley Crüe
  • Gary Payton
    Gary Payton
    Gary Dwayne Payton is a former American professional basketball point guard. He is best known for his 13-year tenure with the Seattle SuperSonics, and holds Seattle franchise records in points, assists, and steals...

     - NBA basketball player
  • Chris Mullin
    Chris Mullin (basketball)
    Christopher Paul Mullin is a retired American basketball player and former general manager of the NBA's Golden State Warriors. He has also been elected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame....

     - Retired NBA All-Star & former GM of the Golden State Warriors
  • Jeff Tedford
    Jeff Tedford
    Jeff Tedford is an American football coach and the current head coach of the California Golden Bears football team, a position he has held since 2002. As a first-time head coach, Tedford has won wide acclaim for revitalizing the Cal football program...

     - College Football coach for the Cal Bears
  • Larry Allen
    Larry Allen
    Larry Christopher Allen, Sr. is a former American football guard of the National Football League. He was drafted by the Dallas Cowboys in the second round of the 1994 NFL Draft...

     - retired NFL offensive linemen who played for the Cowboys and the 49ers
  • Ross Valory
    Ross Valory
    Ross Lamont Valory is Journey's noted bass player. He and Neal Schon are the only original members of the band still performing with the group. Aside from his termination from the group during the Raised on Radio album sessions in 1986, Ross has played on all of Journey's albums...

     - Bass player for the rock band Journey

Demographics

The 2010 United States Census reported that Blackhawk had a population of 9,354. The population density
Population density
Population density is a measurement of population per unit area or unit volume. It is frequently applied to living organisms, and particularly to humans...

 was 1,609.7 people per square mile (621.5/km²). The racial makeup of Blackhawk was 6,882 (73.6%) White, 172 (1.8%) African American, 15 (0.2%) Native American, 1,801 (19.3%) Asian, 8 (0.1%) Pacific Islander, 75 (0.8%) from other races
Race (United States Census)
Race and ethnicity in the United States Census, as defined by the Federal Office of Management and Budget and the United States Census Bureau, are self-identification data items in which residents choose the race or races with which they most closely identify, and indicate whether or not they are...

, and 401 (4.3%) from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 464 persons (5.0%).

The Census reported that 100% of the population lived in households.

There were 3,345 households, out of which 1,241 (37.1%) had children under the age of 18 living in them, 2,661 (79.6%) were opposite-sex married couples
Marriage
Marriage is a social union or legal contract between people that creates kinship. It is an institution in which interpersonal relationships, usually intimate and sexual, are acknowledged in a variety of ways, depending on the culture or subculture in which it is found...

 living together, 155 (4.6%) had a female householder with no husband present, 86 (2.6%) had a male householder with no wife present. There were 76 (2.3%) unmarried opposite-sex partnerships
POSSLQ
POSSLQ is an abbreviation for "Persons of Opposite Sex Sharing Living Quarters," a term coined in the late 1970s by the United States Census Bureau as part of an effort to more accurately gauge the prevalence of cohabitation in American households....

, and 21 (0.6%) same-sex married couples or partnerships. 355 households (10.6%) were made up of individuals and 145 (4.3%) had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.80. There were 2,902 families
Family (U.S. Census)
A family or family household is defined by the United States Census Bureau for statistical purposes as "a householder and one or more other people related to the householder by birth, marriage, or adoption. They do not include same-sex married couples even if the marriage was performed in a state...

 (86.8% of all households); the average family size was 3.00.

The population was spread out with 2,271 people (24.3%) under the age of 18, 502 people (5.4%) aged 18 to 24, 1,394 people (14.9%) aged 25 to 44, 3,875 people (41.4%) aged 45 to 64, and 1,312 people (14.0%) who were 65 years of age or older. The median age was 48.0 years. For every 100 females there were 96.3 males. For every 100 females age 18 and over, there were 94.6 males.

There were 3,477 housing units at an average density of 598.3 per square mile (231.0/km²), of which 3,044 (91.0%) were owner-occupied, and 301 (9.0%) were occupied by renters. The homeowner vacancy rate was 1.3%; the rental vacancy rate was 3.8%. 8,400 people (89.8% of the population) lived in owner-occupied housing units and 954 people (10.2%) lived in rental housing units.

Popular culture

Blackhawk is mentioned in the hit song Salvation
Salvation (Rancid song)
"Salvation" is a song by the American punk rock band Rancid. It was released as the second single from its second studio album, Let's Go.Along with "Time Bomb" and "Ruby Soho", "Salvation" is considered to be one of Rancid's breakthrough songs, as it received airplay from modern rock radio...

 by the punk band Rancid
Rancid (band)
Rancid is an American punk rock band formed in Berkeley, California in 1991. Founded by Tim Armstrong and Matt Freeman, both of whom previously played in the ska punk band Operation Ivy, Rancid is credited—along with Green Day and The Offspring—for reviving mainstream interest in punk rock in the...

.

See also

  • Blackhawk-Camino Tassajara, California
    Blackhawk-Camino Tassajara, California
    Blackhawk-Camino Tassajara is a former census-designated place in Contra Costa County, California, near the town of Danville. The unincorporated area consisted of the Blackhawk country club area and the surrounding Camino Tassajara area. As of the 2000 census, the CDP's population was 10,048...

     (includes census data)
  • Danville, California
    Danville, California
    The Town of Danville is located in the San Ramon Valley in Contra Costa County, California. It is one of the incorporated municipalities in California that uses "town" in its name instead of "city". The population was 42,039 in 2010. Danville is one of the wealthiest suburbs of Oakland and San...


External links

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